Episode 198 - Top Ten Reads of 2023 with BookTuber Russell Gray of Ink and Paper Blog

Episode 198 with BookTuber Russell Gray

Episode One Hundred Ninety Eight Show Notes

– 1st Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins.  

Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, March 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

We’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

You can stream the documentary Love Between the Covers for free.

– Listener Top Ten –
Let us know your Top Ten Books of 2023

– Episode Sponsor –
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Chris chose a hard cover: No One Can Know – Kate Alice Marshall
Emily chose a hard cover: A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Use the code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5

– Russell’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –  (Follow Russell on his Booktube Channel: Ink and Paper Blog)
The Road to Dalton – Shannon Bowring
Little Monsters – Adrienne Brodeur
Alice Sadie Celine – Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Day – Michael Cunningham
Wellness – Nathan Hill (audiobook)
North Woods – Daniel Mason ((audiobook)
The Only One Left – Riley Sager
The Late Americans – Brandon Taylor
The Daughter Ship – Boo Trundle
In Memoriam – Alice Winn
Family Meal – Bryan Washington

– Chris’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –
The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarians, and Others – Sidney E. Berger
Wilma Rogers – Sophia Belzer Engstrand
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin (audiobook)
Endpapers – Jennifer Savran Kelly (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 178)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 189)
The September House – Carissa Orlando
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Meghan Marshall
Emily Dickinson Face to Face – Martha Dickinson Bianchi

– Emily’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –
Lark Ascending – Silas House
The Queen of Dirt Island – Donal Ryan (NPR Book of the Day conversation with Donal Ryan)
Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough – Shuly Cawood  (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 191)
Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life – Homa Dashtaki
Morning in This Broken World – Katrina Kittle (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 188)
Rough Sleepers – Tracy Kidder (audiobook)
Zorrie – Laird Hunt
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins

– Favorite Biblio Adventures –
City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco – Brandon Taylor
A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland, CA with Lauren Groff talking about The Vaster Wilds
The Old Manse in Concord, MA
The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, MA
Galivanting around Berkeley, CA with Aunt Ellen

– Upcoming Reads We Are Excited About –
James – Percival Everett release date 3/19/24
The Fury – Alix Michaelides release date 1/16/24
Real Americans – Rachel Khong release date 4/30/24
Last Night – Luanne Rice release date 2/1/24
Memory Piece – Lisa Ko release date 3/19/24
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki release date 3/19/24
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks – Crystal Wilkinson release date 1/23/24
The Twilight Garden – Sara Nisha Adams release date 4/9/24

– Also Mentioned –
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Flame and the Flower – Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
Southernmost – Silas House
Read Appalachia
Ann Patchett
The Institute Library of New Haven
Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize
The Hours film
The White Mustache Yogurt Company
Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook – Sohla El-Waylly
The Nix – Nathan Hill
Ryan – ReadbyRyan on Instagram
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Vulnerables – Sigrid Nunez
Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout
The Woman in Me – Brittany Spears
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix
March – Geraldine Brooks
Also by Brandon Taylor: Real Life and Filthy Animals
Also by Paul Tremblay: The Cabin at the End of the World, The Beast You Are: Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, and A Head Full of Ghosts
The Mad Women’s Ball – Victoria Mas (translated by Frank Wynne)
John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, and The Absolutist
Pip Williams – The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder
McNally Editions
Barbara Kingsolver
Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel
Also by Bryan Washington: Lot and Memorial
Evidence of Things Unseen – Marianne Wiggins
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Also by Percival Everett – The Trees, Erasure, and Telephone
Documentary about Percival Everett: Through the Writer’s Mirror
The Silent Patient – Alix Michaelides
Goodbye, Vitamin – Rachel Khong
The Leavers – Lisa Ko
The Birds of Opulence – Crystal Wilkinson
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams

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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Episode 196 - Trying Not To Go Viral

Book Cougars Episode 196

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

– Patreon Giveaway –
House of Caravans by Shilpi Suneja
Become a member of our Patreon Community by December 15th to be automatically entered to win.

– Currently Reading – [1:50]
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America – Heather Cox Richardson (CW)(audiobook)
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea – Debra Magpie Earling (EF)
Librarians Guide to Online Research – Christopher C. Brown (CW)
Tenderheart: A Cookbook about Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds – Hettie Lui McKinnon (CW)

– Just Read – [6:23]
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary – Simon Winchester (EF)(audiobook)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (CW)
Sea Change – Frank Viva (EF)
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin (CW) (audiobook)
The Last Love Note – Emma Grey (EF)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Megan Marshall (CW)
Grief is for People – Sloane Crosley (EF) release date 2/27/2024
The Bookbinder – Pip Williams (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [47:36]
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Emily chose an audiobook: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey narrated by Leeanna Walsman. Chris chose a hard cover: The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak.
Use code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5.

– Biblio Adventures – [56:41]
Chris had a Zoom conversation with her fellow buddy readers of The Paradiso by Dante Alighieri.

