Episode 218 - Playwright Spotlight with Laura Thoma

Playwright Spotlight with Laura Thoma

Episode 218 Show Notes

See the complete list of MacArthur Genius Grant Winners here.

– Currently Reading –
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Bookseller’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend – Rebecca Romney (CW)
Listen to our conversation with Rebecca Romney on Episode 207.
The Mighty Red – Louise Erdrich (EF) (audiobook)
Armadale – Wilkie Collins (CW)

– Just Read –
Emily read two short stories via the Decameron Project:
“Clinical Notes” by Liz Moore
“Recognition” by Victor LaValle

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh – Claudia Gray (CW)
Long Bright River – Liz Moore (EF) (audiobook)
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens (CW)
Swan Song – Elin Hildebrand (EF) (audiobook)
That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in American – Amanda Jones (CW) (audiobook)
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle: An Uplifting and Unforgettable Story of Love and Second Chances – Matt Cain (EF) (audiobook)

– Episode Sponsor –
The Anguish of Alzheimer's: The Years of Mom's Dementia by Ann Watt.
Learn more about Ann Watt here.

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris and Emily co-hosted James R. Benn and his 19th Billy Boyle mystery The Phantom Patrol with Bank Square Books at the Mystic & Noank Library. It was great to see listener Karen (@barkerforbooks) who drove all the way from Maine to attend. Chris and Emily visited the new location of Bank Square Books; Chris bought a copy of The Militia House by John Milas.

Next up was a trip to the Windham-Campbell Literary Festival where they shopped at the Possible Futures Bookmobile. Chris bought a copy of Nigh-No-Place by Jen Hadfield and Emily bought a copy of Hanif Abdurraqib’s There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.

Chris and Emily attended the grand opening of Montgomery & Taggert, Connecticut’s first Romance Bookstore! They also went to Legacy Theatre to see a production of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors.

Emily listened to an episode of Kelly Corrigan Wonders with Katie Porter talking about The Great Gatsby.

– Episode Sponsor –
Not Yours to Keep by Zelly Ruskin
Learn more about Zelly Ruskin here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On October 9th Chris and Emily are heading to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA and the Montague Book Mill.

On October 8th, Emily plans to attend an event at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with Betsy Lerner and her debut novel Shred Sisters.

– Upcoming Reads –
Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham – Marcia Clark (CW)(EF)
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore – Evan Friss (EF)
Slow Horses – Mick Herron (EF)

– 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.

– Out Now –
The Bog Wife – Kay Chronister
American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond – Jeremy Dauber
The Mighty Red – Louise Erdrich

– Playwright Spotlight with Laura Thoma –
Laura’s play Miss Margaret's Barton Cottage Christmas Surprise will be performed at Drama Works Theatre Company from December 13-21, 2024. You can purchase tickets here.

Learn more about Laura here.

Laura has appeared on previous episodes of the podcast: Episode 19, Episode 66, and Episode 127.

– Also Mentioned –
Download the Romance Bingo Card!
Author Ruha Benjamin and her book Viral Justice
Author Frances Burney
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Also by Claudia Gray: The Murder of Mr. Wickham and The Late Mrs. Willoughby
Heft by Liz Moore
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Hanif Abdurraqib’s podcast Object of Sound
Also by  Betsy Lerner: Food and Loathing, The Forest for the Trees, and The Bridge Ladies.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Happiest Season movie
Under the Christmas Tree movie
Single All the Way movie

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!

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Episode 214 - Biblio Adventure Extravaganza

Book Cougars Episode 214

Episode 214 Show Notes

August 17th is Bookstore Romance Day! Check your local bookstore to see if they have any special events planned.

– Currently Reading –
So Thirsty – Rachel Harrison (CW) release date 9/10/2024
Mary Queen of Scots – Antonia Fraser (CW)
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays – Scaachi Koul (EF)

– Just Read –
The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey (EF)(audiobook)
How to End a Love Story – Yulin Kuang (CW)(audiobook)
Yulin was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 205.
Within Arm’s Reach – Ann Napolitano (audiobook)
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW)

Emily read two short stories by Alice Hoffman:
The Bookstore Sisters and The Bookstore Wedding

The Rose Arbor – Rhys Bowen (CW)
Chris requested this book via BookBrowse. Listen to our conversation with the Founder & Publisher, Davina Morgan-Witts on Episode 193.
The Whale: A Love Story – Mark Beauregard (CW)

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris went on a fantastic biblio adventure accompanied by Colleen. They stopped at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, Edith Wharton’s The Mount, the Emily Dickinson Museum, The Evergreens, Amherst Books, and the Yiddish Book Center.

Books Chris purchased:
The Letters of Emily Dickinson edited by Cristanne Miller and Domhall Mitchell
Emily Dickinson Poem’s: As She Preserved Them edited by Cristanne Miller
Margaret Fuller and Her Circles edited by Brigitte Bailey, Katheryn P. Viens, and Conrad Edick Wright
Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of “Dracula” by Barbara Belford
Myself with Others: Selected Essays by Carlos Fuentes
Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse edited by Grace Bauer and Julie Kane
Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Emily went to Horizon Books in Traverse City, MI and purchased The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon and the most recent issue of Oh Reader magazine.

Emily has been enjoying the little free libraries sprinkled throughout neighborhoods in Traverse City, MI and she has been spending time at the Traverse City Library.

Chris participated in the Mystic Seaport Museum’s annual Moby Dick marathon.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily plans to shop at the Friends of the Library Book Sale at Peninsula Community Library in Traverse City, MI.

On August 24th Peter Heller will be in Traverse City to chat about his new book Burn. He will be in conversation with Doug Stanton, the author of In Harm’s Way and 12 Strong.

Chris is heading to Chicago where she might find some bookish mischief.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany – Pamela D. Toler (CW)
American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond - Jeremy Dauber (CW) release date 10/1/2024
Hot Air – Marcy Dermansky (EF) release date 3/18/2025
Envy – Sandra Brown (CW)(EF)

– 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 –
Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
Also by Ann Napolitano: Hello Beautiful, A Good Hard Look, and Dear Edward
Author Caroline Leavitt
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne
Poet Sandra Yannone
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
New Bedford Whaling Museum

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.