Episode 122 - A Visit with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

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

Chris read a poem by Sylvie Baumgartel titled “Purple” from her collection Pink.

If you are interested in joining Colleen for her readalong of These Women by Ivy Pochoda reach out to her on Instagram  @colleenka or email us for more information.

The next Louise Penny book releases on August 24, 2021 and is titled The Madness of Crowds.

– Currently Reading –
The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx (CW)
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters – Kate Murphy (EF)
The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones (CW)
Laziness Does Not Exist – Devon Price (CW)(audio)
The Best American Mystery Stories of 2020 – edited by C.J. Box and Otto Penzler (CW)

– Just Read –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains – Kerri Arsenault (EF)
The Survivors – Jane Harper (CW)
Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF)
The Great Gatsby with an Introduction by Min Jin Lee – F. Scott Fitzgerald (CW)
This Is Your Time – Ruby Bridges (EF)
The Other Mother – Matthew Dicks (EF)
Cuyahoga – Pete Beatty (EF)
The Shadow Box – Luanne Rice (EF)
check out our video where we reveal the cover for the book

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Chris and Emily attended a conversation between Min Jin Lee & Jennifer Buehler focused on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The event was hosted by Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn.

Emily watched the HBO series Olive Kitteridge based on the novel by Elizabeth Strout.

Emily attended an event via Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT with Luanne Rice, author of The Shadow Box, in conversation with Rick Koster, author and journalist with The Day.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is signed up to attend an event via Murder by the Book with Elle Cosimano, author of Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery, in conversation with Megan Miranda, author of The Girl from Widow Hills on Tuesday, February 2 at 7 pm.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Islanders – Meg Mitchell Moore (EF)
The Best of Brevity – edited by Zoe Bossiere and Dinty Moore (CW)
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains – Kerri Arsenault (CW)
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf (CW)

– Our Mystery Man John Valeri –
Check out John’s YouTube channel: Central Booking
John also writes reviews in Mystery Scene Magazine
The Twin – Natasha Preston
Mastering the Process: From Idea to Novel – Elizabeth George
Careless in Red – Elizabeth George
Behind the Red Door – Megan Collins
The Nothing Man – Catherine Ryan Howard
Piece of My Heart – Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke
Where Are the Children – Mary Higgins Clark
Moonlight Becomes You – Mary Higgins Clark
All Around the Town – Mary Higgins Clark
I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Mary Higgins Clark
The Cinderella Murder – Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

John also recommends these two authors:
Edwin Hill – Hester Thursby Series
Karen Katchur – River Bodies, Cold Woods, Spring Girls

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 9th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
Kathleen Rooney
American Writers Museum
The Archivist – Martha Cooley
T.S. Eliot
Emily Hale
Simmons University
Dead to Me
The Last Day – Luanne Rice
#disrupttexts is a movement to rebuild the literary canon using an antibias, antiracist critical literacy lens.
Also by Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando
Marcia Clark

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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 121 - Author Spotlight with Jason Pinter

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

You can read our Blog Post with Jungle Red Writers, Standing Ovation for The Book Cougars, here.

Check out a conversation with author Penny Goetjen on John Valeri’s Central Booking, episode 35.

You can see the amazing list of our LISTENER TOP TENS on our bookshop.org page.

– Currently Reading –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains – Kerri Arsenault (EF)
The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx (CW)
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing: Essays – Lauren Hough (EF) release date 4/13/2021

– Just Read –
Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 2/2/21
The House on Vesper Sands – Paraic O’ Donnell (CW)
Hamnet – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)
The Archivist – Martha Cooley (CW)
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel in Recipes – Jenny Colgan (EF)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life – Christie Tate (EF)
Country Place – Ann Petry (CW)
Come to Me – Amy Bloom (EF)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched the movie In the Name of the Father based on the book Proved Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four by Gerry Conlon and David Pallister.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is attending the book launch for author Matthew Dicks new novel, The Other Mother.

January 21, 2020 – Chris plans to attend a Zoom event via Breakwater Books with author Anne Gardner Perkins discussing her book Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant.

