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!

Check out our
BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly
newsletter.

Episode 176 - We're in a New York State of Mind

Book Cougars Episode 176

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

– Patreon Giveaway News –
Congratulations to Julie who won the February Patreon giveaway: The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls by Miriam Darlington.
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.  

– Currently Reading – [2:42]
Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley (CW)(EF) (audio)
Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon (CW)
Fieldwork: A Forager’s Memoir – Iliana Regan (EF)

– Just Read – [8:10]
The Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling – Madge Jenison (CW)
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks (EF)
Sarah and the Big Wave: The True Story of the First Woman to Surf Mavericks – Bonnie Tsui, Illustrated by Sophie Diao (EF)
A Singer’s Romance – Willa Cather (CW) (Learn more about the short story project.)
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)(audio)
Where Snow Angels Go – Maggie O’Farrell, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini (EF)
Ms. Demeanor – Elinor Lipman (EF)
Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson (EF) release date 3/7/2023

– Biblio Adventures – [39:25]
Chris and Emily went to Playhouse on Park and saw the production of Indecent by Paula Vogel and stopped for a browse at Riverbend Bookshop in West Hartford.

Chris and Emily spent two days in New York City. Chris was doing research on Madge Jenison at the main branch of the New York Public Library. Emily got a chance to meet Elinor Lipman at an event via Book the Writer; Chris browsed in Book Culture while Emily was at the event. On day two they had brunch at Russ & Daughters Café with the author Matthew Goodman, visited the Virginia Woolf exhibit and the updated gift shop at the library, and shopped for office supplies at Kinokuniya Books.

Thanks to Anne in Austin, Emily had a virtual biblio adventure watching the first episode of Truth Be Told based on the novel, Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber.

Chris attended a lecture through the Bibliographical Society about the library of the Elliots of Minto presented by Meghan Constantinou.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:01:56]
Chris is planning to attend an event on Tuesday, February 28th at 4pm (ET) at the Beinecke Library titled Cow, Codex, Collagen: The Many Lives of Parchment with Bruce Holsinger, author of On Parchment: Animals, Archives, and the Making of Culture from Herodotus to the Digital Age.

April 28-30, 2023: Newburyport Literary Festival

May 5-6, 2023: Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT

Emily is heading to California to visit Aunt Ellen.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:02:40]
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)
Speak for the Dead – Amy Tector – (EF) release date 3/14/2023
The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence – David Waldstreicher (CW)

– Out Now – [01:05:40]
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age – Katherine May

– Also Mentioned –
Burn the Place – Iliana Regan
Zora Neale Hurston
Pen America Award
Why We Swim – Bonnie Tsui
“Nanette: An Aside” – Willa Cather
The Song of the Lark – Willa Cather
A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles
Jean Hanff Korelitz
Stacy Schiff
Mameve Medwed
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Serial Podcast
The Grolier Club

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 175 - He’s BAAACK! Our Mystery Man, John Valeri

Our Mystery Man John Valeri

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

– Announcing our 24th Readalong –
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
. The paperback is available from Bookshop.org, the audiobook from Libro.fm to support the Book Cougars. Join the online conversation on the Goodreads thread.

– Currently Reading – [4:26]
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)(audio)
The Book by Amaranth Borsuk (CW)

– Episode Sponsor – [9:27]
Episode 175 is sponsored by A Castle in Brooklyn by Shirley Russak Wachtel. Learn more about Shirley and her debut novel here.

– Just Read – [10:07]
Cooking with Mushrooms: A Fungi Lover’s Guide to the World’s Most Versatile, Flavorful, Health-Boosting Ingredients – Andrea Gentl (EF)
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks (CW)
This Must be the Place – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)
Endpapers – Jennifer Savran Kelly (CW)
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club – J Ryan Stradal (EF) release date 4/18/2023
Alfred A. Knopf: A Quarter Century – designed by W.A. Dwiggins (CW)
Beartown – Fredrik Backman (EF)
Why We Swim – Bonnie Tsui (EF)(audio)

– Biblio Adventures – [44:11]
Chris made a series of three styles of books. Follow this link to learn how to make them.

