Episode 207 - Spotlight with Author & Rare Book Dealer Rebecca Romney

Rebecca Romney photo credit Dave Pappas

Episode 207 Show Notes

– 2nd Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book One by Nora Roberts.  The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, June 2nd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join The Awakening Goodreads Discussion anytime and we’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

Download the Romance Bingo Card!

– Currently Reading –  
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW)
James – Percival Everett (EF)(audiobook)
A Chance Meeting: Encounters Between American Writers and Artists – Rachel Cohen (CW)
The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook: Dishes and Dispatches from the Catskill Mountains – Chris Bradley, Sara Franklin, and Mike Cioffi (EF)

– Just Read –
Bless Your Heart – Lindy Ryan (CW)
Emily read two short stories:
Vampires in the Lemon Grove” from the collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove: And Other Stories by Karen Russell.
The Bookeeper’s Wife” by Willa Cather.  
You can read Chris’s response to this short story on her blog.
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World – Cal Newport (CW)
How to Read – Monica Wood (EF)
James – Percival Everett (CW)(audiobook)(narrated by Dominic Hoffman)
Pride and Preston Lin – Christina Hwang Dudley (EF)
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America – Sara B. Franklin (EF) release date 5/28/2024

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily both attended virtual events offered via the North Haven Public Library:
“A Literary Examination of Power, and Art” with Xochitl Gonzalez discussing her books Anita de Monte Laughs Last and Olga Dies Dreaming. You can watch the video here.

“The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us – A Sweeping History of Food and Culture” with Smithsonian Curator Paula J. Johnson discussing the book American Table. You can watch the video here.

In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day Chris visited Breakwater Books where she picked up a copy of A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton.

Emily and Aunt Ellen visited Yu and Me Books in Chinatown.

Chris and Emily went to see Caroline Leavitt discuss her new book Days of Wonder at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT.

Chris and Emily both watched the film Shirley loosely based on the novel Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to visit Aunt Ellen and plan to visit The Ripped Bodice bookstore.

Emily is planning to see the Art Thief which features a heist of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum since she is reading Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Natalie Dykstra.

– Upcoming Reads –
Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor’s Unlikely Adventure – Mimi Zieman (EF)
Pay Dirt: A V.I. Warshawski Novel – Sara Paretsky (EF)|
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster – Mirinae Lee (CW)
Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places – Claire Kann (CW)

– Out Now –
Real Americans – Rachel Khong
Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy – Cait West
Daughters of Shandong – Eve. J Chung
When Cicadas Cry – Caroline Cleveland
The Stolen Child – Ann Hood
How to Read– Monica Wood

– Author Spotlight with Rebecca Romney –
Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer, appraiser, and co-author of Printer's Error: Irreverent Stories from Book History. You can learn more about Rebecca and her work here.
Download a copy of Rebecca’s survey of the history of The Romance Novel in English.

Read “Resisting the Monolith: Collecting As Counter Narrative.”

Learn more about the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize; the deadline is June 15, 2024.

Rebecca is currently working on a book called Jane Austen’s Bookshelf!

– Also Mentioned –
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America – Sara B. Franklin (EF) release date 5/28/2024
Swamplandia – Karen Russell
Author George Saunders
Author Stephen King
The One-In-A-Million Boy – Monica Wood
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Finn – Jon Clinch
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
A Mighty Blaze
Watch our video with Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum of A Mighty Blaze.
Watch our video with Caroline Leavitt talking about her novel With or Without You.
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer
The History of Emily Montague – Frances Brooke
Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America
Author Frances Burney
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
A Simple Story by Elizabeth Inchbald
Harrington by Maria Edgeworth

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm
audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 206 - Author Spotlight with Rebecca Rego Barry

Episode 206 Show Notes

– 2nd Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book One by Nora Roberts.  Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, June 2nd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join The Awakening Goodreads Discussion anytime and we’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

Download the Romance Bingo Card!

– Currently Reading –  
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW)
How to Read – Monica Wood (EF) release date 5/7/2024
Spoon River Anthology – Edgar Lee Masters (EF)
Bless Your Heart – Lindy Ryan (CW)
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America – Sara B. Franklin (EF) release date 5/28/2024

– Just Read –
Piglet – Lottie Hazell (EF)
The Stolen Child – Ann Hood release date 5/7/2024
Reflections in a Golden Eye – Carson McCullers (CW)(EF)
Emily read two short stories:
“Touchless Bidet” by Omar El Akkad from the collection Small Odysseys: Selected Shorts Presents 35 New Stories edited by Hannah Tinti
“A Simple Question” from the collection Old Crimes: And Other Stories by Jill McCorkle

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on a Biblio Adventure to New York City but were re-routed due to an earthquake and ended up visiting the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library in New Haven where they saw current exhibits featuring James Baldwin, Frederick Douglas, and Ollie Harrington. Check out the video with highlights of our day here.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Nyack, NY to meet their friend Kate and visit the home of Carson McCullers. They discussed the short story “Reflections in a Golden Eye” and the new Mary Dearborn biography Carson McCullers: A Life over lunch at the Art Cafe. They stopped at the Nyack Library and it’s book sale where Chris picked up a copy of Old Filth by Jane Gardam and Kate snagged a copy of All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby. They visited Oak Hill Cemetery to pay respects to Carson McCullers. On the way back to town they found a little free library, then visited both Big Red Books and Pickwick Bookshop.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily look forward to seeing Caroline Leavitt discuss her new book Days of Wonder at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT on Wednesday, April 24th at 6:00 pm.

Chris is registered for a virtual event featuring Kacy Dowd Tillman discussing her book Stripped and Script: Loyalist Women Writers of the American Revolution via the Congregational Library & Archives.

Emily plans to attend a showing of the film Enchanted April at Madison Theatre based on the novel The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim.

– Upcoming Reads –
A Chance Meeting: American Encounters – Rachel Cohen (CW)
Pride and Preston Lin – Christina Hwang Dudley (EF)

– Out Now –
Honor the Dead – Amy Tector
check out our Friday Reads video with Amy
Weird Black Girls: Stories – Elwin Cotman
Dear Wendy – Ann Zhao
The Paris Novel – Ruth Reichl
Days of Wonder – Caroline Leavitt

– Author Spotlight with Rebecca Rego Barry –
We chat with Rebecca about her book The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells.
You can learn more about Rebecca and her books here.

– Also Mentioned –
Hoopla now offers bingepasses!
The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood
Newburyport Literary Festival
Also by Carson McCullers: The Member of the Wedding and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Carson McCullers: A Life by Mary Dearborn
Kurt Vonnegut
“Carson McCullers” by Charles Bukowski
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center
Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT
Third State Books
“A Penitential Week” by Carolyn Wells
FineBooks and Collections Magazine
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Murder in the Bookshop by Carolyn Wells

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm
audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.