Episode 2 - Top Ten Reads of 2016 and Holiday Gift Ideas

Book Cougars Episode 002
Emily Fine & Chris Wolak

Chris and Emily discuss their top ten reads of 2016 and make some holiday gift suggestions.

Top 10 of 2016
Emily
The Nix – Nathan Hill
The Door – Magda Szabo
Felicity – Mary Oliver
Keeping the Feast – Paula Butturini // When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
Gift From the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Dirty Love – Andre Dubus III
Jerusalem: A Cookbook – Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
Our Souls at Night – Kent Haruf
Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person – Shonda Rhimes

Chris
Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue – Kathryn J. Atwood
Laura – Very Caspary
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
Shelter – Jung Yun
The Mirror Thief – Martin Seay
Black Deutschland – Darryl Pinckney
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith
The Bill Hodges Trilogy [Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch] – Stephen King
A Great Reckoning – Louise Penny

Holiday Gift Ideas
Emily
Still Life – Louise Penny or some other book that begins a series
A combo buy: The Door and Iza’s Ballad by Magda Szabo
Cookbooks: Jerusalem, Ottolenghi, Plenty and Plenty More - Yotem Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
How To Cook Everything – Mark Bittman
YA Novel : The Thing About Jellyfish – Ali Benjamin
Semikolon office supplies – particularly the A4/Letter Size Envelope Files in various bright colors
Chris
Literary Magazine Subscriptions: Bookmarks, World Literature Today, Mystery Scene Magazine
Membership to an author organization: examples include
Willa Cather Foundation, Mark Twain House, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and many more
Fountain Pen:
Pilot Metropolitan
Lamy Safari
Visit
Goulet Pens for a wide pen selection

Episode One!

Book Cougars Episode 001 - 12:6:16, 12.47 AM
Chris Wolak & Emily Fine

Listen to the Prequel of Episode One and Episode One all wrapped up into one!

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

The author event/book that started it all! Chris and Emily traveled to Northshire Books in Manchester, VT.
On the 7 hour drive we decided to start a book podcast.
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life – Ruth Franklin (NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2016)

Just Read
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe – Fannie Flagg  (CW)
Martin Luther’s Travel Guide – Cornelia Doemer (CW)
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (CW)
Small Great Things – Jodi Picoult (EF)

Currently Reading/Listening
I’ll Take You There – Wally Lamb (EF)
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz (EF) audiobook
She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb (CW)

Biblio Adventures
Emily went to see Alice Hoffman in NYC – her new book is Faithful
Chris explored Herman Melville’s house – Arrowhead – in Pittsfield, MA
Read her blogpost! 

Upcoming Jaunts
Chris and Emily will see Wally Lamb on December 14, 2016 at RJ Julia Bookseller's in Madison, CT.
Emily is heading to a Speak Up Storytelling event in New Haven on December 15, 2016

Upcoming Reads
Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940’s – Sarah Weinman (CW)
Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall – St. Sukie de la Croix (CW)
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls – Robert M. Thorson (CW)
Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer (EF)
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert (EF)
Seventh Heaven – Alice Hoffman (EF)

Authors Mentioned
Matthew Dicks
Roxane Gay
Noah Hawley – Before the Fall
Ann Patchett
Nathaniel Philbrick – In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Gretchen Rubin