Episode 255 - Q1 Readalong: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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-Fascist 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!

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Episode 253 - Author Spotlight with Sharon M. Harris

Episode 253 Show Notes

– Announcing the 2026 Readalong Theme –
Books that have been made into film adaptations! Follow the year on social media via #bookstofilm2026.

The 2026 first quarter readalong is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Here’s a Wikipedia page that includes a link of Frankenstein adaptations.

The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, March 1 at 7pm (ET). Send an email if you would like to join.

Join the Goodreads discussion thread.

– Currently Reading –
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People – Tiya Miles (EF) (audiobook)
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 – Marcel Proust (CW)
Cece Downing’s Start Over Summer – Soon Wiley (EF) release date 6/16/2026

– Just Read –
Joyride – Susan Orlean (EF) (audiobook)
The Lady of Pentlands – Elizabeth Jordan (CW)
Kin – Tayari Jones (EF) release date 2/24/2026
Tilt – Emma Pattee (EF)
Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor, and Mystery Author – Sharon M. Harris (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended BIO LAB, an annual one-day online forum on the craft of biography organized by the Biographers’ International Organization where she learned about and is excited to read Susan Page’s forthcoming book The Queen and Her Presidents publishing on 2/14/26.  

Emily visited Bart’s Books in Ojai, California where she picked up a copy of Startlement, the new poetry collection by Ada Limón. She also stopped at Kitchen Lingo Culinary Books in Long Beach where she was interested to find Staple to Superfood: A Global History of the Sweet Potato by Q Edward Wang.

Chris discussed Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell, book number two in the Kay Scarpetta series, with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, over homemade lasagna and store-bought donuts. They are doing a monthly buddy read of the series which you can learn more about on Chris’s Blog.

Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure where she watched Small Things Like These based on the novel by Claire Keegan.

Chris went to New York City to renew her NYPL library card at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library and do some research.

Emily attended the first event in her virtual season pass to Aspen Winter Words, with Susan Orlean and her memoir Joyride, in conversation with Christine Benedetti.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily has the second event in the Aspen Winter Words series with Lily King and her book Heart the Lover.

Emily is planning to attend an event with Alice Hoffman who is heading out on tour with the essay collection, The Best Dog in the World; tour dates can be found here.

February 19, 2026 at 8pm (ET), Chris is registered for the Willa Cather Center’s Virtual Author Series featuring Brad Bigelow and his biography, Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts. The event is free, register here.

February 21, there is an all-day enrichment event, “Anam Cara: Thomas Merton, and Pursuing Relationships That Enlighten Our Lives” featuring Sohpfronia Scott author of The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton. Registration is available here.

– Upcoming Reads –
Missing Sam – Thrity Umrigar (EF)
Startlement – Ada Limón (EF)
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley (CW)(EF)
Hobomok and Other Writings on Indians – Lydia Maria Child (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Sharon M. Harris –
We are thrilled to welcome Sharon M. Harris (aka, Sherry) to the podcast! Sherry’s new biography, Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor, and Mystery Author.

Learn more about Sherry and her writing on her website.

– Also Mentioned –
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Also by Tayari Jones: Silver Sparrow and An American Marriage
Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Also by Thrity Umrigar: Honor and The Museum of Failures
Frankenstein screen adaptations we plan to watch:
Frankenstein: The Man Who Made a Monster starring Boris Karloff
Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder
Frankenstein the most recent adaptation directed by Guillermo del Torro
The Bride, forthcoming in March directed by Magie Gyllenhaal

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.

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

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 236 - From Nyack to Nebraska

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 222 - 2024 Holiday Gift Ideas

Episode 222 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Fingersmith – Sarah Waters (CW)(audiobook)
Imagination: A Manifesto – Ruha Benjamin (CW)
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers – Betsy Lerner (CW)
Does This Taste Funny?: Recipes Our Family Loves – Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert (EF)
The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany – Pamela D. Toler (EF)(audiobook)

– Just Read –
Complete Starter Guide to Bonsai: Growing from Seed or Seedling--Wiring, Pruning, Care, and Display – David Squirer (CW)
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary – Alice Hoffman (EF) (audiobook)
Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote – Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Sarah Green (CW)
I Am Book – Joren Cull (CW)
Trouble Island – Sharon Short (EF)
Check out the conversation we have with Sharon over on BookTube.
The Weekend – Charlotte Wood (EF)

Emily read short stories:
“Johnny Christmas” by Ivy Pochoda from Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir edited by Tod Goldberg
“Cat Brushing” from the collection Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris and Emily had a great time chatting with Patreon Members during the monthly Reading Salon. The next Salon will be on Sunday, December 22 at 7PM (ET), we will be chatting about our favorite reads of 2024. You can join our Patreon Community here.

