Episode 85 - Author Spotlight with Mike Branch

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

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– 11th Readalong –
Free Food for Millionnaires – Min Jin Lee
The Goodreads discussion thread will open on October 1st and we will record with Min on October 30th.

– Currently Reading –
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison (CW)
The Sleep Tight Motel – Lisa Unger (CW)
Burn the Place: A Memoir – Iliana Regan (EF)
The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai (EF)

– Just Read –
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna – Juliet Grames (EF)
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT to see author Madeline Miller discuss her book Circe
Emily went to Mystic Seaport Museum
Emily watched Where’d You Go, Bernadette based on the book by Maria Semple
Chris went to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY and visited the James A. Cannavino Library, and the Marist College Bookstore where she picked up a copy of the Fourth Edition of Journalism Next: A Practical Guide to Digital Reporting and Publishing by Mark Briggs.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
September 20th Chris and Emily are hoping to jaunt to Hartford for Books on Pratt

October 5th – Chris and Emily are heading to the Connecticut Literary Festival at Real Artways

November 1st Chris and Emily will be going on a joint jaunt to see Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft of the Happier podcast in Providence, RI

– Upcoming Reads –
Free Food for Millionnaires – Min Jin Lee (EF)
Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane (EF)
A Better Man     – Louise Penny (CW)
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury (CW)
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett (CW)

– Author Spotlight –
Mike Branch, Professor of English at University of Nebraska
Mike’s three most recent books:
Raising Wild: Dispatches from a Home in the Wilderness
Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert
How to Cuss in Western: And Other Missives from the High Desert
Mike read a poem for the Book Cougars April 2018 celebration of National Poetry Month, you can see it HERE.
To learn more about a Jackalope click HERE.

– Also Mentioned –
Readers Imbibing Peril
RiffRaff Bookstore
Author Jean P. Moore
September 22-28th is Banned Books Week
Alison Law – Literary Atlanta podcast
High Country News

Episode 84 - Announcing our 11th Readalong!

Episode Eighty Four 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!

We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– 11th Readalong –
Free Food for Millionnaires – Min Jin Lee
The Goodreads discussion thread will open on October 1st.

– Currently Reading –
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II – Sonia Purnell (CW)
Becoming Willa Cather: Creation and Career – Daryl W. Palmer (CW)
For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity – Liz Plank (EF) release date September 10, 2019
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna – Juliet Grames (EF)

– Just Read –
Midnight at the Blackbird Café – Heather Webber (EF)
Scandal – Willa Cather (CW) which is part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison to see author Jessica Francis Kayne discuss her book Rules for Visiting.

Chris visited the Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, CT. This is the new meeting place for the Willa Cather Book Club; they will be meeting at 2:00 on October 17th discussing The Professor’s House.

Chris had family in town and went to: Mystic Seaport Museum, Savoy Bookstore and Cafe, New York Public Library. Chris got a new Kaweco Classic Sport fountain pen.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
September 5, 2019 – Chris and Emily are planning to go to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison to see author Madeline Miller discuss her book Circe.

Emily hopes to visit Once Upon a Thyme Bookshop in Beavercreek, Ohio.

– Upcoming Reads –
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison (CW)
A Better Man – Louise Penny (CW)
The Testaments – Margaret Atwood (CW) release date September 10, 2019
Margaret Atwood: Live in Cinemas event is September 10, 2019
Read about the Long-Distance Pen created by Margaret Atwood HERE
The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai (EF)
Your Duck Is My Duck: Stories – Deborah Eisenberg (EF)
Property: Stories Between Two Novellas – Lionel Shriver (EF)
If: The Untold Story of Kipling’s American Years – Christopher E.G. Benfey (CW)
Hear his interview with Pamela Paul on the NY Times Book Review podcast HERE.
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death – Caitlin Doughty (CW)
Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil – Susan Neiman (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Savory Bookstore and Café / Bank Square Books
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
Birds of America – John J.  Audobon
Nathaniel Philbrick
The Girl Who Lived Twice – David Lagercrantz
Eye of the Needle – Ken Follett
Donald and the Golden Crayon – P. Shauers
Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson
Barter Hordes Booktube
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too) – Gretchen Rubin
Bookpage Magazine
The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
NY Times 1619 Project
Sapphira and the Slave Girl – Willa Cather

Episode 83 - Chris finishes Middlemarch and Author Spotlight with Linda Kay Klein

Episode Eighty Three 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.

