Episode 201 - A Great Last Night with Luanne Rice

Episode 201 Show Notes

– GIVEAWAYS! –
Sign up for the monthly newsletter by February 15th be entered to win:
Last Seen in Havana – Teresa Dovalpage
A World of Curiosities – Louise Penny
Mother Country – Jacinda Townsend
The Refusal Camp – James R. Benn

Join our Patreon Community by February 15th  to be entered to win:
The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

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

– Currently Reading –  
We Should Not Be Friends – Will Schwalbe (EF)(audiobook)
Vampires of El Norte – Isabel Cañas (CW)(audiobook)
Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes & Stories – Fanny Singer (EF)
Chris decided to DNF The Iliad – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)(audiobook)

– Just Read –
The Sicilian Inheritance – Jo Piazza (EF) release date 4/2/24
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile – Candice Millard (CW)
Emily read two short stories: “The Irish Wedding” from the story collection The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken and “Such Fun” from the story collection Last Night by James Salter
Last Night – Luanne Rice (CW)(EF)
Blood Sisters – Vanessa Lillie (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
Brooklyn ’76 by Anthony Ausiello

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily recorded with Luanne Rice at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library and then attended Luanne’s book launch at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT and the after party at The Captain Daniel Packer Inne.

Emily saw American Fiction based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett.

Chris put together new bookcases from IKEA and began filling the shelves via a stop at Barnes and Noble in Milford where she picked up The Major of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham, Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts, and First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent by Lorissa Rinehart and online shopping via Blackwell’s where she purchased Women of the Anarchy by Sharon Bennett Connolly and Stranger Within the Gates by Bertha Thomas.

Emily went to Charter Books in Newport, RI for the book launch of Float Up, Sing Down by Laird Hunt.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is registered for an event on February 15th at 2PM (ET) with Rebecca Rego Barry about her new book The Vanishing of Caroline Wells : Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author sponsored by The Ohio State University’s Rare Books & Manuscripts Library.

Emily is looking forward to watching a video with Roxane Gay in conversation with Sohla El-Waylly about her new cookbook Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook.

– Upcoming Reads –
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki (CW) release date 3/19/2024
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW) send an email if you want to join the buddy read
Indigo – Beverly Jenkins (CW)(EF)
Mrs. Caliban – Rachel Ingalls (EF)
Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters – Jessica P. Pryde (EF)

– Out Now –
The Fury – Alex Michaelides
No One Can Know – Kate Alice Marshall
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks – Crystal Wilkinson
Imagination: A Manifesto – Ruha Benjamin
One Wrong Word – Hank Phillippi Ryan
The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
The Cemetery of Untold Stories – Julia Alvarez

– Author Spotlight with Luanne Rice –
We had a chat with Luanne about her most recent novel Last Night.
Learn more about Luanne and her long backlist here.
Her upcoming young adult suspense novel is If Anything Happens to Me, publishing on 9/17/24.

– Also Mentioned –
Tom Lake – Ann Patchett (audiobook)
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett (audiobook)
The Odyssey – Homer translated by Emily Wilson
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey – Candice Millard
Seating Arrangements – Maggie Shipstead
Author Jill McCorkle
Also by Luanne Rice: The Shadow Box and Last Day
Author Nevada Barr
Young Rich Widows by Vanessa Lillie, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Kimberly Belle
The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream by Charles Spencer
Zorrie – Laird Hunt
The Professor’s House – Willa Cather
Author Gustave Flaubert
Author Debra Goodrich Royce
The Ocean House Author’s Series
Artist Maureen McCabe
Artist Linden Frederick
Night Stories: Fifteen Paintings and the Stories they Inspired – Linden Frederick
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles – Dominick Dunne

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

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

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 200 - Two Books We Can't Wait for You to Read (times 18!)