Chris and Emily went on a double date to see a production of the play Ordinary Days by Adam Gwon.

Chris visited The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington Depot, CT.  

Emily joined the Cherry Bombe member book club discussion of Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens (audiobook) featuring Ina’s co-writer Deborah Davis.

Chris watched the first season of Truth Be Told based on the novel Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber and she went to a showing of the movie Wicked based on the novel by Gregory Maguire.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily are both excited to see Laura Thoma’s play Miss Margaret Barton’s Cottage Christmas Surprise. The show runs from December 13-21, you can purchase tickets here. 

Emily is joining Katherine May’s readalong of The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston. You can learn more here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (CW)
The Braille Encyclopedia: Brief Essays on Altered Sight - Naomi Cohen (CW)
A Little Bit Country – Brian D. Kennedy (EF)
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon – Kevin Fedarko (EF)

– Holiday Gift Ideas 2024 –
1.       Gift card to a bookstore. You can purchase a Bookshop.org gift card here.
2.       Novel Teas: Loose Leaf Literature
3.       Nerdwax Jinkies eyeglass cleaner (watch the video with Chris showing off her Dracula cleaner)
4.       Hingston & Olsen Short Story Advent Calendar
5.       Give a gift of an experience to a special literary site (read Chris’s blog post about the Library of Congress)
6.       Girl of All Work page flags and book buddies
7.       Autographed copy of a book
8.       Gift Membership to Patreon
9.       Libro.fm gift membership follow this link.
10.   For the cook in your life, an Ina Garten trifecta: an Ina Garten cookbook (she has 13!), Issue #28 of Cherry Bombe Magazine featuring Ina, and Ina’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens (audiobook)
11.   Author society membership: for example Barbara Pym or Willa Cather  
12.   Book a Date with a friend to read a book together, see the author in person, or watch an interview.
13.   Glocusent Neck Reading Light
14.   Soofa Soft Ring Notebook from Kinokuniya Bookstore
15.   Noise canceling earbuds. Chris uses Apple Airpods.
16.   DreamWrap Bluetooth Sleep Headphones
17.   Make a donation to an organization like BINC Foundation or EveryLibrary
18.   Book subscription to a curated box, for example Honest Dog Books
19.   Go on a Biblio Adventure

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy
Please join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
The Zoom readalong discussion will take place on Sunday, December 8h at 7:00 pm (ET). Please send an email if you would like to join.

– Also Mentioned –
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Widows by Jess Montgomery
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner 
Blackwell’s Books
Greener: Can Old Friends Let Us Become New People? by Gráinne Murphy  (Watch a conversation about the novel between Shawn Breathes Books and novelist Barb Howard)
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
National Outdoor Book Awards 2024
The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko
White River Books

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 220 - A Shocking Buddy-Read with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Episode 220 Show Notes

– Giveaways –
Patreon:
Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir edited by Tod Goldberg

Tenth Episode:
The Gardener’s Plot: A Mystery by Deborah J. Benoit
The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

– Currently Reading –
Armadale – Wilkie Collins (CW)
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary – Alice Hoffman (EF) (audiobook)
“The Bolted Door” from the collection Tales of Men and Ghosts – Edith Wharton (CW)
A Bit Much: Poems – Lyndsay Rush (EF)

– Just Read –
Birding with Benefits – Sarah T. Dubb (EF) (audiobook)
The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston (EF)
Boyfriend Material – Alexis Hall (CW) (audiobook)
The Rom-Commers – Katherine Center (EF) (audiobook)
“Afterward: A Ghost Story for Christmas” or from the collection Tales of Men and Ghosts– Edith Wharton (CW)
Real Americans – Rachel Khong (EF) (audiobook)
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking – Tina Oziewicz, illustrated by Aleksandra Zajac and translated by Jennifer Croft (EF)

– Biblio Adventure –
Chris took an unexpected trip to Nebraska for a funeral. She happened upon a lovely bookstore at the Charlotte airport with a nice sitting area. She also found a little free library in Omaha, Nebraska.