Emily went to the Guilford Library to hear Adres Dubus III discuss his new novel Such Kindness. Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure watching Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:01:07]
Chris and Emily are heading to Drama Works Theater to see Laura Thoma’s play “Miss Margaret’s Barton Cottage Christmas Surprise.” The show runs from December 15-17. Tickets are available here.   

Chris is joining an online event via the Harry Ransom Center titled “Lost Books: The Dark Matter of the Early Modern English Book Trade” featuring Alan B. Farmer. The video is available here.

Chris is attending a virtual Author Talk via the Boston Athenaeum, “Robert Darnton: The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1790.” Online tickets are available here.

Emily is looking forward to watching the third season of Slow Horses on Apple TV based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron. This season is based on the third novel, Real Tigers.

Emily is planning to see Ileana Douglas at the Durham Public Library discussing her new book Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:05:35]
The Iliad – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)
If you are interested in joining The Iliad buddy read, send an email or get in touch via Instagram.
The Queen of Dirt Island – Donal Ryan (EF)
Are You Somebody – Nuala O’Faolain (EF)

– Out Now – [01:09:29]
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories – Louise Kennedy

– Also Mentioned –
Milkweed Editions
Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize
I Was Told There’d Be Cake – Sloane Crosley
Dirty Love – Andre Dubus III
Jane Austen
Nothing Good Can Come From This: Essays – Kristi Coulter

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 195 - Hooked by Nonfiction November & 2023 Holiday Gift Ideas

Episode 195 - 2023 Bookish Gift Ideas

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

– Currently Reading – [:25]
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments from the Lost Kitchen – Erin French (EF)(audiobook)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Megan Marshall (CW)
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family – Rabia Chaudry (EF)
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America – Heather Cox Richardson (CW)(audiobook)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary – Simon Winchester (EF)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (CW)
Knowledge as a Feeling: How Neuroscience and Psychology Impact Human Information Behavior – Troy Swanson (CW)

Head over to our Booktube channel to hear about our Nonfiction November reads.

– Just Read – [16:22]
After Annie – Anna Quindlen (EF) release date 3/12/24
Moby-Dick Hidden Treasures found poetry – discovered by Stephen Durkee (CW)
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden – Camille T. Dungy (EF) (audiobook)
“Like a Winding Sheet” a short story within Miss Muriel and Other Stories – Ann Petry (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [28:34]
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Emily chose an audiobook: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey narrated by Leeanna Walsman
Chris chose a hard cover: The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak
Use the code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5.

– Biblio Adventures – [30:36]
Emily went to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to see Sigrid Nunez discuss her newest novel, The Vulnerables, with Willard Spiegelman whose most recent book is Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt.

Chris had a lovely visit to Mystic Seaport Museum where she walked aboard The Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. She’s considering a re-read of Moby Dick.

Emily took a jaunt to RJ Julia’s Booksellers in Madison, CT to see Michael Cunningham discuss his new novel, Day, with Amy Bloom. On Episode 153, we spoke with Bloom about her memoir In Love.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [40:45]
Chris is heading into New York City to see a play and is hoping to renew her NYPL library card.  

Emily plans to attend an event at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT on Tuesday, November 28th at 6PM (ET).  Lauren Acampora will be in conversation with Mona Awad discussing her new novel, Rouge.

– Upcoming Reads – [42:24]
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories – Louise Kennedy (EF) release date 12/5/2023
The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, and Eating While Reading – Dwight Garner (EF)
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin

– Episode Sponsor – [45:02]
Liv Macy, author of the Infinites Universe Novels. Learn more about Macy and her series here.

– 2023 Holiday Gift Ideas – [45:42]
Head over to our
Booktube channel to see visual representations of some of these gift ideas
🎁 A Bookbrowse Gift Membership
🎁 North American Reciprocal Museum Association Membership
🎁 Book Letters derived from vintage books
🎁 Reading Headlights. Emily has a Petzl from LL Bean and Chris has a Glocusent
🎁 Decorate paper and transcribe a poem or quote upon it
🎁 The 2023 New York Public Library Holiday Gift Catalog
🎁 Literary Board game: Really Loud Librarians
🎁 Book Embosser
🎁 Author Bobblehead (Bram Stoker) and custom bobbleheads via Bobble for a Cause
🎁 Custom Family Recipe Tea Towels
🎁 Create a Biblio Adventure Car Kit

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Also Mentioned –
Finding Freedom – Erin French
The Old Manse
Mystic Seaport Museum
Adnan’s Story – Rabia Chaudry
Undisclosed podcast
Also by Sigrid Nunez: The Friend and What Are You Going Through
The Hours – Michael Cunningham
Trespasses – Louise Kennedy

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 185 - Book Cougars Prowling in the Midwest

Book Cougars Episode 185

Episode One Hundred Eighty Five 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)

– Currently Reading – [2:19]
The New Town Librarian – Kathy Anderson (CW)
Avid Reader: A Life – Robert Gottlieb (CW)
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI – David Grann (EF)

– Just Read – [12:10]
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman (EF) (discussing the book on her Instagram feed)
Ulysses – James Joyce (CW)
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
The Better Half – Alli Frank, Asha Youmans (EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [22:04]
Episode 185 is sponsored Come with Me by Erin Flanagan. Learn more about Erin here.

