Episode 263 - Author Spotlight with Denise Kiernan

June 30, 2026 by Emily Fine in Author Interview, Author Spotlight, Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 263 Show Notes

– Q3 Readalong –
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh.
Learn more about the film here.
Companion read: Wake Now in the Fire by Jarret Dapier with illustrations AJ Dungo.

Listen to this interview with Marjane Satrapi.

The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, August 16 at 7pm (ET).
Please send an email if you would like to join us.

Join the online conversation on Goodreads.

– Currently Reading –
Hunger and Thirst – Claire Fuller (CW)(EF)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Graham-Smith (CW) (audiobook)
Margo’s Got Money Trouble – Rufi Thorpe (EF) (audiobook)
Roots: The Saga of an American Family – Alex Haley (CW)

– Just Read –
Table 4 at the River Café: Conversations about Food and Life – Ruthie Rogers (EF)
11/22/63 – Stephen King (CW)
Land – Maggie O’Farrell (EF) (audiobook)
“The Summer People” in the collection Dark Tales – Shirley Jackson (CW)
When She Was Ours – Anna Nordberg (EF) release date 8/1/2026
Cause of Death: Scarpetta #7 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Whistler – Ann Patchett (EF) (audiobook)
Listen to the conversation between Emma Straub and Ann Patchett.
“My Three Fathers” essay by Ann Patchett in The New Yorker.
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris took a swing through Mystic, CT. Her first stop was the Mystic Seaport Museum where she browsed the Maritime Bookshop and picked up a copy of Jaws by Peter Benchley. Then she went to Bank Square Books, No Other Book Like This, and Alice’s Little Haunted Bookshop where she enjoyed reading the children’s book Vampire Jam Sandwich by Casey Lyall and purchased a copy of The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas.

Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure and watched the movie Foe based on the novel of the same name by Iain Reid.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
June 25, Emily will attend event at RJ Julia Bookseller with Soon Wiley, author of Cece Downings Start Over Summer.

June 30, Emily is registered for The Rumpus Book Club with Debbie Millman in conversation with Ann Patchett.

July 22, Chris and Emily are registered for an event at Mystic Seaport featuring Christopher Shaw: “Robert Shaw: The Misunderstood Genius behind JAWS.” You can register for the event here. Learn more about Christopher’s book, Robert Shaw: An Actor’s Life on the set of JAWS and Beyond.

– Upcoming Reads –
When the Stammer Came to Stay – Maggie O’Farrell, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini (EF)
Jaws – Peter Benchley (CW)(EF)
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century – Timothy Snyder (EF)
On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century – Timothy Snyder, illustrated by Nora Krug (EF)
Charity & Sylvia – Tilly Walden (CW)
Selling Opportunity: The Story of Mary Kay – Mary Lisa Gavenas (CW)(EF)
Conversation with Mary Lisa Gavenas on Drafting the Past podcast.

– Author Spotlight with Denise Kiernan –
We talk with Denise about Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution. Denise narrated the audiobook.

Check out the website to learn more about Denise and follow her book tour.

– Also Mentioned –
Novels and film adaptations by Kazuo Ishiguro:
The Remains of the Day; and the movie
Never Let Me Go; and the movie
Klara and the Sun; and the movie
Foreword Magazine – Magi book
Alice Henderson Alex Carter series
Charter Books in Newport, Rhode Island
Also by Ann Patchett: Bell Canto, Run, State of Wonder, Tom Lake, and The Dutch House
The Frugal Muse
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise
Fresh Air Interview with Maggie O’Farrell
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars

Help support the Book Cougars by becoming a Patreon member.
If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 262 - Q2 Readalong: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

June 16, 2026 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Readalong

Episode 262 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Land – Maggie O’Farrell (EF) (audiobook)
11/22/63 – Stephen King (CW)
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (CW)(EF)

– Just Read –
Swimming Studies – Leanne Shapton (EF)
Emily bakes with olive oil on Ingredient One
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Foe – Iain Reid (EF)
Sizzle & Drizzle: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips – Nancy Birtwhistle (EF)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (CW)(EF)
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block – Jesse Q. Sutanto (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended the 2026 BIO Conference in New York City. She got the opportunity to tour The Century Association. Highlights included seeing Natalie Dykstra, Sara Catterall, Janice Nimura, and Bill Goldstein – all of whom have been featured via Author Spotlights on the podcast, meeting Diane Diekman author of Randy Travis: Storms of Life, a conversation between Brenda Wineapple, Ron Chernow and moderator Brian Kerrigan, and attending the announcement of the Plutarch award winner – Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade.

