Episode 60 - Our Mystery Man Returns & A Mysterious Giveaway!

Our Mystery Man - John Valeri - with EPISODE 60 GIVEAWAY LOOT! Subscribe to our newsletter by October 6, 2018 to be entered to win.

Episode Sixty Show Notes

Our Mystery Man – John Valeri
http://www.johnbvaleri.com/
Twitter: @OyeJohn52

– Books That Are Out Now –
Last Girl Gone – J.G. Hetherton
Providence – Caroline Kepnes
Last Call – Paula Matter
Give Me Your Hand – Megan Abbott
Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter
Trust Me – Hank Phillippi Ryan
Rooted in Deceit (Greenhouse Mystery Series #4) – Wendy Tyson
A Borrowing of Bones – Paula Munier
Sadie – Courtney Summers
Button Man – Andrew Gross
The House of Silk – Anthony Horowitz
The Cheerleaders – Kara Thomas
#Murdertrending – Gretchen McNeil
Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel – A.W. Jantha
Kill Creek – Scott Thomas

– Upcoming Releases –
Silver Anniversary Murder (Lucy Stone #25) – Leslie Meier
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World – Sarah Weinman
November Road – Lou Berney
Denial of Justice: Dorothy Kilgallen, Abuse of Power, and the Most Compelling JFK Assassination Investigation in History – Mark Shaw sequel to The Reporter Who Knew Too Much
Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly
Yule Log Murder – Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross
Murder, She Wrote: Manuscript for Murder – Jessica Fletcher, Jon Land
Kingdom of the Blind – Louise Penny

– Giveaway –
One year subscription to Mystery Scene Magazine
Signed copy of Without a Doubt by Marcia Clark
Tricks and Treats: A Collection of Spooky Stories by Connecticut Authors – edited by Stacey Longo (includes two stories by John Valeri)

To enter the giveaway, subscribe to our newsletter here by October 6, 2018.

– Also Mentioned –
Mystery Scene Magazine
Criminal Element
The Strand Magazine
Portland Public Library
Little Girl Lost – Wendi Corsi Staub
Also by Caroline Kepnes: You and Hidden Bodies
Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering – Joanna Gaines
Lucy Burdette
Dare Me – Megan Abbott
The Deuce
Halloween Movie
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters – Anne Boyd Rioux
Willa Cather
The One Man – Andrew Gross
Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries #13) – James R. Benn
Sophie Hannah
Bouchercon: World Mystery Convention
The Collide – Kimberly McCreight

Check out John’s writing in Mystery Scene Magazine!

Episode 59 - Learning About Horseshoe Crabs!

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE.

 Join our Goodreads Group!

Please subscribe to our email list here.

– Currently Reading –
Scribe of Siena – Melodie Winawer (CW)(audio)
Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle Mystery Series #13) – James R. Benn (CW)
The Odyssey – Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (CW)
The NY Times article discussing the new translation of The Odyssey by Emily Wilson can be found HERE.

 – Just Read –
Scribe of Siena – Melodie Winawer (EF)
The Crab from Yesterday: The Life-Cycle of a Horseshoe Crab – John Frederick Waters and W.T. Mars (CW)
Rooted In Deceit (A Greenhouse Mystery #4) – Wendy Tyson (EF)
The Outliers – Kimberly McCreight (EF)
The Scattering – Kimberly McCreight (EF)
The Collide – Kimberly McCreight (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily watched the 1933 film version of Little Women

September 13, 2018 – Emily went to RJ Julia Madison to see Kate Walbert discuss her book His Favorites

– Upcoming Jaunts –
September 15, 2018 at 2:00 – Chris will be in conversation with Kimberly McCreight at Bookclub Bookstore & More to discuss the third book in the Outliers trilogy: The Collide

September 17, 2018 – Joseph Olshan will be at RJ Julia Madison to discuss his new book, Black Diamond Fall.

 September 20, 2018 at RJ Julia Madison and October 3 at Wesleyan RJ Julia – Jason Stanley will discuss his book, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.

September 27, 2018 – Bill Goldstein will be discussing his book, The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature, at  RJ Julia Madison

September 27, 2018 at 7:00 – Come meet the Book Cougars at Mohegan Sun for a Historical Fiction Panel. Click HERE to purchase your $5 ticket.

