Episode 65 - Bianca Marais author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words

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

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

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– Currently Reading –
Becoming – Michelle Obama (CW)(audio)
Elevation – Stephen King (EF)
Manhattan Beach – Jennifer Egan (CW)

– Just Read –
Kingdom of the Blind – Louise Penny (CW)
His Favorites – Kate Walbert (EF)
Ayiti – Roxane Gay (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily went to RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT to see Virginia Sole-Smith discuss her book The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America.

Emily went to the Guilford Library to see Andre Dubus III discuss his new novel, Gone So Long.

Chris went to the Guilford Library to learn more about the return of black bears in Connecticut.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Book-It Repertory Theater – production of My Antonia

December 9, 2018 Chris and Emily will head on a joint jaunt to Concord, New Hampshire to see Louise Penny discuss her new book Kingdom of the Blind. The event is sponsored by the Capital Center for the Arts and Gibson’s Bookstore.

Emily is heading on a big trip to OR, CA and CO. Hopefully there will be some literary adventuring along the way.

We loved Hum If You Don’t Know the Words by Bianca Marais. So glad we chose it as our 9th readalong!

 – Upcoming Reads –
The Widows – Jess Montgomery
Passing – Nella Laursen
The Odyssey – Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (CW)

– Readalong #9 –
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
Bianca is happy to join your book club discussion. Check out her website HERE.

If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca’s next book will be available July 16, 2019

– Also Mentioned –
Washington: A Life – Ron Chernow
Will Schwalbe
J.K. Rowling
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
Criminal Element
The Untamed State – Roxane Gay
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals – Michael Pollan
Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls – Robert M. Thorson
The Classics Club
James Benn – Billy Boyle series
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah
Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson

Episode 64 - Our First Book Launch with Shuly Xochitl Cawood!

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

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Readalong #9 –
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
Have comments to us by December 6, 2018

– Currently Reading –
Becoming – Michelle Obama (CW)(audio)
His Favorites – Kate Walbert (EF)
The Stan – Kevin Knodell, David Axe, Blue Delliquanti (CW)
The Grain Bowl – Nik Williamson (EF)
America: The Cookbook – Gabrielle Langholtz (EF)

 – Just Read –
Becoming – Michelle Obama (EF)
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert (CW)
Lift and Separate -  Marilyn Simon Rothstein (EF)
Starting From Scratch – Rita Mae Brown (CW)
The Proposal – Jasmine Guillory (EF)
The Vampires Heart (A Paranormal Lesbian Romance) – C.M. Blackwood (CW)
Sea Prayer – Khaled Hosseini, Dan Williams (EF)
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World – Sarah Weinman (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Sadly, the weather foiled our plans on November 15, 2018. Due to a snowstorm, we were unable to make it to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to see Jean P. Moore (Tilda’s Promise) in conversation with Cheryl Suchors (48 Peaks).

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see the movie Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Chris met up with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, at Wesleyan RJ Julia in Middletown, CT.

Emily went to Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT for small business Saturday.

Chris attended the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and also had a chance to walk through the Boston Central Public Library in Copley Square.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
November 27, 2018 Emily would like to visit RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT to see Virginia Sole-Smith discuss her book The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America.

December 9, 2018 Chris and Emily will head on a joint jaunt to Concord, New Hampshire to see Louise Penny discuss her new book Kingdom of the Blind. The event is sponsored by the Capital Center for the Arts and Gibson’s Bookstore.

The book is now available for purchase in Paperback or Kindle HERE.

– Upcoming Reads –
Kingdom of the Blind – Louise Penny (CW)
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (CW)
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais (EF)
The Perfect Mother – Aimee Molloy (EF)
Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney (EF)
Heads of the Colored People – Nafissa Thompson-Spires (EF)
The Patch – John McPhee (EF)

– Book Launch –
We had a chance to chat with Shuly Xochitl Cawood about her new book, 52 Things I wish I Could Have Told Myself When I Was 17, which is now available in Paperback and Kindle. You can order it HERE.

Shuly’s other book is The Going and Goodbye: A Memoir.

You can learn more about her at https://www.shulycawood.com/.

