Episode 258 - Author Spotlight with Heather Harper Ellett

Book Cougars Episode 258
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Author Heather Harper Ellett

Episode 258 Show Notes

– Q2 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.

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 –
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King – Caroline Bicks (CW)
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (EF) (audiobook)
The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
My Detachment – Tracy Kidder (EF) (audiobook)
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)

– Just Read –
The Reservation – Rebecca Kauffman (EF)
You can listen to Emily’s conversation with Rebecca over on Ingredient One.
Pet Sematary by Stephen King (CW)
The Golden Boy – Patricia Finn (EF)
True Crime: A Memoir – Patricia Cornwell (CW) release date 5/6/2026
Emily dnf’d Raising Hare – Chloe Dalton (EF) (audiobook)
Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa: Stories – W.P. Kinsella (CW)
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily visited Papercuts Bookshop in Jamaica Plain, MA.

Chris watched the film Field of Dreams based on the short story Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa: Stories by W.P. Kinsella.

Emily strolled with Aunt Ellen along Orchard Street on the Lower East Side in New York City where they visited Sweet Pickle Books and P&T Knitwear Books.

Chris and Emily went on a Joint Jaunt to West Hartford where they worked at the UConn Law Library then visited the new location of River Bend Bookshop. They also offer Mahjong lessons and games, visit the events calendar to learn more.

Chris watched the film Fried Green Tomatoes based on the novel by Fannie Flagg.

Chris had a word day at the Sterling Library on the Yale Campus. After working she visited Book Trader Cafe, Grey Matter Books, and Atticus Bookstore Cafe where she purchased Good Grief by Brianna Pastor and Hauntings by Vernon Lee.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 29, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to see Emily Franklin at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with her novel Love & Other Monsters. The event is free, you can register here.

April 30 – May 3, Chris and Emily are signed up to attend The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia

CrimeConn will take place on May 16th at the Ferguson Library.

May 13th, Emily is registered to see Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare at RJ Julia’s Booksellers.

– Upcoming Reads –
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (EF) pub date 6/23/2026
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Morning Baker – Roxana Jullapat (EF)
The Gardner Museum Café Cookbook – Lois McKitchen Conroy (EF)
The Death of a Joyce Scholar: A Peter McGarr Mystery – Bartholomew Gill (CW)
Winter People – Gráinne Murphy (CW)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Manslaughter – Alice Duer Miller (CW) There is a film by the same name.
Adaptations From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films – Stephanie Harrison (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Heather Harper Ellett –
Heather’s book Ain’t Nobody Nobody is being republished with a new ending!
Learn more about Heather here.
Heather was also featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 92 and on our YouTube channel.

– Also Mentioned –
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Also by Tracy Kidder: Rough Sleepers and Mountains Beyond Mountains
True Grit by Charles Portis (audiobook)
The Martian by Andy Weir
Room by Emma Donoghue
Tilt by Emma Pattee
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
Novels into Film: Adaptations and Interpretation
The Librarians movie
Also by Denise Kiernan: The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City
Her Life in Ink by Sharon M. Harris
Sharon was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 253

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
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.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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Episode 204 - Author Spotlight with Allison Pataki

Book Cougars Episode 204
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak

Episode 204 Show Notes

– 2nd Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong The Awakening: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book One by Nora Roberts.  The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, June 2nd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join The Awakening Goodreads Discussion anytime and we’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

Download the Romance Bingo Card!

– Currently Reading –  
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (CW) send an email if you want to join the buddy read
The Women – Kristin Hannah (EF) (audiobook)
The Maiden – Kate Foster (CW)
Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution – Roxana Jullapat (EF)
Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out – Shannon Reed (CW)
Wake Up With Purpose! What I’ve Learned in my First Hundred Years – Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt (CW)(audiobook)

– Just Read –
Emily read two short stories: “Lot” by Bryan Washington from the story collection Lot: Stories and “Postcards from Heaven” from Reunion Beach: Stories Inspired by Dorothea Benton Frank.
Chris read the short story “Consequences” by Willa Cather from the story collection Uncle Valentine and Other Stories. Learn more about the Willa Cather short story project.  
The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon (EF)
We Got the Beat – Jenna Miller (CW)
Jenna was featured in an Author Spotlight on Episode 174 talking about her debut novel Out of Character.
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki (EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis by Greg Wrenn.

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had a Couch Biblio Adventure watching Mary, Queen of Scots starring Vanessa Redgrave and Mary Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan based on John Guy's biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.

Emily took a trip to Wilmington, NC where she tried unsuccessfully to shop at Papercuts Bookshop because it was closed for inventory. She did find two little free libraries where she found Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier, Intimacies by Katie Kitamura, and Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

Emily went to the North Haven public library where she purchased Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington and Who’s Irish?: Stories by Gish Jen from the Friends of the Library sale and attended a presentation with Linda Civitello author of Baking Powder Wars: The Cutthroat Food Fight That Revolutionized Cooking.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris has purchased a ticket for the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair taking place April 4-7.

Emily plans to attend an event with Anna Quindlen, author of After Annie, in conversation with Beatriz Williams hosted by RJ Julia Booksellers on Tuesday, March 26th at 7:00 pm. Tickets are available here.

– Upcoming Reads –
You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World – edited by Ada Limón (EF)
Filthy Rich Vampire – Geneva Lee (CW)
Public in Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration – Brenda Mitchell-Powell (CW)
Mary Queen of Scots – Antonia Fraser (CW)

– Out Now –
James – Percival Everett
Memory Piece – Lisa Ko
Next Stop: A Graphic Novel – Debbie Fong

– Author Spotlight with Allison Pataki –
We chat with Allison about her new novel Finding Margaret Fuller.
You can learn more about Allison’s books here.

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Kristin Hannah: Firefly Lane and The Nightingale
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes
Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024
New England Quarterly Margaret Fuller Prize for New England Literary Studies
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work - Susan Cheever
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Books written by Margaret Fuller include: Summer on the Lakes and Woman in the Nineteenth Century
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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.