Episode 12 - Surprise, it's a bonus episode with a super-duper special guest!

Episode 12 Show Notes

-Biblio Adventure-
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Rhode Island to hear Bryan Stevenson speak. 
Bryan Stevenson is the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
He is the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Listen to his TED TALK.
He was awarded the 2017 Stowe Prize and will be visiting The Harriet Beecher Stowe  Center in Hartford, CT in June: 

TO DONATE to the Equal Justice Initiative: DONATE NOW

Our special guest, Michael Kindness, was the host of the podcast Books on the Nightstand. Sadly, the podcast is no longer in production but you can listen to past episodes by visiting the website or searching for it on iTunes.
Michael made a recommendation for a book that will release in January 2018:
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Episode 11 - History & Hickies and Books & Biblio Adventures

Episode Eleven Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

– Just Read –
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee (EF)(CW)
We Are Okay – Nina LaCour (EF)
The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good – Ryan Honeyman (EF)

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Celine – Peter Heller (EF)
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life – Jen Sincero (CW) (audio)
Books for Living – Will Schwalbe (CW)
The Lotterys Plus One - Emma Donoghue (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
March 27 – Savoy Bookshop & Cafe – Min Jin Lee author of Pachinko
March 30 – Savoy Bookshop & Cafe – Jessica Shattuck author of The Women in the Castle and Julie Himes author of Mikhail and Margarita
We were surprised by a new used bookstore in Westerly, RI – ReReads Bookshop
April 4 – Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the NATIONAL EVENT DAY screening of the movie 1984 
April 5th – Amor Towles and Christina Baker Kline at the Center for Fiction in NYC
Chris watched To Walk Invisible: The Lives of the Bronte Sisters on PBS and highly recommends it
We went on a joint jaunt to see the horror movie Get Out.
Emily visited Phil's Stationery store in NYC

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 6 – Chris is heading to the Mark Twain House to hear Ann M. Ryan discuss The Haunted Mark Twain
April 8 – Bryan Stevenson author of Just Mercy at McVinney Auditorium in Providence, RI
April 13 – Guilford Library – Letters from the Battlefield with Rick Maynard

– Upcoming Reads –
The Impossible Fortress – Jason Rekulak (EF)
History of Wolves – Emily Fridlund (EF)
The Women in the Castle – Jessica Shattuck (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Sick Puppy – Carl Hiassen
Emma Donoghue books: Room and Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins – check out her website https://emmadonoghue.com/

Episode 10 - Our top "ten" of all time, or for today, and a book giveaway/raffle

Episode Ten Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

– Top “Ten” –
Chris:

The Story About Ping – Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
Dracula – Bram Stoker
One of Ours – Willa Cather (Chris has two blog posts about this one: http://www.wildmoobooks.com/2012/05/one-of-ours-book-5-intro.html and http://www.wildmoobooks.com/2012/05/one-of-ours-thoughts-comments.html)
The Stand or Salem’s Lot or The Shining – Stephen King
A Lantern in Her Hand – Bess Streeter Aldrich (check out the blog post Chris wrote about visiting the Aldrich home: http://www.wildmoobooks.com/2011/04/elms-author-bess-streeter-aldrichs-home.html)
Life and Death in Shanghai – Nien Cheng
The Good Old Days: They Were Terrible! – Otto L. Bettman
The Seven Storey Mountain – Thomas Merton
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness – Karen Armstrong
Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics – Cynthia Enloe
Honorable Mentions:
Awakening the Buddah Within: Eight Steps To Enlightenment – Lama Surya Das
The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck (Chris wrote a blog post about this one, too: http://www.wildmoobooks.com/2010/07/good-earth-by-pearl-s-buck.html)

Emily:
So Long: Stories – Lucia Berlin
The Echo Maker – Richard Powers
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
State of Wonder – Ann Patchett
Delicious! – Ruth Reichl
Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
Daring Greatly – Brené Brown
Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality – Pema Chodron
In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker’s Companion – Regan Daley
How Reading Changed My Life or Still Life with Bread Crumbs or anything by – Anna Quindlen