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– Toni Morrison –
Books we mention: The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved
If you are interested in participating in the Fans of Booktopia Song of Solomon readalong, the discussion can be found HERE.

– Currently Reading –
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II – Sonia Purnell (CW)
Becoming Willa Cather: Creation and Career – Daryl W. Palmer (CW)
Midnight at the Blackbird Café – Heather Webber (EF)

– Just Read –
Lady in the Lake – Laura Lippman (EF)
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup – John Carreyrou (EF)(audio)
The Farm – Joanne Ramos (EF)
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW) Chris wrote a review on her blog.
Chris also recommends the audio version performed by Juliet Stevenson and plans to check out the BBC series as well as Rebecca Shoptaw’s adaptation, Middlemarch: The Series.

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris went to Deep River, CT to visit Bennett’s Books
Emily visited Phoenix Books in Burlington, VT
Margaret Atwood: Live in Cinemas event is September 10, 2019

– Upcoming Jaunts –
August 19, 2019 – Chris is planning to go to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison to see author Jessica Francis Kayne discuss her book Rules for Visiting
September 16-23 – Brooklyn Book Festival
October 26, 2019 – Hachette Book Club Brunch: A Day for Readers 2019

– Upcoming Reads –
Vampires of Vermont (News From the Edge #3) – Mark Sumner (CW)
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison (CW)
Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing – Elissa Altman (EF)
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna – Juliet Grames (EF)

– Author Spotlight –
We had a chance to talk with Linda Kay Klein about her book Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free.
You can learn more about Linda and subscribe to her newsletter HERE.

– Also Mentioned –
Ink and Paper Blog You Tube Channel
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg
Sunburn – Laura Lippman
Did You Ever Have a Family – Bill Clegg
Wilde Lake – Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan Series – Laura Lippman
Orange Is the New Black – Piper Kerman
Literary Disco podcast
Other books by Mark Sumner: The Monster of Minnesota and Insanity, Illinois

Episode 82 - Author Spotlight with Fiona Davis

Episode Eighty Two 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!

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

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Currently Reading –
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)
Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer – Bren Smith (EF)
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup – John Carreyrou (EF)
The Farm – Joanne Ramos (EF)
Three Women – Lisa Taddeo (EF)

– Just Read –
A Gold Slipper – Willa Cather (CW) which is part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project
How We Fight For Our Lives – Saeed Jones (EF) release date 10/8/19
Check out his essay Alright Now at Gay Mag

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily went to Raven Café an Edgar Allen Poe themed restaurant in Port Huron, MI

Emily made a stop at Traveler Restaurant in Union, Ct

99% Invisible Episode #354 Weeding is Fundamental

Emily went to Wesleyan RJ Julia to see Bianca Marais discuss her new book If You Want to Make God Laugh

Chris hosted the Willa Cather Bookclub to discuss Sapphira and the Slave Girl. Sadly, Bookclub Bookstore & More has closed its doors, but upcoming quarterly meetings will be at the Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, CT. South Windsor is the birthplace of Jonathan Edwards, a theologian who is famous for the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Check back, the next meeting of the bookclub will be in October, discussing the The Professors House.

Chris took her friend, Janet, to the New York Public Library to see the Walt Whitman exhibit. She also browse Kinokuniya Books. They also did a whirlwind tour of Connecticut bookstores including: Yale Bookstore, Grey Matter Books, Sterling Memorial Library, Beinecke Library, RJ Julia Booksellers, and The Book Barn.

Emily watched The Inventor documentary about Theranos

Emily went to Savoy Bookshop & Cafe to hear Nancy Burns-Fusaro of Westerly Sun discuss Three Women with author Lisa Taddeo.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
August 8, 2019 – Odyssey Bookshop Mary Doria Russell author of The Women of the Copper Country in conversation with Rose Bookbinder.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Ventriloquist – E.R. Ramzipoor (CW) (release date August 27, 2019)
Women Heroes of WWII: 32 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue – Kathryn J. Atwood (CW)
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free – Linda Kay Klein (EF)(CW)
So Long: Stories, 1987-1992 – Lucia Berlin (EF)

– Author Spotlight –
We caught up with Fiona Davis when we were at Book Expo. Her new book, The Chelsea Girls, is available now!
Her book tour details can be found HERE.
Fiona mentioned:
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

– Also Mentioned –
If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca Marais
Prelude to Bruise – Saeed Jones poetry collection
Complete Stories of Flannery O’ Conner
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI - David Grann
Book Nation By Jen
BookBarCT
Bianca Marais recommended two books: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (release date 1/21/20) and Such A Fun Age  by Kiley Reid (release date 1/7/20)
Thy Neighbor’s Wife – Gay Talese
Booktuber Jaclyn: Six Minutes for Me
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster – Jon Krakauer
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
The Masterpiece – Fiona Davis

Episode 81 - We're Back! Author Spotlight with Cheryl Suchors and Jean P. Moore

Episode Eighty One 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!