Emily had her buddy read of The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler with Russell from Ink and Paper Blog. She watched the movie based on the novel.

Chris renewed her New York Public Library card. She was excited to find a copy of Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton that had friendlier font size.

Chris and Emily attended an event at RJ Julia Booksellers with Amy Bloom talking about her new mystery novel Blunt Instrument. Amy was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 153.

We had a great time talking with listeners on our Zoom conversation about the Q2 readalong Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, and the movie based on the novel.

Chris watched the movie Project Hail Mary based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weir.

Chris attended a virtual event via the National Willa Cather Center featuring Rebecca Romney discussing “Willa Cather, the Archival Chain, and the Making of a Literary Legacy.” The video is available for a short time here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
July 22, Chris and Emily are registered for an event at The Mystic Seaport featuring Christopher Shaw: “Robert Shaw: The Misunderstood Genius behind JAWS.” You can register for the event here. Learn more about Christopher’s book, Robert Shaw: An Actor’s Life on the set of JAWS and Beyond.

Emily is planning a Couch Biblio Adventure to watch the movie Foe based on the novel of the same name by Iain Reid.

– Upcoming Reads –
Jaws – Peter Benchley (EF)
The Butterfly Lampshade – Aimee Bender (EF)
Hunger and Thirst – Claire Fuller (CW)(EF)
“The Summer People” in the collection Dark Tales – Shirley Jackson (CW)
Cause of Death: Scarpetta #7 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith (CW)
If you’re interested in joining Chris for a buddy read and movie watch send an email.

– Also Mentioned –
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Also by Jesse Q. Sutanto: The Vera Wong series and the Dial A for Aunties series
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and the movie based on the novel
The Martian by Andy Weir
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (translated by Ebbe Segerberg) and the movie based on the novel

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars

Help support the Book Cougars by becoming a Patreon member.
If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 256 - Author Spotlight with Sara Catterall & Q2 Readalong Announcement

March 24, 2026 by Emily Fine in Author Interview, Author Spotlight, Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 256 Show Notes

In celebration of our readalong theme for 2026, we have created a Page to Screen Bingo card. Enjoy filling it out over the course of the year and email a copy by 12/31/2026 to be entered to win a gift card to Bookshop.org. Learn more about how to play the bingo card by watching this video.

All of the links below connect to our shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

You can also purchase a Bookshop.org gift card.

– Currently Reading –
Brawler – Lauren Groff (EF)
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 – Marcel Proust (CW)
Obsessed with the Best: 100+ Methodically Perfected Recipes Based on 20+ Head-to-Head Tests – Ella Quittner (EF)
Emily’s talks about this cookbook on Ingredient One.
Love & Other Monsters – Emily Franklin (EF) release date 4/7/2026
All the World Can Hold – Jung Yun (CW)

– Just Read –
Anderson in Bloom – Jennifer Dugan (CW)
This Book Made Me Think of You – Libby Page (EF)
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books – Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan (CW) (audiobook)
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall (EF)
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge – Erica Armstrong Dunbar (CW)
Missing Sister – Joshilyn Jackson (EF)
Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career – Scott H. Young (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure, they both watched Harriet now streaming on Netflix.

Emily’s two attempts to see Laura Zigman and Alice Hoffman in conversation about the new essay collection The Best Dog in the World were foiled because the events have been completely sold out.

Chris had a workday at the main branch of the New York Public Library where she spent time digging into archival items.

Emily binged season seven of Virgin River streaming on Netflix, based on the 21-book series by Robyn Carr. Read the NY Times article about the series.

