Episode 102 - Author Spotlight with Rachel Barenbaum

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

– Lucky 13th Readalong discussion–
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

– Currently Reading –
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky) (EF)

– Just Read –
Modern Scholars Series: The Author at Work: The Art of Writing Fiction – Jenna Blum (CW)(audio)
Want – Lynn Steger Strong (EF) release date July 7, 2020
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick (CW)
The Late Bloomer’s Club – Louise Miller (EF)
The Country of the Pointed Firs – Sarah Orne Jewett (CW)
Real Life – Brandon Taylor (EF)
Me and Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My Friendship with Patsy Cline – Loretta Young, Patsy Lynn Russell (CW)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended a virtual event through The Center for Fiction: Crime Fiction Writers talk Favorite Films and Books with Megan Abbott, Alison Gaylin, Jonathan Santlofer, Duane Swierczynski, Lauren Wilkinson

Emily attended a virtual event at Reads & Company Bookshop with author’s Mary Beth Keane and Juliet Grames

The Books on the Nightstand: Trapped at Home video can be watched HERE

Emily recommends three podcasts:
Unlocking Us – Brené Brown
Sugar Calling – Cheryl Strayed
Home Cooking – Samin Nosrat

– Upcoming Jaunts –
The Book Cougars are hosting a biblio adventure! Join us for a virtual discussion of our 13th readalong, Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck. The Zoom event will take place on Sunday, May 17th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to reserve your spot.

– Upcoming Reads –
A Small Thing to Want: stories – Shuly X. Cawood (CW)
The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York – Matthew Goodman (CW)
Redhead by the Side of the Road – Anne Tyler (EF)
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen – Lucy Knisley (EF)
A Bend in the Stars – Rachel Barenbaum (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Rachel Barenbaum –
A Bend in the Stars released in paperback on May 12, 2020
You can learn more about Rachel Barenbaum HERE
Rachel recommends Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy release date August 4, 2020

– Also Mentioned –
Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
The Stand – Stephen King
Lonesome Dove – Larry McMurtry
Newburyport Literary Festival
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe
Catherine Beecher
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
William Gilmore Simms
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living – Louise Miller
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
R.J. Julia Booksellers
Loretta Lynn: Coalminer’s Daughter
Judy Blume
Margaret Atwood
The Secrets We Kept – Lara Prescott
GrubStreet

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Episode 101 - Author Spotlight with Will Schwalbe

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

– Currently Reading –
Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count – Phil Buchanan (EF)
The Late Bloomer’s Club – Louise Miller (EF)
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick (CW)
The Country of the Pointed Firs – Sarah Orne Jewett (CW)
Modern Scholars Series: The Art of Writing Fiction – Jenna Blum (CW)(audio)

– Just Read –
Night Theater – Vikram Paralkar (EF)
Kill Creek – Scott Thomas (CW)
Valentine – Elizabeth Whetmore (EF)
You Let Me In – Camilla Bruce (CW)
you can read Chris’s review on Criminal Element here
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Religious Roots – Deborah Feldman (EF)(audio)
The Snow Collectors – Tina May Hall (CW)
The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age – David Callahan (EF)
The Old Beauty – Willa Cather (CW)
Xingu – Edith Wharton (CW)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched Unorthordox on Netflix and Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu.

Both Chris and Emily attended the virtual Newburyport Literary Festival
Emily sat in on two multi-author sessions: Cooking the Books and Afternoon Delight
Chris sat in on two sessions: Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper’s Life Among the Herd with author Melissa Crandall and a multi-author panel titled What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About.
You can watch the Newburyport Literary sessions anytime on A Mighty Blaze Facebook Page.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Newburyport Literary Festival – May 3, 2020

Small Things & Ancient Houses: A Two Book Launch – A Press 53 Launch with authors Shuly Cawood and Clifford Garstang – May 3, 2020

– Upcoming Reads –
Forever Amber – Kathleen Winsor (CW)
Real Life – Brandon Taylor (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Will Schwalbe –
Will is the author of: Books for Living, The End of Your Life Bookclub, and Send: Why People Email So Badly and How To Do It Better, he started the cooking site Cookstr, is the Podcast host of But That’s Another Story, and is an editor at Macmillan Publishers.

