Episode 189 - Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese

Episode One Hundred Eighty Nine Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [1:58]
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)

– Just Read – [4:38]
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman (CW)
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais (EF) (audiobook narrated by Amy Landon)
The Profile – Willa Cather (CW) (Learn more about the short story project.)
The Wehrwolf – Alma Katsu (CW)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)

– Episode Sponsor – [30:40]
The Brickworks by Lucy E.M. Black
Learn more about Lucy and her books here.

– Biblio Adventures – [31:30]
Chris and Emily spent two days in the Berkshires in Massachusetts where they followed in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They did a house tour of Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount, spent time with librarian Nynke Dorhout, walked the grounds where there is currently an outdoor sculpture exhibit, and attended a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. They also shopped at The Bookstore. (Watch the documentary about how the store survived the COVID pandemic.)  
Check out the video of our two-day adventure.

Emily had a couch biblio adventure watching Slow Horses on Apple TV based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron.

Chris went on a visit to Chicago where she stopped at Galena Book & Paper where she purchased A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen, and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell. She also made a stop at The Book Cellar.

Emily was a guest on Shawn the Book Maniac’s Booktube channel where they talked about polygamous reading.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [52:34]
Chris and Emily are heading on a full day joint jaunt to Salem, MA where they will see The House of the Seven Gables, and other Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites.

Chris and Emily are planning to attend Popular Romance Fiction: The Literature of Hope conference at Yale University September 8-9, 2023. Learn more and sign up here.

– Upcoming Reads – [54:34]
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (CW)(EF)
September 10th at 7PM (ET) we will host our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Out Now – [55:33]
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan
The Breakaway – Jennifer Weiner

– Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese – [55:57]
We chat with Laurie about her book Hester, the second book in our Scarlet Summer.
Learn more about Laurie and her books here.
Laurie will be on a panel at the Salem Literary Festival on September 8, 2023.

– Also Mentioned –
Evidence of Things Unseen – Marianne Wiggins
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Birthmark – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Summer – Edith Wharton
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
The Library Book – Susan Orlean
Margaret Fuller
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine – Rozsika Parker
House of Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliott Dark
Euphoria – Lily King
Book cover designer Olga Grlc

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 188 - Author Spotlight with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle

Episode One Hundred Eighty Eight Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

Become a member of our Patreon Community!

– Currently Reading – [1:42]
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits – Jack Murnighan (CW)
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)

– Just Read – [11:58]
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward (EF) release date 10/3/2023
The Vanity Fair article written by Jesmyn Ward: “On Witness and Repair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic”
A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay (CW)
The Last Ranger – Peter Heller (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [28:02]
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston where they worked at Simmon’s University Library. The day ended with an event at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA where Laura Sims (How Can I Help You) will be in conversation with Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are: Stories).

Chris and Emily went on another joint jaunt closer to home in Old Saybrook where they lunched at the French bistro Cocotte located in the original James Pharmacy. Then they went across the street to the Hart House Museum to visit the exhibit “Family Matters: Inspiration and Insights from the Lives of Anna Louise James and Ann Petry.”

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:31]
Chris and Emily are heading up to The Berkshires in Massachusetts for an overnight where they will be following in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They will visit Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount to attend a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.

On Sunday, August 27th at 7PM (ET) we are hosting a watch party of the 1934 movie adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. Please send an email if you would like to join and we will send you instructions on how to log-in and watch along.  

On September 10th at 7PM (ET) will be our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Upcoming Reads – [44:23]
Weyward – Emilia Hart
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais
Hour of the Witch – Chris Bohjalian
The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
Tituba of Salem Village – Ann Petry

– Author Spotlight with writing duo Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle – [46:50]
We chat with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle about their new book’s Come with Me (8/22) and Morning in this Broken World (9/1).  
Learn more about Erin and her upcoming events.
Learn more about Katrina and watch her Ted Talk Strong At Our Broken Places.