January 28, 2020 10pm (EST) – Chris has signed up for an event via Copperfield Books with Barbara Lane in conversation with Jane Smiley about her new book Perestroika in Paris.

– Upcoming Reads –
A Thousand Acres – Jane Smiley (CW)
The Survivors – Jane Harper (CW) release date 2/2/21
Cuyahoga – Pete Beatty (EF)
Still Crazy – Judy Prescott Marshall (EF)

– Author Spotlight with Jason Pinter –
Jason is an author and editor / founder of Polis Books.
The newest book in his Rachel Marin series, A Stranger at the Door, is available now!
You can learn more about Jason and his book events here.

When responding to our question regarding Thomas & Mercer Publishing, Jason mentions the following authors:
Mark Osaki
Sean Chercover
Christopher Rice
Hilary Davidson

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
Jungle Red Writers
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi
O’ Pioneers – Willa Cather
Also by Louise Penny: All The Devils Are Here, How the Light Gets In, Still Life
T.S. Eliot
Also by Alice Hoffman: The Rules of Magic and Magic Lessons
Farah Jasmine Griffin
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Rage – Ijeoma Oluo
White Houses – Amy Bloom
New Haven Noir – edited by Amy Bloom
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland – Patrick Radden Keefe

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership.
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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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Episode 120 - Our 2020 Top Ten Books with Special Guest Russell Gray

Episode One Hundred Twenty Show Notes

KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– Chris Wolak Top Ten –
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics – Olivia Waite
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life – Joan D. Hedrick
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix
Blacktop Wasteland – S.A. Cosby
Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry – Imani Perry (the audiobook)
We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth – Jennifer Risher
Forever Amber – Kathleen Winsor
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 – R.A. Scotti
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America – Ijeoma Oluo
Ring Shout – P. Djèlí Clark

– Emily Fine Top Ten –
The Revisioners – Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi
The Prettiest Star – Carter Sickels
Shelter – Jung Yun
Separation Anxiety – Laura Zigman
A Small Thing to Want: Stories – Shuly Xóchitl Cawood
Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger: A Memoir – Lisa Donovan
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home – Tembi Locke  (the audiobook)
Everything is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes – Phyllis Grant
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May (the audiobook)

– Russell Gray Top Ten –
[You can find Russell on his YouTube channel Ink and Paper Blog]
Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu
Cleanness – Garth Greenwell
The Great Offshore Grounds – Vanessa Veselka
Museum of Modern Love – Heather Rose
The Prettiest Star – Carter Sickels
The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories – Danielle Evans
The Street – Ann Petry
Call Me by Your Name – André Aciman
Memorial – Bryan Washington
Real Life – Brandon Taylor

– Also Mentioned –
Hub City Press
My Best Friend’s Exorcism – Grady Hendrix
Reading Women Podcast
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
Shōgun – James Clavell
Matthew Goodman
Lot: Stories – Bryan Washington
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 – P. Djèlí Clark

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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 119 - Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein

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

You can read our Blog Post with Redfin Real Estate on How to Create the Perfect Home Reading Nook here.

– Currently Reading –
Faviken: 1415 Days Beginning to End – Magnus Nilsson (EF)
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day – Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (CW)
Hamnet – Maggie O’ Farrell (EF)
The House on Vesper Sands – Paraic O’ Donnell (CW) release date 1/12/2021

– Just Read –
Legends of the North Cascades – Jonathan Evison (EF) release date 6/8/21
Hide Away – Jason Pinter (CW)
Send for Me – Lauren Fox (EF) release date 2/2/21
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown (CW) (audiobook)
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May (EF) (audiobook)
A Granted Prayer – Edith Wharton (CW)
Olive, Again – Elizabeth Strout (EF)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched two conversations with Elizabeth Strout in conversation with Meg Wolitzer through The Strand, watch it here and with the Book Maven (Bethanne Patrick) via Politics and Prose Bookstore, watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 14, 7:30 pm (EST) - Chris and Emily both plan to attend a conversation between Min Jin Lee & Jennifer Buehler focused on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The event is being hosted by Greenlight Bookstore and is free but you need to register here.

