Episode 196 - Trying Not To Go Viral

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

– Patreon Giveaway –
House of Caravans by Shilpi Suneja
Become a member of our Patreon Community by December 15th to be automatically entered to win.

– Currently Reading – [1:50]
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America – Heather Cox Richardson (CW)(audiobook)
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea – Debra Magpie Earling (EF)
Librarians Guide to Online Research – Christopher C. Brown (CW)
Tenderheart: A Cookbook about Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds – Hettie Lui McKinnon (CW)

– Just Read – [6:23]
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary – Simon Winchester (EF)(audiobook)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (CW)
Sea Change – Frank Viva (EF)
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin (CW) (audiobook)
The Last Love Note – Emma Grey (EF)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Megan Marshall (CW)
Grief is for People – Sloane Crosley (EF) release date 2/27/2024
The Bookbinder – Pip Williams (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [47:36]
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Emily chose an audiobook: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey narrated by Leeanna Walsman. Chris chose a hard cover: The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak.
Use code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5.

– Biblio Adventures – [56:41]
Chris had a Zoom conversation with her fellow buddy readers of The Paradiso by Dante Alighieri.

Emily went to the Guilford Library to hear Adres Dubus III discuss his new novel Such Kindness. Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure watching Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:01:07]
Chris and Emily are heading to Drama Works Theater to see Laura Thoma’s play “Miss Margaret’s Barton Cottage Christmas Surprise.” The show runs from December 15-17. Tickets are available here.   

Chris is joining an online event via the Harry Ransom Center titled “Lost Books: The Dark Matter of the Early Modern English Book Trade” featuring Alan B. Farmer. The video is available here.

Chris is attending a virtual Author Talk via the Boston Athenaeum, “Robert Darnton: The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1790.” Online tickets are available here.

Emily is looking forward to watching the third season of Slow Horses on Apple TV based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron. This season is based on the third novel, Real Tigers.

Emily is planning to see Ileana Douglas at the Durham Public Library discussing her new book Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:05:35]
The Iliad – Homer (translated by Emily Wilson) (CW)
If you are interested in joining The Iliad buddy read, send an email or get in touch via Instagram.
The Queen of Dirt Island – Donal Ryan (EF)
Are You Somebody – Nuala O’Faolain (EF)

– Out Now – [01:09:29]
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories – Louise Kennedy

– Also Mentioned –
Milkweed Editions
Harriet Beecher Stowe Prize
I Was Told There’d Be Cake – Sloane Crosley
Dirty Love – Andre Dubus III
Jane Austen
Nothing Good Can Come From This: Essays – Kristi Coulter

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

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Episode 195 - Hooked by Nonfiction November & 2023 Holiday Gift Ideas

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

– Currently Reading – [:25]
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments from the Lost Kitchen – Erin French (EF)(audiobook)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism – Megan Marshall (CW)
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family – Rabia Chaudry (EF)
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America – Heather Cox Richardson (CW)(audiobook)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary – Simon Winchester (EF)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (CW)
Knowledge as a Feeling: How Neuroscience and Psychology Impact Human Information Behavior – Troy Swanson (CW)

Head over to our Booktube channel to hear about our Nonfiction November reads.

– Just Read – [16:22]
After Annie – Anna Quindlen (EF) release date 3/12/24
Moby-Dick Hidden Treasures found poetry – discovered by Stephen Durkee (CW)
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden – Camille T. Dungy (EF) (audiobook)
“Like a Winding Sheet” a short story within Miss Muriel and Other Stories – Ann Petry (CW)(EF)

– Episode Sponsor – [28:34]
Book of the Month curated monthly book subscription service
Emily chose an audiobook: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey narrated by Leeanna Walsman
Chris chose a hard cover: The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak
Use the code FORYOU to receive your first delivery for $5.

– Biblio Adventures – [30:36]
Emily went to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT to see Sigrid Nunez discuss her newest novel, The Vulnerables, with Willard Spiegelman whose most recent book is Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt.

Chris had a lovely visit to Mystic Seaport Museum where she walked aboard The Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. She’s considering a re-read of Moby Dick.