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Also Mentioned –
Writers Digest Magazine
Author Sharon Short (aka Jess Montgomery)
Ulysses – James Joyce
National Willa Cather Center
Books by Nicholas Evans: The Loop and The Horse Whisperer
The Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E. Harrow
Author Anne Tyler
Author Christina Consolino

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!

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 187 - Author Spotlight with Alli Frank & Asha Youmans

Episode One Hundred Eighty Seven Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [2:42]
Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark – Cecelia Watson (CW)
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush (EF) release date 8/29/2023
How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope – edited by James Crews (CW)
The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy – edited by James Crews (CW)

– Just Read – [10:06]
The Breakaway – Jennifer Weiner release date 8/29/2023
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims (CW)
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan (EF) release date 8/22/2023
What Did it Take?: The Story of Anna Louise James – Whitney McKendree Moore (CW)
We Ride Upon Sticks – Quan Barry (EF)(audio)

– Biblio Adventures – [29:11]
Chris and Emily went to the Red Heat Tavern for the Vintage Book Club to discuss The Street by Ann Petry (audio). The next meeting date is Thursday, October 19 at 1:00 (ET) at Wood Memorial Library and Museum to discuss Country Place.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Grolier Club in NYC to do some archival research. They also stopped in at the newly opened McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers in Rockefeller Center.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [46:16]
Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA on August 2nd at 7pm where Laura Sims (How Can I Help You) will be in conversation with Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are: Stories). You can register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads – [47:44]
A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay (CW)
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl (CW)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF)(audio)
Join our Patreon Community by August 15th if you want to win a copy of this book.
Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen – Rebecca May Johnson (EF)

– Author Spotlight with writing duo Alli Frank and Asha Youmans – [52:24]
We talk with Alli and Asha about their new novel The Better Half and their writing life.
You can learn more about them here.
Their other books: Tiny Imperfections and Never Meant to Meet You

– Also Mentioned –
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore – Elizabeth Rush
Milkweed Editions
Shirley Jackson
Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: The Remarkable True Story of American Heroine Ida Lewis – Lenore Skomal
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem – Stacy Schiff
Tayari Jones
What a Library Means to a Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books – Sheila Liming
Jojo Moyes

You can 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 186 - The Long Afterlife of The Scarlet Letter

Episode One Hundred Eighty Six Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 17th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [:52]
How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning, and Thinking – Sönke Ahrens (CW)
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan (EF) release date 8/22/2023

– Just Read – [7:57]
Morning in This Broken World – Katrina Kittle (EF) release date 9/1/2023
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI – David Grann (EF)
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of New America – Gilbert King (EF) (audio)  
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (EF)(CW)
Join the Goodreads discussion here.

– Episode Sponsor – [35:16]
Episode 186 sponsor: Finding A New Normal: Living Your Best Life by Suzane Jackson. Learn more about Sue and the book here.  

– Biblio Adventures – [36:06]
Emily stopped in Ann Arbor, MI on her way back to Connecticut. She stopped at Third Mind Books, Literati Bookstore, and Hatcher Graduate Library.  

When Chris was in Chicago, she stopped at Volumes Bookcafe on the Gold Coast.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Concord, MA to visit Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites including The Old Manse, The Concord Bookshop, The Wayside, Concord Free Public Library, and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
At The Old Manse, Chris bought a copy of Hawthorne: A Life by Brenda Wineapple.
At the Concord Bookshop Emily bought:
The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy edited by James Crews
The Street by Ann Petry
Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201 Mile Journey following the Monarch Migration by Sara Dykman

– Upcoming Jaunts – [57:14]
Chris and Emily will be heading to the Red Heat Tavern on Thursday, July 20 at 1pm for the Vintage Book Club to discuss The Street by Ann Petry.

– Upcoming Reads – [58:27]
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma – Claire Dederer (CW)
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims (CW)
Join our Patreon Community by August 15th if you want to win a copy of this book.
The Street – Ann Petry (CW)(EF)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF)(audio)
We Ride Upon Sticks – Quan Barry (EF)

– Guest Spotlight Professor Charles Baraw – [1:03:36]
Chuck is an American Literature Professor at Southern Connecticut State University and the current President of The Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. We invited him to talk with us about The Scarlet Letter.