– Biblio Adventures – [22:40]
Chris went on vacation to Chicago. She met with friend and listener of the podcast Colleen and they browsed through Women & Children First where Chris purchased a copy of In Praise of Good Bookstores by Jeff Deutsch. They grabbed lunch at Lady Gregory’s. She found a little free library in front of Graham Crackers Comics and also stopped at Frugal Muse Books where she picked up two copies of Alice Hoffman’s The Red Garden. Due to a flight delay, she was able to stop in at the airport outpost of Barbara’s Bookstore where she picked up Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong. Chris’s wife Laura met a friend at The Understudy, a theater bookstore and coffee shop.

Emily visited her daughter in Traverse City, MI where she (and the Gentleman Caller) installed a little free library for her birthday. They drove up to Leelanau Peninsula and browsed Bay Books and came across a stack of books by Viola Shipman, the pen name for Wade Rouse. Viola was Wade’s grandmother and inspired his writing, read more about her here. They also visited Blue Vase Book Exchange in Interlochen, MI.

Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers to see Gina Barreca in conversation with Helen Ellis about her new essay collection, Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge: Intimate Confessions from a Happy Marriage. Gina was a guest on Episode 132 with her anthology Fast Funny Women.

Chris attended an online class, Masterclass: From Academic to General Readership, via the Arvon Foundation.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [38:32]
Chris and Emily are planning a joint jaunt to Concord, MA on July 12th to visit Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites. The day will end with our readalong conversation of The Scarlet Letter at 4:30 pm (ET). There is both a virtual and a Zoom option. Send an email if you would like to join us. For more details about the itinerary follow this link.

On July 18th Chris is heading to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to hear Nico Raineau in conversation with Lenore Skomal about her book Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter.

Emily is hoping to visit some bookstores in Ann Arbor, MI on her drive home.

– Upcoming Reads – [48:01]
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem – Stacy Schiff (CW)
The Peabody Sisters – Megan Marshall (CW)
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (EF)(CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Killers of the Flowers Moon movie directed by Martin Scorsese due out in October 2023
Edith Wharton’s The Mount
Seminary Co-op Bookstores
Lady Gregory’s Restaurant
The Blithedale Romance – Nathaniel Hawthorne

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!

Check out our
BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly
newsletter.

Episode 182 - Biblio Adventure Bonanza: Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

Book Cougars Episode 182

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

– Currently Reading – [1:00]
Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America – Krista Burton (CW) release date 6/6/23
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams (CW)(EF)
Cat Brushing – Jane Campbell (CW)

– Just Read – [8:37]
Budmo! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen – Anna Voloshyna (EF)
Shakespeare and Company – Sylvia Beach (CW)

– Biblio Adventures – [17:31]
Chris and Emily went to see the movie Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret based on the book by Judy Blume.  

Chris watched Fried Green Tomatoes based on the book by Fannie Flagg.

Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers to see Mary Beth Keane talk about her new book The Half Moon.

Chris went to Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. She also visited Monroe Street Books in Middlebury where she purchased: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton, A Manual of Archive Administration by Hilary Jenkinson, and So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabrielle Zaid. On the drive home she made stops at Rodgers Book Barn in Hillsdale, NY and Oblong Books in Millerton, NY.

– Episode Sponsor – [38:58]
Episode 182 is sponsored by Rewriting Illness by Elizabeth Benedict. Learn more about Elizabeth here.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:52]
Chris will be celebrating World Dracula Day on May 26th with plans to work on a puzzle and listen to an audiobook of the book.

Emily is going to try watching the television series Bridgerton based on the books by Julia Quinn.

– Our Big Book Summer Reading Challenge – [43:05]
We are joining our friend Sue Jackson’s summer reading challenge by reading a book that is over 400 pages. The challenge runs from May 25 – September 4. Learn more on her blog.

Ulysses – James Joyce (CW)
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of New America – Gilbert King (EF) (audio)  
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Novels that Emily is considering:
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliott Dark
The Great Reclamation – Rachel Heng
Three – Valérie Perrin
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins

Chris might read The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American American Romanticism by Megan Marshall.

– Out Now – [54:54]
Life B: Overcoming Double Depression – Bethanne Patrick
Summer Stage – Meg Mitchell Moore

– Also Mentioned –
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffeneger
Bison Books
Joyce Maynard
Katherine May: Enchantment and Wintering
Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane
Marian Engel
Fresh Water for Flowers – Valerie Perrin
Horace Mann
Nathaniel Hawthorne

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!

Check out our
BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly
newsletter