Episode Two Hundred Show Notes

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

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

– Listener Top Ten –
You can find these books on the
Listener Top Ten of 2023 list on our Bookshop.org page
Tom Lake – Ann Patchett
Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store – James McBride
Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams
Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt
The Fraud – Zadie Smith
Unlikely Animals – Annie Hartnett
Signal Fires – Dani Shapiro
Absolution – Alice McDermott
The Postcard – Anne Berest

– Currently Reading –
The Iliad – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)(audiobook)
River of the Gods: Genius Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile – Candice Millard
The Sicilian Inheritance – Jo Piazza (EF) release date 4/2/24
Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines – Joy Buolamwini (CW)
Upstream: Selected Essays – Mary Oliver (EF)

– Currently Reading –
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken (EF)
Thirst – Marina Yuszczuk (CW) release date 3/5/2024
Tom Lake – Ann Patchett (audiobook) (EF)
Chris read the short story “Behind the Singer Tower” by Willa Cather. Learn more about the Willa Cather Short Story Project.
Emily read the short story “These are the Meditations of My Heart” from the collection Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks and “Old Crimes” from the collection Old Crimes: And Other Stories by Jill McCorkle
Erasure – Percival Everett (EF)
The Marriage Portrait – Maggie O’Farrell (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris went to Illinois to pay her respects and bid farewell to the Barnes and Noble in Naperville that is closing. She also got a good browse at her favorite used bookstore, The Frugal Muse. She picked up Hudson River Bracketed by Edith Wharton, Writing a Jewish Life: Memoirs by Lev Raphael, and The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel by Kati Marton.

Emily went to Colorado and attended an event via Aspen Words featuring Ann Patchett in conversation with Elizabeth McCracken.

Books recommended by Elizabeth:
Night Wherever We Go – Tracey Rose Peyton
Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It – Greg Marshall
Mrs. Caliban – Rachel Ingalls

Books recommended by Ann:
So Big – Edna Ferber
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year – Margaret Renkl
Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar
James – Percival Everett
This is Happiness – Niall Williams

Emily visited White River Books in Carbondale, CO where she picked up a copy of The Last Ranger by Peter Heller and the Carbondale Public Library.

Chris watched the movie The Princess Bride based on the novel by William Goldman.

Emily watched the movie Boys in the Boat based on the novel by Daniel James Brown. The audiobook is narrated by Edward Herrmann.

Chris participated in an online forum about craft via the Biography Lab. There was a panel with Janice P. Nimura, “Nasty Women: Making a Good Story out of Bad Behavior.” Janice is the author of The Doctors Blackwell and was a guest on Episode 139. Other panels included James McGrath Morris and Ray A. Shepard. You can watch the video with the keynote speaker, Kai Byrd.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily are going on a Joint Jaunt to Bank Square Books for the launch of Luanne Rice’s new book Last Night.

Emily is planning to see the movie American Fiction at Madison Art Theatre based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett.

Chris will be attending a reading of her wife Laura’s work-in-progress at the Chester Arts & Literary Weekend on February 11th at 5pm

– Two Books We Can’t Wait for You to Read –

Chris Wolak
Imagination: A Manifesto – Ruha Benjamin release date 2/6/24
Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy – Cait West release date 4/30/24

Emily Fine
How to End a Love Story – Yulin Kuang release date 4/2/24
The Paris Novel – Ruth Reichl release date 4/23/24

Michael Kindness
The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels by Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmerans release date 3/12/24
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore release date 6/11/24

Ann Kingman
Service by Sarah Gilmartin release date 6/4/24
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister release date 10/1/24

Author Amy Tector
Death At the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book by Kate Atkinson release date 9/3/24
Honor the Dead: A Dominion Archives Mystery  by Amy Tector release date 4/16/24

Author Andrea Wang
Summer at Squee by Andrea Wang release date 3/5/24
Next Stop: A Graphic Novel by Debbie Fong release date 3/19/24

Author Bianca Marais
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio release date 4/2/24
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rawley release date 5/21/24
Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo release date 6/18/24
Weird Black Girls by Elwin Cotman release date 4/16/24

Author Caroline Leavitt
Splinters by Leslie Jamison release date 2/20/24
Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt release date 4/23/24

Davina from BookBrowse
Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray release date 3/12/24
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung release date 5/7/24

Author Fiona Davis
Anna Bright is Hiding Something by Susie Orman Schnall release date 6/4/24
A Novel Summer by Jamie Brenner release date 7/16/24

Author Hank Phillippi Ryan
One Wrong Word by Hank Phillippi Ryan release date 2/6/24
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter and her DI Fawley series starting with Close to Home

Author Jennifer Savran Kelly
Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir by Zoe Bossiere release date 5/21/24
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko release date 3/19/24

Author
Jenna Miller
We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller release date 2/20/24
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao release date 4/`16/24

Author Rachel Barenbaum
Flyboy by Kasey LeBlanc release date 5/14/24

Author Kelcey Ervick
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris release date 5/28/24
Victory Parade by Leela Corman release date 4/2/24

Author Luanne Rice
Last Night by Luanne Rice release date 2/1/24
If Anything Happens to Me by Luanne Rice release date 9/17/24
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames release date 7/23/24

Author Jung Yun
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko release date 3/19/24
Bear by Julia Phillips release date 6/25/24

Our Mystery Man John Valeri
A Killing on the Hill: A Thriller by Roberrt Dugoni release date 4/9/24
Shadowheart by Meg Gardiner release date 6/18/24
An Upcoming Release from Marcia Clark….