– Just Read –
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (CW)
Life Long Writing Habit: The Secret to Writing Every Day – Chris Fox (CW)
http://www.chrisfoxwrites.com/audiobooks/
The Oven – Sophie Goldstein (CW)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk – Kathleen Rooney (EF)
Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders (EF) (audio)
Edgar & Lucy – Victor Lodato (EF)
Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life – Kim Severson (EF)
Babette’s Feast – Isak Dineson (EF)

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Raising Wild: Dispatches from a Home in the Wilderness – Michael Branch (CW)
5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter – Chris Fox (CW)
http://www.chrisfoxwrites.com/audiobooks/
The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success – Jennifer Lee (CW)
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee (EF)(CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris went to the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory where she salivated over many different editions of Dracula
Emily watched the movie Babette’s Feast based on the Isak Dineson novella
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see I Am Not Your Negro – a movie about James Baldwin
Chris visited the bookstore Book People in Austin, TX

– Upcoming Jaunts –
March 27 – Savoy Bookshop & Cafe – Min Jin Lee author of Pachinko
April 5th – Amor Towles and Christina Baker Kline at the Center for Fiction in NYC
April 28-29 – Newburyport Literary Festival

– Upcoming Reads –
The Book of Aron – Jim Shepard (EF)
In Other Words – Jhumpa Lahiri (EF)
Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin (CW)
Books for Living – Will Schwalbe (CW)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk – Kathleen Rooney (CW)
Notes of a Native Son – James Baldwin (CW)
Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front – Mary Jennings Hegar (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
The Engagements – J. Courtney Sullivan
Empire Falls – Richard Russo
The Readers podcast

 

Episode 9 - Knitted Knockers, Little Free Libraries, Sperm Donation (and books)

Episode Nine Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

– Just Read –
The Other F-Word – Natasha Friend (CW)
Kindred – Octavia Butler (EF)
You’ll Grow Out of It – Jessi Klein (EF) (audio)
News of the World – Paulette Jiles (EF)
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth – Lindsey Lee Johnson (EF)

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (CW)
Raising Wild: Dispatches from a Home in the Wilderness – Michael Branch (CW)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk – Kathleen Rooney (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
February 28 – Guilford Public Library – Peter Woerner author of Odyssey: Fifty Years of Travel Drawings and Memories.
March 2 – Guilford Public Library - Christine Woodside author of Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books
March 7 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Natasha Friend author of The Other F-Word
March 8 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Elinor Lipman author of On Turpentine Lane
Emily watched the movie Wild based on Cheryl Strayed novel of the same name.
Chris went on a Little Free Library trek. Find one near you: https://littlefreelibrary.org/

– Upcoming Jaunts –
April 4th – over 140 art house movie theatres across the country in 124 cities and in 41 states, plus four locations in Canada, are collectively participating in a NATIONAL EVENT DAY screening of the movie 1984 starring John Hurt. Check to see if there is one near you!
March 9-12 – New York Antiquarian Book Fair – at the Park Avenue Armory
March 27 – Savoy Bookshop & Cafe – Min Jin Lee author of Pachinko
April 8 – Bryan Stevenson author of Just Mercy at McVinney Auditorium in Providence, RI

– Upcoming Reads –
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee (EF)(CW)
Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders (EF) (audio)
1984 – George Orwell (EF)
Hemingway Didn’t Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotes – Garson O’Toole (CW)
Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Undermines Tomorrow’s Medicine – Richard F. Harris (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Pattern for Knitted Knockers: http://www.ravelry.com
The Enchanted – Rene Denfeld
Stolen Years: Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned – Reuven Fenton// Chris wrote a review of this one on her blog: http://www.wildmoobooks.com
Annie Philbrick, owner of Savory Bookstore & Café and Bank Square Books has been chosen as a judge for the National Book Awards:
Blossoms & Bayonets: A Story of Love, Faith and Courage Under Japanese Occupation – Jana McBurney-Lin and Hi-Dong Chai
The Orphan Master’s Son – Adam Johnson
Goodreads fact: If you put a book on your Want to Read list you can sign up to get alerts regarding give aways, e-read deals and more for the book.