Panelists are:

Fiona Davis –The Masterpiece
Marie Benedict – Carnegie’s Maid
James R. Benn – Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle Mystery Series #13)
Melodie Winawer – Scribe of Siena

October 13 – Boston Book Festival

October 18, 2018 at 2:00 – Chris will be hosting the Willa Cather book club at Bookclub Bookstore & More. The book: Death Comes for the Archbishop

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! AND at Bookclub Bookstore & More.

– Upcoming Reads –
Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle Mystery Series #13) – James R. Benn (EF)
The Book of Essie – Meghan Maclean Weir (EF)
Strike Your Heart – Amélie Nothomb (EF)
A Winter’s Promise – Christelle Dabos (EF)
Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water’s Edge – Susan Hand Shetterly (CW)
Horseshoe Crags and Velvet Worms: The Story of the Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind – Richard Fortey (CW)
Behold the Dreamers – Imbolo Mbue (CW)
The Witches: Salem, 1692 – Stacy Schiff (CW)
Labyrinth of the Spirits – Carlos Ruiz Zafon (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Cara Black
Diane Mott Davidson
The Kate – Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center showing of Little Women
The movie Holiday starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant
Fear: Trump in the White House – Bob Woodward
Fear and Trembling – Amélie Nothomb
Tokyo Fiancée – Amélie Nothomb
Mel’s Bookland Adventures
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Angels Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Prisoner of Heaven – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Episode 58 - Yippee! Meet the Cougars and a GIVEAWAY

Getting a picture of four books and two people is hard!.

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

Join our Goodreads Group!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

Please subscribe to our email list here.

– Currently Reading –
Carnegie’s Maid – Marie Benedict (CW) (audio)
The Outliers – Kimberly McCreight (EF) (audio)
The Scattering – Kimberly McCreight (CW)

– Just Read –
The Outliers – Kimberly McCreight (CW)
Carnegie’s Maid – Marie Benedict (EF)
How Hard Can It Be? (Kate Reddy #2) – Allison Pearson (EF)
The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald (EF) (audio)

– Readalong –
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters – Anne Boyd Rioux (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched a lot of television/movies:
Learning to Drive based on a short story by Katha Pollitt
Elegy based on Philips Roth’s book The Dying Animal
BlackkKlansman by Spike Lee based on the memoir by Ron Stallwarth called Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime
I Don’t Know How She Does It starring Sarah Jessica Parker
Mind of a Chef season 3– starring Chef Edward Lee

Chris took friends to The Book Barn in Niantic, CT and Salem, MA.
She also discovered that Fitz-Green Halleck, the poet, died in the house where she gets her hair cut – Birds Nest Salon

– Upcoming Jaunts –
September 13, 2018 – Emily is headed to RJ Julia Madison to see Kate Walbert discuss her book His Favorites

September 15, 2018 at 2:00 – Chris will be in conversation with Kimberly McCreight at Bookclub Bookstore & More to discuss the third book in the Outliers trilogy: The Collide

October 18, 2018 at 2:00 – Chris will be hosting the Willa Cather book club at Bookclub Bookstore & More. The book: Death Comes for the Archbishop

September 27, 2018 at 7:00 – Come meet the Book Cougars at Mohegan Sun for a Historical Fiction Panel. Click HERE to purchase your $5 ticket.

Panelists are:
Fiona Davis –The Masterpiece
Marie Benedict – Carnegie’s Maid
James R. Benn – Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle Mystery Series #13)
Melodie Winawer – Scribe of Siena

We are hosting a GIVEAWAY of the four books. Subscribe to our newsletter HERE by September 8, 2018 in order to be entered to win.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Collide – Kimberly McCreight (CW)
Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist – Anne Boyd Rioux
Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain (EF) (audio)
Rooted In Deceit (A Greenhouse Mystery #4) – Wendy Tyson (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine – Edward Lee
I Don’t Know How She Does It (Kate Reddy #1) – Allison Pearson
Reconstructing Amelia – Kimberly McCreight
Gospel of Wealth – Andrew Carnegie
Nemesis – Philip Roth
Reading Envy podcast
A Short History of Women – Kate Walbert
Ink & Paper Blog
Little Women – 1949 film version

Episode 57 - Orchard House interviews with Anne Boyd Rioux and Jan Turnquist

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

Join our Goodreads Group!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle! 

Please subscribe to our email list here.