Emily took a jaunt to RJ Julia’s Booksellers in Madison, CT to see Michael Cunningham discuss his new novel, Day, with Amy Bloom. On Episode 153, we spoke with Bloom about her memoir In Love.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [40:45]
Chris is heading into New York City to see a play and is hoping to renew her NYPL library card.  

Emily plans to attend an event at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT on Tuesday, November 28th at 6PM (ET).  Lauren Acampora will be in conversation with Mona Awad discussing her new novel, Rouge.

– Upcoming Reads – [42:24]
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories – Louise Kennedy (EF) release date 12/5/2023
The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, and Eating While Reading – Dwight Garner (EF)
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want – Ruha Benjamin

– Episode Sponsor – [45:02]
Liv Macy, author of the Infinites Universe Novels. Learn more about Macy and her series here.

– 2023 Holiday Gift Ideas – [45:42]
Head over to our Booktube channel to see visual representations of some of these gift ideas
🎁 A Bookbrowse Gift Membership
🎁 North American Reciprocal Museum Association Membership
🎁 Book Letters derived from vintage books
🎁 Reading Headlights. Emily has a Petzl from LL Bean and Chris has a Glocusent
🎁 Decorate paper and transcribe a poem or quote upon it
🎁 The 2023 New York Public Library Holiday Gift Catalog
🎁 Literary Board game: Really Loud Librarians
🎁 Book Embosser
🎁 Author Bobblehead (Bram Stoker) and custom bobbleheads via Bobble for a Cause
🎁 Custom Family Recipe Tea Towels
🎁 Create a Biblio Adventure Car Kit

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Also Mentioned –
Finding Freedom – Erin French
The Old Manse
Mystic Seaport Museum
Adnan’s Story – Rabia Chaudry
Undisclosed podcast
Also by Sigrid Nunez: The Friend and What Are You Going Through
The Hours – Michael Cunningham
Trespasses – Louise Kennedy

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 194 - Author Spotlight with Sarah MacLean

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

Emily read the poem “Only Love” by James Crews. The poem is available in the collection The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy. Follow this link to learn more about the collection and the poem.

– Currently Reading – [1:50]
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century – Josh Cook (CW)
Family Lore – Elizabeth Acevedo (CW)
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire – Kerrelyn Sparks (CW)

– Just Read – [5:22]
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (EF)
Starling House – Alix E. Harrow (CW)
The Golden Gate – Amy Chua (EF)(audiobook narrated by Robb Moreira)
Country Place – Ann Petry (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [20:45]
Chris and Emily both had a Couch Biblio Adventure: Emily binged the second season of Slow Horses based on the novel Dead Lions by Mick Herron on Apple TV+. Chris watched Renfield loosely based on the classic Dracula story.

Emily went to see Killers of the Flower Moon based on the novel by David Grann. You can watch a conversation with the cast at the Cannes Film Festival. Two books that are written from the Osage point of view: A Pipe for February by Charles H. Red Corn and Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1991.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [32:27]
Chris is excited to attend some of the events celebrating Willa Cather’s 150th Birthday on December 7th. The Willa Cather Center has a list of events celebrating her sesquicentennial.

Emily is going to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT on Thursday, November 9th to see Sigrid Nunez in conversation about her new book, The Vulnerables.

– Upcoming Reads – [34:13]
Julia – Sandra Newman (EF)
Old Crimes – Jill McCorkle (EF) release date 1/9/2024
Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather – Benjamin Taylor (CW) release date 11/14/2023
A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers – edited by Joyce Carol Oates (CW)

– Out Now – [38:40]
Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education – Stephanie Land
You can find the recent NY Times article about Stephanie’s experience in publishing here.

– Author Spotlight with Sarah MacLean – [39:15]
Learn more about Sarah MacLean here. Her newest book is Knockout: A Hell’s Belles Novel, the third book in the Hell’s Belle’s series. The first book is Bombshell, and the second is Heartbreaker.

Check out this vast list of recommended reading on Sarah’s website.

Sarah co-hosts the podcast Fated Mates with romance critic Jen Prokop.