Chris spent her birthday week on Rhode Island where she visited the Barnes & Noble in Warwick where she purchased Friction by Jennifer R. Vail and The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak, and ink fish Books in Warren where she took home a big book haul including Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. She also drove past Land’s End, Edith Wharton’s estate in Newport, click here to see pictures of the property.

Chris watched the first episode of the new Scarpetta series streaming on Prime, based on the 29-book series by Patricia Cornwell.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 12, Chris signed up for an event that is offered in person and virtually “Fireside Chat with Rhae Lynn Barnes.” Her book is Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment. You can register for the free event here.

Emily is signed up for two events:
March 19, Casey Elsass will be at RJ Julia’s Bookseller in Madison to talk about his cookbook What Can I Bring?.
March 24, Catherine Newman at the East Hampton Public Library to talk about her two novels, Sandwich and Wreck.

Emily is hoping to watch two page to screen adaptations: Hamnet based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell and The Bride! written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, an adaptation of the novel Frankenstein.

– Upcoming Reads –
Cruel & Unusual – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks (CW) release date 4/21/2026
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
The Marabou Who Crossed The Sea – Rohanna Ssanyu (EF)
The Lido also known as Mornings with Rosemary – Libby Page (EF)

– Q2 Readalong –
The 2026 second quarter readalong is Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. It is the 35th anniversary of the film adaptation so it will be showing in theaters again on May 10, 2026. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, June 7 at 7pm (ET). Send an email if you would like to join.

Join the Goodreads discussion thread.

– Author Spotlight with Sara Catterall –
We talk with Sara about Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon. Learn more about Sara and her other writing on her website.

– Also Mentioned –
Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
Check out the longlist for the Plutarch award
The Lynx Books in Gainesville, FL is owned by Lauren Groff
Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia is taking place May 1-3. You can learn more here.
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
Alma Lutz

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars

Help support the Book Cougars by becoming a Patreon member.
If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 255 - Q1 Readalong: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

March 10, 2026 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 255 Show Notes

In celebration of our readalong theme for 2026, we have created a Page to Screen Bingo card. Enjoy filling it out over the course of the year and email a copy by 12/31/2026 to be entered to win a gift card to Bookshop.org.

All of the links below connect to our shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

You can also purchase a Bookshop.org gift card.

– Currently Reading –
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 – Marcel Proust (CW)
The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love - edited by Alice Hoffman (EF)
Anderson in Bloom – Jennifer Dugan (CW)
This Book Made Me Think of You – Libby Page (EF)
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books – Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan (CW) (audiobook)
Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging – Tara Roberts (EF) (audiobook)
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge – Erica Armstrong Dunbar (CW)

– Just Read –
Hobomok and Other Writings on Indians – Lydia Marie Child (CW)
Awake in the Floating City – Susanna Kwan (EF) (audiobook)
All That Remains – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Reservation – Rebecca Kauffman (EF)
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text –Mary Shelley (CW) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily both watched Frankenstein directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Chris also watched Frankenstein: The Man Who Made a Monster starring Boris Karloff.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Schubert Theater in New Haven for a showing of The Librarians.

On the job at the library, Chris had a great conversation with a student about reading The Godfather by Mario Puza.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The next Patreon reading salon will take place on Sunday, March 22. The topic will be strategies for breaking a reading slump.

Chris and Emily are planning to watch more adaptations of Frankenstein including Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder and The Bride directed by Magie Gyllenhaal.

March 10, 2026 Emily is planning a trip to An Unlikely Story bookstore to see Alice Hoffman in conversation with Laura Zigman about The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love.

Chris is heading to the main branch of the New York Public Library to do some research and is hoping to have time for a browse at Kinokuniya or McNally Jackson Books.

