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

Book Cougars Episode 262
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 262

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: A Stormy 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 261 - Still in the Grip of Frankenstein, and Now Gyllenhaal's The Bride!

Book Cougars Episode 261
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 261

Episode 261 Show Notes

Emily read the poem “The Art of Disappearing” by Naomi Shihab Nye from the collection Words Under the Words.

Two upcoming page-to-screen adaptations:
1. Anna Pigeon based on the series by Nevada Barr that starts with Track of the Cat.
2. East of Eden based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name.

– Currently Reading –
Foe – Iain Reid (EF)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Three Bags Full – Leonie Swann, translated by Anthea Bell (EF)(audiobook)
Table Four at the River Cafe: Conversations about Food and Life – Ruthie Rogers (EF)
interview with Ruthie Rogers on Radio Cherry Bombe

– Just Read –
Five – Ilona Bannister (EF)(audiobook)
From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler (EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
The Soft Underbelly by Carlisle Richardson

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris saw the Devil Wears Prada 2 inspired by the novels by Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada, Revenge Wears Prada, and When Life Gives You Lululemons.

Emily watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix based on the novel of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt.

Chris and John met to discuss From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 by Patricia Cornwell.

Chris and Emily both watched The Bride! directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The Patreon reading salon conversation focused on reading plans for Sue Jackson’s Big Book Summer Reading Challenge. Learn more about the challenge on her blog and her BookTube channel.

Watch this video to see our big book plans. Emily forgot to mention Land by Maggie O’Farrell and The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw publishing on September 29, and she plans to start with Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman. Chris will be starting with 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Chris forgot Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Frasier, This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark by Craig Fehrman, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life by Ellen Carol DuBois.

Emily enjoyed the conversation between Marisa Helff and Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily will be going to see The Sheep Detectives on the big screen, based on the novel Three Bags Full and The Accidental Tourist based on the novel of the same name.

Our Zoom conversation about Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.

Chris is doing a buddy read of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. They will also discuss the movie, the Zoom conversation will be on June 27. Send an email if you are interested in joining the conversation.

June 7 at 11:00, Chris and Emily are registered to see Amy Bloom in conversation about her novel Blunt Instrument at RJ Julia Booksellers. Register here.  

Upcoming Patreon Reading Salons: (learn more about becoming a Patreon member)
June 28, topic will be books we think we “should’ read.
July 26, topic will be award winners.

– Upcoming Reads –
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (CW)
Beartown – Fredrik Backman (EF)
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (EF)
Cause of Death: Scarpetta #7 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)

– Out Now –
Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller

– Also Mentioned –
The movie Foe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Cal Newport
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The novel Where the Crawdads Sing and the movie
Patricia Cornwell’s Andy Brazil series
A Feminist Theory of Refusal by Bonnie Honig
The novel The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante and the movie
The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Drafting the Past podcast
Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote by Craig Fehrman
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Story Magazine

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 260 - Buddy Reading with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Book Cougars Episode 260
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Buddy Reads with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Episode 260 Show Notes

– Newsletter Subscriber 10th Episode Giveaway –
Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano
Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter by May 21 to be entered to win. The winner will be chosen by random number generator on May 22, 2026.

A couple PSA’s:
1.   Learn more about Super Large Print Books
2.   Correction: When Emily was talking about Blunt Instrument by Amy Bloom she mentioned Mrs. Danvers is a character in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson but, thanks listener Kate for the correction, she is a character in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

– Currently Reading –
Trad Wife – Saratoga Schaeffer (CW)
These Walls Remember – Dell Sandeen (CW)
From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Three Bags Full – Leonie Swann, translated by Anthea Bell (EF)(audiobook)
Take It From Me: An Agent's Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch – Alia Hanna Habib (EF)

– Just Read –
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (EF)
“Against Catharsis: Writing is not Therapy” – T Kira Madden (CW)
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Coven – Jennifer Dugan, illustrated by Kit Seaton (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily had a lot of joint jaunts over the last two weeks:
· Emily Franklin at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with her novel Love & Other Monsters.

· The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia. Here are the Booktopia Staff Picks from “This Gift Card is Burning A Whole in My Pocket.”
The Authors & Books featured
All the World Can Hold by Jung Yung
Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan
Crucible by John Sayles
Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han
Little Movements by Lauren Morrow
Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry
Pollock’s Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Take It From Me by Alia Hannah Habib
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Whidbey by T Kira Madden

· Went to see the film Fried Green Tomatoes on the big screen.

· A fun visit with two listeners, Deanna and Linda. We visited the James Blackstone Memorial Library and Slackline Press in Branford. Deanna brought us books: (if you’re interested in learning more about these books, we do a show-and-tell on this video)
A Feast of Words: The Triumph of Edith Wharton by Cynthia Griffin Wolff
Displaying Women: Spectacles of Leisure in Edith Wharton's New York by Maureen E Montgomery M.D.
Willa Cather: Landscape and Exile by Laura Winters
Sizzle & Drizzle: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips by Nancy Birtwhistle
Foe by Iain Reid
We Spread by Iain Reid

· Caroline Bicks, author of Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, at RJ Julia’s Booksellers. We were joined at the event by Our Mystery Man John Valeria and the Gentleman Caller.

Chris had a phone call with Tina about Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke; she also had an exchange with Booktuber Britta Bohler over Voxer.  

– Upcoming Jaunts –
May 28-29, Chris will be attending the 2026 BIO Conference.

Emily will be going to see The Sheep Detectives on the big screen, based on the novel Three Bags Full, and Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix based on the novel of the same name.

Chris plans to see the movie Devil Wears Prada 2.

– Upcoming Reads –
Whidbey – T Kira Madden (EF)
Sizzle & Drizzle: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips – Nancy Birtwhistle (EF)
Endling – Maria Reva (EF)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Be sure to check out Chris’s conversation with Dorian, James, and Shawn Breathes Books about Edith Wharton’s ghost stories.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (CW)

– Buddy Reads with Our Mystery Man John Valeri –
See prior episodes with John by visiting the Guests Page.
Books from The New Yorker article “On Crime and Creativity” recommended by Patricia Cornwell:
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

We discuss the following books with John:
The Patricia Cornwell books, they have read up to The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (audiobook)

John’s most recent interview with Patricia Cornwell.
John’s interview with Cornwell about her book Unnatural Death
John’s interview with Cornwell about her book Identity Unknown

True Crime review in The New York Times

Up Next: From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6

Here’s a link to Chris’s blog post so you can follow along with their Scarpetta buddy read schedule.  

Chris’s review of True Crime

– 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.

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.

– Also Mentioned –
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Friction: A Biography by Jennifer R. Vail
This Cursed House by Dell Sandeen
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T Kira Madden
Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
Author Stephen P. Kiernan
Upstate Dispatch by Kim Van Alkemade
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Abraham Lincoln: Vampyre Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smithe, the film adaptation
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Author Pamela Toler
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan

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 259 - Busted by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Book Cougars Episode 259
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 259

Episode 259 Show Notes

A few PSA’s:
1. Thank you to Georgia for letting us know that if you live outside of the US you can find an unabridged copy of the audiobook of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café through AudiobooksNow.

2. Kindles made in 2012 or earlier will no longer be supported by Amazon.

3. Our new email address is hello@bookcougars.com. The April newsletter was e-mailed on April 30, if you didn’t receive it, check your SPAM folder and add the updated email address to your contact list.

– Currently Reading –
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Friction: A Biography – Jennifer R. Vail (CW)
Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond – Roxana Jullapat, and Ari Smolin (EF)

– Just Read –
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (EF) (audiobook)
The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout (EF)
All the World Can Hold – Jung Yun (CW)
Blunt Instrument – Amy Bloom (EF)
Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris celebrated Independent Bookstore Day with visits to The Book Barn in Niantic where she purchased The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl and The Unofficial Companion to Patricia Cornwell by George Beahm; next she stopped at Bank Square Books in Mystic where she came home with copies of The Known World by Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life by Ellen Carol DuBois, and Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer.

Emily had a workday at the Carbondale Public Library where she was surprised to learn that they offer free printing. On the way home she flew through the Denver airport where she found a very cool, very big take-one-leave-one library in the A gates of the Denver airport that is a façade for Williams & Graham, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 29, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to see Emily Franklin at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with her novel Love & Other Monsters. The event is free, you can register here.

April 30 – May 3, Chris and Emily are signed up to attend The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia

May 7, Chris and Emily are signed up to see Caroline Bicks, author of Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, at RJ Julia’s Booksellers.

May 10, Chris and Emily are heading to the movies to see Fried Green Tomatoes. Find out where it is playing near you.

May 23, from 2-4pm (ET) there is an unveiling of the Margaret Fuller statue at the Concord Free Public Library. Find out more here.

May 24, next Reading Salon topic: books over 400 pages for Sue Jackson’s Big Book Summer Reading Challenge.

– Upcoming Reads –
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (EF)
Don’t Stop – Bonnie Friedman (EF)
Esquire Ball: Stories from the Great Black Swamp – Lisa Slage Robinson (EF)

– Out Now –
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
The Author Weekend – Laura Zigman
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel

– 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.

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.

– Also Mentioned –
Author Peter Geye
Author Jamie Ford
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
Shelter by Jung Yun
Author Sara Catterall
After Lives by Megan Marshall
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

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 258 - Author Spotlight with Heather Harper Ellett

Book Cougars Episode 258
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Author Heather Harper Ellett

Episode 258 Show Notes

– 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.

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 –
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King – Caroline Bicks (CW)
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (EF) (audiobook)
The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
My Detachment – Tracy Kidder (EF) (audiobook)
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)

– Just Read –
The Reservation – Rebecca Kauffman (EF)
You can listen to Emily’s conversation with Rebecca over on Ingredient One.
Pet Sematary by Stephen King (CW)
The Golden Boy – Patricia Finn (EF)
True Crime: A Memoir – Patricia Cornwell (CW) release date 5/6/2026
Emily dnf’d Raising Hare – Chloe Dalton (EF) (audiobook)
Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa: Stories – W.P. Kinsella (CW)
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily visited Papercuts Bookshop in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Chris watched the film Field of Dreams based on the short story Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa: Stories by W.P. Kinsella.

Emily strolled with Aunt Ellen along Orchard Street on the Lower East Side in New York City where they visited Sweet Pickle Books and P&T Knitwear Books.

Chris and Emily went on a Joint Jaunt to West Hartford where they worked at the UConn Law Library then visited the new location of River Bend Bookshop. They also offer Mahjong lessons and games, visit the events calendar to learn more.

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

Chris had a word day at the Sterling Library on the Yale Campus. After working she visited Book Trader Cafe, Grey Matter Books, and Atticus Bookstore Cafe where she purchased Good Grief by Brianna Pastor and Hauntings by Vernon Lee.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 29, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to see Emily Franklin at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with her novel Love & Other Monsters. The event is free, you can register here.

April 30 – May 3, Chris and Emily are signed up to attend The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia

CrimeConn will take place on May 16th at the Ferguson Library.

May 13th, Emily is registered to see Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare at RJ Julia’s Booksellers.

– Upcoming Reads –
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (EF) pub date 6/23/2026
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Morning Baker – Roxana Jullapat (EF)
The Gardner Museum Café Cookbook – Lois McKitchen Conroy (EF)
The Death of a Joyce Scholar: A Peter McGarr Mystery – Bartholomew Gill (CW)
Winter People – Gráinne Murphy (CW)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Manslaughter – Alice Duer Miller (CW) There is a film by the same name.
Adaptations From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films – Stephanie Harrison (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Heather Harper Ellett –
Heather’s book Ain’t Nobody Nobody is being republished with a new ending!
Learn more about Heather here.
Heather was also featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 92 and on our YouTube channel.

– Also Mentioned –
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Also by Tracy Kidder: Rough Sleepers and Mountains Beyond Mountains
True Grit by Charles Portis (audiobook)
The Martian by Andy Weir
Room by Emma Donoghue
Tilt by Emma Pattee
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
Novels into Film: Adaptations and Interpretation
The Librarians movie
Also by Denise Kiernan: The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City
Her Life in Ink by Sharon M. Harris
Sharon was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 253

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 252 - Listener Top Tens of 2025 and New Year Reading Intentions

Book Cougars Episode 252
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 252

Episode 252 Show Notes

– 2025 Listener Top Reads –
The Correspondent – Virginia Evans
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks
Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy
Heart the Lover – Lily King
Broken Country – Clare Leslie Hall
Stone Yard Devotional – Charlotte Wood
The Road to Tender Hearts – Annie Hartnett
The Briar Club – Kate Quinn
Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid
James – Percival Everett
Buckeye – Patrick Ryan
Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino
Culpability – Bruce Holsinger
The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon

Some top nonfiction that made the list:
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism – Sarah Wynn-Williams
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space – Adam Higgenbotham
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend – Rebecca Romney
One Day, Everyone Will Always Been Against This – Omar El Akkad

– 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 –
Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor, and Mystery Author – Sharon Harris (CW)
Joyride – Susan Orlean (EF) (audiobook)
The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton – Sophfronia Scott (CW) (audiobook)
Kin – Tayari Jones (EF)

– Just Read –
Beth Is Dead – Katie Bernet (CW)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (EF)(audiobook)
A Backward Glance – Edith Wharton (CW)
Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative – Melissa Febos (EF) (audiobook)
Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Body of Evidence – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Author Weekend – Laura Zigman (EF) release date 5/5/2026
A Tangle of Obsidian – Lydia M. Hawke (CW) (audiobook)
Theo of Golden – Allen Levi (EF) (audiobook)
Allen Levi’s elevator pitch about the novel.
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel (EF) release date 5/5/2026
The God of the Woods – Liz Moore (EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had two Couch Biblio Adventures inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Christmas Above the Clouds and A Dickens of a Holiday!

Emily watched her first book to film adaptation of the year, Practical Magic based on the novel by Alice Hoffman.

Chris attended a meeting of the New Haven History Stewards, where she viewed the exhibit “Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & New Haven” at the Schwarzman Center. 

Emily went shopping at Slackline Press in Branford, CT where she was able to make a bookmark using an old letter press named Brumhilda.

Chris attended a virtual book launch with Brad Bidelow and his new biography Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts joined by Debby Applegate (author of The Most Famous Man in America: Henry Ward Beecher and Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age) and William Fellows. The event was recorded you can watch it here.  

Emily went to Davoll’s General Store where she attended a conversation between Catherine Newman, author of Wreck, and Emily Franklin, author of Love & Other Monsters.

Chris went to Huntsville, Alabama where she visited The Snail on the Wall bookstore, named after the short story “The Mark on the Wall” by Viriginia Woolf. She picked up copies of Alabama Hope by David Graves and The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Somerlee. They also went to the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.

– 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.

Emily is heading on a trip to California where she hopes to get up to some bookish fun.

Tuesday, January 27, Chris is hoping to attend the Deans Tea: The Color of Contemplation with Sophfronia Scott. Learn more here.

Booktopia 2026 dates have been announced! It has been rebranded and is now called The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia; follow this link to learn more.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Lady of Pentlands – Elizabeth Jordan (CW)
Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era – Tiya Miles (CW) (audiobook)
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People – Tiya Miles (EF)
Tilt – Emma Pattee (EF)

– 2026 Reading Intentions – 
Chris
·       Set Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 books.
·       Buddy Read of the Kay Scarpetta series with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri. Learn more on Chris’s blog.
·       Do research on Book Cougars quarterly readalongs.
·       Listen to one audiobook each month.
·       Track book reading time on The Storygraph.

Emily
·       Set Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 books.
·       Post monthly to Ingredient One on Substack.
·       Attend a food writing retreat.
·       Watch one book to film adaptation each month.
·       Maintain book journal and book-to-film adaptation journal.

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Susan Orlean: The Library Book and The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex by Melissa Febos
A Web of Obsidian by Lydia M. Hawke
BookTuber Hannah’s Books
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck
Author and actor Jenny Slate
Author and food journalist Kathy Gunst
Slumdog Millionaire based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup
A Discovery of Witches adaptation based on the All Souls Series by Deborah Harkness

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.

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Episode 251 - Top Ten Reads of 2025 with Russell of Ink and Paper Blog

Book Cougars Episode 251
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 251

Episode 251 Show Notes

Please take the Listener Top Ten Books of 2025 poll by January 15th: http://bit.ly/ListenerTopTen2025

– Russell’s Top Ten –
Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt (audiobook)
The Savage Nobel Death of Babs Dionne – Ron Currie
A Truce That Is Not Peace – Miriam Toews (audiobook)
Run for the Hills – Kevin Wilson
The Emperor of Gladness – Ocean Vuong
Some Bright Nowhere – Ann Packer (audiobook)
Minor Black Figures – Brandon Taylor
Flashlight – Susan Choi (audiobook)
Heart the Lover – Lily King
The Correspondent – Virginia Evans
Audition – Katie Kitamura

– Chris’s Top Ten –
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World – Matthew Goodman
After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart – Megan Marshall
Listen to our conversation with Megan on Episode 227
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend – Rebecca Romney
Happy Land – Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Militia House – John Milas
The Award – Matthew Pearl
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them – Timothy Egan (audiobook)
Beth is Dead – Katie Bernet
The Belgian Girls – Kathryn Atwood
Old New York – Edith Wharton
Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel – Kiersten White

– Emily’s Top Ten –
Lone Women – Victor LaValle (audiobook)
Leaving – Roxana Robinson
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks (audiobook)
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir – Tessa Hulls
Buckeye – Patrick Ryan (audiobook)
A Family Matter – Claire Lynch
The Upstairs House – Julia Fine
Wreck – Catherine Newman
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck – Sophie Elmhirst
The Road to Tender Hearts – Annie Hartnett (audiobook)

– Favorite Biblio Adventures of 2025 –
Russell moved to Portland where he enjoys exploring all three locations of Powell’s Books.

Chris’s had a standout trip to Nebraska with Colleen where they visited the Eisenhower Museum and Library, went to the Willa Cather Conference, explored Red Cloud, and other fun sites.

Emily enjoyed two events hosted by RJ Julia Booksellers. A conversation with Virginia Evans, author of The Correspondent and another event with Dorie Greenspan in conversation with Casey Elsass about Dorie’s Anytime Cakes and What Can I Bring? Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life. Emily has spent a lot of time baking with Dorie’s Cookies.

Another favorite was everything Isabella Stewart Gardner: visiting the museum, reading Chasing Beauty, and featuring Natalie Dykstra in an Author Spotlight on Episode 248.

– Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2026 –
Kin – Tayari Jones release date 2/24/2026
All the World Can Hold – Jung Yun release date 3/10/2026
True Crime: A Memoir – Patricia Cornwell release date 5/5/2026
Man Overboard – Katherine Rooney release date 7/7/2026
Hunger and Thirst – Claire Fuller release date 6/2/2026

– Also Mentioned –
Remarkably Bright Creatures movie
Check out Megan Marshall’s full list of books
Georgia O’Keefe: A Life by Roxana Robinson
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Also by Miriam Toews: All My Puny Sorrows and Women Talking
Also by Geraldine Brooks: Horse and March
Also by Kevin Wilson: The Family Fang and Nothing to See Here
Also by Dolen Perkins-Valdez: Wench and Take My Hand
So Far Gone by Jess Walter, also a great audiobook
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Also by Matthew Pearl: The Dante Club
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Author Elizabeth Strout
Euphoria by Lily King
Also by Katie Kitamura: A Separation and Intimacies
Also by Tayari Jones: Silver Sparrow and An American Marriage

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

Book Cougars Episode 250
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 250

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!

Book Cougars Episode 249
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 249

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 248 - Author Spotlight with Natalie Dykstra

Book Cougars Episode 248
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 248

Episode 248 Show Notes

–Author Spotlight with Natalie Dykstra–Natalie is the author of Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life and Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Learn more about Natalie and her writing here.

Consider visiting the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum.

– Episode Sponsor –
Closing Costs by Jani Steele

– Upcoming Reads –
“Afterward” by Edith Wharton from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook

– Also Mentioned –
Houghton Library

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!

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!