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Also Mentioned –
John Valeri Central Booking
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Other books by Ann Petry: The Street, The Narrows, and Miss Muriel and Other Stories
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Other books by Sarah Maclean: The Rogue Not Taken and Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Lee Child
Stephen King
John Irving

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!
If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 193 - Book Club Fundamentals with Davina Morgan-Witts Founder & Publisher of BookBrowse

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

– Currently Reading – [:38]
Land of Milk and Honey – C. Pam Zhang (EF)
The Paradiso – Dante Alighieri (CW)
Country Place – Ann Petry (EF)

– Just Read – [3:58]
Country Place – Ann Petry (CW)
Afterlife – Julia Alvarez (EF)
My Roommate Is a Vampire – Jenna Levine (CW)
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush (EF)The Purgatorio – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Goth House Experiment – SJ Sindu (CW)

– Biblio Adventures – [25:50]
Emily went to Maine where she got to stop in at two different public libraries. The Curtis Library in Brunswick had a Robert McCloskey exhibit featuring his books Blueberries for Sal, Time of Wonder, One Morning in Maine, and Burt Dow Deep-Water Man, and Make Way for Ducklings. She also browsed the Wiscasset Public Library where there was a permanent exhibit featuring local artist Bernard Langlais.

Chris had a few Couch Biblio Adventures. She watched Eye of the Needle via Kanopy, it is an adaptation of the Ken Follett novel of the same name; the first episode of Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus; and The Fall of the House of Usher inspired by the short story by Edgar Allan Poe.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:29]
Chris is attending a live reading of her wife’s play in New York City! On Monday, October 30th at 6:30 pm (ET), The Bechdel Group will feature Writer’s Block by Laura Thoma and Literary Girls Obsessed with Death by Libby Heily. Both plays will be read by professional actors and there will be a discussion afterwards You can reserve a free ticket here.

Chris and Emily will be going to The Vintage Bookclub where they will discuss Country Place by Ann Petry.

– Upcoming Reads – [41:00]
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store – James McBride (EF)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams (EF)
The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century – Josh Cook (CW)
The Tattooed Woman – Marian Engel (CW)
Blackouts – Justin Torres (CW)

– Out Now – [45:04]
The Best American Short Stories 2023 – edited by Heidi Pitlor and Min Jin Lee
Death Valley – Melissa Broder

– Guest Spotlight with Davina Morgan-Witts – [45:22]
We chat with Davina Morgan-Witts Founder & Publisher of BookBrowse.
Learn more about how to become a member and subscribe to the free newsletter.
Learn more about BookBrowse for libraries.
Take a look at the book club research reports, blog posts based on the findings, and the book club health check.

Davina recommends North Woods by Daniel Mason and Julia by Sandra Newman inspired by George Orwell’s 1984.

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Also Mentioned –
How Much of These Hills Is Gold – C. Pam Zhang
The Inferno of Dante – Dante Alighieri
The Street – Ann Petry
Cleat Cute – Meryl Wilsner
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore – Elizabeth Rush
Mystic Seaport Museum
Ulysses – James Joyce
May Massee children’s book editor
The movie Hidden Figures based on the novel by Margot Lee Shetterly
Other shows by Mike Flanagan: Midnight Mass  and The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
The Color of Water – James McBride
Porter Square Books
Author Laura Sims
Author Paul Tremblay
Central Booking with John Valeri
We the Animals – Justin Torres
Books by Paul Gallico: The Man Who Was Magic and Snow Goose
The Phantom Toll Booth – Norton Juster
The Complete Little World of Don Camillo – Giovanni Guareschi
Author Judy Blume

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 192 - Author Spotlight with Fancy Feast

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

– 4th Quarter Readalong –
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

Watch the video of Pip talking about the inspiration for The Bookbinder. If you are interested, her debut novel is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

– Currently Reading – [6:14]
The Purgatorio – Dante Alighieri (CW)
The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy – edited by James Crews (EF)
Emily reads “Turning” by Julie Cadwallader Staub
The Goth House Experiment – SJ Sindu (CW) (release date 10/17/2023)

– Just Read – [14:24]
Adversity for Sale – Jay Jeezy Jenkins (CW)
Wellness – Nathan Hill (EF)
Monsters: A Fans Dilemma – Claire Dederer (CW)
Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques – Fancy Feast (CW)(EF)
The September House – Carissa Orlando (CW)
When a Pet Dies – Fred Rogers (CW)
Stairway to Doom – Robert Quackenbush (CW)

