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

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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 8 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.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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

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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-Fascist 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

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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

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Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 249 - It’s Our Ninth Anniversary!

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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 

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Episode 248 - Author Spotlight with Natalie Dykstra

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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!

Episode 242 - Announcing the Q4 Readalong!

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Episode 242 Show Notes

– 2025 Big Book Summer Reading Challenge Recap –
Watch two videos over on BookTube:
· In June we posted about the books we hoped to read over the summer.
· In September we posted about the books we completed for the challenge.

Emily read:
The Emperor of Gladness – Ocean Vuong
Buckeye – Patrick Ryan
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah
The Peculiar Gift of July – Ashley Ream

Chris read:
The Shining – Stephen King
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them – Timothy Egan
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World – Matthew Goodman

– Currently Reading –
Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (LOA #388) – co-edited by Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall (CW)
The Weight of Ink – Rachel Kadish (CW)
Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner – Natalie Dykstra (EF) (audiobook)
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler – Susana M. Morris (CW)
Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread – Leila Taylor (EF)

– Just Read –
Goodbye Without Leaving – Laurie Colwin (EF)
The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman to Run for President – Eden Collinsworth (CW)
The Wedding People – Alison Espach (EF) (audiobook)
Hotel Silence – Auđur Ava Ólafsdóttir (translated by Brian Fitzgibbon) (EF)
“The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” and “The Eyes” from The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton – Edith Wharton (CW)
The Peculiar Gift of July – Ashley Ream (EF)
“Luella Miller” from Horror Stories: Classic Tales from Hoffman to Hodgson – edited by Darryl Jones (CW)
“The Wind in the Rose-Bush” by Mary Wilkins Freeman from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)   

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily hosted the monthly Patreon Reading Salon where they discussed the topic: books you want to throw across the room. Emily regrets not talking about All Fours by Miranda July.

Chris and Emily took a joint jaunt to Kindred Thoughts Books in Bridgeport. Emily picked up a copy of Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being by Mary Beth Albright.

Emily watched a banned book club conversation about Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier via the Velshi Banned Book Club with guest Jennifer Egan; watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The next Patreon Reading Salon will take place on Sunday, September 28th. Learn more about becoming a Patreon member.

There is a new book club: America’s Book Club via CSPAN hosted by David M. Rubenstein.

Emily is registered for an Afternoon with Geraldine Brooks sponsored by River Bend Bookshop. The event will take place on Sunday, September 28 from 2-5 PM (ET). RSVP here.  

October 15th, Chris and Emily have tickets for Spunk at the Yale Repertory Club.

– Upcoming Reads –
‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ by M.R. James from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook) 
All The World Can Hold – Jung Yun release date 3/10/2026

Upcoming Short Story Buddy Read with Our Mystery Man John Valeri. We’ve linked to the collections and the free online versions:
"The Mask of the Red Death the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe (read it online)
"The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde (read it online)

Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather (CW)

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 4th Quarter Book –
The 4th Quarter Readalong is How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, November 9th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.

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

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

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

– Also Mentioned –
Octavia Butler: Kindred and Fledgling
Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream
Tommy Orange: There There and Wandering Stars
Jennifer Egan: The Keep and A Visit from the Goon Squad
Grady Hendrix: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group

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!

Episode 232 - Author Spotlight with Eowyn Ivey

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Author Spotlight with Eowyn Ivey

Episode 232 Show Notes

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

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

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

Watch our conversation with James Crews over on BookTube.

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

Chris participated in a virtual book club event via The Mount discussing Edith Wharton’s A Son at the Front and Willa Cather’s One of Ours.

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

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

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

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

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

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

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 2nd Quarter Book –
Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.
There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.

The 2nd Quarter Readalong and our Episode 230 Giveaway is The Good House by Tananarive Due. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, June 8th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.

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

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

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Episode 231 - Author Spotlight with Ruth Franklin

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Author Spotlight with Ruth Franklin

Episode 231 Show Notes

Head over to BookTube to watch our conversation with poet James Crews about his new anthology LOVE IS FOR ALL OF US: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends co-edited with his husband Brad Peacock, illustrated by Lisa Congdon.

– Currently Reading –
Swim Home to the Vanished – Brendan Shay Basham (EF)
Much Ado About Numbers: Shakespeare’s Mathematical Life and Times – Rob Eastaway (CW)
Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling – Matthew Dicks (EF) (audiobook)
Fine Books & Collections Magazine (Issue Spring 2025), Library Shines in Frick Renovation – (CW)

– Just Read –
Swann’s Way – Marcel Proust (CW) (audiobook) (CW)
Robin is doing a buddy read, follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinlgustafson/ and via #ProustPilotProject
Care and Feeding: A Memoir – Laurie Woolever (EF) (audiobook)
The Stolen Queen – Fiona Davis (CW)
The Cliffs – J. Courtney Sullivan (EF) (audiobook)
The Cold Embrace by Mary Elizabeth Braddon from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF)
The article we talk about: “Why Are There So Many Female Ghosts?” by Nathaniel Scharping
The Many Lives of Anne Frank – Ruth Franklin (CW)(EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had a Zoom conversation with Robin, and the group reading Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust. They will be reading the second book, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, in 2026.

