Episode 182 - Biblio Adventure Bonanza: Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

Book Cougars Episode 182

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

– Currently Reading – [1:00]
Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America – Krista Burton (CW) release date 6/6/23
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams (CW)(EF)
Cat Brushing – Jane Campbell (CW)

– Just Read – [8:37]
Budmo! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen – Anna Voloshyna (EF)
Shakespeare and Company – Sylvia Beach (CW)

– Biblio Adventures – [17:31]
Chris and Emily went to see the movie Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret based on the book by Judy Blume.  

Chris watched Fried Green Tomatoes based on the book by Fannie Flagg.

Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers to see Mary Beth Keane talk about her new book The Half Moon.

Chris went to Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. She also visited Monroe Street Books in Middlebury where she purchased: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton, A Manual of Archive Administration by Hilary Jenkinson, and So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabrielle Zaid. On the drive home she made stops at Rodgers Book Barn in Hillsdale, NY and Oblong Books in Millerton, NY.

– Episode Sponsor – [38:58]
Episode 182 is sponsored by Rewriting Illness by Elizabeth Benedict. Learn more about Elizabeth here.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:52]
Chris will be celebrating World Dracula Day on May 26th with plans to work on a puzzle and listen to an audiobook of the book.

Emily is going to try watching the television series Bridgerton based on the books by Julia Quinn.

– Our Big Book Summer Reading Challenge – [43:05]
We are joining our friend Sue Jackson’s summer reading challenge by reading a book that is over 400 pages. The challenge runs from May 25 – September 4. Learn more on her blog.

Ulysses – James Joyce (CW)
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of New America – Gilbert King (EF) (audio)  
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

Novels that Emily is considering:
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliott Dark
The Great Reclamation – Rachel Heng
Three – Valérie Perrin
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins

Chris might read The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American American Romanticism by Megan Marshall.

– Out Now – [54:54]
Life B: Overcoming Double Depression – Bethanne Patrick
Summer Stage – Meg Mitchell Moore

– Also Mentioned –
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffeneger
Bison Books
Joyce Maynard
Katherine May: Enchantment and Wintering
Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane
Marian Engel
Fresh Water for Flowers – Valerie Perrin
Horace Mann
Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Episode 181 - Author Spotlight with Sharon Salzberg

Author Spotlight with Sharon Salzberg

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

– Currently Reading – [1:31]
Budmo! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen – Anna Voloshyna (EF)
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again – Rachel Held Evans (CW)
Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age – Katherine May (EF) (audio)
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May (narrated by Rebecca Lee) (CW)

– Just Read – [13:11]
Luli and the Language of Tea – Andrea Wang, Hyewon Yum (illustrator) (EF)
The Smart Cookie – Jory John, (illustrated by Pete Oswald)
Wild and Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver – narrated by Sophia Bush (EF)
Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom – Sharon Salzberg (CW)(EF)(audio)

– Episode Sponsor – [25:56]
Episode 181 is sponsored by The Cost of Electricity by Kathryn Holzman. Learn more about Kathryn here.

– Biblio Adventures – [26:41]
Chris attended the first of a four-part virtual series with author Benjamin Taylor through the National Willa Cather Center. Taylor’s new book, Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather, publishes on November 14, 2023. Learn about Taylor’s virtual study series here.

Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure watching Judy Blume Forever via Amazon Prime.

Chris completed a Jane Austen puzzle.

Emily had a weekend of fun at the Newburyport Literary Festival where she moderated two panels, one about The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us about Love, Life, and Mortality with Karen Fine, DVM and the other discussing Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives by Robert D. Richardson. Emily talked with Megan Marshall who wrote the foreword. She also attended a panel about the short story with Ann Hood, Richard Russo, Andre Dubus III, and Joshua Bodwell discussing the new collection, Reaching Inside: 50 Acclaimed Authors on 100 Unforgettable Short Stories. She enjoyed a conversation between Liberty Hardy and Kamila Shamsie chatting about her novel Best of Friends and got time to browse through Jabberwocky Bookshop where she picked up the Spring 2023 Edition of Ploughshares edited by Alice Hoffman.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [43:23]
Chris will be going on a jaunt to Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT for Booktopia 2023.

Emily is heading to Savoy Bookshop & Café on May 17th to see Mary Beth Keane discuss her new novel The Half Moon.

– Upcoming Reads – [46:02]
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams (CW)(EF)
May 26th is World Dracula Day, so Chris is thinking of re-reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

– Out Now – [47:17]
The Collected Regrets of Clover – Mikki Brammer

– Author Spotlight with Sharon Salzberg – [47:30]
We speak with Sharon about her book Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom. Learn more about Sharon Salzberg and her Metta Hour podcast here.

– Also Mentioned –
Judy Prescott Marshall
Watercress – Andrea Wang (featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 158)
Pushkin Studios
Metta Hour podcast
EveryLibrary
American Library Association
Ask Again, Yes – Mary
Barbara L. Frederickson, Ph.D.
bell hooks

You can 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.