Hawthorne wrote a letter complaining about the success of author Grace Greenwood. You can learn more about her here.

Chuck mentions two movie adaptations: Easy A and the 1908 version.

Chuck recommends picking up a copy of the Norton Critical Edition of The Scarlet Letter edited by Leland S. Person.

Other Hawthorne books mentioned: The Blithedale Romance, The House of Seven Gables, The Marble Faun, Tanglewood Tales, Hawthorne’s Short Stories, and Mosses from an Old Manse.

– Also Mentioned –
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan
Author Jess Montgomery (Sharon Short)
“Invitation” by Mary Oliver
Author Kathleen McCleary
Killers of the Flowers Moon movie directed by Martin Scorsese due out in October 2023
Cliffs Notes
Author Mary Beth Bass
The American Notebooks – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Learn more about the National Outdoor Book Awards
The Peabody Sisters by Megan Marshall
Author Herman Melville
The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner
Author Harriet Beecher Stowe
Books by Richard Powers: The Overstory and Bewilderment
Author Bernadette Mayers
Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker
Certain Concealments: Poe, Hawthorne, and Early Nineteenth-Century Abortion by Dana Medoro

You can 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 185 - Book Cougars Prowling in the Midwest

Episode One Hundred Eighty Five Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– 3rd Quarter Readalong: Our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)

– Currently Reading – [2:19]
The New Town Librarian – Kathy Anderson (CW)
Avid Reader: A Life – Robert Gottlieb (CW)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI – David Grann (EF)

– Just Read – [12:10]
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman (EF) (discussing the book on her Instagram feed)
Ulysses – James Joyce (CW)
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
The Better Half – Alli Frank, Asha Youmans (EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [22:04]
Episode 185 is sponsored Come with Me by Erin Flanagan. Learn more about Erin here.

– Biblio Adventures – [22:40]
Chris went on vacation to Chicago. She met with friend and listener of the podcast Colleen and they browsed through Women & Children First where Chris purchased a copy of In Praise of Good Bookstores by Jeff Deutsch. They grabbed lunch at Lady Gregory’s. She found a little free library in front of Graham Crackers Comics and also stopped at Frugal Muse Books where she picked up two copies of Alice Hoffman’s The Red Garden. Due to a flight delay, she was able to stop in at the airport outpost of Barbara’s Bookstore where she picked up Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong. Chris’s wife Laura met a friend at The Understudy, a theater bookstore and coffee shop.

Emily visited her daughter in Traverse City, MI where she (and the Gentleman Caller) installed a little free library for her birthday. They drove up to Leelanau Peninsula and browsed Bay Books and came across a stack of books by Viola Shipman, the pen name for Wade Rouse. Viola was Wade’s grandmother and inspired his writing, read more about her here. They also visited Blue Vase Book Exchange in Interlochen, MI.

Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers to see Gina Barreca in conversation with Helen Ellis about her new essay collection, Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge: Intimate Confessions from a Happy Marriage. Gina was a guest on Episode 132 with her anthology Fast Funny Women.

Chris attended an online class, Masterclass: From Academic to General Readership, via the Arvon Foundation.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [38:32]
Chris and Emily are planning a joint jaunt to Concord, MA on July 12th to visit Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites. The day will end with our readalong conversation of The Scarlet Letter at 4:30 pm (ET). There is both a virtual and a Zoom option. Send an email if you would like to join us. For more details about the itinerary follow this link.

On July 18th Chris is heading to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to hear Nico Raineau in conversation with Lenore Skomal about her book Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter.

Emily is hoping to visit some bookstores in Ann Arbor, MI on her drive home.

– Upcoming Reads – [48:01]
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem – Stacy Schiff (CW)
The Peabody Sisters – Megan Marshall (CW)
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (EF)(CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Killers of the Flowers Moon movie directed by Martin Scorsese due out in October 2023
Edith Wharton’s The Mount
Seminary Co-op Bookstores
Lady Gregory’s Restaurant
The Blithedale Romance – Nathaniel Hawthorne

You can 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.