Emily is planning to watch the television series Olive Kitteridge starring Frances McDormand based on the book by Elizabeth Strout.

– Upcoming Reads –
Finlay Donovan is Killing It: A Mystery – Elle Cosimano (EF) release date 2/2/21
Breast and Eggs – Mieko Kawakami (translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd) (EF)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (CW)

– Author Spotlight with Bill Goldstein –
Bill is an author, book critic, editor, journalist, and moderator extraordinaire. His book is  
The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster, and the Year that Changed Literature.
You can learn more about Bill here.

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
A Stranger at the Door - Jason Pinter
Xingu – Edith Wharton
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
The Wife – Meg Wolitzer
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Norman Mailer
Lolita – Vladimir Nobokov
Lincoln – Gore Vidal
Robert Caro
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Larry Kramer
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)

Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.

Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!

Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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 118 - Hooray, It's Our 4th Anniversary of Talking Books and Going on Biblio Adventures!

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

– Currently Reading –
In the Garden of Spite – Camilla Bruce (CW) release date 1/19/21
Legends of the North Cascades – Jonathan Evison (EF) release date 6/8/21
How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons): Poetry – Barbara Kingsolver (EF)

– Just Read –
Let Him Go – Larry Watson (EF)
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America – Ijeoma Oluo (CW)
The Great Offshore Grounds – Vanessa Veselka (EF)
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World – Patrik Svensson (CW)
Just Like You – Nick Hornby (EF)
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (CW)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Emily watched David Chang (Eat a Peach) and Lisa Donavan (Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger) discuss their books at the Texas Book Festival. You can watch the discussion here.
Emily attended an event with Katherine May discussing her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times via Skylark Bookshop.
Chris and Emily hosted a Joint Jaunt via Book Club On the Go with author Kimberly McCreight about her book A Good Marriage.
Emily watched Vanessa Veselka (The Great Offshore Grounds) in conversation with Kristin Arnett (Mostly Dead Things) via Powell’s Books. You can watch the video here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Dec 8th 5pm (ET) – Chris is signed up to attend an event via Northshire Bookstore with Jane Smiley discussing her new book Perestroika in Paris. You can sign up for the event here.

Dec 11th 7pm (CT) – Chris is registered to attend an event via the Willa Cather Foundation Author Series featuring Lydia Kang, Theodore Wheeler, James Cihlar, and Saddiq Dzukogi. You can register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
Country Place – Ann Petry (CW)
Faviken: 1415 Days, Beginning to End – Magnus Nilsson (EF)
The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H Lawrence, E.M. Forster, and the Year That Changed Literature – Bill Goldstein (CW)(EF)

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
You Let Me In – Camilla Bruce
Also by Jonathan Evison: Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, West of Here, All About Lulu, and Lawn Boy
Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver
Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson
Silent Spring – Rachel Carson
Also about Nick Hornsby – About a Boy, High Fidelity, and Juliet, Naked
Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Project Gutenberg
Harriet Beecher Stowe
A Thousand Acres – Jane Smiley
The Street – Ann Petry
RJ Julia Booksellers
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938     
Not Under 40 – Willa Cather
Books by Jason Pinter: Hide Away and A Stranger at the Door

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars) We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!
Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!
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 117 - Our Conversation with Patrick Sweeney about EveryLibrary

Episode One Hundred Seventeen Show Notes

KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– 16th Readalong discussion –
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
The discussion will drop on February 16th via Episode 123, please get questions/comments to us by February 11th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Feb 7th at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Currently Reading –
The Best American Food Writing 2020 – J. Kenji López Alt (EF)
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World – Patrik Svensson (CW)
Let Him Go – Larry Watson (EF)
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America – Ijeoma Oluo (CW) release date 12/1/2020

– Just Read –
The Photographer of Mauthhausen – Salva Rubio, Pedro J. Colombo, and Aintzane Landa (CW)
The Cold Millions – Jess Walter (EF)
The Pull of the Stars – Emma Donoghue (EF)(CW)

– (Couch) Biblio Adventures –
Chris attended an event via Northshire Bookstore with Thomas Frank author of The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism.