– Upcoming Readalong –
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters – Anne Boyd Rioux
You can participate in the readalong via the Goodreads discussion here.
Send questions or comments by 8/30/18 to bookcougars@gmail.com.

– Just Read –
Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine – Edward Lee (EF)
Prisoner in the Castle (Maggie Hope Mystery #8) – Susan Elia MacNeal (CW)
Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear – Kim Brooks (EF)
The Stars Are Fire: A Novel – Anita Shreve (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to RJ Julia’s Booksellers in Madison, CT to see Rhys Bowen author of Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding in conversation with Lucy Burdette author of Death on the Menu. The evening was moderated by author Hallie Ephron.
We took a quick video of the event – see it here.

– Interviews from our Joint Jaunt to Concord, MA –
Anne Boyd Rioux – author of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters
Jan Turnquist – Executive Director of Orchard House
 
– Also Mentioned –
Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen – cookbook by Edward Lee
The Paris Spy (Maggie Hope Mystery #7) – Susan Elia MacNeal
Brené Brown
Jungle Red Writers
Constance Fenimore Wilson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist – Anne Boyd Rioux
Kay Boyle
For Information about the Little Women Sesquicentennial Celebration:
https://littlewomen150.org/home

Episode 56 - Baby, It's Steamy Outside!

Due to the steamy weather, we decided to record at the Guilford Library.

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

Join our Goodreads Group!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

Please subscribe to our email list here.

– Currently Reading/Listening –
The Prisoner in the Castle – Susan Elia MacNeal (CW)
Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot – Edward Lee (EF)
All Available Boats: The Evacuation of Manhattan Island on September 11, 2001 – edited by Mike Magee (CW)
The Stars Are Fire – Anita Shreve (EF)
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)

– Just Read –
Crazy Rich Asians – Kevin Kwan (CW)
The Masterpiece – Fiona Davis (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily went to RJ Julia’s Booksellers in Madison, CT to see James R. Benn author of the Billy Boyle series in conversation with Cara Black author of the Aimee Leduc series.
 
Emily went to Vermont and visited Crow Bookshop in Burlington, VT. She also walked passed, but was unable to go inside, Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Portland, ME.

Chris went to Chicago and visited the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, American Writers Museum and saw the Gwendolyn Brooks statue. She also visited Anderson’s Bookshops in Naperville, IL and Barbara’s Bookstore O’Hare.

Chris went to Bookclub Bookstore & More to see our Mystery Man, John Valeri, in conversation with Emily Arsenault author of The Last Thing I Told You.

Chris attended the grand opening of That Bookstore in Wethersfield, CT.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
August 8 – Chris will be headed to Bank Square Books to see Wick Griswold & Stephen Jones discuss their book Connecticut River Ferries.

August 24 – Institute Library in New Haven is hosting a Library Thing-a-Thon. Help them digitize their catalog!

September 12-14 – Wyndham Campbell Prizes Festival

September 15 – Chris will moderate a session with Kimberly McCreight, author of the Outliers Trilogy, at Book Club Bookstore & More.

September 27, 2018 – The Book Cougars will be hosting an historical fiction author event in partnership with Bank Square Books at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. Please join us along with Fiona Davis, James R. Benn, Melodie Winawer and Marie Benedict. You can order your tickets here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Still Point of the Turning World – Emily Rapp (EF)
Courageous Women of the Vietnam War: Medics, Journalists, Survivors and More – Kathryn J. Atwood (CW)
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Wolff (CW)
Song of Kali – Dan Simmons (CW)

 – Also Mentioned –
Books Are Magic Bookstore
Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen – cookbook by Edward Lee
Reading Envy Podcast
The Book Barn in Niantic, CT
Fiona Davis: The Address and The Dollhouse
Rosemary’s Baby– Ira Levin
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
Maud Martha – Gwendolyn Brooks
Chris blogs at WildmooBooks
Poster Child: A Memoir – Emily Rapp
The Classics Club
Maurice – E.M. Forster

Episode 55 - Readalong discussion of March by Geraldine Brooks and our visit to Concord, MA

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

Join our Goodreads Group!
Let us know what you want us to choose as the next read along. You can email, tweet or join the discussion on the Goodreads page.

Giveaway!
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (release date August 21st)
to enter: email us by July 31, 2018 – bookcougars@gmail.com

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

 – Currently Reading/Listening –
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)
The Masterpiece – Fiona Davis (EF)
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (CW)(EF) release date August 21st

Chris and Emily on a joint jaunt in Concord, MA. 
Standing in front of the  Orchard House - Louisa May Alcott's family home where she penned Little Women.