– Upcoming Reads –
Cruel & Unusual – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Dog Show by Billy Collins, illustrated by Pamela Sztybel (CW)
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks (CW) release date 4/21/2026
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall (EF)
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore – Evan Friss (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Learn more about Project Semi Colon
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People – Tiya Miles (EF) (audiobook)
Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia is taking place May 1-3. You can learn more here.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Tilt by Emma Pattee
Tear by Erica McKeen
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Help support the Book Cougars, by becoming a Patreon member.
If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 250 - In podcasting years, we’re older than America250

December 30, 2025 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 250 Show Notes

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!

Purchase a Bookshop.org gift card.

Help support the Book Cougars, by becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions. Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

** Reminder to email a picture of your Ghost Story Bingo Card by December 31st **

– 2025 Reading Intentions Recap –
Emily
·       Explore becoming a completist: Anna Quindlen, Alice Hoffman, Erica Wood, Catherine Newman, and Jeanine Cummins.
·       Set Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 books; have read 83 to date.
·       Contemplating an essay reading challenge or continuing the weekly short story project. Didn’t do this but did read from the The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (audiobook).
·       Aim to post monthly on Ingredient One newsletter,
·       Focused Biblio Adventure: The Year of Isabella Stewart Gardner (Chasing Beauty and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum).
·       Consider starting a Book to Film Club.

Chris
·       Buddy Reads included in Search of Lost Time by Proust, A New Home Who’ll Follow by Mrs. Mary Clavers, Edith Wharton, and Willa Cather.
·       Read more 19th century novels: Old New York by Edith Wharton, Silas Marner by George Eliot, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë.
·       Read Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (LOA #388).
·       Focus on reading fewer books, more deeply, and writing about them. Check out Chris’s blog.

– Currently Reading –
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 3/17/2026
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes – Henry James (CW)
Still We Rise: A Love Letter to the Southern Biscuit – Erika Council (EF)
Beth Is Dead – Katy Bernet (CW) release date 1/6/2026
Good Things – Samin Nosrat (EF)

– Just Read –
The Award – Matthew Pearl (CW)
“A Small, Good Thing” from the collection Where I’m Calling From – Raymond Carver (EF)
Jurassic Girl: The Adventures of Mary Anning, Paleontologist and the First Female Fossil Hunter – Michele C. Hollow (CW)
The Last Witch – C.J. Cooke (EF)
“Street haunting: a London adventure” – Virginia Woolf (CW)
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (CW)(EF)(audiobook)
Sapphira and the Slave Girl – Willa Cather (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris watched part of the conversation on Crime Time via A Mighty Blaze between Hank Phillipi Ryan and Matthew Pearl about his new novel The Award. You can watch it here.

Emily watched season five of Slow Horses based on the novel London Rules by Mick Herron.

Chris had a coffee date in New Haven with a friend at Book Trader Cafe, she also took a browse at Atticus Bookstore Cafe.

Emily watched the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light about poet Andrea Gibson.

Emily spent the week in New York City where she visited the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Café Con Libros in Crown Heights, and Bibliotheque NYC in Soho.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 28th from 6-7 pm (MT) Emily has a virtual season pass to Aspen Winter Words, the first in the three-part series is Susan Orlean and her memoir Joyride.

January 24th Chris registered for Biographer’s International Organization Biography Lab 2026, a daylong forum with keynote David Denby, a staff writer with The New Yorker. His most recent book is Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer.

– Upcoming Reads –
Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (EF)(audiobook)
A Backward Glance – Edith Wharton (CW)
The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (EF)
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes – Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (EF)
Menu of Happiness – Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (EF)

– Announcing the 2026 Readalong Theme –
Books that have been made into film adaptations!

The 2026 first quarter readalong is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

– Also Mentioned –
Land by Maggie O’ Farrell
Author Agatha Christie
Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
“Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl
Christmas Carol film adaptations: Spirited and The Muppet Christmas Carol
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Beloved by Toni Morrison

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 249 - It’s Our Ninth Anniversary!

December 16, 2025 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 249 Show Notes

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!

Purchase a Bookshop.org gift card.