Also Mentioned
The Giant’s House – Elizabeth McCracken
Vlad – Carlos Fuentes translated by Alejandro Branger
Telephone – Percival Everett
My Last Duchess – Robert Browning
Also by Lev Raphael: The Edith Wharton Murders
Also by Ann Patchett: Bel Canto and The Patron Saint of Liars
Jacqueline Woodson
Viral Justice – Ruha Benjamin
Long Bright River – Liz Moore
Dinner Party – Sarah Gilmartin
Sweetbitter – Stephanie Danler
We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson
The Water Cure – Sophie Mackintosh
The Virgin Suicides – Jefrey Eugenides|
99% Invisible podcast Episode 445 – The Clinch
Louise Penny
The Most Fun We Ever Had – Claire Lombardo
Disappearing Earth – Julia Phillips

Episode 199 - Our 2024 Reading Intentions

Book Cougars Episode 200

Episode One Hundred Ninety Nine Show Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 192 - Author Spotlight with Fancy Feast

Book Cougars Episode 192

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

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Currently Reading – [6:14]
The Purgatorio – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy – edited by James Crews (EF)
Emily reads “Turning” by Julie Cadwallader Staub
The Goth House Experiment – SJ Sindu (CW) (release date 10/17/2023)

– Just Read – [14:24]
Adversity for Sale – Jay Jeezy Jenkins (CW)
Wellness – Nathan Hill (EF)
Monsters: A Fans Dilemma – Claire Dederer (CW)
Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques – Fancy Feast (CW)(EF)
The September House – Carissa Orlando (CW)
When a Pet Dies – Fred Rogers (CW)
Stairway to Doom – Robert Quackenbush (CW)

– Biblio Adventures – [39:30]
To wrap up Scarlet Summer, Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston to visit Hawthorne-related sites including Brook Farm in West Roxbury, MA, the Boston Athenaeum, a meal at the Chipotle located at the site of the original Old Corner Bookstore, strolled down Pinckney Street to visit the sites where prominent 19th-centuryliterary figures lived throughout. We also got a chance to see The Embrace, a new bronze sculpture honoring Coretta Scott Kind and Martin Luther King Jr., located on Boston Common. Watch the slideshow of our day in Boston.

Emily went to Cape Cod and stopped at Herridge Bookstore in Wellfleet where she purchased The Book of Salt by Monique Truong, the Provincetown Bookshop, Tim’s Used Books, Provincetown Public Library where she grabbed a free copy of An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken, and the Eldredge Public Library in Chatham, MA.

Chris appeared on Shawn the Book Maniac’s BookTube channel chatting about bookmarks from her childhood (that were made in Emily’s hometown!). You can watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:03:07]
Emily is heading to Maine and is hoping to do some bookstore browsing. She plans to watch Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:04:14]
The Iliad – Homer translated by Emily Wilson (CW) If you would like to join Chris in a buddy read beginning in January 2024, send an email.
Because I Could Not Stop for Death – Amanda Flower (CW)
Afterlife – Julia Alvarez (EF)

– Out Now – [01:08:42]
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir – Safiya Sinclair
Nothing is Missing: A Memoir of Living Boldly – Nicole Walters

– Author Spotlight with Fancy Feast– [01:09:06]
We chat with Fancy Feast about her essay collection Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques. You can learn more about Fancy on her website, via her Instagram feed and Facebook page. We encourage you to watch the documentary Fancy Feast – The Fat Burlesque Performer.

– Also Mentioned –
National Book Awards 2023
Chain Gang All Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Blackouts – Justin Torres
Also by SJ Sindu: Blue Skinned Gods and Marriage of a Thousand Lies
The Nix – Nathan Hill
The Second Shelf BookTube channel with Britta Böhler
The House Guest – Hank Phillipi Ryan
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters

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.