He recommends the book Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano and The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.

– Also Mentioned –
Jennifer McMahon
The Moment of Lift – Melinda Gates
Jamie Oliver
Nigella Lawson
Sydney Sheldon
Shelley Winters
John Irving
Spiro Agnew
The Onion Field - Joseph Wambaugh
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Busines is Selling Less of More – Chris Anderson
Fish! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results – Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen, Harry Paul, Ken Blanchard
Perfect Tunes – Emily Gould
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs – Jennifer Finley Boylan  
Min Jin Lee
Pamela Paul
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
The Moon is Down – John Steinbeck
How We Fight for Our Lives – Saeed Jones

– Lucky 13th Readalong discussion–
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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Episode 100 - Bookstore Owner Annie Philbrick and Author Shuly Cawood

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

– 100th Episode Giveaway –
We are giving away four $25 gift certificates
To be entered into the giveaway subscribe to our newsletter here.

– Currently Reading –
Kill Creek – Scott Thomas (CW)
Valentine – Elizabeth Whetmore (EF)
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick (CW)
The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age – David Callahan (EF)

– Just Read –
The Secrets We Kept – Lara Prescott (CW)(EF)
See our BookTube video discussion here
Read Chris’s review of the book on her blog here
Separation Anxiety – Laura Zigman (EF)

– Interview with Annie Philbrick –
Owner of Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT and Savoy Bookshop and Café in Westerly, RI and Board Member of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC)
If you want to see Reese’s Bookclub announcement about her partnership with BINC on Instagram click here
To contribute to the bookstore’s Go Fund Me campaign click here.

– Author Spotlight with Shuly Cawood –
For more information about Shuly’s book, A Small Thing to Want: stories, click here.
You can sign up for her newsletter here
You can sign up for her blog here.

– Also Mentioned –
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins
Animal Husbandry – Laura Zigman
Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel and The Men We Reaped: A Memoir – Jesmyn Ward
Roman Fever – Edith Wharton

– Lucky 13th Readalong discussion–
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.
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!
We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

Episode 99 - You Can't Keep Us Apart!

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

– Lucky 13th Readalong discussion–
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

– Currently Reading –
The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (EF) release date June 2, 2020
The Odyssey – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)
the audio version by Clare Danes can be found here

– Just Read –
One Moonlit Night – Caradog Prichard (translated by Philip Mitchell) (CW)
You can learn more about the Wales Readathon 2020 HERE
Hide Away – Jason Pinter (EF)
The Woman in the Dark – Vanessa Savage (CW)
I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives – Martin Ganda, Caitlin Alifirenka, Liz Welch (EF)
Two Friends – Willa Cather (CW)
Be a part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project HERE
The Giant’s House – Elizabeth McCracken (EF)
Murder at the Mena House – Erica Ruth Neubauer (CW)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris did some curbside book shopping at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison and Breakwater Books in Guilford and drove by the renovation project of the Scranton Public Library in Madison.
Emily has been enjoying listening to various authors on social media reading aloud and reminisced about reading Summerland by Michael Chabon to her children back in the day.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily plans to start Little Fires Everywhere streaming on HULU based on the novel of the same name by Celest Ng.
Chris is meeting with her bookclub virtually to discuss The Gardens of Emily Dickinson by Judith Farr and also Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plant’s and Places that Inspired the Iconic Poet by Marta McDowell.
A Mighty Blaze virtual book tour brought to you by Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum

– Upcoming Reads –
U-505: The Final Journey – James E. Wise (CW)
The Secrets We Kept – Lara Prescott (CW)(EF)