Help support the Book Cougars, by becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions. Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

** Reminder: email a picture of your Ghost Story Bingo Card by December 31st **

– Currently Reading –
A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable – John Steele Gordon (CW)
The Last Witch – C.J. Cooke (EF)
The Award – Matthew Pearl (CW)
An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace – Tamar Adler (EF)
Tamar’s Substack: The Kitchen Shrink is In

– Just Read –
The Chicken Sisters – KJ Dell’Antonia (EF) (audiobook)
Citizen Reporters: S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine That Rewrote America – Stephanie Gorton (CW)
Dream State – Eric Puchner (EF) (audiobook)
Fiend – Alma Katsu
What Can I Bring: Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life – Casey Elsass (EF)
More Than Enough – Anna Quindlen (EF) release date 2/24/2026
“Afterward” by Edith Wharton from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
Our favorite short stories from the collection:
“What Was It?” by Fitz-James O’Brien
“The Cold Embrace” by Mary E. Braddon
“The Readjustment” by Mary Austin
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
“The Jolly Corner” by Henry James
“The Wind in the Rose-Bush” by Mary Wilkins Freeman
“The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Bierce
“The Old Nurses Story” by Elizabeth Gaskell

– Episode Sponsor –
Let the Willows Weep by Sherry Parnell
Learn more about Sherry.

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched the first episode in The Chicken Sisters serialized television show based on the novel.

Chris and Emily watched the 1992 film adaptation of Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Emily enjoyed a conversation between Casey Elsass and Dorie Greenspan about her new cookbook Dorie’s Anytime Cakes; the book is illustrated by Nancy Pappas. Casey’s book is What Can I Bring: Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Harvard Bookstore to see Hanna Halperin in conversation with Oyinkan Braithwaite about her new novel Cursed Daughters. While in Boston they visited the Houghton Library, Bob Slate Stationer, the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, and the Harvard Art Museum where Chris purchased a copy of Pencil by Carol Beggy. They also made it to Flour Bakery + Cafe, which has been on Emily’s bucket list.

Chris went on a road trip throughout Rhode Island and Cape Cod, MA searching for lighthouses and trolls created by Thomas Dambo. They passed by Inkfish Books in Warren, MA, browsed Tim’s Used Books in Provincetown, MA where she looked for a copy of Clover Adams by Natalie Dykstra, stopped in at the Wellfleet Marketplace where she saw a copy of Helltown: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod by Casey Sherman, and stopped at Highland Lighthouse in North Truro, MA memorialized by a plaque regarding a visit by “tourist” Henry David Thoreau.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily has purchased a virtual season pass to Aspen Winter Words. The three-part series includes authors Susan Orlean (Joyride), Lily King (Heart the Lover), and Tara Roberts (Written in the Waters).

The next Patreon Reading Salon will take place on Sunday, December 28th. Our topic will be our favorite books of the year. Come prepared to talk about two books, but feel free to bring along your top ten so you can share more if time allows.

– Upcoming Reads –
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
Beth is Dead – Katy Bernet (CW) release date 1/6/2026
Her Life in Ink – Sharon Harris (CW) release date 2/10/2026
Man Overboard! – Kathleen Rooney (CW) release date 7/7/2026
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 3/17/2026
Still We Rise: A Love Letter to the Southern Biscuit – Erika Council (EF)
Some Bright Nowhere – Ann Packer (EF)

– Announcing the 2026 Readalong Theme –
Books that have been made into film adaptations!
The 2026 first quarter readalong is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

– Also Mentioned –
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl
Author Hank Phillipi Ryan
Feast on Your Life: Kitchen Meditations for Every Day by Tamar Adler
Author Laurie Colwin
Author M.F.K. Fisher
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson
Titcomb’s Bookshop
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Chris loved the audiobook)
The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer
To Catch a Thief by David Dodge
The Birds and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 241 - The Yellow Wallpaper

August 26, 2025 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 241 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
The Wedding People – Alison Espach (EF) (audiobook)
The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman to Run for President – Eden Collinsworth (CW) release date 9/2/2025
Hotel Silence – Auđur Ava Ólafsdóttir (translated by Brian Fitzgibbon) (EF)

– Just Read –
Working – Robert Caro (CW) (audiobook)
Until Alison – Kate Russo (EF)
The Upstairs House – Julia Fine (CW)(EF)
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (CW)(EF) (audiobook) Gilman’s essay “Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper” originally published in 1913
Wreck – Catherine Newman (EF) release date 10/28/25
Follow Catherine on Crone Sandwich
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
Fonseca – Jessica Francis Kane (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily took a joint jaunt to the main branch of the New York Public Library so Chris could work in the archives while Emily spent time in the Rose Reading Room. They also took a browse through The Drama Book Shop.