Episode 8 - Biblio Adventure Bonanza! (and books...)

Episode Eight Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

– Just Read –
1984 – George Orwell (CW)
Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Chris writes about this one on her blog: http://www.wildmoobooks.com
Macbeth – William Shakespeare (CW) (audio)
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living – Louise Miller (EF) (audio)
The Mothers – Brit Bennett (EF)

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Brown Girl Dreaming – Jaqueline Woodson (CW)
The Vampyre: A Tale – John William Polidori (CW)
Kindred – Octavia Butler (EF)
Best Food Writing 2016 – Edited by Holly Hughes (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
February 15 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Brunonia Barry author of The Lace Reader and The Fifth Petal
February 16 – 92nd St Y – George Saunders and Colson Whitehead
February 17 – Morgan Library to see the Emily Dickinson Exhibit
Three Lives & Company bookstore
McNally Jackson Books
Goods for the Study – McNally Jackson Books sister stationary store with journals, pens, etc.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is going to see the play Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O’Neill
March 2 – Guilford Public Library - Christine Woodside author of Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books
March 7 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Natasha Friend author of The Other F-Word
March 8 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Elinor Lipman author of On Turpentine Lane
March 9-12 – New York Antiquarian Book Fair – at the Park Avenue Armory
March 27 – Savoy Bookshop & Cafe – Min Jin Lee author of Pachinko

– Upcoming Reads –
The Other F-Word – Natasha Friend (CW)
Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood – Thomas Peckett Prest (CW)
The Dry – Jane Harper (CW)
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City’s Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation – Brad Ricca (CW)
You’ll Grow Out of It – Jessi Klein (EF) (audio)
News of the World – Paulette Jiles (EF)
Babette’s Feast – Isak Dinesen (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Check out this cool podcast where mom and daughter duo, Barb and Tracie, talk all things knitting and books – 2 Knit Lit Chicks
I Don’t Know What to Do With Good White People – Brit Bennett
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
The Son - Philipp Meyer
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World – Peter Wohlleben and Tim Flannery
The North Shore Literary Trail: From Bradstreet's Andover to Hawthorne's Salem - Kristin Bierfelt

Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore May 5-6, 2017 – There are still tickets available!
Books and Authors:
      Our Short History – Lauren Grodstein
      Celine – Peter Heller
      The Leavers – Lisa Ko
      The Impossible Fortress – Jason Rekulak
      Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk – Kathleen Rooney
      Books for Living – Will Schwalbe
      The Women in the Castle – Jessica Shattuck
      The World to Come: Stories – Jim Shepard

 

Episode 7 - Joint reads of the March trilogy and The English Patient

Episode Seven Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

– Just Read –
Milk & Honey – Rupi Kaur (EF)
Cruel Beautiful World – Caroline Leavitt (EF)
March: Book One, Two and Three – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (CW & EF)
Still Life – Louise Penny (EF) (audio)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis – J.D. Vance (EF) (audio)
Queer: A Graphic History – Meg-John Barker, Julia Scheele (CW)
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje (CW & EF)
Chris writes about this one on her blog: https://wildmoobooks.com/

– Currently Reading/Listening –
1984 – George Orwell (CW)
The Little Red Chairs – Edna O’Brien (EF)
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living – Louise Miller (EF) (audio)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to see the movie Hidden Figures based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly
Chris and Laura went into NYC to see Big River based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

– Upcoming Jaunts –
February 15 – RJ Julia Booksellers – Brunonia Barry author of The Lace Reader and The Fifth Petal
February 16 – 92nd St Y – George Saunders and Colson Whitehead
February 17 – Morgan Library to see the Emily Dickinson Exhibit

– Upcoming Reads –
The Vampyre: A Tale – John William Polidori (CW)
Gangsterland – Tod Goldberg (EF)
Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice – Alan Weiss (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Project Gutenberg – download free ebooks!
LibriVox.org – download free audiobooks!
Library Extension – Chrome extension that will show your local library holdings
Hoopla Digital – another option for audiobooks, ebooks, movies and more from your local library

Episode 6 - Dracula, Legally Blonde and open heart surgery...