Emily started to watch Dear Edward streaming on Apple TV, based on the novel by Ann Napolitano.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [49:10]
Chris is planning to attend two virtual events:
Center for Printing History and Culture on February 16th the focus is Women in Print: Design and Identities. Learn more here.
March 2nd 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. Register here.  

– Upcoming Reads – [51:22]
Pie: A Global History – Janet Clarkson
Hagitude: Reimaging the Second Half of Life – Sharon Blackie (EF)
The Warden – Anthony Trollope email if interest in joining the Buddy Read, Saturday, March 11th 5pm (ET)
The Lady with the Borzoi: Blanche Knopf, Literary Tastemaker Extraordinaire – Laura Claridge (CW)

– Out Now – [55:02]
The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls – Miriam Darlington
Out of Character – Jenna Miller
End of Story – Kylie Scott

– Our Mystery Man John Valeri – [55:48]
You can learn more about John here and be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel, Central Booking.
Books recommended by John:
Nine Liars – Maureen Johnson
All the Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham
Reef Road – Deborah Goodrich Royce
The Drift – C.J. Tudor
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe – Mark Dawidziak
Every Man a King: A King Oliver Novel – Walter Mosley

– Also Mentioned –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains – Keri Arsenault
Learn more about Enheduanna, the earliest known named author in history
Gilgamesh
Atomic Anna – Rachel Barenbaum
The Wok: Recipes and Techniques – J. Kenji López-Alt             
Horse – Geraldine Brooks
Out of Character – Jenna Miller
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
Also by J Ryan Stradal: Kitchens of the Great Midwest and The Lager Queen of Minnesota
Reading Envy podcast
Also by Fredrik Bachman: Us Against You and The Winners
Author Shuly Cawood
Booktuber Russell Gray of Ink and Paper Blog
Author Marcia Clark
Also by Deborah Goodrich Royce: Finding Mrs. Ford and Ruby Falls
The Chalk Man – C.J. Tudor
Author John Connolly
Little Free Library organization

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, please email for instructions.

Join our
Goodreads Group!

Check out our
BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Please subscribe to our
newsletter.

Episode 174 - Author Spotlight with Jenna Miller

Author Spotlight with Jenna Miller

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

– Listener Top Eleven of 2022 –
We collected the Top Ten Reads of 2022 from our listeners. There were over 70 respondents with a total of 427 books! If you are interested in receiving a copy of the spreadsheet please send an email. We created a shop on our Bookshop.org page for you to learn more about the Top Eleven Books.

The top author mentions included: Maggie O’ Farrell, Ann Patchett, Elizabeth Strout, Kate Quinn, Colson Whitehead, Louise Erdrich, Louise Penny, Richard Powers, Stephen King, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and William Kent Kreuger.

– Announcing our 24th Readalong –
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
. The paperback is available from Bookshop.org, the audiobook from Libro.fm to support the Book Cougars.

In order to be entered into the giveaway for a copy, join our newsletter by February 1st.

Please send an email if you would like to participate in the Zoom conversation on Sunday, February 26th at 7 PM (ET). And we would love for you to join the online conversation on the Goodreads thread.

– Our 2023 Reading Intentions – [7:30]
Chris and Emily both set a Reading Challenge with a goal of 52 books.
Emily hopes to read more Maggie O’ Farrell. (9 novels, 1 memoir, 2 kids picture books)
Chris joined the TBR Pile Challenge via Adam at Roof Beam Reader.
Emily wants to read from one new-to-her cookbook per month with a challenge to cook one recipe from each cookbook.
Chris plans to continue the Willa Cather Short Story project with one story per month. Learn more about it here.
Emily wants to read more non-fiction and she wants to try to read an hour each morning uninterrupted by technology.

Please join in the conversation about 2023 Reading Intentions on our Goodreads thread.

– Currently Reading – [20:00]
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks (CW)
This Must be the Place – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)

– Just Read – [23:22]
Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People – Tracy Kidder (EF)(audio)
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with Slavery Across America – Clint Smith (CW)(audio)
A Heart that Works – Rob Delaney (EF)(audio)
The Winter of Our Discontent – John Steinbeck (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [37:20]
Chris and Emily met with the Vintage Book Club at the Wood Memorial Library & Museum in South Windsor, CT to discuss The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston where they browsed at Brattle Bookshop, Beacon Hill Books & Cafe, and Commonwealth Books.