The next day they drove to Boston to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Chris had a Zoom conversation with the reading group working through Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (LOA #388) – co-edited by Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall.

Emily attended an event with Janice Nimura in conversation with Jessica Francis Kane about her new novel Fonseca at RJ Julia Booksellers.

Chris took a road trip where she did a drive-by of the Piper City Public Library in Illinois and browsed Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. She also spent time visiting Huntsville, Alabama and enjoyed touring the city’s historic districts which includes some markers honoring women’s institutions and suffragists.

Emily met Aunt Ellen in NYC where they went to see a production of Call Me Izzy starring Jean Smart.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily are planning an upcoming trip to the first Horror Bookstore in NYC – The Twisted Spine. They also have plans for a joint jaunt to

Emily is excited to attend the book launch party for Lara Ehrlich’s new novel Bind Me Tighter Still via Bank Square Books on Friday, September 12th. Learn more and register here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary Wilkins Freeman from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
Bind Me Tighter Still – Lara Ehrlich (EF) release date
The Rarest Fruit – Gaëlle Bélem (EF)
Cat and Bird: A Memoir – Kyoko Mori (EF)
Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner – Natalie Dykstra (CW)
Chris is participating in a reading challenge Framed in September co-hosted by Hannah’s Books. Learn more about the challenge here.
The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris – Jennifer Dasal (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro
Turn Every Page: Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb documentary
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Garden by Clare Beams
Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Joan Didion archives at the New York Public Library
The Doctors Blackwell by Janice Nimura
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
Hermione Lee: Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life and Tom Stoppard: A Life
Animal Wife by Lara Ehrlich

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
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Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

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If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
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Episode 238 - Author Spotlight with Clare Beams

July 15, 2025 by Emily Fine in Author Interview, Author Spotlight, Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 238 Show Notes

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Help support the Book Cougars, by becoming a Patreon member.
If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.
Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

– Currently Reading –
Summer on the Lakes from Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (LOA #388) co-edited by Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall (CW)
Buckeye – Patrick Ryan (EF) (release date 9/2/2025)
A True History of the United States: Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism – Daniel Sjursen (CW) (audiobook)

– Just Read –
Feeding Ghosts – Tessa Hulls (EF)
Silas Marner – George Eliot (CW)
Beautyland – Mary Helene-Bertino (EF)
Thrawn Janet by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Open Door by Margaret Oliphant from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
The Garden – Clare Beams (CW)(EF)
Join the buddy read. We will be discussing the novel on Episode 238. You can also join the online conversation over on Goodreads.

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris enjoyed "Writers on Writing" a conversation between Carmen Maria Machado and Megan Stielstra via The Newberry's YouTube channel. Read Megan Stielstra’s essay Channel B.

Emily found a copy of The God of the Woods by Liz Moore in a little free library in Colorado but had to leave it there since her suitcase was too heavy. Once home in Guilford, she did a bike ride with The Gentleman Caller to check her favorite little free libraries around town.

Chris watched the 1997 adaptation of The Shining.

Emily recaps her two writing seminars, one with Betsy Lerner focused on first sentences and titles and the other was with Shuly Cawood about the list essay. Find Shuly’s upcoming classes.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On Wednesday, July 9th Chris and Emily are heading to the New Haven Public Library for the launch of the New Haven Memory Lab. Learn more here.

Emily is kicking off her buddy read of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. She is also listening to the audiobook narrated by Alexandra O’Karma and plans to watch the 1940 movie adaptation.