– Also Mentioned –
Try a free 30 day trial to Scribd
The Mothers – Brit Bennett / Emily discussed this book on Episode 8 and Episode 35
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett
You can learn more about Jason Pinter’s Henry Parker series HERE
Amityville Horror – Jay Anson
Grey Matter Books
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.
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!
We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!
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Episode 98 - Emily Visits Arizona and Chris Takes a Journey Through the Literature of Wales

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

– Lucky 13th Readalong discussion–
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

– Currently Reading –
One Moonlit Night – Caradog Prichard (translated by Niall Griffiths) (CW)
You can learn more about the Wales Readathon 2020 HERE
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb (EF)(audio)
The Odyssey – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)
the audio version by Clare Danes can be found here
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters (CW)

– Just Read –
The Literature of Wales – Dafydd Johnston (CW)
You can read Chris’s review of the book HERE
A Small Thing to Want – Shuly X. Cawood (EF) release date May 3, 2020
This Town Sleeps – Dennis E. Staples (EF)
Who Is Vera Kelly? – Rosalie Knecht (EF)
Big Summer – Jennifer Weiner (EF) release date May 19, 2020
Dominicana – Angie Cruz (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily visited Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, AZ and The Literate Lizard in Sedona, AZ

Oprah SuperSoul Sunday interview with Malcolm Gladwell can be found HERE

Apple TV – Oprah Bookclub American Dirt

Chris spent three days in the archives of the New York Public Library

– Upcoming Jaunts –
A Mighty Blaze virtual book tour brought to you by Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum
Caroline Leavitt’s Blog has a lot of author interviews

Chris and Emily are hoping to watch the film, Pokot (Spoor), based on the novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

It’s a great time to start a book series, read a book and watch the movie adaptation. Some examples:

Tipping the Velvet mini-series

Slumdog Millionaire based on the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup

– Upcoming Reads –
The Whole Fish: New Ways to Cook, Eat, and Think – Josh Niland (CW)
Two Friends – Willa Cather (CW)
What are We For?: The Words and Ideals of Eleanor Roosevelt – Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Pelosi (EF)
Dare to Be You: Inspirational Advice for Girls on Finding Your Voice, Leading Fearlessly, and Making a Difference – Marianne Schnall (EF)
Leading the Way: Inspiring Words for Women on How to Live and Lead with Courage, Confidence, and Authenticity –  Marianne Schnall (EF)
The Feminist Handbook: Practical Tools to Resist Sexism and Dismantle the Patriarchy – Joanne L. Bagshaw (EF)

– Also Mentioned –
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
Becoming – Michelle Obama
The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature – Geraint Evans
The Davinci Code – Dan Brown
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America – Erik Larson
Printer’s Row Lit Fest
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins
Cruel Beautiful World – Caroline Leavitt
With or Without You – Caroline Leavitt
Newburyport Literary Festival
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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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Episode 97 - Ashley Olson from the Natl Willa Cather Foundation

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

– Lucky 13th Readalong –
Go, Went, Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE
Our conversation about the book will air on May 26th

– Currently Reading –
The Odyssey – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)
the audio version by Clare Danes can be found here
This Town Sleeps – Dennis E. Staples (EF)

– Just Read –
A Good Marriage: A Novel – Kimberly McCreight (EF) release date May 5, 2020
My Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists – Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau (CW)
Lakewood – Megan Giddings release date March 24, 2020
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel – Grady Hendrix (CW) release date April 7, 2020
See his website to see his other books
The Red Lotus – Chris Bohjalian (EF) release date March 17, 2020
The End of Your Life Book Club – Will Schwalbe (CW)
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home – Tembi Locke (EF) (audio)
Old Mrs. Harris – Willa Cather
Part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project on Chris’s Blog

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily visited Broadside Bookshop in Northampton, MA

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Northshire Bookstore in Manchester to celebrate the release of Simone St James’s new book The Sun Down Motel where she was in conversation with Jennifer McMahon. They also did some Shirley Jackson fangirling in North Bennington on the way, including the John G. McCullough Free Library.

