Episode 264 - Author Spotlight with Claire Fuller

Book Cougars Episode 264
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Author Claire Fuller

Episode 264 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Roots: The Saga of an American Family – Alex Haley (CW)
Jaws – Peter Benchley (EF) (audiobook)

– Just Read –
Jaws – Peter Benchley (CW)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles – Rufi Thorpe (EF) (audiobook)
Hunger and Thirst – Claire Fuller (CW)(EF)
The Land and Its People – David Sedaris (EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris watched Jaws based on the novel by Peter Benchley.

Emily attended an event at RJ Julia Bookseller with Soon Wiley, author of Cece Downings Start Over Summer, in conversation with Patricia Santomasso, the audiobook narrator of the novel.

Chris visited Pandemonium Rainforest Project in Deep River, CT.

Chris had buddy read conversations with friends about 11/22/63 by Stephen King and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and the movie based on the novel.

Chris had a great workday in the archives of the New York Public Library, and she has started bingeing Widow’s Bay.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is planning to start watching Margo’s Got Money Troubles, based on the novel by Rufi Thorpe.

July 14, Chris is registered for a conversation with Ellen Carol DuBois, author of the biography Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life. There is an in-person or virtual option, register here.  

– Upcoming Reads –
Man Overboard! – Kathleen Rooney (CW)
The Man – Laura Sims (CW)
The Godfather – Mario Puzo (CW)
A Year of Marvelous Ways – Sarah Winman (EF)
The Foursome – Christina Baker Kline (EF)
The Reconstruction Diary of Frances Anne Rollin – Jennifer Putzi (CW)(EF)

– Q3 Readalong –
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh.
Learn more about the film here.
Companion read: Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier with illustrations AJ Dungo.
Join the Goodreads conversation.

The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, August 16 at 7pm (ET).
Please send an email if you would like to join us.

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.

– Author Spotlight with Claire Fuller –
We talk with Claire about her most recent novel Hunger and Thirst. Learn more about Claire, her six books, and current book tour on her website.

The Guardian Article: “Claire Fuller: Dylan Thomas showed me that writing could make me feel everything”

– Also Mentioned –
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon by Sara Catterall
How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Learn more about the forthcoming novel by Adriana Trigiani
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Bear by Marian Engel
Author Elizabeth Strout
Wildlife by Richard Ford
The Iceberg by Marion Coutts

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audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars

Help support the Book Cougars by becoming a Patreon member.
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Sponsor an episode of the podcast or the newsletter.

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Join our Goodreads Group!

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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!