Both Chris and Emily enjoyed the monthly Patreon Reading Salon discussion about recently read books. In November we will be chatting about our favorite author.

On National Louise Penny Day, Chris purchased her copy of The Grey Wolf at Breakwater Books in Guilford, CT.

Emily attended the virtual event "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: Examining the Truths and Fictions we Tell Ourselves with Lori Gottlieb" via the North Haven Memorial Library. You can watch the video here.

Sue Jackson shared a vlog of her Biblio Adventure to two bookstores in New York. You can watch it here.

Emily binged season three of The Lincoln Lawyer based on the novel The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly. 

Emily and The Gentleman Caller stopped at Bennett’s Books in Deep River, CT where she got a copy of Girl at War by Sara Nović.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On Wednesday, November 20th, Chris is planning to attend an event at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with Karen Olson in conversation with Elizabeth Hobbs and her novel Misery Hates Company: A Novel.

Emily is planning to attend the Connecticut Book Festival on Saturday November 23rd from 10-4.

– Upcoming Reads –
The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts – Mary Claire Haver (EF)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte (CW)
The Illustrated Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood - In Two Volumes - Volume I: Original Title: Varney the Vampyre – James Malcolm Rymer, Thomas Preskett Prest, edited by Finn J. D. John (CW)

– Spotlight with Our Mystery Man –
A conversation with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, about our buddy read of the novel Murder in the Smithsonian by Margaret Truman.

You can learn more about John here. Follow his informative and fun interviews with mystery authors over at Central Booking.

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
A Little Bit Country by Brian D. Kennedy
Please join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
The Zoom readalong discussion will take place on Sunday, December 8h at 7:00 pm (ET). Please send an email if you would like to join.

– Also Mentioned –
Author Shuly Cawood
Author Jessica Pryde
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
One Bright Book podcast
Author Donald Bain
Also by Margaret Truman: Murder at Ford’s Theatre and Murder at the Library of Congress

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 199 - Our 2024 Reading Intentions

Episode One Hundred Ninety Nine Show Notes

– Listener Top Ten –
Let us know your Top Ten Books of 2023
Please fill the form out by January 22nd.

– 1st Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins.  
Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, March 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Indigo Goodreads discussion here.

We’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

– Chris and Emily 2024 Reading Intentions –
· Both Chris and Emily set their Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 Books.
· Emily will continue to read books written by Maggie O’Farrell.
· Chris has eight stories left in the Willa Cather Short Story project.
· Emily has started a Monday morning short story project.
· Chris plans to focus on reading books when she wants, following the whim of her desires.
· Emily plans to read one new-to-her cookbook each month and cook one recipe from the book.
· Chris will read 19th Century literature including The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Silas Marner, and A Tale of Two Cities.
· Chris is planning to focus on reading books by Margaret Fuller starting with Summer on the Lakes.
· Emily is aiming to watch one book to film adaptation per month.
· Biblio Adventures wish list: Sarah Orne Jewett House in South Berwick, Maine; a trip to Long Island to visit the newly opened Barnes and Noble along with other indie bookstores and paying tribute to the place where Margaret Fuller perished; Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco; Bold Fork Books and Politics and Prose in Washington DC.

– Currently Reading –  
The Iliad – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)(audiobook)
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken (EF)
The Hero of This Book – Elizabeth McCracken (EF)
Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America – Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst (CW)
Tom Lake – Ann Patchett (EF)(audiobook)
Thirst – Marina Yuszczuk (CW) release date 3/5/2024
The Boy Who Lost His Spark – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)
The Hand That First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)(audiobook)

– Just Read –
Emily read two short stories “The End of the World is a Cul de Sac” by Louise Kennedy and “Powder” by Tobias Wolff
Archives 101 – Lois Hamill
You can read Chris’s review of this book in the Volume 86, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2023 issue.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai (EF) release date 2/13/2024
Emily Dickinson Face to Face – Martha Dickinson Bianchi (CW)
A Winter in New York – Josie Silver (EF)
Freegift – James R. Benn (CW)
The Book of Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)
Comfort Food – Kate Jacobs (EF)
The Para Method: Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life – Tiago Forte (CW)
The Cemetery of Untold Stories – Julia Alvarez (EF) release date 2/13/2024
Last Night – Luanne Rice (CW) release date 2/1/2024
Family Lore – Elizabeth Acevedo (EF) (audiobook)
Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food – Ann Hood (EF)
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese (EF)(audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris visited the New Bedford Whaling Museum for 2024 Moby-Dick Marathon. She also visited the New Bedford Free Library.
Thanks to listener recommendations, Emily listened to two NPR Book of the Day podcasts:
· Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan
· Big Heart Little Stove by Erin French

Emily participated in Katherine May’s Book Club where she was in conversation with Diana Henry speaking about her cookbook Roast Figs Sugar Snow.