Episode Six Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Just Read
Carmilla – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (CW)
South Haven – Hirsh Sawhney (CW)
March: Book One – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (CW)
Bad Feminist – Roxane Gay (EF)
You can read one of the essays from the collection here
http://therumpus.net/2012/03/the-alienable-rights-of-women/
An article regarding her protest of Simon and Schuster: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/26/511767380/roxane-gay-pulls-book-protesting-breitbart-editors-egregious-book-deal
A Gentleman In Moscow – Amor Towles (EF)
Visit his website, it’s really cool – www.amortowles.com
Today Will Be Different – Maria Semple (EF)

Currently Reading/Listening
March: Book Two and Book Three – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (CW)
Bad Feminist – Roxane Gay (CW)
Something in the Blood – Jeff Guinn, Andy Grieser (CW) (audio)
Still Life – Louise Penny (EF)

Biblio Adventures
Chris went to The Book Barn in Niantic. A store with over 500,000 books spread over four separate locations within one mile of each other.
Emily’s adventures were all movie related and based on Alice Munro short stories:
Hateship/Loveship – based on the title story in Munro’s 2001 collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
Julieta – based on three stories in Munro’s 2004 collection Runaway. The three stories are Chance, Soon and Silence.

Upcoming Jaunts
February 9 – Min Jin Lee at Savoy Bookshop & Café in Westerly, RI where she will be discussing her new book Pachinko.

Upcoming Reads
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje (CW and EF)
Macbeth – William Shakespeare (CW)
1984 – George Orwell
Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur (EF)
Cruel Beautiful World – Caroline Leavitt (EF)

Also Mentioned
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Dracula's Guest - Bram Stoker
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital - Sheri Fink

Episode 5 - Will Schwalbe, Roxane Gay, Kinokuniya and books, lots of books!

We visit a three story bookstore!

Episode Five Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Just Read
The Trap – Melanie Raabe (CW)
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls – Robert M. Thorson (CW)
Willa: The Story Of Willa Cather, An American Writer – Amy Ehrlich, Wendell Minor (CW)
The Strays – Emily Bitto (CW)
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life– Ruth Franklin (CW) with audiobook
Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead (EF) with audiobook
The Book That Matters Most – Ann Hood (EF)
Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (But Also My Mom's, Which I Know Sounds Weird) - Michael Ian Black (EF) audiobook
Yes, Chef – Marcus Samuelsson (EF) audiobook
All Is Not Forgotten – Wendy Walker (EF)
Traveling Light – Katrina Kittle (EF)

– Currently Reading/Listening
Carmilla – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (CW)
Bad Feminist – Roxane Gay (EF) and (CW)
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje (EF) with audiobook

– Biblio Adventures
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see Will Schwalbe talk about his new book, Books for Living.
Chris went to NYC to the Morgan Library to see the Martin Luther exhibit. 
Chris and Emily also went into NYC to see Roxane Gay at the 92 St Y where she discussed her new book of short stories, Difficult Women.
While in the big city we visited Kinokuniya a three story Japanese bookstore.

– Upcoming Jaunts
February 16 – Colson Whitehead in Conversation with George Saunders at the 92 St Y

Morgan Library in NYC to see the Emily Dickinson exhibit

– Upcoming Reads
Macbeth – William Shakespeare (CW)
Brand Luther: How an Unheralded Monk Turned His Small Town into a Center of Publishing, Made Himself the Most Famous Man in Europe—and Started the Protestant Reformation – Andrew Petegree (CW)
Jack the Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Tenth of December – George Saunders (EF)
A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles (EF)

