Episode 220 - A Shocking Buddy-Read with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Episode 220 Show Notes

– Giveaways –
Patreon:
Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir edited by Tod Goldberg

Tenth Episode:
The Gardener’s Plot: A Mystery by Deborah J. Benoit
The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

– Currently Reading –
Armadale – Wilkie Collins (CW)
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary – Alice Hoffman (EF) (audiobook)
“The Bolted Door” from the collection Tales of Men and Ghosts – Edith Wharton (CW)
A Bit Much: Poems – Lyndsay Rush (EF)

– Just Read –
Birding with Benefits – Sarah T. Dubb (EF) (audiobook)
The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston (EF)
Boyfriend Material – Alexis Hall (CW) (audiobook)
The Rom-Commers – Katherine Center (EF) (audiobook)
“Afterward: A Ghost Story for Christmas” or from the collection Tales of Men and Ghosts– Edith Wharton (CW)
Real Americans – Rachel Khong (EF) (audiobook)
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking – Tina Oziewicz, illustrated by Aleksandra Zajac and translated by Jennifer Croft (EF)

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris took an unexpected trip to Nebraska for a funeral. She happened upon a lovely bookstore at the Charlotte airport with a nice sitting area. She also found a little free library in Omaha, Nebraska.

Both Chris and Emily enjoyed the monthly Patreon Reading Salon discussion about recently read books. In November we will be chatting about our favorite author.

On National Louise Penny Day, Chris purchased her copy of The Grey Wolf at Breakwater Books in Guilford, CT.

Emily attended the virtual event "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: Examining the Truths and Fictions we Tell Ourselves with Lori Gottlieb" via the North Haven Memorial Library. You can watch the video here.

Sue Jackson shared a vlog of her Biblio Adventure to two bookstores in New York. You can watch it here.

Emily binged season three of The Lincoln Lawyer based on the novel The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly. 

Emily and The Gentleman Caller stopped at Bennett’s Books in Deep River, CT where she got a copy of Girl at War by Sara Nović.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On Wednesday, November 20th, Chris is planning to attend an event at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with Karen Olson in conversation with Elizabeth Hobbs and her novel Misery Hates Company: A Novel.

Emily is planning to attend the Connecticut Book Festival on Saturday November 23rd from 10-4.

– Upcoming Reads –
The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts – Mary Claire Haver (EF)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (CW)
The Illustrated Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood - In Two Volumes - Volume I: Original Title: Varney the Vampyre – James Malcolm Rymer, Thomas Preskett Prest, edited by Finn J. D. John (CW)

– Spotlight with Our Mystery Man –
A conversation with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, about our buddy read of the novel Murder in the Smithsonian by Margaret Truman.

You can learn more about John here. Follow his informative and fun interviews with mystery authors over at Central Booking.

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy
Please join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
The Zoom readalong discussion will take place on Sunday, December 8h at 7:00 pm (ET). Please send an email if you would like to join.

– Also Mentioned –
Author Shuly Cawood
Author Jessica Pryde
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
One Bright Book podcast
Author Donald Bain
Also by Margaret Truman: Murder at Ford’s Theatre and Murder at the Library of Congress

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 216 - Guest Spotlight with Michael Kelleher, Director of the Windham Campbell Prizes

Episode 216 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh – Claudia Gray (CW)
Envy – Sandra Brown (EF) (audiobook)
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading – James Patterson and Matt Eversmann (CW)

– Just Read –
Envy – Sandra Brown (CW)
Just for the Summer – Abby Jimenez (EF) (audiobook)
The Truth’s We Hold: An American Story – Kamala Harris (CW) (audiobook)
Big – Vashti Harrison (EF)

Chris and Emily did a buddy read of the short story “Double Birthday” by Willa Cather from the collection The Best American Short Stories of the Century edited by John Updike.

You can read Chris’s blog post here.

Emily also read “Disaster Stamps of Pluto” by Louise Erdrich from the collection The Best American Mystery Stories 2005 edited by Joyce Carol Oates and Otto Penzler.

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives – Julie Lawson Timmer (EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
Deadly Ripples by Penny Goetjen publishes on 9/17/2024.
Learn more about and follow Penny’s book tour here.

– Big Book Summer Reading Challenge Reflection –
Emily read:
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames
The Awakening by Nora Roberts

Chris read:
The Awakening by Nora Roberts
Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition by the American Psychological Association
MLA Handbook, 9th edition by The Modern Language Association of America

Chris wrote a blog post about her Big Book Summer Challenge 2024 plans.

Watch our BookTube video about our Big Book Summer Hopefuls.

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris had a lunch date with Kate at Knot Norm’s in Norwalk, CT to talk about their Moby Dick buddy read.

Emily watched the film The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat based on the novel by Edward Kelsey Moore via Hulu.

Chris and Laura are enjoying rewatching the Harry Potter movies; helping Chris get reacquainted with the stories.