– Just Read –
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After – Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil (EF)
Chris DNF’d: The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House – Ben Rhodes (CW)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Barbara Kingsolver (EF) (audio)
Transcendental Wild Oats – Louisa May Alcott (CW)
One of Ours – Willa Cather (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to Concord, MA and visited:
Concord Public Library
Barrow Bookstore – there audio series can be found here
Concord Bookshop
Sally Ann Food Shop
Orchard House – the home of Louisa May Alcott. To become a member click here.
Ralph Waldo Emerson House
The Old Manse
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Emily went to Breakwater Books to see Carl Zimmer discuss his book She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity  

July 19th Chris will be hosting the Willa Cather Book Club at Bookclub Bookstore & More

Emily watched two movies:
Me Before You based on the book by Jo Jo Moyes
Jack Reacher based on the book by Lee Child

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is heading to Chicago and plans to go see the American Writers Museum and the Gwendolyn Brooks statue

Emily is heading to Vermont and plans to go to: The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, VT, Crow Bookshop and the Chubby Muffin in Burlington, VT

July 19th Chris will be hosting the Willa Cather Book Club at Bookclub Bookstore & More

July 28th – Dewey’s Readathon

September 15th – Chris will moderate a session with Kimberly McCreight, author of the Outliers Trilogy, at Book Club Bookstore & More.

– Upcoming Reads –
Middlemarch –  George Eliot(CW)
Carnegie’s Maid – Marie Benedict (EF)

– Readalong –
March – Geraldine Brooks (CW)(EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
Beowulf – Steven Mitchell
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
PBS Great American Read
Maud Martha – Gwendolyn Brooks
Roof Beam Reader TBR Challenge
Libby App
Hospital Sketches – Louisa May Alcott
Reconstucting Amelia – Kimberly McCreight
Mark Twain House
Life is Beautiful movie
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War – Tony Horwitz

Episode 54 - Reading Through A Heatwave!

Episode Fifty Four Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Join our Goodreads Group!
Let us know what you want us to choose as the next read along. You can email, tweet or join the discussion on the Goodreads page.

Upcoming Readalongs
March – Geraldine Brooks – have comments to us by July 19th

Upcoming Book Release and Event
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (release date August 21st)
Check out upcoming events for the 150th anniversary of Little Women at Orchard House.

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

– Currently Reading/Listening –
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After – Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil (EF)
One of Ours – Willa Cather (CW)

– Just Read –
Hope Never Dies – Andrew Shaffer (CW)
Providence – Caroline Kepnes (EF)
Women & Power: A Manifesto – Mary Beard (CW)
They May Not Mean To But They Do – Cathleen Schine (EF)
One Possible Life - Hannes Köhler (CW)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing – Marie Kondō (CW) (audio)

Matthew Dicks at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison with his new book Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily saw Matthew Dicks at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison with his new book Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

Chris visited the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library in New Haven, CT and saw a copy of the Declaration of Independence on display.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris and Emily will be heading to Orchard House – the home of Louisa May Alcott – on July 16th

July 19th Chris will be hosting the Willa Cather Book Club at Bookclub Bookstore & More

Emily is planning to attend Savoy Bookshop &  Café Harry Potter 20th Anniversary party on July 31st

The Book Cougars will be hosting an historical fiction author event in partnership with Bank Square Books at Mohegan Sun on September 27, 2018.

– Upcoming Reads –
March – Geraldine Brooks (CW)(EF)
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (CW)(EF) release date August 21st
The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House – Ben Rhodes (CW)
The Kiss: Intimacies from Writers – edited by Brian Turner (CW)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Barbara Kingsolver (EF) (audio)

– Also Mentioned –
The new library Libby App to download E-books and Audiobooks
Center for Fiction first novel prize list can be found here.
A Place for Us – Fatima Farheen Mirza
There There – Tommy Orange
Sadness is a White Bird – Moriel Rothman - Zecker
Man Booker Golden 50th Book Award
Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Willa Cather Novels: My Ántonia, The Song of the Lark, and O Pioneers!
Orchard House Conversation Series
Gwendolyn Brooks Statue in Chicago
57th Street Books
American Writers Museum

Poet Philip Larkin

This Be The Verse
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
      They may not mean to, but they do.   
They fill you with the faults they had
      And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
      By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
      And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
      It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
      And don’t have any kids yourself.