– Also Mentioned –
Ohio – Stephen Markley
Also by Marilyn Simon Rothstein: Husbands and Other Sharp Objects
Also by Jasmine Guillory: The Wedding Date
Roxane Gay
Also by Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns                                                   
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
My Absolute Darling – Gabriel Tallent
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
Russell at Ink and Paper Blog
Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) – Stacy Schiff
Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger - Lee Israel
The Overstory – Richard Powers
Kimberly McCreight
Bookclub Bookstore & More
Also by John McPhee: Oranges
George Saunders

Literary candles available at Northshire Bookstore.

Episode 63 - Born a Crime Readalong and 2018 Holiday Gift Giving

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

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Readalong #9 –
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
Have comments to us by December 6, 2018 // Goodreads discussion page is HERE

– Currently Reading –
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert (CW)
Kitchen – Banana Yoshimoto (EF)
Starting From Scratch – Rita Mae Brown (CW)
Florida – Lauren Groff (EF)
The Craft of Research – Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, William T. Fitzgerald (CW)
Poetry Will Save Your Life – Jill Bialosky (EF)

 – Just Read –
Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (or The Hoarder) – Jess Kidd (EF)
Ohio – Stephen Markley (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily went to Book Trader in New Haven, CT and That Bookstore in Wethersfield, CT.

Chris went on a big adventure to Los Angeles, CA that included stops at:
Universal Studios The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The LA Public Library
The Last Bookstore
Book Soup

– Upcoming Jaunts –
November 14, 2018 Chris would like to visit BookClub Bookstore & More to see Kristin Tsetsi in conversation with Benjamin Thomas. Her book is The Age of the Child.

November 15, 2018 Chris and Emily will go on a joint jaunt to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to see Jean P. Moore (Tilda’s Promise) in conversation with Cheryl Suchors (48 Peaks).

November 29, 2018 at Guilford Library, Emily will go see Andre Dubus III discuss his new novel Gone So Long.

– Readalong #9 –
Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah
Goodreads discussion page is HERE

– Holiday Gift Ideas –
·     Owl Eyeglasses Holder from Uncommon Goods
·     Alibabette Editions journals
·     Utilizing VistaPrint, Zazzle or Shutterfly, make a calendar out of favorite book covers and author photos
·     Unearth Women Magazine – The 1st Feminist Travel Magazine
·     Buy someone an E-Reader!
·     Nice set of markers – Emily has this set from Pentel
·     Mastering the Art of Self-Expression a creative journaling workbook by Laura Thoma
·     Shuly Cawood has a new inspirational gift book: 52 Things I Wish I Could Have Told Myself When I Was 17
·     Purchase a complete set of a favorite authors books
·     Purchase a book for someone that is in a foreign language
·     Literary Candles
·     Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle

– Also Mentioned –                
Also by Lauren Groff: Arcadia and Fates & Furies
Alison Law – Literary Atlanta
Also by Stephen Markley: Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold and Published This Very Book and Tales of Iceland
The Library Book – Susan Orlean
Also by Andre Dubus III: Townie, and House of Sand and Fog, and Dirty Love
Carnegie’s Maid – Melodie Benjamin
Scribe of Siena – Melodie Winawer
Russell – Ink and Paper Blog
Kinokuniya Bookstore
The Going and Goodbye: A Memoir – Shuly Xochitl Cawood
Louise Penny

Episode 62 - The Cougars Take Manhattan

Chris and Emily in front of the Halloween/Haunted exhibit at Atwater Memorial Library

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

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Readalong’s 8 & 9 –
Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah
Have comments to us by November 8, 2018
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
Have comments to us by December 6, 2018

 
– Giveaway –
We have one copy of Hum If You Don’t Know the Words! Please subscribe to the newsletter by November 5, 2018 to be entered to win. Bonus points if you post a selfie with your favorite read on social media – be sure to #bookcougars.

– Currently Reading –
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert (CW)
Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (or The Hoarder) – Jess Kidd (EF)
The Monk – Matthew Lewis (CW)
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly – Anthony Bourdain (EF)(audio)

Susan Orlean and Paul Holdengraber

– Just Read –
Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather (CW)
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America – Nancy MacLean (CW)
Fledgling – Octavia Butler (CW) (Chris wrote a review of the book on her blog. Click HERE.)
Courageous Women of the Vietnam War: Medics, Journalists, Survivors, and More (Women of Action) – Kathryn J. Atwood
The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore: Three Instructive Essays – Ann Patchett (CW)
The Best of Us – Joyce Maynard (EF) (audio)
Not Our Kind – Kiddy Zeldis (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris saw two movies: Crazy Rich Asians and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Emily visited Gramercy Books and Bexley Public Library in Columbus, Ohio
Chris and Emily went to NYC and visited the Frankenstein exhibit at the Morgan Library and attended the Susan Orlean lecture at the New York Public Library where she discussed her new book – The Library Book. (Chris wrote a review of the book on her blog. Click HERE.)

