Episode 254 - Author Spotlight with Tiya Miles

Author Spotlight with Tiya Miles

Episode 254 Show Notes

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.

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.

– Currently Reading –
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 – Marcel Proust (CW)
The Reservation – Rebecca Kauffman (EF)
Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing – co-authored by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper (EF)

– Just Read –
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text –Mary Shelley (CW) (audiobook)
Cece Downing’s Start Over Summer – Soon Wiley (EF) release date 6/16/2026
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) (audiobook)  

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily recommends listening to an interview between Guillermo Del Toro, director of Frankenstein, and Terry Gross on Fresh Air; listen here.

Chris watched a movie inspired by Jane Austen called Sense, Sensibility, & Snowmen.

Emily binged season four of The Lincoln Lawyer based on the novel The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly.

Chris and Emily were dining at Fair Haven Oyster Co. where they noticed a delightful little free library. Chris stopped at one of her favorite little free libraries in Stony Creek, down the street from the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library.

Emily watched the second event in the Aspen Winter Words series with Lily King and her book Heart the Lover. She was in conversation with Mitzi Rapkin.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to the Schubert Theater in New Haven for a showing of The Librarians.

Emily has the third event in the Aspen Winter Words series with Tara Roberts and her book Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging.

Partners in Crime Bookshop has opened in Chicago.

– Upcoming Reads –
All That Remains – Patricia Cornwall (CW)
Awake in the Floating City – Susanna Kwan (EF)

– Out Now –
More Than Enough – Anna Quindlen
Kin – Tayari Jones

– Author Spotlight with Tiya Miles –
We had the opportunity to speak with Tiya Miles about her new book Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People.

You can learn more about Tiya and her writing on her website.

– Q1 Readalong –
The 2026 first quarter readalong is Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley.

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.

Here’s a Wikipedia page that includes a link of Frankenstein adaptations.

Frankenstein screen adaptations we plan to watch:
Frankenstein: The Man Who Made a Monster starring Boris Karloff
Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder
Frankenstein the most recent adaptation, directed by Guillermo del Torro
The Bride, forthcoming in March, directed by Magie Gyllenhaal

– Also Mentioned –
Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor, and Mystery Author – Sharon M. Harris (CW)
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon by Sara Catterall
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
Harriet the movie

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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.

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

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.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

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

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!