Episode 135 - Finally, an IN PERSON Joint Jaunt!

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

– A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge –
Please let us know what you are reading this summer! Call 860-391-6674 or email bookcougars@gmail.com to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Some listeners let us know what they are planning to read:
Middlemarch – George Elliot
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany – William L. Shirer
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Long Bright River – Liz Moore
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration – Isabel Wilkerson

You can also discuss your summer reads on our Goodreads thread here.

– Currently Reading –
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (CW)
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (EF) (audio)
O Beautiful – Jung Yun (CW) release date 11/9/21
Gilead – Marilynne Robinson (EF)

– Just Read –
O Beautiful – Jung Yun (CW) release date 11/9/21
Clark and Division – Naomi Hirahara (CW)
The Apology Project – Jeannette Escudero (EF)
A Mouthful of Air – Amy Koppelman (EF) release date 8/17/21
Her Perfect Life – Hank Phillippi Ryan (EF) release date 9/14/21

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on a Joint Jaunt to the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library to hear Claire J. Griffin discuss her book, A Rebellious Woman, about Belle Boyd. You can learn more about Claire here.

Chris hosted the Willa Cather Book Club, hosted by Book Club on the Go. You can learn more about the book club here.

They discussed Lucy Gayheart; the next book they are reading is Alexander’s Bridge.

Emily went to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to meet Jenn Bouchard, debut author of First Course.

Chris watched the Ken Burns documentary series about Ernest Hemingway titled Hemingway.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily went on a galivant to New York City where she made stops at Little Island, Posman Books, and the Rudolf Steiner Bookstore where she purchased The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle Von Olfers.

Chris is planning to attend an event on August 5th at 6PM ET at Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, CT with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, in conversation with Emily Arsenault, author of When All the Girls Are Sleeping. You can sign up for the event and purchase a signed copy of the book from Book Club on the Go.

Anne in Austin wrote in to tell us about the upcoming Texas Book Festival which will be a hybrid version this year: October 25-28, 2021 (Virtual) and October 30-31, 2021 (Downtown Austin).

Chris is hoping to attend an event with Lucy Burdette at the Manchester Library in Connecticut, to hear her talk about her newest book A Scone of Contention. The event takes place on Monday, August 16th from 2-4 pm. You can learn more about the event here.

Emily is planning to stop at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

– Upcoming Reads –
Razorblade Tears – S.A. Crosby (CW)
The Center for Fiction 2021 First Novel Prize List
The Sneakily Subversiveness of Laurie Colwin essay in the New York Times.
Three of Colwin’s books:
Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen
Family Happiness
Happy All the Time
The Darkest Evening – Ann Cleeves

– 18th Readalong discussion –
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura.
The discussion will drop on September 28th via Episode 139, please get questions/comments to us by September 20th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, September 19th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
Master and Commander – Patrick O’ Brian
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex – Nathaniel Philbrick
The Newberry Library
I Smile Back – Amy Koppelman
I Smile Back – the movie
Jungle Red Writers
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
Vera television series

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 here.

Episode 134 - Announcing Our 18th Readalong!

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

– A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge –
Please let us know what you are reading this summer! Call 860-391-6674 or email bookcougars@gmail.com to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Some listeners let us know what they are planning to read:
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Border – Don Winslow
The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah

You can also discuss your summer reads on our Goodreads thread here.

– Currently Reading –
Gilead – Marilynne Robinson (EF)
Lucy Gayheart – Willa Cather (CW)
The Apology Project – Jeannette Escudero (EF) release date 8/1/21
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (CW)
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (EF)

– Just Read –
The Personal Librarian – Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (CW)
The Ninth Hour – Alice McDermott (EF)
When the Stars Go Dark – Paula McClain (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended an event through the Emily Dickinson Museum with Alena Smith, creator of the television series Dickinson and Martha Ackmann, author of These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson. You can learn more about events at the Museum here.

Emily visited the Basalt Regional Library in Colorado. She also went on two bookstore adventures in Westerly, Rhode Island: Savoy Bookshop & Café and Re-Reads Bookshop.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is registered to attend an event on July 24 at 1:00 ET at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT with Jenn Bouchard, debut author of First Course. You can register for the event here.