Emily attended the book launch for Ron Nyren’s The Book of Lost Light via Booksmith in conversation with his writing group including authors: Ann Packer, Angela Pneuman, Ann Cummins, Lisa Michaels, Cornelia Nixon, Sarah Stone, Rafael Yglesias, and Vendela Vida.

Chris attended the virtual mystery event, CrimeCONN Express, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America New York and Connecticut Chapters and Ferguson Library. Session Four included John Valeri and Charles Salzberg in conversation with Lauren Bright Pacheco and Barbara Peters. You can watch it HERE. Session Five included Walter Mosley in conversation with S.A. Cosby. You can watch it HERE.

Emily watched The National Book Foundation Awards hosted by Jason Reynolds you can watch the recorded ceremony here. Here are the winners:
Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X – Les Payne and Tamara Payne
DMZ Colony – Don Mee Choi
Tokyo Ueno Station – Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles)
King and the Dragonflies – Kacen Callender

Chris attended an event via the Texas Book Festival with Nazanine Hozar, author of Aria, and P. Djèlí Clark, author of Ring Shout. You can watch the event HERE.

Chris saw her favorite gardener, Monty Don, via the Charleston to Charleston literary festival. He was discussing his newest book, Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom, with Sue Stewart Smith author of The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature.

Chris tuned into The National Willa Cather Center book talk with Daryl W. Palmer author of Becoming Willa Cather: Creation and Career.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Dec 3rd – Emily is signed up to hear Katherine May discuss her book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times via Skylark Bookshop.

Dec 8th – Chris is signed up to attend an event via Northshire Bookstore with Jane Smiley discussing her new book Perestroika in Paris. You can sign up for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
What We Lose – Zinzi Clemmons (EF)
The Butcher’s Blessing – Ruth Gilligan (CW)
The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop – Fannie Flagg (CW)
A Promised Land – Barack Obama (CW)(EF)(audio)

– Interview with Patrick Sweeney –
Patrick Sweeney is the Political Director, of everylibrary and Every Library Institute
His books: Patrick’s Books:
Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding
Before the Ballot Building Political Support for Library Funding    
One Book One Library campaign information here
Walter the Farting Dog – William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray, and Audrey Colman
Donate via https://www.everylibrary.org/maskmonthly to get your library mask!
Or you can donate via Everylibrary.org

– Also Mentioned –
Peter Geye
What’s The Matter with Kansas? – Thomas Frank
The Dive from Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer
Roxane Gay
Terry Tempest Williams
Dr. Zhivago movie
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
A Thousand Acres – Jane Smiley
My Life – Bill Clinton
An American Life – Ronald Reagan
A World Transformed – George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft
Decision Points – George W. Bush
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety – Jimmy Carter
American Library Association
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
Blacktop Wasteland – S.A. Cosby

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership. (promo code: bookcougars)
We are an affiliate of Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookstore & Café, click HERE to start shopping.
Bookshop.org – support us and independent bookstores!
Purchase Book Cougars Swag on Zazzle!

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 116 - Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi Readalong

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

– Currently Reading –
The Route of Ice and Salt – José Luis Zárate (CW) release date 1/21/21
The Office of Historical Corrections – Danielle Evans (EF)(audio)
Chris did not finish: Cardiff by the Sea: Four Novellas of Suspense – Joyce Carol Oates (CW)
The Cold Millions – Jess Walter (EF)
The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing – edited by Kevin Young (CW)

– Just Read –
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint – Nadia Bolz-Weber (CW)(audio)
We, The Jury – Robert Rotstein (EF)
Eat a Peach – David Chang (EF)(audio)
The Fourteenth of September – Rita Dragonette (EF)
Leave the World Behind – Rumaan Alam (EF)(audio)
Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger: A Memoir – Lisa Donovan (EF) She also wrote an essay, Dear Women: Own Your Stories