Emily had a couch Biblio Adventure watching Oprah’s Vision 2020 Tour with Michelle Obama

Chris visited the Jefferson Market Library and the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library in New York City.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
March 7 – Nationwide anniversary celebrations of the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

March 15 – Chris Bohjalian will be at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH

On May 9, 2020 we will be co-hosting Kimberly McCreight with BOOK CLUB on the Go at Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, CT. You can preorder the book here.

– Upcoming Reads –
A Small Thing to Want – Shuly X. Cawood (EF) release date May 3, 2020
Girl, Woman, Other – Bernadine Evaristo (EF)
Black is the Body: Stories of My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and My Time – Emily Bernard (CW)
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau – Michael Zapata (CW)

– Conversation with Ashley Olson from the National Willa Cather Center –
https://www.willacather.org/
You can donate to the Willa Cather Campaign for the Future here

– Also Mentioned –
Reading Envy podcast
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Impossible Fortress
Brené Brown
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person
Nikki McClure
The Invited
The Librarian Is In podcast

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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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We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!
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Episode 96 - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Readalong and Booktopia 2020

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

– Currently Reading –
The End of Your Life Book Club – Will Schwalbe (CW)
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home – Tembi Locke (EF)
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel – Grady Hendrix (CW) release date April 7, 2020
A Good Marriage: A Novel – Kimberly McCreight (EF)  release date May 5, 2020

– Just Read –
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know – Malcolm Gladwell (EF) (audio)
The Sun Down Motel – Simone St. James (CW)
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb (CW)
My Name is Lucy Barton – Elizabeth Strouth (CW)
Chris DNF’d:
River – Esther Kinsky, Iain Galbraith (translator) 
Blood Countess (A Lady Slayers Novel) – Lana Popovic

– Biblio Adventures –
We went on a joint jaunt to see the Broadway production of My Name is Lucy Barton based on the book by Elizabeth Strout.
Chris visited the New York Public Library and worked in the Dewitt Wallace Periodical Room before the play and also visited Books Kinokuniya
Emily took Aunt Ellen and the Gentleman Caller to McNally Jackson where she purchased two books:
Black is the Body: Stories of My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and My Time – Emily Bernard
Night Theater – Vikram Paralkar

– Upcoming Jaunts –
May 1-2 – Booktopia 2020 at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT

– Conversation with Dafydd Wood from Northshire Bookstore –
Here is the newsletter that shares everything you need to know about Booktopia 2020.
Or, you can see the list of books and authors that will be featured on the website HERE.
Note: You need to purchase tickets before you can receive the 20% discount.

Facebook Fans of Booktopia page

Dafydd also mentions:
The Guest Book: A Novel – Sarah Blake
Who is Vera Kelly? – Rosalie Knecht

– 12th Readalong discussion–
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.

Sloan Croasley NY Times review
New Yorker profile on Olga by author Ruth Franklin
William Blake poem Proverbs of Hell
The book has been made into a film titled: Pokot (Spoor)

– Also Mentioned –
Bryan at Still an Unfinished Person Blog
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins
The Street – Ann Petry
Passing – Nella Larsen
Phillis Wheatley
Attica Locke
See more about Kimberly McCreight’s novels HERE
Revisionist History podcast
See more about Elizabeth Strout’s novels HERE       
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder – Caroline Fraser
Reading Envy podcast

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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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Episode 95 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman

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

– Currently Reading –
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb (CW)
Northernmost – Peter Geye (EF) release date April 14, 2020
Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season – Bernd Brunner (CW)
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories – Lucia Berlin (EF)
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick (CW)

– Just Read –
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator) (CW)
Recipe for a Perfect Wife – Karma Brown (EF)
Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North – Katherine Keith (CW)
Read Chris’s review on her blog.
Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid (EF)
Lighthouse Road and Wintering – Peter Geye (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on two jaunts:
Matthew Goodman at the JCC of New Haven discussing his book The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team and Jeanine Cummins at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison discussing her book American Dirt

Chris caught up with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, at the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore where she bought two books by Carmen Maria Machado: Her Body and Other Parties: Stories and In the Dream House.

