Episode 198 - Top Ten Reads of 2023 with BookTuber Russell Gray of Ink and Paper Blog

Episode 198 with BookTuber Russell Gray

Episode One Hundred Ninety Eight Show Notes

– 1st Quarter 2024 Readalong –
Our first quarter readalong is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins.  

Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, March 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

We’ve also created a Goodreads thread for general romance chit chat.

You can stream the documentary Love Between the Covers for free.

– Listener Top Ten –
Let us know your Top Ten Books of 2023

– Episode Sponsor –
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Chris chose a hard cover: No One Can Know – Kate Alice Marshall
Emily chose a hard cover: A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Use the code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5

– Russell’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –  (Follow Russell on his Booktube Channel: Ink and Paper Blog)
The Road to Dalton – Shannon Bowring
Little Monsters – Adrienne Brodeur
Alice Sadie Celine – Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Day – Michael Cunningham
Wellness – Nathan Hill (audiobook)
North Woods – Daniel Mason ((audiobook)
The Only One Left – Riley Sager
The Late Americans – Brandon Taylor
The Daughter Ship – Boo Trundle
In Memoriam – Alice Winn
Family Meal – Bryan Washington

– Chris’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –
The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarians, and Others – Sidney E. Berger
Wilma Rogers – Sophia Belzer Engstrand
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin (audiobook)
Endpapers – Jennifer Savran Kelly (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 178)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 189)
The September House – Carissa Orlando
People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Meghan Marshall
Emily Dickinson Face to Face – Martha Dickinson Bianchi

– Emily’s Top Ten Reads of 2023 –
Lark Ascending – Silas House
The Queen of Dirt Island – Donal Ryan (NPR Book of the Day conversation with Donal Ryan)
Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough – Shuly Cawood  (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 191)
Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life – Homa Dashtaki
Morning in This Broken World – Katrina Kittle (listen to the Author Spotlight on Episode 188)
Rough Sleepers – Tracy Kidder (audiobook)
Zorrie – Laird Hunt
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins

– Favorite Biblio Adventures –
City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco – Brandon Taylor
A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland, CA with Lauren Groff talking about The Vaster Wilds
The Old Manse in Concord, MA
The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, MA
Galivanting around Berkeley, CA with Aunt Ellen

– Upcoming Reads We Are Excited About –
James – Percival Everett release date 3/19/24
The Fury – Alix Michaelides release date 1/16/24
Real Americans – Rachel Khong release date 4/30/24
Last Night – Luanne Rice release date 2/1/24
Memory Piece – Lisa Ko release date 3/19/24
Finding Margaret Fuller – Allison Pataki release date 3/19/24
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks – Crystal Wilkinson release date 1/23/24
The Twilight Garden – Sara Nisha Adams release date 4/9/24

– Also Mentioned –
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Flame and the Flower – Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
Southernmost – Silas House
Read Appalachia
Ann Patchett
The Institute Library of New Haven
Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize
The Hours film
The White Mustache Yogurt Company
Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook – Sohla El-Waylly
The Nix – Nathan Hill
Ryan – ReadbyRyan on Instagram
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Vulnerables – Sigrid Nunez
Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout
The Woman in Me – Brittany Spears
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix
March – Geraldine Brooks
Also by Brandon Taylor: Real Life and Filthy Animals
Also by Paul Tremblay: The Cabin at the End of the World, The Beast You Are: Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, and A Head Full of Ghosts
The Mad Women’s Ball – Victoria Mas (translated by Frank Wynne)
John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, and The Absolutist
Pip Williams – The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder
McNally Editions
Barbara Kingsolver
Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel
Also by Bryan Washington: Lot and Memorial
Evidence of Things Unseen – Marianne Wiggins
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Also by Percival Everett – The Trees, Erasure, and Telephone
Documentary about Percival Everett: Through the Writer’s Mirror
The Silent Patient – Alix Michaelides
Goodbye, Vitamin – Rachel Khong
The Leavers – Lisa Ko
The Birds of Opulence – Crystal Wilkinson
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams

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!

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Episode 183 - Author Spotlight with Sara Nisha Adams

Book Cougars Episode 183

Episode One Hundred Eighty Three Show Notes
KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

Patreon Giveaway in June is The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller become a Patreon by June 15th to be entered to win.

– Currently Reading – [1:00]
Tiny Beautiful Things Advice from Sugar – Cheryl Strayed (CW)
Quietly Hostile – Samantha Irby (EF)
Voyager – Diana Gabaldon (CW)
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of New America – Gilbert King (EF) (audio)  
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)
Ulysses – James Joyce (CW)
(check out the Buddy Read link on Goodreads)

– Just Read – [13:40]
Fieldwork: A Forager’s Memoir – Iliana Regan (EF)
Wilma Rogers – Sophia Belzer Engstrand
My Murder – Katie Williams (EF)
The Reading List – Sara Nisha Adams (CW)(EF)(audio)

– Episode Sponsor – [38:07]
Episode 183 is sponsored by The Marriage Box by Corie Adjmi. Learn more about Corie here.

– Biblio Adventures – [39:04]
Chris went to the Book Barn in Niantic, CT where she found a copy of Travels without Charley by Bill Goralski. She also attended a fall preview event with Simon and Schuster featuring authors in conversation with their editors, books discussed:
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir – Safiya Sinclair release date 10/3/2023
Creep: Accusations and Confessions by Myriam Gurba release date 9/5/2023
Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education – Stephanie Land release date 11/7/2023
Nothing is Missing: A Memoir of Living Boldy – Nicole Walters release date 10/10/2023
Death Valley – Melissa Broder release date 10/24/2023

Chris suggests the podcast Nations of Writers, Episode 27 on Edith Wharton, from the American Writers Museum. The conversation included Anne Schuler, Director of Visitor Services at The Mount and Emily J. Orlando Professor of English at Fairfield University.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [48:18]
Chris and Emily are planning a joint jaunt to Charter Books in Newport, RI to see Claire Fuller on Thursday, June 8th at 6pm. You can register for the event here. They will also visit the Redwood Library and Athaneum.

Chris is heading to the New Haven Free Public Library on Wednesday, June 7th at 6pm to attend the event Preserving Your History: Getting Started with Your Own Archives. Learn more about the event here.

– Upcoming Reads – [50:18]
Life B: Overcoming Double Depression – Bethanne Patrick (CW)(EF)
Julie Morrow – Sophia Belzer Engstrand (CW)

– Out Now – [54:54]
Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America – Krista Burton

– Author Spotlight with Sara Nisha Adams – [54:54]
Sara is the author of our 2nd quarter readalong: The Reading List
You can follow her on Instagram (@saranishaadams) and Twitter(@saranishaadams).
Her next book, The Twilight Garden, is available from the UK now and will be available for purchase in the United States in April 2024.

– 3rd Quarter Readalong – Scarlet Summer – [54:54]
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September) release date 10/15/2023

– Also Mentioned –
David Sedaris
Moonrise Over New Jessup – Jamila Minnicks
Britta Bohler Booktube channel: The Second Shelf
The Odyssey – Homer
Burn the Place – Iliana Regan
American Library Association Podcast: Call Number
Marian Engel
The Final Girl Support Group – Grady Hendrix
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Books on The Reading List:
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Beloved – Toni Morrison
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive – Stephanie Land
The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize
Ruth Ware
Jo Nesbo
Denise Mina
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
The Peabody Sisters – Megan Marshall

You can 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.