Chris is planning to attend an event on August 5th at 6PM ET at Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, CT with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, in conversation with Emily Arsenault, author of When All the Girls Are Sleeping. You can sign up for the event and purchase a signed copy of the book from Book Club on the Go.

– Upcoming Reads –
Home – Marilynne Robinson (EF)
Her Perfect Life – Hank Phillippi Ryan (EF) release date 9/14/21
Razorblade Tears – S.A. Crosby (CW)
The Final Girl Support Group – Grady Hendrix (CW)
The Madness of Crowds – Louise Penny (CW) release date 8/24/2021

– Favorite Reads of the Year (So Far) –
Emily:
Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch – Erin French
The Hare – Melanie Finn
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead
The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin

Chris:
The Shadow Box – Luanne Rice
Country Place – Ann Petry
Leaving Coy’s Hill – Katherine A. Sherbrooke

– 18th Readalong discussion –
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura.
The podcast discussion with the author will drop on September 28th via Episode 139, please get questions/comments to us by September 20th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, September 19th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
Book People
Fabled Bookshop & Cafe
Nowhere Bookshop
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: Colloquialisms, and Catch-Phrases, Solecisms and Catachresis, Nicknames, and Vulgarisms – Eric Partridge
Carnegie’s Maid – Marie Benedict
The Morgan Library & Museum
Charming Billy – Alice McDermott
The Paris Wife – Paula McClain
The Child Finder – Rene Denfeld
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma – Bessel Van Der Kolk
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir – Alex Marzano-Lesnevich
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Blacktop Wasteland – S.A. Crosby

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 here.

Episode 133 - Recording Together from the New Book Cougars Studio!

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

– A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge –
Please let us know what you are reading this summer! Call 860-391-6674 or email bookcougars@gmail.com to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Some listeners let us know what they are planning to read:
Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead
The Rose Code – Kate Quinn
Middlemarch – George Elliot
The Actual Star – Monica Byrne
Firekeeper’s Daughter – Angeline Boulley
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy – Leigh Bardugo
The Once & Future King – T.H. White

You can also discuss your summer reads on our Goodreads thread here.
Take our poll on your reading plans for summer.

– Currently Reading –
Book for Idle Hours: Nineteenth-Century Publishing and the Rise of Summer Reading – Donna Harrington-Lueker (CW)
The Book of Magic – Alice Hoffman (EF) release date 10/5/2021

– Just Read –
Books Can Be Deceiving (A Library Lovers Mystery #1) – Jenn McKinlay (EF)
Chris dnf’d Great Plains by Ian Frazier
Beach Read – Emily Henry (EF)
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (CW)
The Chosen and the Beautiful – Nghi Vo (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily did a whirlwind trip to Colorado, she visited: The Tattered Cover in Denver, Explore Booksellers in Aspen, The Book Haven in Salida, Once Upon a Trapeze and The Book Nook in Buena Vista, Bookbinders in Basalt.

Chris attended a Homesteading Authors Roundtable via Homestead National Historical Park where they discussed six authors:  (You can watch the video here.)
·       Willa Cather (expert Tracy Tucker, Education Director & Archivist at The National Willa Cather Foundation)
·       Phoebe May Hopper (expert Dr. Melissa Hays)
·       Hamlin Garland (expert Kurt Meyer)
·       Laura Ingalls Wilder (expert Sarah Uthoff),
·       Mari Sandoz (expert Jamison Wyatt)
·       Bess Streeter Aldritch (expert Billie Leftholtz)

Chris watched an event through the Village Preservation Society titled “The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams” in South Village with Jonathan Ned Katz discussing his book, The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams. You can watch the video here.

Chris watched the documentary Gatsby in Connecticut the Untold Story via Kanopy.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The Willa Cather Book Club is back! Next date is July 15th at noon in South Windsor, CT; the next book is Lucy Gayheart. Email bookcougars@gmail.com for more information.

– Upcoming Reads –
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (EF)
Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson (EF)
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
The Price of Salt: Or Carol – Patricia Highsmith (CW)
Tracks – Louise Erdrich
One Summer – Blanche Willis Howard
We hosted the Jungle Red Writers you can watch the video here
Also by Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic, Magic Lessons, The Rules of Magic
Min Jin Lee
Eragon – Christopher Paolini
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore – Matthew J. Sullivan
The Great Gatsby movie (1974 adaptation)
Matthew J. Bruccoli, F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar
Maureen Corrigan
Old Jules – Mari Sandoz

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!