– Also Mentioned
Prelude to Bruise – Saeed Jones

Episode 4 - 2017 Reading Goals / The English Patient Read Along

2017 Reading Goals. Join us for a read along of the English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Episode Four Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine
- 2017 Reading Goals -
Emily:
1. 52 book reading challenge set on Goodreads
2. Volunteer for a literacy nonprofit
3. Get organized to read and listen in tandem to at least four books
4. Manage time with phone better so that it doesn’t interfere with reading time
5. Upon graduation in May, set an intention to work with books and philanthropy in some fashion
Chris:
1. Australian Women Writers Challenge
      The Dry – Jane Harper
      The Strays – Emily Bitto
      My Brilliant Career – Miles Franklin
      Some Everyday Folk and Dawn – Miles Franklin2. Classics Club
2. Classics Club
      Carmilla – J. Sheridan Le Fanu
      So Big – Edna Ferber
      The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
      A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
      From Here to Eternity – James Jones
      Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
3. Monthly author read inspired by the calendar: Masters of Literature, illustrated by Elisabetta Stoinich. Check out John Valeri website: http://www.johnbvaleri.com/ 
                January – William Shakespeare
                February – Jane Austen
                March – Charles Baudelaire
                April – Emily Dickinson
                May – Oscar Wilde
                June – Virginia Woolf
                July – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
                August – Marcel Proust
                September – Mary Shelley
                October – Edgar Allan Poe
                November – Franz Kafka
                December – The Bronte’s  
4. Willa Cather short stories. One of Ours is a favorite Cather read.
5. Books sitting on the TBR (to be read) shelf, hoping to read in 2017
                The Swarm – Frank Schӓtzing
                Look Homeward Angel – Thomas Wolfe

- Just Read -
Commonwealth – Ann Patchett (EF)
Patience - Daniel Clowes (EF)
The Horizontal Man – Helen Eustis (CW)
The Trouble with Women – Jacky Fleming (CW)

- Currently Reading/Listening -
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead (EF)
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life – Ruth Franklin (CW)

- Biblio Adventures -
Emily went to Speak Up storytelling event in New Haven

- Upcoming Jaunts -
Moby-Dick Marathon 20th Anniversary – Jan 7-10 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum
Chris and Emily will both read a portion on Sunday, January 8th
Moby Dick Big Read is a great audio version

- Upcoming Reads -
The Book That Matters Most – Ann Hood (EF)
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje – Join us for a read along!
If you would like to submit questions/comments for the discussion, please do so by February 1. Email us: bookcougars@gmail.com



 

Episode 3 - Emily (meets) Oprah and much more...

Episode Three Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine
Just Read
She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb (CW)
Dogs and Their People: Photos and Stories of Life with a Four-Legged Love – Barkpost (CW)
Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets if the Universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz (EF) audiobook
Seventh Heaven – Alice Hoffman (EF)
Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer (EF)

Currently Reading/Listening
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert (EF)
The Bookshop on the Corner – Jenny Colgan (EF)
The Horizontal Man – Helen Eustis (CW)

Biblio Adventures
Emily went to see the play Notes From the Field starring Anne Deavere Smith
Chris saw the musical Something Rotten on Broadway for the fourth(!) time
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see Wally Lamb talk about his new book, I’ll Take You There.
Emily saw the movie Lion based on the memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierly Chris saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them based on the book by by J.K. Rowling
Emily visited Bookbar bookstore in Denver

Upcoming Jaunts
Chris will head to the Morgan Library in NYC to see the Martin Luther and Charlotte Brontë exhibits – http://www.themorgan.org/
The movie Julieta directed by Pedro Almodovar loosely based on Alice Munro stories
January 8 - Will Schwalbe at RJ Julia Booksellers – http://www.rjjulia.com/event/will-schwalbe-books-living
January 12 – Roxane Gay at 92 Street Y

UpcomingReads
The Trap – Melanie Raabe (CW)
Soul Survivors: Stories of Wounded Women Warriors and the Battles They Fight Long After They’ve Left the War Zone – Kirsten Holmstedt (CW)
Commonwealth – Ann Patchett (EF)
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead (CW)
Patience - Daniel Clowes (EF)

Also Mentioned
Chris mentioned that she and her wife, Laura Thoma, have a self-development/coaching business. You can learn more about it at www.roadtosuccess.live.
Alan Cumming - Not My Father's Son and You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures