Episode 261 - Still in the Grip of Frankenstein, and Now Gyllenhaal's The Bride!

Book Cougars Episode 261
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 261

Episode 261 Show Notes

Emily read the poem “The Art of Disappearing” by Naomi Shihab Nye from the collection Words Under the Words.

Two upcoming page-to-screen adaptations:
1. Anna Pigeon based on the series by Nevada Barr that starts with Track of the Cat.
2. East of Eden based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name.

– Currently Reading –
Foe – Iain Reid (EF)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Three Bags Full – Leonie Swann, translated by Anthea Bell (EF)(audiobook)
Table Four at the River Cafe: Conversations about Food and Life – Ruthie Rogers (EF)
interview with Ruthie Rogers on Radio Cherry Bombe

– Just Read –
Five – Ilona Bannister (EF)(audiobook)
From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler (EF)

– Episode Sponsor –
The Soft Underbelly by Carlisle Richardson

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris saw the Devil Wears Prada 2 inspired by the novels by Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada, Revenge Wears Prada, and When Life Gives You Lululemons.

Emily watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix based on the novel of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt.

Chris and John met to discuss From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 by Patricia Cornwell.

Chris and Emily both watched The Bride! directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The Patreon reading salon conversation focused on reading plans for Sue Jackson’s Big Book Summer Reading Challenge. Learn more about the challenge on her blog and her BookTube channel.

Watch this video to see our big book plans. Emily forgot to mention Land by Maggie O’Farrell and The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw publishing on September 29, and she plans to start with Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman. Chris will be starting with 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Chris forgot Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Frasier, This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark by Craig Fehrman, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life by Ellen Carol DuBois.

Emily enjoyed the conversation between Marisa Helff and Chloe Dalton, author of Raising Hare.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily will be going to see The Sheep Detectives on the big screen, based on the novel Three Bags Full and The Accidental Tourist based on the novel of the same name.

Our Zoom conversation about Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.

Chris is doing a buddy read of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. They will also discuss the movie, the Zoom conversation will be on June 27. Send an email if you are interested in joining the conversation.

June 7 at 11:00, Chris and Emily are registered to see Amy Bloom in conversation about her novel Blunt Instrument at RJ Julia Booksellers. Register here.  

Upcoming Patreon Reading Salons: (learn more about becoming a Patreon member)
June 28, topic will be books we think we “should’ read.
July 26, topic will be award winners.

– Upcoming Reads –
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (CW)
Beartown – Fredrik Backman (EF)
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution – Denise Kiernan (EF)
Cause of Death: Scarpetta #7 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)

– Out Now –
Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller

– Also Mentioned –
The movie Foe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Cal Newport
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The novel Where the Crawdads Sing and the movie
Patricia Cornwell’s Andy Brazil series
A Feminist Theory of Refusal by Bonnie Honig
The novel The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante and the movie
The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Drafting the Past podcast
Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote by Craig Fehrman
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Story Magazine

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!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 260 - Buddy Reading with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Book Cougars Episode 260
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Buddy Reads with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

Episode 260 Show Notes

– Newsletter Subscriber 10th Episode Giveaway –
Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano
Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter by May 21 to be entered to win. The winner will be chosen by random number generator on May 22, 2026.

A couple PSA’s:
1.   Learn more about Super Large Print Books
2.   Correction: When Emily was talking about Blunt Instrument by Amy Bloom she mentioned Mrs. Danvers is a character in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson but, thanks listener Kate for the correction, she is a character in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

– Currently Reading –
Trad Wife – Saratoga Schaeffer (CW)
These Walls Remember – Dell Sandeen (CW)
From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Three Bags Full – Leonie Swann, translated by Anthea Bell (EF)(audiobook)
Take It From Me: An Agent's Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch – Alia Hanna Habib (EF)

– Just Read –
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (EF)
“Against Catharsis: Writing is not Therapy” – T Kira Madden (CW)
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Coven – Jennifer Dugan, illustrated by Kit Seaton (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily had a lot of joint jaunts over the last two weeks:
· Emily Franklin at RJ Julia’s Booksellers with her novel Love & Other Monsters.

· The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia. Here are the Booktopia Staff Picks from “This Gift Card is Burning A Whole in My Pocket.”
The Authors & Books featured
All the World Can Hold by Jung Yung
Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan
Crucible by John Sayles
Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han
Little Movements by Lauren Morrow
Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry
Pollock’s Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Take It From Me by Alia Hannah Habib
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Whidbey by T Kira Madden

· Went to see the film Fried Green Tomatoes on the big screen.