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.

Episode 132 - Author Spotlight with Gina Barreca

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

Katherine won our Episode 130 Giveaway and chose the book The Wolf in the Whale by Jordana Max Brodsky.

– A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge –
Please let us know what you are reading this summer! Call 860-391-6674 or email bookcougars@gmail.com to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.

Two listeners let us know that they are planning to read:
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Dune – Frank Herbert

You can also discuss your summer reads on our Goodreads thread here.

– Currently Reading –
Books Can Be Deceiving (A Library Lovers Mystery #1) – Jenn McKinlay (EF)
Rebecca Harding Davis: A Life Among Writers – Sharon Harris (CW)
Home Made: A Story of Grief, Groceries, Showing Up – And What We Make When We Make Dinner – Liz Hauck (EF)
The Price of Salt: Or Carol – Patricia Highsmith (CW)
The Plot – Jean Hanff Korelitz (CW)

– Just Read –
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within – Natalie Goldberg (CW)(audio)
The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had a big adventure to Chicago where she visited the Loyola University Lakeshore Campus and to the Newberry Library to see the exhibit Viva La Libertad!. She picked up three books: Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives by John D’Emilio, Chicago Renaissance: Literature and Art in the Midwest Metropolis by Liesl Olsen, and the Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks. She also visited Washington, PA the birthplace of Rebecca Harding Davis and Wheeling, WV where Harding grew up. Chris also stopped in Yellow Springs, OH where she got a tour of the town from author Shuly Cawood. Lastly, she visited Mitsuwa Marketplace shopped for office supplies at a Kinokuniya.

We hosted the Jungle Red Writers on June 10th. The authors: Julia Spencer Fleming, Lucy Burdette, Hallie Ephron, Rys Bowen, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Deborah Crombie, and Jenn McKinlay. You can watch a video of the event on our BookTube page. Check out this Bookshop.org page to see a sampling of their books. You can follow the Jungle Reds on their blog.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is heading to Colorado and is hoping to visit Explore Booksellers in Aspen and the Tattered Cover in Denver.

– Upcoming (Summer) Reads –
Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, recommended three books:
Collateral Damage – Mark Shaw
The Box in the Woods – Maureen Johnson
Dark Roads – Chevy Stevens

Chris Picks:
Bleak House – Charles Dickens (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Book for Idle Hours: Nineteenth-Century Publishing and the Rise of Summer Reading – Donna Harrington-Lueker
Great Plains – Ian Frazier
The Narrows – Ann Petry
Creating Family Archives: A Step-by-Step Guide to Saving Your Memories for Future Generations – Margot Note
Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming – Eric Matthes

Emily Picks:
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing – Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry (audio)
On Writing: A Memoir of The Craft  – Stephen King (audio)
Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty, and Simple – Dorie Greenspan release date October 19, 2021
Gilead, Home, Lila, Jack – Marilynne Robinson (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Gina Barreca –
We talk with Gina about the flash nonfiction essay collection that she edited called Fast Funny Women out now from Woodhall Press.
You can learn more about Gina here.

– Also Mentioned –
Scrublands – Chris Hammer
The House Girl – Tara Conklin
Truly Devious Trilogy – Maureen Johnson
Still Missing – Chevy Stevens
The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich
A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth: Stories – Daniel Mason
Telephone – Percival Everett
Tracks – Louise Erdrich

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!

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.

Episode 131 - Readalong Discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass with Jenny from Reading Envy Podcast

Episode One Hundred Thirty One Show Notes

KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge –
Aunt Ellen is planning to read Wanderers  by Chuck Wendig
One of our listeners, Ruth, is going to read The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
Chris plans to tackle Bleak House by Charles Dickens and Emily is going to make a second try at reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

Call 860-391-6674 or email bookcougars@gmail.com to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.

– Currently Reading –
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing – Lauren Hough (CW)
Hieroglyphics – Jill McCorkle (EF)

– Just Read –
Halsey Street – Naima Coster (EF)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo (CW)
Unsettled Ground – Claire Fuller (EF)
Life in the Iron Mills – Rebeccas Harding Davis (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched a conversation with John Valeri and playwright Laura Thoma on Central Booking Episode 57. You can purchase Laura’s play, Magpie, here. The Book Cougars were guests on Central Booking Episode 7 and author Heather Harper Ellett was a guest on Central Booking Episode 28.