– Biblio (Couch) Adventures –
Chris logged into a Zoom conversation hosted by Scared Straight Reads with a group of thriller writers:
Jennifer Pashley - The Watcher: A Novel (A Kateri Fisher Novel #1)
Heather Levy – Walking Through Needles release date 6/29/21
John Copenhaver – Dodging and Burning
Kelly J. Ford – Cottonmouths: A Novel
Layne Fargo – They Never Learn

Emily went shopping at Puck’s Books, an antiquarian and used bookstore in Essex, CT. She bought Being Mortal: Medicine and What Happens in the End by Atul Gawande and The Passion of Reverend Nash by Rachel Basch.

Chris attended the beginning of the virtual mystery event, CrimeConn Express, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America New York and Connecticut Chapters and Ferguson Library. You can sign up for more sessions of the event here.

Chris attended Brandeis University’s annual novel symposium: Willa Cather, Settler, Colonialism, Indigeneity.

Emily attended an event at Politics & Prose with Dan Rather in conversation with Jennifer Steinhauer about his book What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism.  You can watch the recording here.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Monday, November 16 book launch for Ron Nyren’s The Book of Lost Light via Booksmith in conversation with his writing group including authors: Ann Packer, Angela Pneuman, Ann Cummins, Lisa Michaels, Cornelia Nixon, Sarah Stone, Rafael Yglesias, and Vendela Vida

December 1 at 7 pm (EST) we are co-hosting a virtual event via Bookclub on the Go with Kimberly McCreight author of A Good Marriage. Sign up for the event and purchase the book here.

Chris is attending events via the Texas Book Festival and Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival.

November 11 at 6 pm (EST) Chris is attending an event via Northshire Bookstore with Thomas Frank author of The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism. You can register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Pull of the Stars – Emma Donoghue (EF)(CW)
Cuyahoga – Pete Beatty (EF)
Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom – Monty Don (CW)
Almanac of the Dead – Leslie Marmon Silko (Jenny from Reading Envy is doing this as a readalong. You can join the conversation here.)

– 15th Readalong discussion –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth)
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE. It includes a link to the family tree and author interviews.

– Also Mentioned –
Mexican Gothic – Silvia Morena-Garcia
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Beautiful Ruins – Jess Walter
Also by Nadia Bolz-Weber: Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People and Shameless: A Sexual Reformation

We are an affiliate of Libro.fm audiobook platform: Listeners can receive two audiobooks for the price of one. (promo code: bookcougars) Follow this link for the monthly membership. Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership.

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 115 - Author Spotlight with Hank Phillippi Ryan and our 2020 Holiday Gift Ideas

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

– Currently Reading –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth) (CW)(audio)
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America – Ijeoma Oluo (CW)
Eat a Peach – David Chang (EF)(audio)
My Brilliant Life – Ae-ran Kim (translated by Chi-Young Kim) (EF) release date 1/21/21

– Just Read –
Everything is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes – Phyllis Grant (EF)
The Boy in the Field – Margot Livesey (EF)
Chris read three short stories:
The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington – P. Djèlí Clark (CW)
From SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz: Desicant by Craig Laurance Gidny
Roman Fever by Edith Wharton (CW)

– Biblio (Couch) Adventures –
Emily attended a virtual event with Alice Hoffman in conversation with Ann Leary via Powell’s Books about her new book Magic Lessons.
We attended the virtual Hachette Book Club Brunch.
The fiction panel was moderated by Bill Goldstein and included:
Emma Donoghue author of Pull of the Stars
Attica Locke author of Heaven, My Home
Natasha Lester author of The Paris Secret
The nonfiction was moderated by Roxanne Coady panel included:
Ijeoma Oluo author of So You Want to Talk About Race
Jennifer Palmieri author of She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s World
Leslie Gray Streeter author of Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like Journey in the Title
The bookclub portion included Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick, in conversation with his editor Josh Kendall.

The Book Cougars were guests on the Reading Envy podcast Episode 202

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Chris is planning to attend the virtual mystery event, CrimeConn Express, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America New York and Connecticut Chapters and Ferguson Library. You can sign up for the event here.

