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 217 - Author Spotlight with James R. Benn

Author James R. Benn

Episode 217 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens (CW)
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.
That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in American – Amanda Jones (CW) (audiobook)
The Mighty Red – Louise Erdrich (EF) release date 10/1/2024

– Just Read –
Envy – Sandra Brown (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
The Most – Jessica Anthony (EF)
The Gathering – C.J. Tudor (CW)
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver (EF) (audiobook)
Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story – Lynn Ames (CW)

Emily read two short stories:
“The Miracle Years of Little Fork” by Rebecca Makkai from the collection Music for Wartime and published in Summer 2015 Ploughshares literary magazine. “Why Were They Throwing Bricks?” by Jenny Zhang from the collection Sour Heart and published in Spring 2017 n+1 literary magazine.

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris and Laura continue to rewatch the Harry Potter movies.

Emily had two couch biblio adventures, Slow Horses season four based on the book Spook Street by Mick Herron and she finished Presumed Innocent based on the novel by Scott Turow.

Emily visited the New Canaan Public Library.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily will be attending portions of the Windham Campbell festival. The Lydia Davis lecture “Why I Write” is available to watch here.  

Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to Chester, CT for the grand opening of Montgomery & Taggert, Connecticut’s first Romance Bookstore!

On October 9th Chris and Emily are heading to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.

– Upcoming Reads –
Murder in the Smithsonian – Margaret Truman (CW)(EF)
Swan Song – Elin Hildebrand (EF)
Classic’s Club is doing a “sync read” of all of Jane Austen’s novels. Learn more here.

– Out Now –
Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book – Kate Atkinson
So Thirsty – Rachel Harrison
If Anything Happens to Me – Luanne Rice

– Author Spotlight with James R. Benn –
We talk with James R. Benn about his new novel The Phantom Patrol
Learn more about James and his book tour here.

– Also Mentioned –
Download the Romance Bingo Card!
Author Marcie Rendon
Author Cal Newport
Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony
James by Percival Everett
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Broadstairs in Kent
McNally Jackson booksellers
The New Yorker Magazine
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust [check out #ProustPilotProject and ]
Why I Write by George Orwell
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Author David Niven
Author J.D. Salinger; The Stranger short story and Catcher in the Rye
Author Jean Conan Doyle
Author Philip Kerr
Author Ian Fleming

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

Rebecca Romney photo credit Dave Pappas

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.