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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Episode 249 - It’s Our Ninth Anniversary!

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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