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

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Currently Reading –
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett (EF) release date 9/24/19
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)

– Just Read –
The Butterfly Girl – Rene Denfeld (EF) release date 10/1/19
A Well-Read Woman: The Life, Loves, and Legacy of Ruth Rappaport – Kate Stewart (CW)
Chris wrote a review of this book on her blog.
Never Have I Ever – Joshilyn Jackson (EF) release date 7/30/19
The Hotel Neversink – Adam O’Fallon Price (CW) 8/6/19
City of Girls – Elizabeth Gilbert (EF)
Evie Drake Starts Over – Linda Holmes (EF)
If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca Marais (CW)(EF)
Chris wrote a review of this book on her blog.

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris presented a paper, and generally immersed herself in all things CATHER, at the 17th International Willa Cather Seminar. She went on several field trips including the, Willow Shade (the home where Willa lived with her family for her first nine years, Capon Springs, National Museum of American History and Culture, Winchester Book Gallery, and The Handley Library. She wrote about the Handley Library on her blog.

Emily did a lot of traveling including:
Ireland: Dubray Books & Trinity Library
Portugal: Bertrand Livreiros
Michigan: McClean & Eakin Booksellers

Emily attended a joint event with RJ Julia Booksellers and Meigs Nature Center featuring Bren Smith and his book Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer

– Upcoming Jaunts –
July 24, 2019 – Wesleyan RJ Julia, Bianca Marais author of If You Want to Make God Laugh in conversation with Jennifer Blankfein.
July 25, 2019 – RJ Julia Booksellers, Jill Abramson author of Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts
July 25, 2019- The Willa Cather Book Club at Bookclub Bookstore & More
July 31, 2019 – Savoy Bookshop & Café, Lisa Taddeo author of Three Women

– Upcoming Reads –
Fleishman Is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner

– Author Spotlight –
48 PEAKS: Hiking and Healing in the White Mountains – Cheryl Suchors
Author Website: www.cherylsuchors.com
Facebook: Cheryl-Suchors-author
Twitter: @cherylsuchors
Instagram: @cherylsuchors

Tilda’s Promise – Jean P. Moore
Author Website: www.jeanpmoore.com (Be sure to check out the Book Group tab!)
Facebook: /JeanPMooreAuthor
Twitter: @jean_pmoore
Instagram: @jeanpmoore

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Rene Denfeld: The Child Finder and The Enchanted
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters – Anne Boyd Rioux
The Shining – Stephen King
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals – Michael Pollan
GreenWave
She Writes Press

Episode 80 - Sapphira and the Slave Girl Readalong with Jenny Colvin

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

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

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!

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– 80th Episode Giveaway –
Enter to win by subscribing to our email newsletter here by July 18th.
48 PEAKS: Hiking and Healing in the White Mountains – Cheryl Suchors
Tilda’s Promise – Jean P. Moore

Cheryl and Jean will be our guests on Episode 81.

– Readalong with Jenny Colvin of Reading Envy –
Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather  
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE

Be sure to check out Episode 157 of the Reading Envy podcast for our discussion of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE.

– Also Mentioned –
Willa Cather:
My Ántonia
O Pioneers!
The Professor’s House
James Patterson
Grimké Sisters
A Conversation with Cheryl Strayed and Oprah Winfrey at MOUNTAINFILM can be found HERE
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Langston Hughes
Toni Morrison

Episode 79 - Our Book Expo 2019 Interviews!

Episode Seventy Nine Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

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 here.

