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.

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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!

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Episode 177 - Author Spotlight with Amy Tector

Author Spotlight with Amy Tector

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

– Giveaway News –
The upcoming Patreon giveaway is Bright and Deadly Things by Lexie Elliott. Check out Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, in conversation with Lexie on Episode 128 of Central Booking. To be automatically entered to win, become a Patreon by March 15th.  We also have a copy of Speak for the Dead by Amy Tector for our newsletter subscribers. To be automatically entered to win, become a newsletter subscriber by March 15th.

– Currently Reading – [2:35]
My Kitchen Wars – Betty Fussell (EF)
The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarian, and Others – Sidney E. Berger (CW)
The Memory of Animals – Claire Fuller (EF) release date 6/6/2023
The Warden – Anthony Trollope (CW)

– Just Read – [10:53]
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun – Elle Cosimano (EF)
Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley (CW)(EF) (audio) Join the conversation on Goodreads thread.
Watch Ann Patchett on The Colbert Report.
Watch Ann Patchett with Reese Witherspoon.

– Episode Sponsor – [35:44]
Episode 177 is sponsored by The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton. Learn more about Julie here.

– Biblio Adventures – [36:25]
Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT to hear Will Schwalbe talk about his new book We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship.

Chris attended a virtual event via the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, “Understanding Katherine S. Days Identity: Interpreting Sexuality in Early 20th Century New England, Four Case Studies in LGBTQIA+ History.”

Emily had a great trip to California to see Aunt Ellen. They walked through Berkeley visiting loads of little free libraries, visited the Main Branch of the Berkeley Public Library and Ellen’s local branch. They visited ten bookstores: Half Price Books, Sleepy Cat Books, Books Inc., Black Swan Vintage Books, Owl & Company Bookshop, Pegasus Books, Moe’s Books, Spectator Books, Out of the Closet Thrift Store, and Friends of the Berkeley Public Library.  

– Upcoming Jaunts – [51:19]
Emily hopes to join in on an Instagram Live on March 14th with Idra Novey via Golden Notebook Bookstore in Woodstock, CT discussing her novel Take What You Need.  

– Upcoming Reads – [52:13]
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader – Anne Fadiman
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret – Judy Blume

– Announcing our 25th Readalong –
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
. Order from Bookshop.org, the audiobook from Libro.fm to support the Book Cougars. Join the online conversation on Goodreads. Please send an email if you would like to participate in the Zoom readalong discussion will take place on May 21st at 7PM (ET), Chris and Emily will discuss it on Episode 183.

– Author Spotlight with Amy Tector – [57:23]
We speak with Amy about the second novel in the Dominion Archives Mystery series Speak for the Dead, available now! Amy’s other two novels are The Foulest Things and The Honeybee Emeralds. Learn more about Amy here.

– Out Now – [01:26:24]
Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson
Hello Beautiful – Anne Napolitano
Take What You Need – Idra Novey
All That Is Mine I Carry With Me – William Landay

– Also Mentioned –
Unsettled Ground – Claire Fuller
Charles Dickens
Wilkie Collins
Bleak House – Charles Dickens
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Mad Women’s Ball – Victoria Mas
Louise Penny
Tin House Publisher
Alice Hoffman
True Grit – Charles Portis
Thirst – Amélie Nothomb
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down – Anne Fadiman
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat – Samin Nosrat
Heart Is A Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
Sapphira and the Slave Girl – Willa Cather
Defending Jacob – William Landay

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!

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BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly
newsletter.

Episode 165 - Author Spotlight with Diane Wilson

Author Spotlight with Diane Wilson

Episode One Hundred Sixty Five 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.
Join the Goodreads conversation here.

– Currently Reading – [1:09]
How to Read Now: Essays – Elaine Castillo (CW)
The Rabbit Hutch – Tess Gunty (EF) (audiobook)
Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life – Brigitte Benkemoun, translated by Jody Gladding (CW)

– Just Read – [6:43]
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘em Dead: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF)
The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabel Wilkerson (CW)(audiobook)
“Pig” the short story in The Best of Roald Dahl – Roald Dahl (EF)
The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives – Kelcey Ervick (EF)
The Seed Keeper – Diane Wilson (CW)(EF)(audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures – [29:55]
Chris attended a virtual event with Jenn Shapland discussing her book My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir with Robert Kesten, Executive Director of the Stonewall National Museum & Archives. You can watch the video here.

Emily visited Pop! Art Books Culture in Boardman, Ohio where the Gentleman Caller picked up a copy of Magic Terror: 7 Tales by Peter Straub.

Chris watched an episode of Lovecraft Country based on the novel by Matt Ruff.

Emily attended an event at Madison Art Cinema sponsored by R.J. Julia Booksellers, a showing of the documentary Hello, Bookstore.

Chris and Emily went on a Joint Jaunt to the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library for some worktime together. Emily picked up a copy of Simply Julia: 110 Recipes for Easy Comfort Food by Julia Turshen.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [40:53]
Emily is heading to Martha’s Vineyard and hopes to visit Bunch of Grapes Bookstore and Edgartown Books as well as Eight Cousins Bookstore in Falmouth, MA.

Chris is planning to attend an event at the Mark Twain House& Museum on September 27th at 7pm with Nikki Woolfolk in conversation with Alex Jennings discussing the novel The Ballad of Perilous Graves.  

– Upcoming Reads – [44:27]
Small Game – Blair Braverman (CW)(EF) release date November 1, 2022
The Believer: Encounters with the Beginning, the End, and Our Place in the Middle – Sarah Krasnostein (EF)
All that She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake – Tiya Miles (CW)
After Sappho – Selby Wynn Schwartz (CW)
The Bread the Devil Knead – Lisa Allen-Agostini (EF)

Out Now:
Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout

– Author Spotlight with Diane Wilson author of The Seed Keeper Our 22nd Readalong – [49:39]
We chat with Diane Wilson author of our Third Quarter readalong, The Seed Keeper.
Learn more about Diane.

Her new picture book, Where We Come From, publishes on October 4th.

Reminder that you can join the Goodreads discussion here, anytime.

– Also Mentioned –
The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye
National Book Awards
The Booker Prizes
Shutter – Ramona Emerson
James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Provincetown Book Festival
The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis – Melissa Homestead
Also by Blair Braverman: Dogs on the Trail: A Year in the Life and Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube:
Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North


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