Emily went to Northampton, MA to see Tracy Kidder in conversation with Dr. O’Connell discussing his new book Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People.

Chris has started her new (and last!) semester of Library School. The History of the Book with two books: The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarians, and Others by Sidney E. Berger and The Book by Amaranth Borsuk.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [54:28]
Chris and Emily are hoping to go on a joint jaunt to RJ Julia in Madison on Tuesday, February 21 at 7pm to see Will Schwalbe and his new book We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship.

Emily is hoping to catch Laura Zigman on book Tour with her newest novel, Small World.

– Upcoming Reads – [55:12]
Fieldwork: A Forager’s Memoir – Iliana Regan (EF)
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)(audio)
Speak for the Dead: A Dominon Archives Mystery – Amy Tector (CW) release date March 14, 2023
Endpapers – Jennifer Savran Kelly (CW) release date February 7, 2023

Out Now: [57:16]
Small World – Laura Zigman
Decent People – De’shawn Charles Winslow
Georgie, All Along: An Uplifting and Unforgettable Love Story – Kate Clayborn
Exiles – Jane Harper
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks

– Author Spotlight with Jenna Miller – [57:55]
We had a great time chatting with Jenna about her debut novel Out of Character which is available for pre-order now!
Learn more about Jenna.
Jenna’s literary inspirations include: Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Julie Murphy, and Becky Albertalli.

– Episode Sponsor – [1:28:13]
Today’s Episode sponsored by Shuly Cawood and her book A Small Thing to Want.
We spoke with Shuly about the book on Episode 100.

– Also Mentioned –
LibraryThing – a place to catalog reading
There is a group reading the 8 novels of Louise Erdrich – contact @katie_sikkes on Instragram
True Grit – Charles Portis
Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
Also by Geraldine Brooks – Horse and March
Also by Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet and The Marriage Plot
Television series Catastrophe and Bad Sisters
Something Rotten! musical
A Farewell to ArmsErnest Hemingway
Mountain Beyond Mountains – Tracy Kidder
Agate Publishing
The Foulest Things: A Dominion Archives Mystery – Amy Tector
Malinda Lo
Rainbow Rowell

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, please email for instructions.

Join our
Goodreads Group!

Check out our
BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Please subscribe to our
email newsletter.

Episode 173 - Emily's Hidden Reading Slump and Chris's Return to Practical Magic

Book Cougars Episode 173

Episode One Hundred Seventy Three Show Notes

KEY:
CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– Episode Sponsor – Today’s Episode sponsored by Shuly Cawood and her book A Small Thing to Want. We spoke with Shuly about the book on Episode 100.

– Announcing our 24th Readalong –
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
. The paperback is available from Bookshop.org, 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, February 26th at 7 PM (ET). And we would love for you to join the online conversation on the Goodreads thread.

Send Us Your Top Ten Books of 2022

– Currently Reading – [3:31]
The Winter of Our Discontent – John Steinbeck (CW)
Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People – Tracy Kidder (EF)
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with Slavery Across America – Clint Smith (CW)(audio)
Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon (CW)

– Just Read – [9:28]
Oona Out of Order – Margarita Montimore (EF)
The Rules of Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)
Trespasses – Louise Kennedy (EF)
The Wok: Recipes and Techniques – J. Kenji López-Alt (CW)
The Change – Kirsten Miller (EF)
Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano (EF) release date 3/14/2023
What the Fortune Teller Would Have Said – Shuly Cawood (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [35:06]
Chris did some shopping at two used bookstores: The Book Barn in Niantic, CT and Bennett’s Books in Deep River, CT.

Emily attended a cooking class with the cookbook author Julia Turshen.

Chris had a Couch Biblio Adventure watching the new Interview with a Vampire television series based on the novel by Anne Rice.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to New Haven where they visited one of their favorite Little Free Library’s in Wooster Square and had lunch at Haven Hot Chicken.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [47:52]
Chris and Emily will be meeting with the Vintage Book Club on Thursday, January 19th at 1:00 pm (ET) at the Wood Memorial Library & Museum in South Windsor, CT to discuss The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck. Please join us!

Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to browse at Brattle Bookshop in Boston, MA.

Emily is going to Northampton, MA to see Tracy Kidder in conversation with Dr. O’Connell discussing his new book Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People. Learn more about the event here.

– Upcoming Reads – [47:54]
The Winter of Our Discontent – John Steinbeck (EF)
The Warden – Anthony Trollope (CW)

– Out Now – [50:11]
The Deluge – Stephen Markley
Reef Road – Deborah Goodrich Royce (EF)
Check out Our Mystery Man talking with Royce on
Central Booking Episode 124
Night Wherever We Go – Tracey Rose Peyton

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Tracy Kidder: The Soul of a New Machine and Mountains Beyond Mountains
Also by Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic, Magic Lessons, Faithful
The Food Lab – J. Kenji López-Alt
Also by Ann Napolitano: A Good Hard Look and Dear Edward
Little Women
Interview with a Vampire movie

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
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!

Please subscribe to our
email newsletter.

Episode 171 - Author Spotlight with Marcie R. Rendon

Book Cougars Episode 171

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

Chris read the poem “The Margin” from the poetry collection The Historians: Poems by Eavan Boland.

– Currently Reading – [3:31]
The Writing Retreat – Julia Bartz (CW) release date 2/21/23
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age – Katherine May (EF) release date 2/28/23
The Library Book – Susan Orlean (CW)
Listen to Episode 62 when Chris and Emily chat about seeing Susan on a Biblio Adventure in New York City back in 2018
How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope – edited by James Crews (EF)
Emily read the poem “Improvement” by Danusha Laméris.

– Just Read – [14:36]
Reef Road – Deborah Goodrich Royce (EF) release date 1/10/23
The Foulest Things: A Dominion Archives Mystery – Amy Tector (CW)
Night Wherever We Go – Tracey Rose Peyton (EF) release date 1/3/23
The Light We Carry – Michelle Obama (EF)(audio)
Murder on the Red River – Marcie. R. Rendon (CW)(EF)(audio)

– Biblio Adventures – [30:26]
Chris started watching Three Pines based on the novels by Louise Penny.
Emily watched From Scratch on Netflix based on the novel by Tembi Locke.
Emily tuned in to via the Library of Congress to watch Jason Reynolds: Closing Celebration for National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.   

– Upcoming Jaunts – [54:38]
Chris is hoping to watch Kindred, the series based on the novel by Octavia Butler.

Emily is hoping to watch Bullet Train based on the novel by Kotaro Isara.

Chris and Emily are planning a joint jaunt to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. In preparation, Emily is planning to read Stowe’s short story “The Pearl of Orr’s Island.” Stowe is best known for her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

– Upcoming Reads – [41:24]
A World of Curiosities – Louise Penny (CW)
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Marcie R. Rendon – [01:07:22]
We chat with Marcie about our fourth quarter readalong:  Murder on the Red River. The next two books in the series are Girl Gone Missing and Sinister Graves.
You can learn more about Marcie here.

– Also Mentioned –
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May
Elizabeth Gilbert
White River Books
Speak for the Dead – Amy Tector
Alice Henderson
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake – Tiya Miles
Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer
Jacqueline Woodson
Mark Twain House
Firekeeper’s Daughter – Angelline Bouilley
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl
Stephen King
Kurt Wallender Series by Henning Mankell
John Sanford
John Grisham
Shutter – Ramona Emerson

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!

Please subscribe to our
email 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
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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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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
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Episode 119 - Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein

Book Cougars - Episode 119.jpg

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

You can read our Blog Post with Redfin Real Estate on How to Create the Perfect Home Reading Nook here.