Tamara – Book Blogger of Traveling With T
Twitter: rockstar1023
Instagram: rockstar1023
Facebook: TravelingWithT
SheReads.org
Kimberly Brock – The River Witch
Fiona Davis
Beatrice Williams
Kristin Hannah – The Nightingale
Margaret Mitchell – Gone With the Wind
Riley Sagers – The Last Time I Lied  /  Final Girls  /  Lock Every Door (release date July 2, 2019)
Joshilyn Jackson – Never Have I Ever
Turnrow Book Co. in Greenwood, MS

Reading Women Podcast – Kendra Winchester and Autumn Privett
Twitter: thereadingwomen
Instagram: thereadingwomen
Facebook: thereadingwomen
Jesmyn Ward – Salvage the Bones
Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
N.K. Jemison – The Broken Earth series
Attica Locke
Sujata Massey – Perveen Mistry series
Leslie Jamison
Kira Jane Buxton – Hollow Kingdom (release date August 6, 2019)
Reading Women BINGO!

Robert – BookTuber at barter hordes
2019 BookTube Prize announcement video
2019 BookTube Prize website
Delia Owens – Where the Crawdads Sing / The Cry of the Kalahari
Fatima Farheen Mirza – A Place for Us
Sigrid Nunez – The Friend
Madeline Miller – Circe
Fiona Davis

Elissa Englund Sweet – Event and Marketing Director at Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT) and Savoy Bookshop & Café (Westerly, RI)
Indie’s Introduce Showcase participant at Book Expo – started with 52 debut submissions and 10 were picked
De’Shawn Charles Winslow – In West Mills
Claudia D. Hernández – Knitting the Fog
Craig Ferguson – Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Hallucinations, and Observations
Adriana Trigiani
Juliet Grames – The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

Sarah Woodford – Library Director of Saint Thomas More The Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University
Paula Byrne – The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things
Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice / Persuasion
Sterling Memorial Library – A Long Night Against Procrastination: Finals Edition
Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning

Episode 78 - Book Expo 2019 Recap!

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

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

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 here.

– Upcoming Readalong –
Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather   (record date 6/27/19)
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE

– Currently Reading –
Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston (CW)
Mrs. Everything – Jennifer Weiner (EF) release date 6/11/19

– Just Read –
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (EF)(CW)
look for our discussion of this co-readalong with Jenny of Reading Envy – it will air on June 18, 2019
Chris and Emily both watched this documentary – Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel
The Americans on D-Day & in Normandy – Brooke S. Blades (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily attended Book Expo 2019
Chris and Emily were guests on our friend Russell’s Booktube Channel where we reflected on our Book Expo experience, you can see the video HERE.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is off on a trip to Ireland and Portugal and will seek out bookish adventure

– Upcoming Reads –
Chris is going to read lots of Willa Cather in preparation for trip to the Willa Cather Seminar
Never Have I Ever – Joshilyn Jackson (EF) release date 7/30/19
If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca Marais (EF) release date 7/16/19
All Grown Up – Jami Attenberg (EF)
The Butterfly Girl – Rene Denfeld (EF) release date 10/1/19

– Also Mentioned –
James Benn Billy Boyle series
The Middlesteins – Jami Attenberg
Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson
They Called Us Enemy – George Takei release date 7/16/19
Words Without Borders
Lost in the Spanish Quarter – Heidi Goodrich release date 9/10/19
Jamilah King co-host of The Mother Jones Podcast
Grace Ellis – Lumber Janes series
Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass – Mariko Tamaki release date 9/3/2019
The Gravity of Us – Phil Stamper release date 2/4/20
Deep River – Karl Marlantes release date 7/2/2019
Matterhorn – Karl Marlantes
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Word Bookstores
Loyalty Bookstore
Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves – Glory Edim
What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence – edited by Michele Filgate  
Light from Other Stars – Erica Swyler
The Book of Speculation – Erica Swyler
Just Ask!:Be Different, Be Brave, Be You – Sonia Sotomayor, Rafael Lopez release date 9/3/19}
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson
Check out the Serial Reader App
Hum if You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
The Middlesteins – Jami Attenberg
Also by Rene Denfeld: The Enchanted and The Child Finder
The Chelsea Girls – Fiona Davis

Episode 77 - Minnesota, Land of the 10,000 Little Free Libraries!

A sampling of the Little Free Libraries (LFL) that Emily spied on her trip to Minnesota. For map of LFL’s, click here.