– Upcoming Reads –
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier (EF)
Join Emily’s buddy read over on Goodreads.
How to Say Babylon – Safiya Sinclair (EF) (audiobook)
Nanaville – Anna Quindlen (EF)
Not Quite a Ghost – Anne Ursu (EF)
Dracula’s Brunch Club – Brian Gonsar, illustrated by Keenan Gaybba (CW) (release date 8/12/2025)

– Author Spotlight with Clare Beams –
Clare joins us to discuss her novel The Garden.
Clare also wrote the novel The Illness Lesson and the short story collection We Show What We Have Learned & Other Stories.
Learn more about Clare here.

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 3rd Quarter Book –
The 3rd Quarter Readalong is The Upstairs House by Julia Fine. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, August 17th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread. We are also planning a companion read of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.

There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.

Over the course of the year, we will be reading The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, one story at a time. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Also Mentioned –
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
Author Edith Wharton
The Shining by Stephen King
Finding a New Normal: Living Your Best Life with Chronic Illness by Suzan L. Jackson
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

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!

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 236 - From Nyack to Nebraska

June 17, 2025 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 236 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks (EF) (audiobook)
The Shining – Stephen King (CW)

– Just Read –
Finding Grace – Loretta Rothschild (EF) release date 7/8/2025
The Professor’s House – Willa Cather (CW) (audiobook)
The Bookstore Family – Alice Hoffman (EF)
Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life – Dani Shapiro (CW) (audiobook)
The Emperor of Gladness – Ocean Vuong (EF) (audiobook)

– Episode Sponsor –
Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness by Deb Miller
Learn more about Deb and her writing here.

– Biblio Adventures –
When Chris was in Pittsburgh, she drove by the McClung house in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood where Cather lived for about 5 years with the McClung family. Here’s a photo of the house.

Emily went to Middletown, CT to participate in a Pride Month Celebration, where she attended Drag Storytime at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore.

Chris and Colleen met up in Omaha and drove to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, KS. In the gift shop she purchased a book: Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness by Elizabeth D. Samet. Then they headed back to Nebraska where they attended the 70th Annual Willa Cather Spring Conference which included a tour of important sites around Red Cloud that were important in Cather’s life. Next stop was Omaha where they toured the city and stopped by Bess Streeter Aldrich House in Elmwood, NE.

Emily went to Nyack, NY and took a browse through Big Red Books where she purchased a copy of Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos and Poems of Parenting by Loryn Brantz. Next stop was the Nyack Public Library which has a small used bookshop, she purchased Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports by Temple Grandin and American Knees by Shawn Wong.

Chris shopped at the bookstore in the National Willa Cather Center, her haul included: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, Miss Morissa: Doctor of the Gold Trail by Mari Sandoz, Chrysalis: Willa Cather in Pittsburgh 1896-1906 by Kathleen and Richard Byrne, and The Collected Short Fiction of Willa Cather.

We had a great Zoom conversation with a group of listeners about our Q2 readalong, The Good House by Tananarive Due.

– Episode Sponsor –
All This Can Be True by Jen Michalski
Learn more about Jen and her writing here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is attending a Bloomsbury event on June 16th at the Guilford Free Library and is registered to for an event through the New York Public Library, “Super Gay Poems with Stephanie Burt and Special Guests.” Register for the in-person or livestream event.

Emily is heading to Princeton, NJ and hopes to find time for some bookish fun.

Middletown Pages Book Festival takes place on Saturday, June 21st and has a great line-up of authors and activities. Learn more here.

The June Patreon Salon takes place on June 22nd at 7PM (ET). Our topic will be "small" books -- short books of 200 pages or less. Fiction or nonfiction.

– Upcoming Reads –
Silas Marner – George Eliot (CW)
The Weight of Ink – Rachel Kadish (CW)
Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (LOA #388) co-edited by Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall (CW)
The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah (EF)
So Far Gone – Jess Walter (EF)

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 3rd Quarter Book –
Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.
There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.