– Currently Reading –
Faviken: 1415 Days Beginning to End – Magnus Nilsson (EF)
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day – Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (CW)
Hamnet – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)
The House on Vesper Sands – Paraic O’ Donnell (CW) release date 1/12/2021

– Just Read –
Legends of the North Cascades – Jonathan Evison (EF) release date 6/8/21
Hide Away – Jason Pinter (CW)
Send for Me – Lauren Fox (EF) release date 2/2/21
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown (CW) (audiobook)
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May (EF) (audiobook)
A Granted Prayer – Edith Wharton (CW)
Olive, Again – Elizabeth Strout (EF)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched two conversations with Elizabeth Strout in conversation with Meg Wolitzer through The Strand, watch it here and with the Book Maven (Bethanne Patrick) via Politics and Prose Bookstore, watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 14, 7:30 pm (EST) - Chris and Emily both plan to attend a conversation between Min Jin Lee & Jennifer Buehler focused on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The event is being hosted by Greenlight Bookstore and is free but you need to register here.

Emily is planning to watch the television series Olive Kitteridge starring Frances McDormand based on the book by Elizabeth Strout.

– Upcoming Reads –
Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 2/2/21
Breast and Eggs – Mieko Kawakami (translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd) (EF)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein –
Bill is an author, book critic, editor, journalist, and moderator extraordinaire. His book is  
The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster, and the Year that Changed Literature.
You can learn more about Bill here.

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
A Stranger at the Door - Jason Pinter
Xingu – Edith Wharton
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
The Wife – Meg Wolitzer
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Norman Mailer
Lolita – Vladimir Nobokov
Lincoln – Gore Vidal
Robert Caro
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Larry Kramer
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow
this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)

Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click
HERE to start shopping.

Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase
Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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
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Please subscribe to our email newsletter
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Episode 88 - Sally Field the AUTHOR

Book Cougars - Episode 88.jpeg

Episode Eighty Eight Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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!

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Please subscribe to our email newsletter
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– 11th Readalong –
Free Food for Millionnaires – Min Jin Lee
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE. We will record with Min on October 30th.

– Currently Reading –
Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo (CW)
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – Anne Lamott (EF)

– Just Read –
The Professor’s House – Willa Cather (CW)
The Gifted School – Bruce Holsinger (EF)
A Wagner Matinée – Willa Cather (CW)
part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins (EF) release date January 21, 2020
Thoughts in Solitude – Thomas Merton (CW)
In Pieces – Sally Field (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers to see Karl Marlantes talk about his new book Deep River and to see Daniel Leader discuss his new book Living Bread: Tradition and Innovation in Artisan Bread Making.

Chris watched the movie Late Night

Chris hosted The Willa Cather Book Club at Wood Memorial Library where they discussed The Professor’s House

Emily watched the first part of Big Little Lies based on the novel by Liane Moriarty

Emily went on a jaunt to NYC and saw the Jefferson Market Library and saw the play Sunday by Jack Thorne

Chris and Emily attended the Hachette Book Group Bookclub Brunch in New York City:
Sally Field in conversation with her editor Millicent Bennett
Emma Straub in conversation with Susannah Cahalan discussing her books The Great Pretender and Brain On Fire
Nonfiction Panel:
Moderator Bill Goldstein – The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature
Ryan Leigh Dostie – Formation: A Woman’s Memoir of Stepping Out of Line
Leslie Jamison – Make It Scream, Make It Burn
Mychal Denzel Smith – Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man’s Education
Fiction Panel:
Moderator Karen Kosztolnyik, VP, Editor in Chief for Grand Central Publishing
Kira Jane Buxton – Hollow Kingdom
Leni Zumas – Red Clocks
Alix E. Harrow – The Ten Thousand Doors of January

– Upcoming Adventures –
November 1, 2019 – Happier Hour an Evening with Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft hosts of the Happier Podcast
November 7-10, 2019 – Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival

– Upcoming Reads –
Alta California: From San Diego to San Francisco, A Journey on Foot to Rediscover the Golden State – Nick Neely (CW)
The Shape of Night – Tess Gerritsen (EF)
All the F*cking Mistakes: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life – Gigi Engle (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
How We Fight For Our Lives – Saeed Jones
On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft – Stephen King
BOOK CLUB On the Go
A Lantern in Her Hand – Bess Streeter Aldrich
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions – Valeria Luiselli
The Seven Storey Mountain – Thomas Merton
Matterhorn – Karl Marlantes
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
NaNoWriMo
Maxwell Perkins
Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant – Anne Tyler
DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder
Will Schwalbe