Episode Seventy Seven Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

 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!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Upcoming Readalongs –
We are hosting co-reads in June 2019 with Jenny Colvin of the Reading Envy Podcast.
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell   (record date 6/4/19)
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE

Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather   (record date 6/27/19)
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE

 – Currently Reading –
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (EF)(CW)
Mrs. Everything – Jennifer Weiner (EF) release date 6/11/19
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things – Paula Byrne (CW)

 – Just Read –
Coming, Aphrodite! – Willa Cather (CW) which is part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project
Miracle Creek – Angie Kim (EF)
Very Nice – Marcy Dermansky (EF) release date 7/2/19
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun – Sarah Ladipo Manyika (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily traveled to Minnesota and stayed at the Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville. She visited Birch Bark Books & Native Arts owned by the author Louise Erdrich, Milkweed Editions bookstore Open Books

Chris went to the The Flock Theater to see their adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at the Shaw Mansion

Chris did a camera flip video for Shawn the Book Maniac’s BookTube Channel – check it out HERE

Emily watched the Brené Brown special on Netflix

 – Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily will be attending Book Expo America May 29-31, 2019

Emily will be going to RJ Julia’s Bookseller in Madison, CT to see Jean P. Moore in conversation with Sande Boritz Berger discuss their books Tilda’s Promise and Split-Level

There is a performance of Little Women at The Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC, May 15-June 29, 2019

– Upcoming Reads –
Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot (EF) (Literary Disco discussion of Heart Berries)
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown (CW) (audio)
Why Religion?: A Personal Story – Elaine Pagels (CW)(audio)
Forged: Writing in the Name of God – Bart D. Ehrman (CW) (audio)
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom – David W. Blight (CW) (audio)

– Also Mentioned –
Jane Austen books: Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey
Russell of Ink and Paper Booktube Channel
Eckhart Tolle
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop
Little Free Library
Rachel Maddow – Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
The Gnostic Gospels – Elaine Pagels
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why – Bart D. Ehrman
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl

Episode 76 - Dr. Carla Hayden, Tracy K. Smith, Kevin Young at the Schomburg Center

Episode Seventy Six Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

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!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Upcoming Readalongs –
We are hosting co-reads in June 2019 with Jenny Colvin of the Reading Envy Podcast.:
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (record date 6/5/19)
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE
Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather (record date 6/27/19)
The Goodreads discussion page can be found HERE

– Currently Reading –
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (EF)(CW)
Miracle Creek – Angie Kim (EF)

– Just Read –
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens (CW)
The Lost Family – Jenna Blum (EF)
Lost Laysen: The Newly Discovered Story – Margaret Mitchell edited by Debra Freer (CW)
The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily attended the Newburyport Literary Festival April 26-27, 2019:
Elaine Weiss: The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
Linda Hirschman: Sister’s in Law: How Sandra Day O’ Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World
Rachel Slade: Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro
Russell Banks and Steve Yarbrough
A Readable Feast: Jenna Blum, Louise Miller, Miriam Parker

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The event featured Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, in conversation with US Poet Laureate Tracy K Smith moderated by Kevin Young, the Director of the Center. Kevin Young is also the New Yorker Poetry Editor.
Check out the Schomburg Shop.

Chris watched The Try Guys Test Old Age Body Simulators

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is traveling to Minnesota and is hoping to visit Birch Bark Books & Native Arts, Milkweed Editions bookstore Open Books, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, and Wild Rumpus.

Chris will be going to the The Flock Theater to see their adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Chris is heading to an event for The White Mountain: Rediscovering Mount Washington’s Hidden Culture by Dan Szczeny. Check out his website for upcoming events.

Crime Conn is at Ferguson Library on Saturday, May 18, 2019

Chris and Emily will be attending Book Expo America May 29-31, 2019

– Upcoming Reads –
Coming, Aphrodite! – Willa Cather (CW) which is part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison (CW)
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things – Paula Byrne (CW)
A Well-Read Woman: The Life, Loves, and Legacy of Ruth Rappaport – Kate Stewart (CW)
The Missing of Claire Delune – Christelle Dabos, translated by Hidegarde Serle (EF)
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) – Sonali Dev (EF)
Around Harvard Square – cj farley (EF)
Mrs. Everything – Jennifer Weiner (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Russell of Ink and Paper Booktube Channel
BookPage
Author Angie Kim’s Website
Those Who Save Us – Jenna Blum
The Tim Ferriss Show interview with Neil Gaiman can be found here
Jabberwocky Books
Book Rack
Safe from the Neighbors – Steve Yarbrough
Author Jill McCorkle’s website
Red Rooster Restaurant
Yes, Chef – Marcus Samuelsson
Wade in the Water: Poems – Tracy K. Smith
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches – Audre Lord
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster – Jon Krakaur
Anne Boyd Rioux
Little A Publishing