Episode 256 - Author Spotlight with Sara Catterall & Q2 Readalong Announcement

Episode 256 Show Notes

In celebration of our readalong theme for 2026, we have created a Page to Screen Bingo card. Enjoy filling it out over the course of the year and email a copy by 12/31/2026 to be entered to win a gift card to Bookshop.org. 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.

– Currently Reading –
Brawler – Lauren Groff (EF)
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 – Marcel Proust (CW)
Obsessed with the Best: 100+ Methodically Perfected Recipes Based on 20+ Head-to-Head Tests – Ella Quittner (EF)
Emily’s talks about this cookbook on Ingredient One.
Love & Other Monsters – Emily Franklin (EF) release date 4/7/2026
All the World Can Hold – Jung Yun (CW)

– Just Read –
Anderson in Bloom – Jennifer Dugan (CW)
This Book Made Me Think of You – Libby Page (EF)
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books – Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan (CW) (audiobook)
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall (EF)
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge – Erica Armstrong Dunbar (CW)
Missing Sister – Joshilyn Jackson (EF)
Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career – Scott H. Young (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure, they both watched Harriet now streaming on Netflix.

Emily’s two attempts to see Laura Zigman and Alice Hoffman in conversation about the new essay collection The Best Dog in the World were foiled because the events have been completely sold out.

Chris had a workday at the main branch of the New York Public Library where she spent time digging into archival items.

Emily binged season seven of Virgin River streaming on Netflix, based on the 21-book series by Robyn Carr. Read the NY Times article about the series.

Chris spent her birthday week on Rhode Island where she visited the Barnes & Noble in Warwick where she purchased Friction by Jennifer R. Vail and The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak, and ink fish Books in Warren where she took home a big book haul including Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. She also drove past Land’s End, Edith Wharton’s estate in Newport, click here to see pictures of the property.  

Chris watched the first episode of the new Scarpetta series streaming on Prime, based on the 29-book series by Patricia Cornwell.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 12, Chris signed up for an event that is offered in person and virtually “Fireside Chat with Rhae Lynn Barnes.” Her book is Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment. You can register for the free event here.

Emily is signed up for two events:
March 19, Casey Elsass will be at RJ Julia’s Bookseller in Madison to talk about his cookbook What Can I Bring?.
March 24, Catherine Newman at the East Hampton Public Library to talk about her two novels, Sandwich and Wreck.

Emily is hoping to watch two page to screen adaptations: Hamnet based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell and The Bride! written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, an adaptation of the novel Frankenstein.

– Upcoming Reads –
Cruel & Unusual – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Pet Semetary by Stephen King
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks (CW) release date 4/21/2026
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
The Marabou Who Crossed The Sea – Rohanna Ssanyu (EF)
The Lido also known as Mornings with Rosemary – Libby Page (EF)

– Q1 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.

– Author Spotlight with Sara Catterall –
We talk with Sara about Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon. Learn more about Sara and her other writing on her website.

– Also Mentioned –
Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
Check out the longlist for the Plutarch award
The Lynx Books in Gainesville, FL is owned by Lauren Groff
Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia is taking place May 1-3. You can learn more here.
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
Alma Lutz

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