Episode 233 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman

Episode 233 with author Matthew Goodman

Episode 233 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
The Good House – Tananarive Due (CW)
Leaving – Roxana Robinson (EF)
The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen [A Cookbook] – Steve Sando, Julia Newberry (EF)

– Just Read –
Ephemera: A Memoir – Briana Loewinsohn (CW)
Food Person – Adam Roberts (EF) release date 5/20/2025
The Signal Man by Charles Dickens from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)   
Two essays from The Portable Feminist Reader:
“Being Female” by Eileen Myles
“If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal – Matthew Goodman (CW)(EF) (audiobook)   

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Bank Square Books to see Maura Casey discuss her memoir Saving Ellen. Check out our conversation with Maura here. Chris also met with our friend Kate at the Mystic Noank Library where they discussed their buddy reads of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë and Old New York by Edith Wharton.

Chris and Emily attended Matthew Goodman’s event at the Guilford Free Library. His new book is Paris Undercover.

Joined by The Gentleman Caller, Chris and Emily celebrated Independent Bookstore Day by visiting Breakwater Books and RJ Julia Booksellers.  Purchases included: a couple of Indestructibles, The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back by Madiba K. Dennie, Peppa the Pig Loves to Bake, Pigeon Stationery, and a Leuchtturm notebook.  And they picked up the CT Book Trail Passport.

Emily attended Cherry Jubilee in NYC sponsored by Cherry Bombe. Asma Khan Monsoon owner The Darjeeling Express

Emily and Chris hosted the monthly Patreon Reading Salon on Zoom, the theme was poetry, and it was a lovely evening.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The next Patreon Reading Salon is on May 25th at 7 pm (ET). We will be discussing our plans for reading Big Books (over 400 pages) for Sue Jackson’s Summer Reading Challenge.

Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to NYC to visit Aunt Ellen. Stops include the Belle de Costa Green exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum and the Selected Shorts: Classics with a Twist with Meg Wolitzer and Friends at Symphony Space.

After picking up CT Book Trail Passport, Chris and Emily are planning to visit all 23 bookstores by Labor Day, September 1, 2025.

Emily is registered for an event at RJ Julia Booksellers on Tuesday, May 20 at 6 pm (ET) to see Amy Bloom in conversation with her daughter Sarah Moon to discuss Sarah’s new novel Family Week.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce up next is Green Tea by Sheridan Le Fanu. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.
The Correspondent – Virginia Evans (EF)
Feeding Ghosts – Tessa Hulls (EF)
Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing  – Nora Neus, illustrated by Julie Robine (CW)
A Well Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy – Tia Levings (CW)
Check out Tia Levings interview on Heart of the Story podcast

– Out Now –
Little Great Island – Kate Woodworth
Love Is For All of Us: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends co-edited with his husband Brad Peacock, illustrated by Lisa Congdon

– Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman –
Matthew was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 95 discussing his book The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team. His new book is Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal.

You can learn more about Matthew here.

– 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 available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Also Mentioned –
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Author Fiona Davis
Author and Broadcast Journalist Noah Adams
The Many Lives of Anne Frank by Ruth Franklin

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
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audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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Episode 232 - Author Spotlight with Eowyn Ivey

Author Spotlight with Eowyn Ivey

Episode 232 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
The Good House – Tananarive Due (CW)
Food Person – Adam Roberts (EF) release date 5/20/2025

– Just Read –
Happy Land – Dolan Perkins-Valdez (CW)
Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling – Matthew Dicks (EF) (audiobook)
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World – Cal Newport (CW) (audiobook)
The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits – Jennifer Weiner (EF)
Old New York – Edith Wharton (CW)
Black Woods Blue Sky – Eowyn Ivey (EF)
The North Mail by Amelia B. Edwards from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
LOVE IS FOR ALL OF US: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends co-edited by James Crews and Brad Peacock, illustrated by Lisa Congdon.
Learn more James Crews here.

Watch our conversation with James Crews over on BookTube.

– Biblio Adventures –

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt via the Mark Twain House to hear Ethan Rutherford in conversation with Amity Gaige about her novel Heartwood. Ethan’s novel is North Sun, or the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther.

Chris participated 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.

Chris joined the Zoom conversation for Colleen’s Cather reading challenge  where they discussed by Willa Cather and follow her at https://www.instagram.com/colleenka/.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On April 16, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Bank Square Books to see Maura Casey discuss her memoir Saving Ellen. Check out our conversation with Maura here.

On April 23rd Chris and Emily will be attending Matthew Goodman’s event at the Guilford Free Library. His new book is Paris Undercover. Matthew was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 95 discussing his book The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team.

On May 4th Emily will be attending Matthew Dick’s one man show Shovel at the Hartford Theater works. You can purchase tickets here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Belgian Girls – Kathryn J. Atwood (CW) release date 5/8/2025
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal – Matthew Goodman (EF)(audiobook)
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier (EF)
Anne Brontë Nightwalker: A Brontë Blood Chronicle – Gea Haff (CW)
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce up next is The Signal Man by Charles Dickens. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Author Spotlight with Eowyn Ivey –
We talk with Eowyn about her book Black Woods Blue Sky.
Learn more about Eowyn here.
Take a tour of Eowyn’s writing cottage.

– 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 and our Episode 230 Giveaway 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 available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Also Mentioned –
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
The American Queen by Vanessa Miller
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins
A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy
Robert Elsmere by Mary Augusta Ward
Also by Eowyn: The Snow Child and To The Bright Edge of the World
True Grit by Charles Portis
The film An American Werewolf in London
Author Annie Dillard
Author Robin Wall Kimmerer
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Booktuber Melinda at A Web of Stories
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Odyssey by Homer

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.