Chris is on the search for the episode and book The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is planning a trip to the Sterling Library at Yale to see the exhibit Whaling Logbooks: Records of a Maritime Industry. She is also studying the new tri-fold pamphlet in preparation for the upcoming Guilford, CT library book sale from September 27-29th.

Emily is signed up to attend "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: Examining the Truths and Fictions we Tell Ourselves with Lori Gottlieb"! via the North Haven Memorial Library on October 22 at 2pm (ET). Register here.

We will be in conversation with James R. Benn about his new novel The Phantom Patrol, on Thursday, September 19th, at 6 pm (ET)! Bank Square Books is hosting the event, and because they are in the middle of a move, it will be held at the gorgeous Mystic Noank Library in Mystic, CT. The event is free, register here to save your spot.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Most – Jessica Anthony (EF)
The Mesmerist – Caroline Woods (EF)
The Mighty Red – Louise Erdrich (EF) release date 10/1/2024
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (CW)
Old New York – Edith Wharton (CW)
Silas Marner – George Elliot (CW)
The Turn of the Screw – Charles Dickens (CW)
The Red and the Black - Stendhal (CW)
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens (CW)
Armadale – Wilkie Collins (CW)
Swann’s Way – Marcel Proust (CW) [check out #ProustPilotProject]
Murder in the Smithsonian – Margaret Truman (CW)(EF)

– Guest Spotlight: Michael Kelleher with the Windham Campbell Literary Awards –
Learn more about the Windham Campbell Prizes.
The 2024 Festival takes place from September 17-20. You can find the schedule here. 
You can follow the awards on Instagram and YouTube

– 3rd Quarter Readalong –
Envy by Sandra Brown.
Please join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
The Zoom readalong discussion will take place on Sunday, September 15th at 7:00 pm (ET). Please send an email if you would like to join.

Download the Romance Bingo Card!

– Also Mentioned –
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
Also by Abby Jimenez: Part of Your World and Yours Truly
Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky release date 3/18/2025
Also by Willa Cather: One of Ours and The Song of the Lark
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA for the exhibit Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick running through January 4, 2026
The Supremes Sing The Happy Heartache Blues by Edward Kelsey Moore
The Lunar Housewife by Caroline Woods
Books and Things host of Victober 2024
Also by Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone and The Woman in White
Murder in the CIA by Margaret Truman
The Book Barn in Niantic, CT
Babel Literary Series

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 207 - Spotlight with Author & Rare Book Dealer Rebecca Romney

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 203 - Romance Readalong with INDIGO by Beverly Jenkins

Episode 203 Show Notes

Download the Romance Bingo Card!

– Patreon Giveaway –
If you are a member of our Patreon Community by March 15th you will be automatically entered to win a copy of The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy.

– Currently Reading –  
The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon (EF)
We Got the Beat – Jenna Miller (CW)
The Cookie that Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook – Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno (EF)

– Just Read –
The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells – Rebecca Rego Barry (CW) (audiobook)
Emily read three short stories: “Itinerary” by Lucia Berlin in Evening in Paradise and “Los Angeles” and “Office Hours” by Ling Ma in Bliss Montage: Stories.  
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton (CW)
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Interrupted – Suleika Jaouad (EF) (audiobook)
Summer – Edith Wharton (CW)
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice – Elle Cosimano (EF)
Indigo – Beverly Jenkins (CW)(EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris took a trip to Washington DC and visited The Library of Congress where she purchased a copy of American Libraries 1730-1950 by Kenneth Breisch.

Over on Ingredient One, Emily had a conversation with Louise Miller author of The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living and The Late Bloomer’s Club. You can listen to the conversation, find a copy of the recipe for Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Icing, and more.

Emily attended a virtual retreat with Katherine May author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times and Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age. Learn more about her Substack at The Clearing.

Emily watched a conversation via Live Talks Los Angeles between Jennifer Garner and Adam Grant about his new book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Unfortunately, Chris is a little under the weather, she and Emily were supposed to go on a joint jaunt to An Unlikely Story to meet Jenna Miller author of the new novel We Got the Beat in conversation with Alecia Dow, Jennifer Dugan, and Jenny L. Howe, but had to cancel.

Chris was also supposed to attend an event at Mystic Seaport Museum with Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos about her book The Pirate’s Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd.

Emily is heading to Wilmington, NC and hopes to visit independent bookstores.

– Upcoming Reads –
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW) send an email if you want to join the buddy read
Women of the Anarchy – Sharon Bennett Connolly (CW)
Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes – Chantha Nguon and Kim Green (EF)

– Out Now –
After Annie – Anna Quindlen
Becoming Madam Secretary – Stephanie Dray
The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels – Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans

– Also Mentioned –
Trespasses – Louise Kennedy
The Women’s Prize for fiction longlist / nonfiction longlist
New publisher: Author’s Equity
The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon
Emily’s substack is Ingredient One
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Severance by Ling Ma
The film American Symphony
Learn more about Elle Cosimano. Other books in the series: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘em Dead, and Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun.

