Episode 221 - Trial by Ambush with Marcia Clark and John Valeri

Book Cougars Episode 221

Episode 221 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Imagination: A Manifesto – Ruha Benjamin (CW)
Be Ready When the Luck Happens – Ina Garten (EF)(audiobook)
Advice for New Faculty Members – Robert Boice (CW)
Walking Well: A New Approach for Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step – Michael J. Gelb and Bruce Fertman

– Just Read –
Emily read short stories:
“The Statue and the Bust” from The Collected Short Stories of Shirley Hazzard edited by Brigitta Olubas
“Let the Chips Fall” by Emily Ross from the collection Devil’s Snare: Best New England Crime Stories by 2024 edited by Ang Pompano, Leslie Wheeler, and Susan Oleksiw
“Debris” from the collection A Kind of Madness by Uche Okonkwo
“Good Enough” from the collection A Small Thing to Want by Shuly Cawood

This Cursed House – Del Sandeen (CW)
Shred Sisters – Betsy Lerner (EF) (audiobook)
Armadale – Wilkie Collins (CW)
The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts – Mary Claire Haver, MD (EF)
Read the recent article about Dr. Mary Claire Haver in the New York Times.
A Little Bit Country – Brian D. Kennedy (CW)
Where They Last Saw Her – Marcie R. Rendon (EF)
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking – Tina Oziewicz, illustrated by Aleksandra Zajac and translated by Jennifer Croft (CW)
Something, Someday – Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Christian Robinson (CW)

– Biblio Adventure –
Emily went with her daughter Rachel and granddaughter Neena to the Guilford Free Library. Where they picked up a copy Miss MacDonald Has a Farm by Kalee Gwarjanski, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic.

Chris virtually attended an event via Concord Festival of Authors, “The Scrolls of the Past Burn My Fingers”: Reviving Margaret Fuller with Professors Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall co-editors of the forthcoming Margaret Fuller: Collected Writing (LOA #388).

Chris went to Breakwater Books where the owner gave her a copy of The Lilac People by Milo Todd.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily will be attending the Cherry Bombe member book club of Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

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.

– Upcoming Reads –
Fingersmith – Sarah Waters (CW)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (CW)
Night Side of the River – Jeanette Winterson (EF)

– Spotlight with Marcia Clark and Our Mystery Man –
You can learn more about Marcia Clark here.
Her new book is Trial By Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham.
You can learn more about John here.
You can also follow his interviews with mystery authors on his YouTube Channel Central Booking.

– Poem Read by Emily –

Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

– 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 –
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin
Check out the Book Cougars Nonfiction November Video
Indigo by Beverly Jenkins
Drafting the Past podcast
The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis
Also by Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White and The Moonstone
Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon
O Beautiful by Jung Yun
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Proof of Guilt: Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America by Kathleen A. Cairns

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 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!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 169 - Author Spotlight with Marcia Clark and Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Book Cougars Episode 169

Episode One Hundred Sixty Nine 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 – [1:40]
Take What You Need – Idra Novey (EF) release date 3/14/2023
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon (CW)

– Just Read – [4:19]
Constance Fenimore Woolson: Collected Stories – Constance Fenimore Woolson (CW)
The Seas – Samantha Hunt (EF)
Chris dnf’d The Archivist – Rex Pickett (CW)
On Writing: A Memoir Of the Craft – Stephen King (EF)(CW)(audio)
Check out the essay: Reading Audiobooks for my Dad, Stephen King by Owen King.
Sweet Thursday (Cannery Row #2) – John Steinbeck (CW)
Shame – Annie Ernaux (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [27:30]
Chris and Emily visited the Lenox Library in Lenox, MA when they went north to visit The Mount.

Emily attended a virtual Biblio Adventure via the San Francisco Public Library in celebration of their One City One Book selection, This is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life; with Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, moderated by Piper Kerman author of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. A video of the event is available here.

Chris went on a walkabout in New Haven visiting The Institute Library, Grey Matter Books where she found a copy of A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton, and Barnes and Noble-The Yale Bookstore.

Emily visited The Bookworm of Edward’s Colorado.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [1:02:52]
Chris and Emily have a joint jaunt planned to Amherst, MA on November 30th to go to a screening of the pop opera Emily & Sue at Amherst College hosted by the newly renovated Emily Dickinson Museum. They plan to take a tour of the museum earlier in the day.

– Upcoming Reads – [40:21]
Deliverance – James Dickey (CW)
Inciting Joy – Ross Gay (EF)

– Out Now – []
A Ghost of Caribou – Alice Henderson
Dark Rivers to Cross – Lynne Reeves (EF)
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family – Rabia Chadry

– Author Spotlight with Marcia Clark and Our Mystery Man John Valeri – [45:30]
We talk with Marcia about her new novel The Fall Girl. Learn more about Marcia here.

– Also Mentioned –
The Lottery – Shirley Jackson
The Book of Delights – Ross Gay
Central Booking with John Valeri

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!

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

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