Episode 53 - Chris Talks Bone Fragments AND Our Little Women Readalong!

Episode Fifty Three Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Join our Goodreads Group!
Let us know what you want us to choose as the next read along. You can email, tweet or join the discussion on the Goodreads page.

Upcoming Readalongs
March – Geraldine Brooks – have comments to us by July 19th

Upcoming Book Release and Event
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (release date August 21st)
Check out upcoming events for the 150th anniversary of Little Women at Orchard House.

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Enlightenment – Robert Wright (CW)
Providence – Caroline Kepnes (EF)
The American Byron: Homosexuality The Fall of Fitz-Green Halleck – John Hallock (CW)

– Just Read –
Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver (EF) release date October 16, 2018
Chris DNF’d Fatal Crossing (Nora Sand #1) – Lone Theils, Translated by Charlotte Barslund (CW)
and she attempted to watch an adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock
It Happened at Two in the Morning – Alan Hruska (EF)
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II – Liza Mundy (CW)(audio)
A Place for Us – Fatima Farheen Mirza (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris met John Valeri, Our Mystery Man, at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore

Chris attended Crime Conn at Ferguson Library on Saturday, June 23, 2018
Author panelists included:
China Trade – S.J. Rozan
Katie Torpey
Tom Straw
David Rich
David Handler
James Benn
Jane Cleland
Sacred Cows – Karen E. Olson
Charles Salzberg
Dr. Kristen Hartnett-McCann
Bill Curatolo
Jill Fletcher
Jeff Markowitz
Chris Knopf
Neil Nyren
Gina Panettieri
Sheryl Kayne

June 19, 2018 Emily saw Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach, sponsored by Bank Square Books at Wheeler Library in North Stonington, CT.

Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach

June 20, 2018 Emily and Chris went to see Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl, sponsored by Bank Square Books. Sadly, the event was postponed.

NYPL event archive of Roxane Gay in conversation with Aja Monet: https://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/live-nypl-roxane-gay-aja-monet-not-bad

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Matthew Dicks will be at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison with his new book Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling.

Chris and Emily will be heading to Orchard House – the home of Louisa May Alcott.

– Upcoming Reads –
March – Geraldine Brooks (EF)
They May Not Mean To, But They Do – Cathleen Schine (EF)
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 – R.A. Scotti (CW)
Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear – Kim Brooks  (EF) release date August 21, 2018

– 5th Read Along –
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott (EF) (CW)
The Goodreads discussion can be found here.

– Also Mentioned –
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Barbara Kingsolver

Also by Robert Wright:
The Evolution of God
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
The Moral Animal: Why We Are The Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology

The Overstory – Richard Powers

Also by Barbara Kingsolver:
Bean Trees
Prodigal Summer
The Poisonwood Bible

The President Is Missing – Bill Clinton, James Patterson
The Pilgrims Progress – John Bunyan
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Henry David Thoreau
Margaret Fuller
Hospital Sketches – Louisa May Alcott

Episode 52 - What Does 70 Pounds of Books Look Like?!

We brought home 70 pounds of books from Book Expo 2018!!!

Episode Fifty Two Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Join our Goodreads Group!
Let us know what you want us to choose as the next read along. You can email, tweet or join the discussion on the Goodreads page.

Upcoming Readalongs
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott – have comments to us by June 21st
March – Geraldine Brooks – have comments to us by July 19th

Congratulations to our 5oth Episode Giveaway winner – Jennifer and her daughter Lilly!

Upcoming Book Release and Event
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women – Anne Boyd Rioux (release date August 21st)
Check out upcoming events for the 150th anniversary of Little Women at Orchard House.