Emily watched a conversation between Terry Tempest Williams, Richard Powers, and Robin Wall Kimmerer titled Tales of Sweetgrass and Trees. You can watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The Book Cougars are hosting a virtual ZOOM event with the Jungle Red Writers on June 10th at 7pm EST. If you would like to attend, please email bookcougars@gmail.com. Check out the Book Cougars Bookshop.org page to learn more about the authors and to purchase books.
The authors: Julia Spencer Fleming, Lucy Burdette, Hallie Ephron, Rys Bowen, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Deborah Crombie, and Jenn McKinlay.

Emily is hoping to catch the Women’s Prize for Fiction Virtual Festival June 14-16, 2021. You can purchase tickets here.

Chris is going on a Biblio Adventure to Yellow Springs, Ohio to visit author Shuly Cawood.

– Upcoming Reads –
Gilead and Home – Marilynne Robinson (EF)
Rebecca Harding Davis: A Life Among Writers – Sharon Harris (CW)

– 17th Readalong discussion –
We discuss Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer with Jenny from the Reading Envy Podcast.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.

Watch the Gifts of the Land: A Guided Nature Tour with Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s other book is called Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.

Chris and Emily were guests on Episode 221 of Reading Envy to discuss the readalong of When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe. You can listen to the episode by following this link.

– Also Mentioned –
Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Wilkie Collins
Bitter Orange – Claire Fuller
Caste – Isabel Wilkerson
Tillie Olsen
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains – Kerri Arsenault
Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson
Erin and Danny’s Book Club – An Indigenous Bookclub
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore – Elizabeth Rush
Milkweed Editions
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating – Elizabeth Tova Bailey
Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts – J. Drew Lanham
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place – Terry Tempest Williams
The Overstory – Richard Powers
Erosion: Essays of Undoing – Terry Tempest Williams

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!
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.

Episode 130 - Author Spotlight with Whitney Scharer and a GIVEAWAY!

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

– Episode 130 GIVEAWAY –
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Seritella and Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke and winner’s choice of A Big Book Summer Reading Challenge book. You can enter to win the giveaway by subscribing to our newsletter. The winner will be chosen on May 31st, 2021.

Call 860-391-6674 or email to let us know what big book (over 400 pages) you are going to read this summer.

– Currently Reading –
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmerer (CW)(EF)(audio)
Halsey Street – Naima Coster (EF)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo (CW)
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (CW)

– Just Read –
A Cruise on the U.S. Practice Ship, S.P. Chase – Surgeon General Walter Wyman (CW)
The Age of Light – Whitney Scharer (EF)
I Will Survive – Dino Fekaris, Frederick J. Perren, Kaitlyn Shea O’Connor (CW) release date 6/1/21
(Akashic Lyric Pop series can be found here)
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily attended a joint event with Chris Bohjalian, author of Hour of the Witch, in conversation with Alice Hoffman, author of Magic Lessons, via BookBar in Denver, CO. You can watch the video here.

Chris watched a conversation with Bill Goldstein, author of The World Broke in Two, via the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library Monday’s at Beinecke Series. The event was titled “Larry Kramer, 1981, and the Start of AIDS Activism” with Bill Goldstein. You can watch it here.

Emily saw Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle, in conversation with Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life, via Greenlight Bookstore.

Chris browsed inside of the newly renovated Barnes & Noble in New Haven, CT.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily were guests on Episode 221 of Reading Envy to discuss the readalong of When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe. You can listen to the episode by following this link.

The Book Cougars are hosting a virtual ZOOM event with the Jungle Red Writers on June 10th at 7pm EST. If you would like to attend, please send an email.
The authors: Julia Spencer Fleming, Lucy Burdette, Hallie Ephron, Rys Bowen, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Deborah Crombie, and Jenn McKinlay.

Chris is planning to attend the Spring Willa Cather Conference from June 3 – 5, 2021. This year’s theme is “Willa Cather and Popular Print Culture” and the keynote speaker is Radhika Jones. (If you are signing up to attend for the first time, use the code WELCOME21 for a discount.)

CRIMECONN is coming up June 3, 10, and 17, 2021. The June 10 event includes Luanne Rice, author of The Shadow Box, and Juliet Grames, author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For – Alison Bechdel (CW)
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black – Lorraine Hansbury and James Baldwin (CW)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Ann Brontë (CW)
Early Morning Riser – Katherine Heiny (EF)
Prepare Her: Stories – Genevieve Plunkett (EF) release date 7/13/21

– Author Spotlight with Whitney Scharer –
Whitney’s book is the The Age of Light. You can learn more about Whitney here.
The Pinterest page that Whitney created for inspiration when writing the book can be found here.
Learn more about the Arlington Author Salon.

– 17th Readalong discussion –
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The discussion will drop on June 8th via Episode 131, please get questions/comments to us by June 2nd. The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
You can find the beautifully bound anniversary edition of the book here. Note: this is in celebration of Milkweed Editions 40th anniversary, not the anniversary of the book which was originally published in 2013.

– Also Mentioned –
The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
Willa Cather
Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 – Sarah Schulman
Filthy Animals – Brandon Taylor release date 6/22/21
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic – Alison Bechdel
The Secret to Superhuman Strength – Alison Bechdel
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma – Bessel Van Der Kolk

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 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.

Episode 129 - Author Spotlight with Chris Tebbetts

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

Chris read a poem by Lucille Clifton titled “why some people be mad at me sometimes.”

– Currently Reading –
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry – edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe (CW)
A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver (CW)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
(EF)(audio)
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead (EF)

– Just Read –
The Cask of Amontillado – Edgar Allan Poe (CW)
That Summer – Jennifer Weiner (EF)
Ghosts of Harvard – Francesca Serritella (CW)
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones – James Clear (CW)(audio)

– Biblio Adventures –
Via the Writers League of Texas, Chris attended an event with Heather Harper Ellett, author of Ain’t Nobody Nobody, about Channeling Anxiety and Depression into Creativity. You can watch a recording of the event here. You can also watch our chat with Heather on the Book Cougars YouTube page here.

Emily moderated an event via the Newburyport Literary Festival with Deirdre Mask author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. You can watch the event here.

Chris attended an event via the London Library Lit Fest with Sarah Waters in conversation with Hallie Rubenhold. You can watch a recording of the event here.

Emily attended an event with Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle, in conversation with Bethanne Patrick via Politics and Prose Bookstore. You can watch a recording of the event here.

Chris watched the movie Who Will Write Our History based on the book by Samuel D. Kassow, Who Will Write Our History?: Emanuel Ringelbaum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabes Archive.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily will be attending a joint event with Chris Bohjalian, author of Hour of the Witch, in conversation with Wally Lamb on May 11 at 6pm via Savory Bookshop and Café / Bank Square Books.

Chris plans to attend the Lambda Literary Awards on June 1. You can register for the event here.
Emily is registered for an event through McNally Jackson with Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground, in conversation with Lucy Tan. The event is free, you can register here.

– Upcoming Reads –
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (CW)
I Thought You Said This Would Work – Ann Garvin (EF)
Middletown – Sarah Moon (EF) You can see Sarah describe her book here.

– Author Spotlight with Chris Tebbetts –
We had the chance to chat with Chris about his book Me Myself & Him.
You can learn more about Chris and his books here.

– 17th Readalong discussion –
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The discussion will drop on June 8th via Episode 131, please get questions/comments to us by June 2nd.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join in please send an email to save a spot.
You can find the beautifully bound anniversary edition of the book here. Note: this is in celebration of Milkweed Editions 40th anniversary, not the anniversary of the book which was originally published in 2013.

With Jenny / Reading Envy Podcast – we will be reading When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry – edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe
More details about the readalong can be found on the Reading Envy Goodreads discussion thread.

Extra Credit: A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

– Also Mentioned –
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Ann Patchett
Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities – Craig Steven Wilder
Lisa Scottoline
Downton Abbey
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
Women’s Prize for Fiction
Patience & Sarah – Isabel Miller
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
Amy Bloom
Virginia Hamilton
Arnold Adoff
Suzanne Clauser
Struwwelpeter
Tanya Lee Stone
James Patterson
1st Case – James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts

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!