The 3rd Quarter Readalong is The Upstairs House by Julia Fine. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, August 17 at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread. We are also planning a companion read of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Over the course of the year, we will be reading The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, one story at a time. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Also Mentioned –
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (audiobook)
Also by Geraldine Brooks: People of the Book and Horse
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Stoner by John Williams
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet.
Ashley Olson, Executive Director of the Willa Cather Foundation was a guest on Episode 97
Author Carson McCullers
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
Author Jane Smiley
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Markus Books
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

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 229 - Announcing our 2nd Quarter Readalong in our year of reading Ghost Stories

March 11, 2025 by Emily Fine in Biblio Adventure, Book Cougars Podcast, Podcast Episode, Readalong

Episode 229 Show Notes

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 2nd Quarter Book – Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.

There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.

The 2nd Quarter Readalong is The Good House by Tananarive Due. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, June 8th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.

Over the course of the year, we will be reading The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, one story at a time. If you would like to join us there is a schedule is available on the Ghost Stories 2025 tab on the website.

– Currently Reading –
Swann’s Way – Marcel Proust (CW) (audiobook)
Robin is doing a buddy read, follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinlgustafson/ and via #ProustPilotProject
Tilda is Visible – Jane Tara (EF)
The Song of the Lark – Willa Cather (CW)
Learn more about Colleen’s Cather reading challenger here and follow her at https://www.instagram.com/colleenka/.
The Wrong Way to Save Your Life – Megan Stielstra (EF)

– Just Read –
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…A Love Story – Jason Reynolds (EF) (audiobook)
A Web of Obsidian –Lydia M. Hawke (CW) (audiobook)
Lone Women – Victor LaValle (EF) (audiobook)
How Birds Sleep – David Obuchowski, illustrated by Sarah Pedry (CW)
The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest – Heather Lang, illustrated by Jana Christy (CW)
The Fishwife Cookbook: Delightful Tinned Fish Recipes for Every Occasion – Becca Millstein and Vilda Gonzalez (EF)
The Hebridean Baker: At Home – Coinneach MacLeod (EF)
Check out Emily’s Ingredient One post about these two cookbooks
Swept Away – Beth O’Leary (EF) release date 4/1/25
What Was It? – Fitz-James O’Brien from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended a Buzz Books 2025 Horror panel with authors and editor in conversation. Including Ivy Pochoda and her editor Daphne Durham, Markus Redmond and his editor Leticia Gomez, Hester Steel with editor Alexandra Murphy, and Daphne Fama with editor Candice Coote. You can watch the video here.

Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure with the Gentleman Caller watching the movie The Call of the Wild based on the book by Jack London.

Emily attended an event at Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington Depot, CT with Elissa Altman and her book Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create. She was in conversation with Kerri Arsenault, Author of Mill Town featured on Episode 123. The genesis of the book began with a guest post on Krista Tippett’s On-Being, read it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
March 19 at 6pm, Chris is registered for an event via American Ancestors. Megan Marshall will be sharing her new book After Lives, featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 227, in conversation with Janice Nimura, author of The Doctors Blackwell featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 139. Register for the event here.

April 3 at 4pm, Chris is registered to participate in a virtual book club event via The Mount discussing Edith Wharton’s A Son at the Front and Willa Cather’s One of Ours. Register for the event here.

April 9, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt via the Mark Twain House to hear Amy Bloom in conversation with Amity Gaige about her novel Heartwood. You can register for this in-person event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce up next is The Haunted and the Haunters; Or, The House and the Brain by Lytton. If you would like to join us there is a schedule is available on the Ghost Stories 2025 tab on the website.
Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalism – Randall Fuller
Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo van Gogh – Joan Fernandez (EF)
Murder Under Her Skin: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery – Stephen Spotswood (EF)
Tell Me Everything – Elizabeth Strout (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
A Tangle of Obsidian by Lydia M. Hawke
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own by Sarah Carter
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Poltergeist movie
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
March on the Moors: A Brontë Reading Event with Melinda of A Web of Stories
The Flatshare by Beth O’ Leary
Evie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls by Robert Thorson
Hannah’s Books
She Writes Press
Fortune Favors the Dead: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery by Stephen Spotswood

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.