Episode 245 - Henry James is dead (to us)

Episode 245 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –
Witches of Dubious Origin – Jenn McKinlay (EF) release date 10/28/2025
Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon – Sara Catterall (CW)
Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being – Mary Beth Albright (EF) (audiobook)

– Just Read –
“The Jolly Corner” by Henry James from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James (CW)
The Last Resort – Erin Entrada Kelly (EF)
Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner – Natalie Dykstra (CW) (audiobook)
The Dogs of Venice – Steven Rowley (CW)
Aftertaste – Daria LaVelle (EF)
Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë (CW)
“The Birds” by Daphne Du Maurier from the new collection After Midnight: Thirteen Tales for the Dark Hours – (CW)(EF)
Read the Guardian article by Stephen King.

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily rewatched Becoming, the documentary that follows Michelle Obama as she goes on book tour with her memoir Becoming.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see a performance of Spunk at the Yale Repertory Club based on Zora Neale Hurston’s short story Spunk. Read the NY Times article here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The Brontë Parsonage Museum is presenting a four-part read-along of Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. Learn more here.

On November 25, the Smithsonian is offering a seminar, Margaret Fuller: An Extraordinary Transcendentalist Woman. Learn more here.

The next Patreon Reading Salon will take place on Sunday, October 26th.

Emily is heading to Colorado and is looking forward to visiting White River Books.

Chris and Emily have upcoming Couch Biblio Adventures including The Birds directed by Alfred Hitchcock and an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw starring the actress, Michelle Dockery.

– Upcoming Reads –
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me – Patrick Bringley
How to Sell a Haunted House – Grady Hendrix (CW)(EF)
Gothic Tales – Elizabeth Gaskell (CW)
Play Nice – Rachel Harrison (CW)
“The Readjustment” by Mary Austin from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (CW)(EF) (audiobook

– Out Now –
Death at the Door: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery – Olivia Blacke

– 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 –
Kindred Thoughts Bookstore
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
A New Lease on Life: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery by Olivia Blacke

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Episode 211 - Deep Dive Into Summer Reading

Episode 211 Show Notes

– Currently Reading –  
Instructions for a Heatwave – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)
The Women’s Room – Marilyn French (CW)
Hot, Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story – Rachel Louise Martin (EF) (audiobook)
Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean – Jonathan White (CW)(audiobook)
Jenny Colvin’s Tides YouTube playlist.

– Just Read –
Pearce Oysters – Joselyn Takacs (EF)
The Guncle – Steven Rowley (CW)
Arsenic and Adobo – Mia P. Manansala (EF)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition by the American Psychological Association (CW)
MLA Handbook, 9th edition by The Modern Language Association of America (CW)
Love and Hot Chicken: A Delicious Southern Novel – Mary Liza Hartong (EF)
Dive! The Story of Breathing Underwater – Chris Gall (CW)

Emily read two short stories:
“Idle Hands” from the collection Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
“Why Won’t You Die?” from the collection Someplace Generous: An Inclusive Romance Anthology edited by Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame. (audiobook)

Chris read a short story for the Willa Cather short story project, “Her Boss” from the collection Uncle Valentine and Other Stories: Willa Cather’s Uncollected Short Fiction, 1915-1929 edited by Bernice Slote. Learn more about the project here.

The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Romance – Robin Bradford (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Lyme Arts Association where they enjoyed the Young Artists Exhibition: Hope is the Thing with Feathers featuring kids ages 5-18 reacting to Emily Dickinson’s poem. Then they had lunch at Haring’s on the shoreline in Noank, found a little free library at Noank Park, and then took a browse at Bank Square Books in Mystic.

Emily went to RJ Julia’s Booksellers in Madiosn, CT to see Ann Leary talk about her new essay collection I’ve Tried Being Nice. Read her Modern Love Piece in the NY Times.

Chris attended a virtual panel discussion of New Seeds of Contemplation by the North Central Connecticut Chapter of The International Thomas Merton Society.

Emily found a new little free library built into a tree stump.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
On July 17at 6:30 pm (ET), J. Courtney Sullivan will be in conversation with Amy Bloom about her new novel The Cliffs at RJ Julia Booksellers.

July 10-14 Chris will be attending a portion of the Annual Gathering of the Thoreau Society

– Upcoming Reads –
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliot Dark (CW)(EF)
Join the buddy read conversation on Goodreads.
The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us – Rachelle Bergstein (CW) release date 7/16/2024
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia – Juliet Grames (EF)

– 3rd Quarter Readalong –
Envy by Sandra Brown is the book we have chosen for third quarter in a our year of reading Romance. Have you downloaded the Romance Bingo Card?

Join the online conversation on Goodreads.

– Also Mentioned –
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’ Farrell
Old Crimes: And Other Stories by Jill McCorkle|
That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Silas Mariner by George Eliot
The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Woman in the Nineteenth Century by Margaret Fuller
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
Pride & Preston Lin by Christina Hwang Dudley
Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

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.