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Episode 128 - Author Spotlight with Melissa Homestead

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

– Currently Reading –
The Age of Light – Whitney Scharer (EF)
Leaving Coy’s Hill – Katherine A. Sherbrooke (CW) release 5/4/2021
The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power – Deirdre Mask (EF)(audio)

– Just Read –
Brood – Jackie Polzin (EF)
Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story Remaking a Life from Scratch – Erin French (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris enjoyed a virtual adventure via a joint event with the Emily Dickinson Museum and The Emily Dickinson Collection at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

Emily watched to Lisa Marie Donovan, author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger, and Phyllis Grant, author of Everything Is Under Control talk about breadcrumbs.

Chris attended an event via the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. The topic was Archiving Lesbian Memory, Stewarding Lesbian Futures. You can watch a recording of the event here.
Panelists included:
Jen Jack Giesking – A Queer New York: Geographies of Lesbians, Dykes, and Queers, and the website An Everyday Queer New York.
Cait McKinney Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies and Inside Killjoy’s Kastle: Dykey Ghosts, Feminist Monsters, and other Lesbian Hauntings
Briona Simone Jones – Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought
Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz

Emily attended the Reading Across Rhode Island event with Jason Reynolds discussing his book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Ibram X. Kendi.

Emily moderated an event via the Newburyport Literary Festival with Deirdre Mask author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. You can watch a video of the event here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On Saturday, May 1, Chris is signed up to attend an event via the London Library Lit Fest with Sarah Waters in conversation with Hallie Rubenhold. You can sign up for the event here.

Emily will be attending a joint event with Chris Bohjalian, author of Hour of the Witch, in conversation with Wally Lamb on May 11 at 6pm via Savory Bookshop and Café / Bank Square Books.

– Upcoming Reads –
Ghosts of Harvard – Francesca Serritella (CW)
That Summer – Jennifer Weiner (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Dr. Melissa Homestead –
Dr. Homestead’s book is now available: The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis
You can learn more about Dr. Homestead and her other publications here.

– 17th Readalong discussion –
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The discussion will drop on June 8th via Episode 131, please get questions/comments to us by June 2nd.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join in please send an email to save a spot.

You can find the beautifully bound anniversary edition of the book here. Note: this is in celebration of Milkweed Editions 40th anniversary, not the anniversary of the book which was originally published in 2013.

With Jenny / Reading Envy Podcast – we will be reading When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry – edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe

More details about the  readalong can be found on the Reading Envy Goodreads discussion thread.

Extra Credit: A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

– Also Mentioned –
Check out our friend Ryan’s Instagram page: @readbyryan
Check out the Lost Kitchen website        
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Other books by Sarah Waters: Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmith, The Night Watch, The Little Stranger
Sarah Orne Jewett
Chronicling of America – Library of Congress Newspaper Directory
The Professor’s House – Willa Cather
Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of Gay Male World, 1890-1940 – George Chauncey
The Lavender Scare: The Cold War, Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government – David K. Johnson
Epistemology of the Closet – Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick
My Antonia – Willa Cather
Stylish Academic Writing – Helen Sword
The Minister’s Wooing – Harriet Beecher Stowe

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 here.

Episode 127 - Flies & Magpies: Playwright Spotlight with Laura Thoma

Episode One Hundred Twenty Seven Show Notes

KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

Emily read a poem by Nila Northsun titled “99 Things To Do Before You Die” from her When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo.  

– Currently Reading –
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo
The Finest Hours The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue – Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias (CW)(audio)
Bird in Hand – Christina Baker Kline (EF)(audio)
Blessing the Boats New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 – Lucille Clifton (CW)
Chris read “poem to my uterus”
Bean by Bean: A Cookbook – Crescent Dragonwagon (EF)

– Just Read –
We had two books we DNF’d:
So Others May Live: Coast Guard’s Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death – Martha Laguardia-Kotite and Tom Ridge (CW)(audio)
Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (EF)
These Women – Ivy Pochoda (CW)(audio)
Beautiful & Full of Monsters – Courtney LeBlanc (EF)
Emily Read the poem “Forest Fires”
Green – Melissa Fite Johnson (EF) release date 5/1/2021
Emily Read the poem “The Immediacy” and “Visitation”
Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles – Mara Rockliff (CW)(audio)
Somebody’s Daughter – Ashley C. Ford (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
We had a joint jaunt to Old Saybrook, CT to visit author Ann Petry’s, childhood home and the Acton Public Library. You can watch a video of the biblio adventure here.