· A fun visit with two listeners, Deanna and Linda. We visited the James Blackstone Memorial Library and Slackline Press in Branford. Deanna brought us books: (if you’re interested in learning more about these books, we do a show-and-tell on this video)
A Feast of Words: The Triumph of Edith Wharton by Cynthia Griffin Wolff
Displaying Women: Spectacles of Leisure in Edith Wharton's New York by Maureen E Montgomery M.D.
Willa Cather: Landscape and Exile by Laura Winters
Sizzle & Drizzle: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips by Nancy Birtwhistle
Foe by Iain Reid
We Spread by Iain Reid

· Caroline Bicks, author of Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, at RJ Julia’s Booksellers. We were joined at the event by Our Mystery Man John Valeria and the Gentleman Caller.

Chris had a phone call with Tina about Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke; she also had an exchange with Booktuber Britta Bohler over Voxer.  

– Upcoming Jaunts –
May 28-29, Chris will be attending the 2026 BIO Conference.

Emily will be going to see The Sheep Detectives on the big screen, based on the novel Three Bags Full, and Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix based on the novel of the same name.

Chris plans to see the movie Devil Wears Prada 2.

– Upcoming Reads –
Whidbey – T Kira Madden (EF)
Sizzle & Drizzle: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips – Nancy Birtwhistle (EF)
Endling – Maria Reva (EF)
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Be sure to check out Chris’s conversation with Dorian, James, and Shawn Breathes Books about Edith Wharton’s ghost stories.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (CW)

– Buddy Reads with Our Mystery Man John Valeri –
See prior episodes with John by visiting the Guests Page.
Books from The New Yorker article “On Crime and Creativity” recommended by Patricia Cornwell:
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

We discuss the following books with John:
The Patricia Cornwell books, they have read up to The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (audiobook)

John’s most recent interview with Patricia Cornwell.
John’s interview with Cornwell about her book Unnatural Death
John’s interview with Cornwell about her book Identity Unknown

True Crime review in The New York Times

Up Next: From Potters Field: Scarpetta #6

Here’s a link to Chris’s blog post so you can follow along with their Scarpetta buddy read schedule.  

Chris’s review of True Crime

– 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.

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. Learn more about how to play the bingo card by watching this video.

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.

– Also Mentioned –
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Friction: A Biography by Jennifer R. Vail
This Cursed House by Dell Sandeen
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T Kira Madden
Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
Author Stephen P. Kiernan
Upstate Dispatch by Kim Van Alkemade
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Abraham Lincoln: Vampyre Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smithe, the film adaptation
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Author Pamela Toler
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan

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!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Episode 259 - Busted by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Book Cougars Episode 259
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak
Book Cougars Episode 259

Episode 259 Show Notes

A few PSA’s:
1. Thank you to Georgia for letting us know that if you live outside of the US you can find an unabridged copy of the audiobook of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café through AudiobooksNow.

2. Kindles made in 2012 or earlier will no longer be supported by Amazon.

3. Our new email address is hello@bookcougars.com. The April newsletter was e-mailed on April 30, if you didn’t receive it, check your SPAM folder and add the updated email address to your contact list.

– Currently Reading –
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (CW) (audiobook)
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush – Susan Gregg Gilmore (EF)
Friction: A Biography – Jennifer R. Vail (CW)
Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond – Roxana Jullapat, and Ari Smolin (EF)

– Just Read –
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan (EF) (audiobook)
The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout (EF)
All the World Can Hold – Jung Yun (CW)
Blunt Instrument – Amy Bloom (EF)
Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris celebrated Independent Bookstore Day with visits to The Book Barn in Niantic where she purchased The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl and The Unofficial Companion to Patricia Cornwell by George Beahm; next she stopped at Bank Square Books in Mystic where she came home with copies of The Known World by Edward P. Jones, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life by Ellen Carol DuBois, and Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer.

Emily had a workday at the Carbondale Public Library where she was surprised to learn that they offer free printing. On the way home she flew through the Denver airport where she found a very cool, very big take-one-leave-one library in the A gates of the Denver airport that is a façade for Williams & Graham, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant.

– 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

May 7, Chris and Emily are signed up to see Caroline Bicks, author of Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, at RJ Julia’s Booksellers.

May 10, Chris and Emily are heading to the movies to see Fried Green Tomatoes. Find out where it is playing near you.

May 23, from 2-4pm (ET) there is an unveiling of the Margaret Fuller statue at the Concord Free Public Library. Find out more here.

May 24, next Reading Salon topic: books over 400 pages for Sue Jackson’s Big Book Summer Reading Challenge.

– Upcoming Reads –
Twilight Sleep – Edith Wharton (CW)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg (EF)
Don’t Stop – Bonnie Friedman (EF)
Esquire Ball: Stories from the Great Black Swamp – Lisa Slage Robinson (EF)

– Out Now –
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
The Author Weekend – Laura Zigman
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel

– 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.

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. Learn more about how to play the bingo card by watching this video.

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.

– Also Mentioned –
Author Peter Geye
Author Jamie Ford
True Crime: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell
Shelter by Jung Yun
Author Sara Catterall
After Lives by Megan Marshall
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

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!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

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!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!