Emily has signed up for an event at Politics & Prose with Dan Rather on October 30 at 6pm EST in conversation with Jennifer Steinhauer about his book What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism.  You can sign up for the free event here.

– Upcoming Reads –
Leave the World Behind – Rumaan Alam (EF)(audio)
Cardiff by the Sea: Four Novellas of Suspense – Joyce Carol Oates (CW)

– 2020 Holiday Gift Ideas –
·       Libro.fm audiobook platform
Follow this link for the 3, 6, or 12 month membership
Follow this link for the monthly membership
·       Frame a favorite book cover(s)
·       Book themed masks. Check out Out of Print, McClean & Eakin, Etsy.
·       Painted House Brick with book theme
·       Shuly Cawood’s books on SALE
·       Leather Book Weight. Check one out here.
·       Donations and GoFundMe Campaigns. You can donate in someone else’s name. Examples: BINC Foundation and Emily Dickinson Museum.
·       Photo Travel Mug
·       Personalized Book Club Book with book covers from your time together as a group.
·       Apple Airpods
·       Bookplates. You can purchase them here.

– Our Interview with Karen Gardner –
Owner of Bookplate Ink

– Author Spotlight with Hank Phillippi Ryan –
Check out Hank’s website here.

– 15th Readalong discussion –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth)
The discussion will drop on November 10th via Episode 116, please get questions/comments to us by November 5th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.

– Also Mentioned –
Hotel on the Corner of Bittersweet – Jamie Ford
Phyllis Grant blog
Julie & Julia movie
Room – Emily Donoghue
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Promised Land – Barack Obama
Nancy Drew – Carolyn Keene
Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle
Agatha Christie
Ngaio Marsh
Josephine Tey
Dorothy L. Sayers
Margery Allingham
Edith Wharton
Hunter S. Thompson
Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe
Shakespeare
Sisters in Crime
Sara Paretsky

We are excited to announce that we are now an affiliate of Libro.fm audiobook platform: Listeners can receive two audiobooks for the price of one. Follow this link to learn more. (promo code: bookcougars)

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 114 - Mary Oliver Synchronicity

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

– Currently Reading –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth) (CW)(EF)
A Stranger at the Door – Jason Pinter (EF) release date 1/12/2021

– Just Read –
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue – V.E. Schwab (EF) release date 10/6/2020
Pine – Francine Toon (CW)
The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls – Ursula Hegi (EF)
We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth – Jennifer Risher (CW)
Rules for Being Dead – Kim Powers (EF)
Ring Shout – P. Djèlí Clark (CW)
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies – Deesha Philyaw (EF)
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 – R.A. Scotti (CW)

Chris read a slew of short stories including:
A New England Nun - Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
From The Penguin Book of Horror Stories edited by J.A. Cuddon: Dry September by William Faulkner and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdamar by Edgar Allan Poe
Good Enough – Shuly Cawood from her short story collection A Small Thing to Want: stories
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – Washington Irving

– Biblio (Couch) Adventures –
Chris watched the movie Sleepy Hollow.

Emily joined in on The American Dream: Whose Myth? Whose Reality? with Min Jin Lee and Viet Thanh Nguyen via the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Emily visited Herridge Books in Wellfleet, MA where she picked up two books by poet Mary Oliver: Felicity and A Thousand Mornings.

Chris listened to an interview with Mary Oliver and Krista Tippett via the On Being podcast

Chris attended an event through Village Preservation: Carl Raymond on Edith Wharton’s Village.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
We are going on a joint jaunt to the Hachette Book Club Brunch. It will be virtual this year. Join us on Saturday, October 17 from 10:30–1:00. You can purchase tickets here. The joint read for the event is Nick by Michael Farris Smith.

October 20 at 9pm (ET) Emily is attending an event via Powell’s Books with Alice Hoffman in conversation with Ann Leary. You can sign up for the event here.