Chris watched The Martian based on the novel by Andy Weir. She also participated in a group discussion about The Iliad by Homer. Listen to translator Emily Wilson reading from The Iliad. If you would like to join the conversation, send an email.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On Saturday, January 20th Chris is participating in an online forum about craft via the Biography Lab. She’s particularly excited about a panel with Janice P. Nimura, “Nasty Women: Making a Good Story out of Bad Behavior.”

Emily is heading to Colorado to visit her son and attend an event via Aspen Words featuring Ann Patchett in conversation with Elizabeth McCracken.

– Upcoming Reads –
Erasure – Percival Everett
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki release date 3/19/2024
The Grey Wolf – Louise Penny

– Also Mentioned –
The Giant’s House – Elizabeth McCracken
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World – Peter Wohlleben
Also by Louise Kennedy – Trespasses and The End of the World is a Cul de Sac
The Best American Short Stories 1997 series edited by Katrina Kenison, guest edited by E Annie Proulx
Fish Stories – Tobias Wolff
Trigger Warning Database
The Dictionary of the Book – Sidney E. Berger
The Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs
Afterlife – Julia Alvarez
Luanne Rice – Last Day and The Shadow Box
Laurie Colwin
American Prometheus – Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
James – Percival Everett
American Fiction movie

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!

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Episode 190 - Haunted by Hawthorne & The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

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

– Tenth Episode Giveaway –
To be entered to win, join our newsletter by September 15, 2023.
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America – Nancy Maclean
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl

– Currently Reading – [3:56]
The Inferno of Dante – Dante Alighieri translated by Robert Pinsky (CW)
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)
My Friend Anne Frank: The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds – Hannah Pick-Goslar (CW)
Thin Places – Kerri Ní Dochartaigh (EF)(audiobook)
Kerri has been in conversation with Katherine May on How We Live Now and The Wintering Sessions.
Adversity for Sale – Jay Jeezy Jenkins (CW)

– Episode Sponsor – [12:27]
Kissing Asphalt – Delicia Naimi
Learn more about Delicia and order a signed copy of her book here.

– Just Read – [13:14]
Lark Ascending – Silas House (EF)
Hawthorne: A Life – Brenda Wineapple (CW)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [46:32]
Chris and Emily met with longtime listener Karen (aka @barkerforbooks) in Salem, MA. They visited The House of the Seven Gables, Salem Athenaeum, the Salem Public Library, and other Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites. We used The North Shore Literary Tour by Kristin Bierfelt as a resource. Chris purchased the book at Wicked Good Books on her previous trip to Salem.

The Book Cougars hosted a watch along of the 1934 movie adaptation of The Scarlet Letter.

Emily browsed The Strand Bookstore with Aunt Ellen in search of a copy of A Woman’s Story by Annie Ernaux.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:08:05]
To wrap up Scarlet Summer, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Boston on September 21 to visit Hawthorne related sites including the Boston Athanaeum and have  a meal at the Chipotle located at the site of the original Old Corner Bookstore.

On September 17 at 7PM, Chris’s wife Laura is having a public reading of her book Yours in Words as part of the Green Stage Festival in Guilford, CT. The dramatic radio production of the play was featured on Book Cougars Episode 66.

Chris plans to watch the biography Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the Service of a Mind .

– Upcoming Reads – [01:10:53]
Reflections in a Golden Eye – Carson McCullers (CW)(EF)
Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough – Shuly Cawood (CW)(EF)
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women – Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo (EF)

– Out Now – [01:12:50]
Morning in this Broken World – Katrina Kittle  
Creep: Accusations and Confessions – Myriam Gurba
From Dust to Stardust – Kathleen Rooney

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)

– Also Mentioned –
Easy A movie
The Crucible movie based on the play by Arthur Miller via Hoopla
Master of American Literature: The Hawthorne Legacy on Kanopy
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
Author Mary Beth Bass
Voices Against Injustice organization
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA
Blond Joyce Carol Oates

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!