Emily went to Savoy Bookshop and Café in Westerly, RI. Two books were purchased: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask. Watch the video of our chat with bookstore owner Annie Philbrick here.

Chris participated in a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon. If you are interested in becoming an editor, check out the Wikipedia information page here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is attending a lecture on April 15 with Laura Millar titled Just, Temperate, and Brave: The Importance Evidence – and Evidence Keepers – In Chaotic Times via IUPUI. You can register for the event here. Dr. Millar’s book is A Matter of Facts: The Value of Evidence in an Information Age.

Emily is moderating an event via the Newburyport Literary Festival. The festival will take April 23-25, 2021.
Emily’s event is on April 24 at 9am EST with Deirdre Mask author of The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power. Register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power – Deirdre Mask (EF)
A Poetry Handbook – Mary Oliver (EF)
Fast Funny Women – edited by Gina Barreca (EF)
The Age of Light – Whitney Scharer (CW)(EF)
Leaving Coy’s Hill – Katherine A. Sherbrooke (CW)

– Playwright Spotlight with Laura Thoma –
Laura’s new play, Magpie, was just published from Next Stage Press.
Learn more about Laura and her many projects here.
Check out Episode 66 to hear Laura’s radio play: Yours In Words.
Honor Roll! is an advocacy and action group of women playwrights over forty.

– 17th Readalong discussion –
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The discussion will drop on June 8th via Episode 131, please get questions/comments to us by June 2nd. The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join in please send an email to save a spot.
You can find the beautifully bound anniversary edition of the book here. Note: this is in celebration of Milkweed Editions 40th anniversary, not the anniversary of the book which was originally published in 2013.

With Jenny / Reading Envy Podcast – we will be reading When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry – edited by Joy Harjo, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Leanne Howe

More details about the  readalong can be found on the Reading Envy Goodreads discussion thread.

Extra Credit: A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Christina Baker Kline: Orphan Train and Exiles
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Riot in Your Throat press
Playwright Lauren Gunderson
Steel Magnolias
Jane Austen      

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 here.

Episode 126 - Saltwater in Our Veins: Author Spotlight with Luanne Rice

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

Chris read a poem by Emily Dickenson titled “Wild Nights” from her The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson edited by Thomas H. Johnson.  

– Currently Reading –
The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis – Dr. Melissa J. Holmstead (CW)
Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro (EF)
Blessing the Boats New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 – Lucille Clifton (CW)
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics – Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann (CW)

– Just Read –
What’s Mine and Yours – Naima Coster (EF)(audio)
The Hare – Melanie Finn (EF)
A House at the Bottom of the Lake – Josh Malerman (CW)
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters – Kate Murphy (EF)(audio)
Me Myself & Him – Chris Tebbetts (CW)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily listened to Melanie Finn, author of The Hare, chatting with her publisher Two Dollar Radio Press, you can check out the video here.

Chris watched a conversation with Essence McDowell, author of Lifting As They Climbed, in conversation with Michelle Duster about her book Ida B. the Queen. You can watch the conversation here. 

Chris tuned into a conversation via the Somerset Library System in New Jersey with Tracy Tucker, the archivist at the National Willa Cather Center, about Willa Cather’s Unconventional Life.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is registered to attend an event at Cafe Con Libros in Brooklyn with Jacqueline Woodson in conversation with Naima Coster, author of What’s Mine and Yours, on April 9th, 7-8 pm EST. You can register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
Mother May I – Joshilyn Jackson (EF) release date 4/6/2021
Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir – Ashley C. Ford release date 6/1/2021
Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance – Erica Dhawan (CW) release date 5/11/2021
Wytches – Scott Snyder (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Luanne Rice –
Luanne’s newest book is The Shadow Box
You can learn more about Luanne here.
Watch our cover reveal of the book here.
Watch part of our interview with Luanne here.
Read more about the Safina Center here.
Read more about Safe Futures here.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233) and the http://www.theHotline.org

– Also Mentioned –
Emily Dickinson Museum
Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them – Emily Dickinson, edited by Cristanne Miller
Halsey Street – Naima Coster
Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence – Erica Dhawan, Saj-Nicole Joni
Last Day – Luanne Rice
The New Yorker

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 SUPPORT US 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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