Emily went on a quick trip to Philadelphia where she stopped at: Shakespeare & Co, The Rosenbach, Penn Bookstore, Penn Book Center, The Last Word Bookshop   

Chris had a couch biblio adventure with a friend watching the Bella Lugosi version of Dracula and also went to bid adieu to our buddy Elissa Sweet at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT.  

– Upcoming Jaunts –
February 18, 2020 – Chris and Emily are going on a joint jaunt to Northshire Bookstore in Manchester,VT to celebrate the release of Simone St. James new book The Sun Down Motel.

– Upcoming Reads –
Mayo Clinic on Digestive Health: How to Prevent and Treat Common Stomach and Gut Problems – Dr. Sahil Khanna, M.B.B.S. (CW)
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters – Kate Murphy (CW)

– Author Spotlight –
Matthew Goodman author of:
The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World
The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York
Jewish Food: The World at Table
Matthew is inspired by the works of: Joan Didion, Robert Caro, Colum McCann
Saul Bellow: “A writer is a reader moved to emulation.”
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers award winners that Matthew hinted about.

– 12th Readalong – Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE. Our conversation about the book will air on February 18th.

– Also Mentioned –
So Long – Lucia Berlin
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World – Peter Wohlleben, Jane Billinghurst (Translator)
The River – Peter Heller
PJ Our Way – receive books with Jewish themes
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions – Valeria Luiselli
American Factory
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Broken Girls – Simone St. James
The Invited – Jennifer McMahon
Suzanne Clauser
Shuly Cawood
Ten Days in a Madhouse – Nelly Bly
Seabiscuit: An American Legend – Laura Hillenbrand
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary –Simon Winchester
Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
NPR’s Latino USA: Digging Into American Dirt

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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!
We have a BookTube Channel – please check it out here, and be sure to subscribe!
Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.

Episode 94 - Sometimes You Can Biblio Adventure from the Couch!

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

– Currently Reading –
Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North – Katherine Keith (CW) (release date 2/4/2020)
Becoming – Michelle Obama (CW) (audio)
Recipe for a Perfect Wife – Karma Brown (EF)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Memory and Murder in Northern Ireland – Patrick Radden Keefe (EF)(audio)
The Truth About Magic: Poems – Atticus (EF)

– Just Read –
Shadows on the Rock – Willa Cather (CW)
When They Let Them Bleed – Tod Goldberg (EF)
Astrology for the Soul – Jan Spiller (CW)
The Giver of Stars – Jojo Moyes (EF)
Emily DNF’d: The Innocents – Michael Crummey (EF)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk (EF)
Chris put a book aside: Murder at the Breakers – Alyssa Maxwell (CW)
Dear Edward – Ann Napolitano (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Emily started the Modern Love TV series on Amazon Prime based on Modern Love essays from the NY Times, and binged the entire first season of Virgin River on Netflix based on the book series by Robyn Carr
Chris is watching the Good Witch and binged the BBC Dracula mini-series on Netflix
Chris went to the New Haven Public Library to learn more about their Local History Room

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 21 ,2020– Matthew Goodman at the JCC of New Haven discussing his book The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team
January 23, 2020 – Jeanine Cummins will be at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison to discuss her book American Dirt
May 1-2, 2020 – Booktopia at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT

– Upcoming Reads –
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe (CW)
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick (CW)
River – Esther Kinsky, Iain Galbraith (translator) (CW)
part of the Reading More German Books 2020 challenge – see their Goodreads Page
Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid (EF)
The Red Lotus – Chris Bohjalian (EF) release date 3/17/20
Northernmost – Peter Geye (EF) release date 4/14/20
the two other books in the Eide family trilogy, available now: Lighthouse Road and  Wintering  

– 12th Readalong –
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE. Our conversation about the book will air on February 18th.