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

– Currently Reading/Listening –
Fatal Crossing (Nora Sand #1) – Lone Theils, Translated by Charlotte Barslund (CW)
Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver (EF) release date October 16, 2018
The American Byron: Homosexuality The Fall of Fitz-Green Halleck – John Hallock (CW)
It Happened at Two in the Morning – Alan Hruska (EF)
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II – Liza Mundy (CW)(audio)
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott (EF) (audio narrator Lorelei King) (upcoming narrator Justine Eyre) (EF)

– Just Read –
Dream More – Dolly Parton (EF) (audio)
District VIII – Adam LeBor (CW)
From the Wreck – Jane Rawson (CW)
Gift from the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindbergh (CW)
Trench Dogs – Ian Densford (CW) – See other graphic novels being released from Naval Institute Press new imprint Dead Wreckening

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went to NYC for Book Expo 2018, May 30-June 1, 2018.
Check out our YouTube videos from Book Expo.
Some authors, imprints, etc. from the week:
     Blackwing Pencils
     Out of Print Clothing
     But That’s Another Story – Will Schwalbe’s podcast
     Leigh Bardugo
     Wayetu Moore
     Rich Benjamin
     Susan Orlean
     Caroline Fraser
     Deborah Harkness
     Ibi Zoboi
     Sally Field
     Tony Kushner
     Michelle Obama
     Fiona Davis – The Masterpiece, The Dollhouse and The Address
     Tommy Orange – There, There          
     Minotaur Books
     Alison Law – Literary Atlanta Podcast
     Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman – The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
     Abbi Jacobson
     Chris Gethard
     Len Riggio – CEO of Barnes and Noble

We brought home 70 pounds of books!

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The Book Cougars will be hosting an historical fiction author event in partnership with Bank Square Books at Mohegan Sun on September 27, 2018.

June 16, 2018 Chris will be attending a Behind the Scenes Tour of The Blackstone Library in Branford, CT.

Chris and Emily are hoping to head to the Noah Webster House in West Hartford, CT

June 19, 2018 Emily is planning to see Jennifer Egan, author of Manhattan Beach, sponsored by Bank Square Books.

June 20, 2018 Emily is planning to see Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl, sponsored by Bank Square Books.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Lost Family – Jenna Blum (EF)
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly – Anthony Bourdain (EF)
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)
Little Women – Louise May Alcott (CW)

– Also Mentioned –
Book Women Magazine             
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Barbara Kingsolver
Lydia Maria Francis Child
Moby Dick
Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcolm X, Alex Haley
Hunt for Red October – Tom Clancy
Literary Disco podcast
A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
The Woman Upstairs
The Thurber House
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Book By Book blog – Sue Jackson – Join her Big Book Summer Challenge
Broad City

Episode 51 - BookExpo 2018 - Buzzy Books for the Coming Year!

Episode Fifty One Show Notes
CW = Chris Wolak
EF = Emily Fine

Join our Goodreads Group!
Let us know what you want us to choose as the next read along. You can email, tweet or join the discussion on the Goodreads page.

Russell Gray’s Book Tube Channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/inkandpaperblog

– Russel’s Book Recommendations –
So Lucky – Nicola Griffith
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #10) – Becky Chambers
When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife – Meena Kandasamy

– BookExpo Adult Editor’s Buzz 2018 –
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and The Novel that Scandalized the World – Sarah Weinman  release date September 11, 2018
She Would Be King – Wayétu Moore  release date September 11, 2018
There Will Be No Miracles Here: A Memoir – Casey Gerald  release date October 2, 2018
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive – Stephanie Land release date January 29, 2019
Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear – Kim Brooks  release date August 21, 2018
Ohio: A Novel – Stephen Markley  release date August 21, 2018

– BookExpo Young Adult Editor’s Buzz 2018 –
Darius the Great is Not Okay – Adib Khorram  release date August 28, 2018
The Girl King – Mimi Yu  release date August 28, 2018
Sadie – Courtney Summers  release date September 4, 2018
Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan  release date November 6, 2018
The Similars – Rebecca Hanover  release date January 1, 2019

– Books Chris and Emily Were Really Excited To Acquire at BookExpo –
There, There – Tommy Orange (EF)
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and The Novel that Scandalized the World – Sarah Weinman (CW)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 20th Anniversary Editions with Brian Selznick illustrated covers (EF)
Hope Never Dies – Andrew Shaffer (CW)
Pride – Ibi Zoboi (CW)
The Library – Susan Orleans (CW)
Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It: A Mother’s Suggestions – Roz Chast and Patricia Marx (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Simon Savidge – The Readers Podcast
Jen Campbell
MercysBookishMusings
Hild - Nicola Griffith
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant – Roz Chast
Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York – Roz Chast
Lets Be Less Stupid: An Attempt to Maintain My Mental Faculties – Patricia Marx
Deborah Harkness All Souls Trilogy