Emily attended the virtual conversation of the All CT Reads 2025 Adult Author Talk with Monica Wood author of How to Read a Book. There is a video available here. Find current and passed reading lists here.

Emily saw the film The Penguin Lessons based on the novel The Penguin Lessons: What I Learned from a Remarkable Bird by Tom Michell.

– Episode Sponsor –
Time Enough by Lise Mayne.
Learn more about Lise here.

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

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

Chris and Emily have purchased in-person tickets for Selected Shorts: Classics with a Twist with Meg Wolitzer and Friends taking place on April 30th. There are virtual tickets available.

April 12th Emily will be attending the Cherry Bombe Jubilee, volunteering to help shepherd cookbook authors.  

Newburyport Literary Festival is April 25-27, 2025. The festival is free and there are virtual events. Check out the schedule.

May 2-4, 2025 is Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. Learn more here. 

– Upcoming Reads –
Old New York – Edith Wharton (CW)
Black Woods, Blue Sky – Eowyn Ivey (EF)
Stone Yard Devotional – Charlotte Wood (EF)
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce up next is The North Mail by Amelia B. Edwards. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.

– Episode Sponsor –
Fun: Essays on a Life Embraced by Aline Weiller
Learn more about Aline here.

– Out Now –
Heartwood - Amity Gaige
Swept Away – Beth O’ Leary

– Author Spotlight with Ruth Franklin –
We talk with Ruth about her books The Many Lives of Anne Frank and Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.
Learn more about Ruth here. Subscribe to her Substack Ghost Stories.

Ruth tells a story about her time writing at The Dora Maar House. Read her Substack post On Biography and ghosts, where she shares this experience.

Enjoy this conversation via BIO: How to Read Biography Like a Writer - Ruth Franklin + Anne Boyd Rioux

A recent article in Hadassah Magazine: “The Enduring Mythology of Anne Frank” by Ruth Franklin

– 2025 Readalong Theme and 2nd Quarter Book –
Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.
There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading.

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

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

– Also Mentioned –
Schlesinger Library – Harvard Radcliffe Institute
Emily Dickinson Collection at the Houghton Library
Other poetry collections edited by James Crews: A Boxful of Poetry
White River Books in Carbondale, CO
SpeakUp Storytelling
Live Lit Chicago
Learn more about The Moth
Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever
Frick Museum Art Library
Also by Fiona Davis: The Magnolia Palace and The Lions of Fifth Avenue
A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Andrea Janes and Leanna Renee Heiber
Anne Boyd Rioux was a guest on Episode 57 featuring her book Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alavarez
Read Chris’s blog post about her six top reads of Q1 2025
The Anne Frank House

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!

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Episode 225 - Top Ten Books of 2024 with Russell from Ink and Paper Blog

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Top Ten Books of 2024 with Russell Gray from Ink and Paper Blog

Episode 225 Show Notes

Top Ten Reads of 2024 with Russell from Ink and Paper Blog

– Russell’s Books –
The Most – Jessica Anthony
Sipsworth – Simon Van Booy
Real Americans – Rachel Khong
Hombrecito – Santiago Jose Sanchez
The Safekeep – Yael Van Der Wouden
Our Evenings – Alan Hollinghurst
Tell Me Everything – Elizabeth Strout
Universality -Natasha Brown
Intermezzo – Sally Rooney
Small Rain – Garth Greenwell
James – Percival Everett

– Chris’s Books –
Thirst – Marina Yuszczuk, translated by Heather Cleary
Summer – Edith Wharton
We Got the Beat – Jenna Miller
A Little Bit Country – Brian D. Kennedy
Boyfriend Material – Alexis Hall (audiobook)
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile – Candice Millard
The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany – Pamela D. Toler
The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells – Rebecca Rego Barry
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki
Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham – Marcia Clark
Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel – Kiersten White
The Gathering – C.J. Tudor
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë

– Emily’s Books –
An Exact Relica of a Figment of My Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted – Suleika Jaouad
The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon
The Women – Kristin Hannah
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle  – Matt Cain  (audiobook)
How to Read a Book – Monica Wood
The One-In-A-Million Boy – Monica Wood
Sandwich – Catherine Newman
We All Want Impossible Things – Catherine Newman
The Cookie That Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook – Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension – Hanif Abdurraqib

Listener Top Tens! We would love to hear about your favorite reads of the year. You can find the form here fill it out by January 15, 2025.

– Also Mentioned –
Powell’s Books
Read By Ryan on Instagram
American Symphony documentary
Shawn Breathes Books
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
The Ghost Writer – Phillip Roth
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
Author Agatha Christie
Find all of the novels by Elizabeth Strout here
Margaret Fuller: Collected Writings (Loa #388) by Margaret Fuller, edited by Noelle A. Baker and Megan Marshall
Normal People by Sally Rooney
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Armadale – Wilkie Collins
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
My Ántonia – Willa Cather

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.