Chris is excited about the Theater Artists Workshop (TAW) virtual fundraiser, THE TAWLIGHT ZONE, premiering on October 8 at 8PM ET (viewing window closes Nov 1 at 8PM ET). Learn more about TAW and purchase tickets for the event HERE.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Accidentals – Susan M. Gaines (EF)
Shadowplay – Joseph O’ Connor (CW)
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite – edited by Zoraida Cordova, Natalie C. Parker (CW)

– 15th Readalong discussion –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth)
The discussion will drop on November 10th via Episode 116, please get questions/comments to us by November 5th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Nov 1st at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
Hide Away – Jason Pinter
Polis Books
Ain’t Nobody Nobody – Heather Harper Ellett
Peter Pan – James Matthew Barrie
Stones from the River – Ursula Hegi
The Deep – Alma Katsu
NaNoWriMo
Wendell Berry
Naomi Shihab Nye
The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton – Connie Nordheim Woolridge

We are excited to announce that we are now an affiliate of Libro.fm audiobook platform: Listeners can receive two audiobooks for the price of one. Follow this link to learn more. (promo code: bookcougars)

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 113 - We Bid Adieu to Our First Recording Studio

Click here to watch a video of the cottage by the sea (aka our recording studio).

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

– Currently Reading –
Pine – Francine Toon (CW)
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue – V.E. Schwab (EF) release date 10/6/2020
We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth – Jennifer Risher (CW)
All My Puny Sorrows – Miriam Toews (EF)

– Just Read –
Magic Lessons – Alice Hoffman (EF) release date 10/6/2020
The Marrow Thieves – Cherie Dimaline (CW)
The First to Lie – Hank Phillippi Ryan (EF)
Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s – Tiffany Midge (CW)

– Biblio (Couch) Adventures –
Chris watched the documentary The Booksellers via the streaming service Kanopy.

Emily watched a virtual event via Skylark Bookshop with Christina Baker Kline discussing her new book, The Exiles. She was in conversation with Alex George, the owner of the bookshop, founder of The Unbound Book Festival and author of The Paris Hours and Setting Free the Kites.

Chris attended a virtual event via The Center for Fiction titled Radical Translantions: Maria Dahvana Headley, Emily Wilson, and Madeline Miller. Maria Dahvana Headley has a new translation of Beowulf.

Chris and Emily went on a virtual joint jaunt to the Schomburg Center Literary Festival. The event was titled Audre Lorde and Political Warfare and featured Roxane Gay, Mahogany L. Browne, Tracy K. Smith, and Salamishah Tillet.

Chris attended a virtual event through the New York Society Library with S.A. Cosby author of Blacktop Wasteland.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
Emily is looking forward to The American Dream: Whose Myth? Whose Reality? with Min Jin Lee and Viet Thanh Nguyen. October 1 at 7pm (ET). You can register for it here.

Chris plans to attend a Monday’s at the Beinecke Library about Langston Hughes. On October 5th they will focus on Dorothy Porter Wesley. You can see the calendar of events here.

The Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival will be virtual this year, running November 6-15, 2020.

Check out Our Mystery Man, John Valeri’s, YouTube channel Central Booking. His newest episode is with Heather Harper Ellett, author of Ain’t Nobody Nobody. You can watch the Book Cougars on Central Booking here.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies – Deesha Philyaw (EF)
A Girl is a Body of Water – Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (EF)
Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand – Craig Sisterson (CW)
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth) (CW)

– 15th Readalong discussion –
Celestial Bodies – Jokha Alharthi (translated by Marilyn Booth)
The discussion will drop on November 10th via Episode 116, please get questions/comments to us by November 5th.
The Goodreads discussion thread can be found HERE.
The Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, Nov 1st at 7:00 p.m. (EST). If you would like to join us please send an email to save a spot.

– Also Mentioned –
The Storygraph
Goodreads
Bloody Scotland
Empire of Wild – Cherie Dimaline
Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mark Twain
The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
Goulet Pen Company
Ink and Paper Blog

We are excited to announce that we are now an affiliate of Libro.fm audiobook platform: Listeners can receive two audiobooks for the price of one. Follow this link to learn more. (promo code: bookcougars)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.