Episode 246 - A Flock of Words
Episode 246 Show Notes
– Currently Reading –
Anne Brontë Night Walker: A Brontë Blood Chronicle – Gea Haff (CW)
How to Sell a Haunted House – Grady Hendrix (EF) (audiobook)
– Just Read –
How to Sell a Haunted House – Grady Hendrix (CW)
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me – Patrick Bringley (EF)
Check out the tours available via Patrick’s website.
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall (CW)
Death at the Door: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery – Olivia Blacke (EF)
“The Readjustment” by Mary Austin from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
Read “The Secret Meaning of Ghost Stories” by Hephzibah Anderson.
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck – Sophie Elmhirst (EF)
– Episode Sponsor –
Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau
– Episode Sponsor –
Paper Roses by Debby Show
– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had a browse at Grey Matter Books in New Haven where she picked up a copy of Willa Cather and the Culture of Belief: A Collection of Essays edited by John J. Murphy.
Emily watched the 2018 adaptation of A Star is Born co-written by Bradley Cooper. She was surprised to learn that Dorothy Parker co-wrote the 1954 screenplay starring Judy Garland, and Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne did the same for the 1976 version starring Barbara Streisand.
Chris spent a day in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library archives at the Butler Library on Columbia University’s campus where she came across an Edgar Allan Poe exhibit that included a Daguerreotype portrait and the mantelpiece in which he wrote the poem, “The Raven.” There was also an interesting book arts exhibit where an artist made balls out of strips of books with the balls representing the size of the books; Moby Dick was quite large!
Emily went to the Country Day School for a conversation between Mel Rosenthal and Virginia Evans about her debut novel The Correspondent.
Chris and Emily both watched The Birds directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the short story “The Birds” by Daphne Du Maurier.
Chris watched an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw starring Michelle Dockery and Dan Stephens.
– Upcoming Jaunts –
November 4 at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Luanne Rice in conversation with Vanessa Lillie about her novel The Bone Thief.
November 13 at Country Day School via RJ Julia’s Booksellers, Casey Elsass in conversation with Dorie Greenspan about her new cookbook Dorie’s Anytime Cakes.
November 20 at Harvard Bookstore, Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to Boston to see Hanna Halperin in conversation with Oyinkan Braithwaite about her new novel Cursed Daughters.
The next Patreon Reading Salon will take place on Sunday, November 23rd.
– Upcoming Reads –
The Bone Thief – Vanessa Lillie (EF)
The Last House on Needless Street – Catriona Ward (EF)
Leaf Town Forever – Kathleen and Beth Rooney with illustrations by Betsy Bowen (EF)
The Black Wolf – Louise Penny (CW)
The Lady of Pentlands – Elizabeth Jordan (CW)
The Turn of the Key – Ruth Ware (CW)
“Afterword” by Edith Wharton from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook)
– Out Now –
Wreck – Catherine Newman
Witches of Dubious Origin – Jenn McKinlay
Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Heroes – introduction by Adriana Trigiani
– 2025 Readalong Theme and 4th Quarter Book –
The 4th Quarter Readalong is How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, November 9th at 7pm (ET). Send us an email if you would like to join. You can join the online conversation via the Goodreads discussion thread.
Our theme for 2025 is Ghost Stories! Click here to follow everything Ghost Stories 2025.
There is a ghost story discussion thread on Goodreads. Come tell us about your favorite ghost stories or those you are interested in reading. Over the course of the year, we will be reading The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, one story at a time. If you would like to join us there is a schedule available on Goodreads or we can email a copy.
– Also Mentioned –
"The Mask of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe (audiobook)
Canada Reads American Style podcast
Booktuber Melinda at A Web of Stories
Also by Anne Brontë: Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Belt Publishing
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke
The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak
84, Charring Cross Road by Helen Hanff
The film, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Man Overboard by Kathleen Rooney release date 7/7/2026
Also by Ruth Ware: The Woman in Cabin 10, In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Lying Game, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading edited by John P. Muller and William J. Richardson
Watch Chris’s video conversation with Shawn Breathes Books where they discuss Edith Wharton’s Old New York.
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!
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!