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 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 168 - Author Spotlight with Blair Braverman

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

– Announcing our 23rd Readalong –
Murder on the Red River – Marcie R. Rendon
You can purchase an e-book directly from Soho for $7.99, the paperback from Bookshop.org or the audiobook from Libro.fm to support the Book Cougars.

Please send an email if you would like to participate in the Zoom conversation on Sunday, December 4th at 7 PM (ET). And we would love for you to join the online conversation on the Goodreads thread.

– Currently Reading – [3:12]
Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics – Marion Nestle (EF)
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon (CW)
On Writing: A Memoir Of the Craft – Stephen King (EF)
A Scatter of Light – Malinda Lo (EF)
Sweet Thursday (Cannery Row #2) – John Steinbeck (CW)

– Just Read – [10:56]
The Midcoast – Adam White (EF)
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake – Tiya Miles (CW)
Flight – Lynn Steger Strong (EF)
The Bookstore Sisters – Alice Hoffman (EF)
Eric Hermannson’s Soul – Willa Cather (CW)
You can join the Willa Cather short story project on Chris’s blog.

– Biblio Adventures – [31:24]
Chris and Emily visited The Mount in Lenox, MA. In preparation for our visit we read three ghost stories from Wharton’s New England: Seven Stories and Ethan Frome: The Triumph of Night, Bewitched, and All Souls. Chris purchased a copy of The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton in The Mount’s gift shop.
You can view the video we took of her library on our YouTube channel.
We also visited the The Bookstore & Get Lit Wine Bar in Lenox, MA that was featured in the documentary. Hello Bookstore.

Emily made a tip to Maine and visited Elements Books Coffee Beer in Biddeford and Longfellow Books in Portland.

Chris stopped at Barbara’s Bookstore when she was walking through O’Hare airport in Chicago.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [46:51]
Emily is looking forward to watching the series From Scratch based on the book by Tembe Locke that was one of her top reads of 2020. Emily talked about the book on Episode 97 and Episode 120.

Chris is headed to Loyola University’s Library at the Lakeshore Campus to do some archival research.

– Upcoming Reads – [48:31]
Murder on the Red River – Marcie R. Rendon (CW)(EF)
The Seas – Samantha Hunt (EF)
Guarded by Dragons: Encounters with Rare Books and Rare People – Rick Gekoski (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Blair Braverman – [51:20]
We talk with Blair about her debut novel Small Game.
You can learn more about Blair here.
Here’s the link to the Outside Magazine article that Blair wrote about her experience on Naked and Afraid.
You can keep up with Blair and her BraverMountain mushing team on Twitter. If you are interested in supporting her team financially, check out her Patreon page.

– Also Mentioned –
Librovox public domain audiobooks
Bookshop.org gift cards
University of California Press
Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo
A Thin Ghost and Others – M R James
In a Glass Darkly – Sheridan Le Fanu
Henry James
Theodore Roosevelt
The Ballad of Reading Gaol – Oscar Wilde
Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
Honest Dog Books
Parnassus Books
The Concord Bookshop
Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. (promo code: bookcougars)
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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Episode 119 - Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein

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

You can read our Blog Post with Redfin Real Estate on How to Create the Perfect Home Reading Nook here.

– Currently Reading –
Faviken: 1415 Days Beginning to End – Magnus Nilsson (EF)
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day – Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (CW)
Hamnet – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)
The House on Vesper Sands – Paraic O’ Donnell (CW) release date 1/12/2021

– Just Read –
Legends of the North Cascades – Jonathan Evison (EF) release date 6/8/21
Hide Away – Jason Pinter (CW)
Send for Me – Lauren Fox (EF) release date 2/2/21
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown (CW) (audiobook)
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May (EF) (audiobook)
A Granted Prayer – Edith Wharton (CW)
Olive, Again – Elizabeth Strout (EF)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched two conversations with Elizabeth Strout in conversation with Meg Wolitzer through The Strand, watch it here and with the Book Maven (Bethanne Patrick) via Politics and Prose Bookstore, watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 14, 7:30 pm (EST) - Chris and Emily both plan to attend a conversation between Min Jin Lee & Jennifer Buehler focused on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The event is being hosted by Greenlight Bookstore and is free but you need to register here.

Emily is planning to watch the television series Olive Kitteridge starring Frances McDormand based on the book by Elizabeth Strout.

– Upcoming Reads –
Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 2/2/21
Breast and Eggs – Mieko Kawakami (translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd) (EF)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein –
Bill is an author, book critic, editor, journalist, and moderator extraordinaire. His book is  
The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster, and the Year that Changed Literature.
You can learn more about Bill here.

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
A Stranger at the Door - Jason Pinter
Xingu – Edith Wharton
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
The Wife – Meg Wolitzer
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Norman Mailer
Lolita – Vladimir Nobokov
Lincoln – Gore Vidal
Robert Caro
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Larry Kramer
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)

Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.

Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.