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Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 189 - Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese

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

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [1:58]
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)

– Just Read – [4:38]
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman (CW)
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais (EF) (audiobook narrated by Amy Landon)
The Profile – Willa Cather (CW) (Learn more about the short story project.)
The Wehrwolf – Alma Katsu (CW)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)

– Episode Sponsor – [30:40]
The Brickworks by Lucy E.M. Black
Learn more about Lucy and her books here.

– Biblio Adventures – [31:30]
Chris and Emily spent two days in the Berkshires in Massachusetts where they followed in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They did a house tour of Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount, spent time with librarian Nynke Dorhout, walked the grounds where there is currently an outdoor sculpture exhibit, and attended a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. They also shopped at The Bookstore. (Watch the documentary about how the store survived the COVID pandemic.)  
Check out the video of our two-day adventure.

Emily had a couch biblio adventure watching Slow Horses on Apple TV based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron.

Chris went on a visit to Chicago where she stopped at Galena Book & Paper where she purchased A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen, and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell. She also made a stop at The Book Cellar.

Emily was a guest on Shawn the Book Maniac’s Booktube channel where they talked about polygamous reading.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [52:34]
Chris and Emily are heading on a full day joint jaunt to Salem, MA where they will see The House of the Seven Gables, and other Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites.

Chris and Emily are planning to attend Popular Romance Fiction: The Literature of Hope conference at Yale University September 8-9, 2023. Learn more and sign up here.

– Upcoming Reads – [54:34]
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (CW)(EF)
September 10th at 7PM (ET) we will host our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Out Now – [55:33]
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan
The Breakaway – Jennifer Weiner

– Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese – [55:57]
We chat with Laurie about her book Hester, the second book in our Scarlet Summer.
Learn more about Laurie and her books here.
Laurie will be on a panel at the Salem Literary Festival on September 8, 2023.

– Also Mentioned –
Evidence of Things Unseen – Marianne Wiggins
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Birthmark – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Summer – Edith Wharton
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
The Library Book – Susan Orlean
Margaret Fuller
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine – Rozsika Parker
House of Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliott Dark
Euphoria – Lily King
Book cover designer Olga Grlc

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 188 - Author Spotlight with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle

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

Become a member of our Patreon Community!

– Currently Reading – [1:42]
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits – Jack Murnighan (CW)
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)

– Just Read – [11:58]
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward (EF) release date 10/3/2023
The Vanity Fair article written by Jesmyn Ward: “On Witness and Repair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic”
A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay (CW)
The Last Ranger – Peter Heller (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [28:02]
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston where they worked at Simmon’s University Library. The day ended with an event at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA where Laura Sims (How Can I Help You) will be in conversation with Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are: Stories).

Chris and Emily went on another joint jaunt closer to home in Old Saybrook where they lunched at the French bistro Cocotte located in the original James Pharmacy. Then they went across the street to the Hart House Museum to visit the exhibit “Family Matters: Inspiration and Insights from the Lives of Anna Louise James and Ann Petry.”

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:31]
Chris and Emily are heading up to The Berkshires in Massachusetts for an overnight where they will be following in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They will visit Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount to attend a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.

On Sunday, August 27th at 7PM (ET) we are hosting a watch party of the 1934 movie adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. Please send an email if you would like to join and we will send you instructions on how to log-in and watch along.  

On September 10th at 7PM (ET) will be our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Upcoming Reads – [44:23]
Weyward – Emilia Hart
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais
Hour of the Witch – Chris Bohjalian
The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
Tituba of Salem Village – Ann Petry

– Author Spotlight with writing duo Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle – [46:50]
We chat with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle about their new book’s Come with Me (8/22) and Morning in this Broken World (9/1).  
Learn more about Erin and her upcoming events.
Learn more about Katrina and watch her Ted Talk Strong At Our Broken Places.

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Also Mentioned –
Writers Digest Magazine
Author Sharon Short (aka Jess Montgomery)
Ulysses – James Joyce
National Willa Cather Center
Books by Nicholas Evans: The Loop and The Horse Whisperer
The Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E. Harrow
Author Anne Tyler
Author Christina Consolino

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!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.