– Also Mentioned –
Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America – Elizabeth Wurtzel
to learn more about her life, read her NY Times obituary
Literary Disco podcast
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek – Kim Michele Richardson
controversy surrounding this book can be read HERE
Sweetland – Michael Crummey
Reading Envy podcast
William Blake
A Good Hard Look – Ann Napolitano
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Harriet Beecher Stowe Society

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Episode 93 - Our Top Reads of 2019 and Author Spotlight with Jess Montgomery

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

– 12th Readalong –
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Translator)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE. Our conversation about the book will air on February 18th.

– Currently Reading –
The Hollows (Kinship #2) – Jess Montgomery (CW) release date January 14, 2020
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics: Feminine Pursuits – Olivia Waite (CW)
Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North – Katherine Keith (CW)
The Giver of Stars – Jojo Moyes (EF)

– Just Read –
A Death in the Dessert – Willa Cather (CW)
part of the Willa Cather Short Story Project
Nothing to See Here – Kevin Wilson (EF)
Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s review in the NY Times can be found HERE
A Burning –Megha Majumdar (EF) release date June 2, 2020
The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa (EF)
Ann Kingman talked about this book on Episode 86
The Shape of Night – Tess Gerritsen (EF)
Everything My Mother Taught Me – Alice Hoffman (EF)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to see the new Little Women movie directed by Greta Gerwig
Emily went to see the movie JoJo Rabbit based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens
Chris visited Puck’s Books in Essex, Connecticut and Our Lady of Grace Monastery bookstore

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is planning to start the Dracula mini-series on Netflix
January 15, 2020 – New Haven Public Library is hosting an event to learn more about their Local History Room
January 23, 2020 – Jeanine Cummins will be at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison to discuss her book American Dirt
February 8, 2020 – We will head on a joint jaunt to see the broadway production of My Name is Lucy Barton based on the book by Elizabeth Strout

– Chris and Emily Top Reads of 2019 –
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions – Valeria Luiselli (EF)
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder – Caroline Fraser (CW)
Why Religion?: A Personal Story – Elaine Pagels (CW) audio
Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter – Tom Clavin (CW)
How We Fight For Our Lives – Saeed Jones (EF)
Friday Black – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (EF)
Miracle Creek – Angie Kim (EF)
Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna – Juliet Grames (EF)
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett (CW)
A Student of History – Nina Revoyr (CW)
The River – Peter Heller (CW)(EF)
Free Food for Millionaires – Min Jin Lee (CW)
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (CW)
The Museum of Modern Love – Heather Rose (CW)
True Grit – Charles Portis (CW)
The Invited – Jennifer McMahon (CW)
Jonah’s Gourd Vine – Zora Neale Hurston (CW)
Middlemarch – George Eliot (CW)
Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane (EF)
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins (EF)
If You Want to Make God Laugh – Bianca Marais (CW)(EF)
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens (EF)

– Author Spotlight –
Jess Montgomery author of The Hollows (Kinship #2)
Jess was also with us on Episode 68 discussing The Widows (Kinship #1)
If you want more information about Jess check out her website.
You can read Chris’s review of The Hollows in Criminal Element HERE.

– Also Mentioned –
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
Me Before You – Jojo Moyes
The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson
Darkness for Light (Caleb Zelic #3) – Emma Viskic
Fleishman Is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Ep 53 / Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Ep 55 / March by Geraldine Brooks
Ep 57 / Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux
Orchard House
Little Women movie circa 1933
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
Mel’s Bookland Adventures
Britta Bohler - The Second Shelf
Minotaur Books
Louise Penny Three Pines Series
Pulpwood Queens Book Club
Tucson Festival of Books

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We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café. Please purchase books from them and support us at the same time. Click HERE to start shopping.

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!

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Please subscribe to our email newsletter here.