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is heading to LA for some bookish fun.
Emily is heading to That Bookstore – a new independent bookstore in Wethersfield, CT

– Upcoming Reads –
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List – James Mustich (EF)
Eventide and Benediction – Kent Haruf (EF)
Gone So Long – Andre Dubus III (EF)
Five Days at Memorial – Sheri Fink (CW)
Starting From Scratch – Rita Mae Brown (CW)

– Also Mentioned –                
Atwater Memorial Library
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert
Kindred – Octavia Butler
Parnassus Books
Signature of All Things – Elizabeth Gilbert
Lucy Gayheart – Willa Cather
Plainsong – Kent Haruf
Ruby Fruit Jungle – Rita Mae Brown
Sudden Death – Rita Mae Brown
Shawn the Book Maniac Book Tuber
Reading Envy

Episode 61 - The Libraries, Sleepy Hollow and Upcoming Readalongs!

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

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

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. You can DONATE HERE. If you would prefer to donate directly to us, please email bookcougars@gmail.com for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

– Readalong’s 8 & 9 –
Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah
Have questions/comments to us by November 8, 2018

Hum If You Don’t Know the Words – Bianca Marais
Have questions/comments to us by December 6, 2018
Click HERE for Bianca’s blog post about Eunice.

– Currently Reading –
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America – Nancy MacLean (CW)
The Best of Us – Joyce Maynard (EF) (audio)
Joyce’s editorial in the NY Times can be found HERE
Gilead – Marilynne Robinson (EF)
Ohio – Stephen Markley (EF) – might DNF?

– Just Read –
Calypso – David Sedaris (EF) (audio)
The Library Book – Susan Orlean (CW)
Strike Your Heart – Amélie Nothomb (EF)
Bitter Orange – Clare Fuller (CW)
Read Chris’s review of the book HERE
The Kiss Quotient – Helen Hoang (EF)
The Wife – Meg Wolitzer (EF)
The World Made Straight – Ron Rash (EF)

Headstone in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

– Biblio Adventures –
September 27, 2018 – The Book Cougars hosted three authors at Mohegan Sun.
Panelists were:
Fiona Davis –The Masterpiece
James R. Benn – Solemn Graves (Billy Boyle Mystery Series #13)
Melodie Winawer – Scribe of Siena

Emily visited Edgartown Books in Edgartown, MA. 

Chris went to Concord, MA on the 150th anniversary of Little Women.
Orchard House had a big celebration. She visited Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Walden Pond.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
October 17, 2018 – Meghan MacLean Weir will be at Wesleyan RJ Julia to discuss The Book of Essie.

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

October 20, 2018 – Chris is participating in the next Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon

Carnegie Library - Edgartown, MA

 – Upcoming Reads –
Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather (CW)
The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie – Andrew Carnegie (CW)
Dodging and Burning – John Copenhaver (CW)
The Devil and Webster – Jean Hanff Korelitz (EF)
Readers Advisory Guide to Horror – Becky Siegel Spratford (CW)
Sadness is a White Bird – Moriel Rothman-Zecher (EF)(audio)
5 Under 35 honoree – read about it HERE.
Middlemarch – George Ellott

 – Also Mentioned –
Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver
Open Dyslexic font
The Immortalists – Chloe Benjamin
Wally Lamb
At Home in the World – Joyce Maynard
Also by Susan Orlean: Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Possession and Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend
The Wife - movie
The Female Persuasion – Meg Woliter
Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe
McLean & Eakin Booksellers
Atticus Bookstore
Serena – Ron Rash
Billy Boyle – James R. Benn
Geraldine Brooks
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters – Anne Boyd Rioux
Edgartown Public Library
Admission – Jean Hanff Korelitz / the movie
Berwyn Public Library
The Monk – Matthew Lewis
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Frankenstein – Mary Wollstoncraft Shelley
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Bill Clegg
National Book Awards

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