– Biblio Adventures – [39:30]
To wrap up Scarlet Summer, Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston to visit Hawthorne-related sites including Brook Farm in West Roxbury, MA, the Boston Athenaeum, a meal at the Chipotle located at the site of the original Old Corner Bookstore, strolled down Pinckney Street to visit the sites where prominent 19th-centuryliterary figures lived throughout. We also got a chance to see The Embrace, a new bronze sculpture honoring Coretta Scott Kind and Martin Luther King Jr., located on Boston Common. Watch the slideshow of our day in Boston.

Emily went to Cape Cod and stopped at Herridge Bookstore in Wellfleet where she purchased The Book of Salt by Monique Truong, the Provincetown Bookshop, Tim’s Used Books, Provincetown Public Library where she grabbed a free copy of An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken, and the Eldredge Public Library in Chatham, MA.

Chris appeared on Shawn the Book Maniac’s BookTube channel chatting about bookmarks from her childhood (that were made in Emily’s hometown!). You can watch it here.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:03:07]
Emily is heading to Maine and is hoping to do some bookstore browsing. She plans to watch Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:04:14]
The Iliad – Homer translated by Emily Wilson (CW) If you would like to join Chris in a buddy read beginning in January 2024, send an email.
Because I Could Not Stop for Death – Amanda Flower (CW)
Afterlife – Julia Alvarez (EF)

– Out Now – [01:08:42]
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir – Safiya Sinclair
Nothing is Missing: A Memoir of Living Boldly – Nicole Walters

– Author Spotlight with Fancy Feast– [01:09:06]
We chat with Fancy Feast about her essay collection Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques. You can learn more about Fancy on her website, via her Instagram feed and Facebook page. We encourage you to watch the documentary Fancy Feast – The Fat Burlesque Performer.

– Also Mentioned –
National Book Awards 2023
Chain Gang All Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Blackouts – Justin Torres
Also by SJ Sindu: Blue Skinned Gods and Marriage of a Thousand Lies
The Nix – Nathan Hill
The Second Shelf BookTube channel with Britta Böhler
The House Guest – Hank Phillipi Ryan
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 191 - Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough with Poet Shuly Cawood

Episode One Hundred Ninety One Show Notes

KEY: CW = Chris Wolak and EF = Emily Fine

– Currently Reading – [5:53]
Adversity for Sale – Jay Jeezy Jenkins (CW)
The Creative Act: A Way of Being – Rick Rubin (EF)(audiobook)
Listen to Rick Rubin in conversation with Debbie Millman on Design Matters
Monsters: A Fans Dilemma – Claire Dederer (CW)
Consider the Oyster – M.F.K. Fisher (EF)

– Just Read – [12:43]
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)
The Inferno of Dante – Dante Alighieri translated by Robert Pinsky (CW)
Thin Places – Kerri Ní Dochartaigh (EF) (audiobook)
Cleat Cute – Meryl Wilsner (CW)
Zorrie – Laird Hunt (EF)
Bombshell: A Hell's Belles Novel – Sarah MacLean (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [36:46]
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to New York City to have a visit with Aunt Ellen. First stop was a delicious brunch at Maman. Then the New York Society Library where they took a tour and spent time with the current exhibit: the Quack! Quack! The Wonderful World of Robert Quackenbush. They stopped at two bookstores: The Corner Bookstore and Kitchen Arts & Letters. The capstone event was dinner at Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant before catching the train home.

Chris watched the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature. You can watch it here.

Chris and Emily attended the Popular Romance Conference: The Literature of Hope at Yale University where they watched the documentary Love Between the Covers. (Watch the documentary here.) There were two days of panels that included: Beverly Jenkins, Eloisa James, owners of The Ripped Bodice bookstore, Monique Patterson publisher with TOR/Bramble, Fated Mates podcast, and the Black Romance podcast, and Roxane Gay.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:11:35]
To wrap up Scarlet Summer, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Boston on September 21 to visit Hawthorne-related sites including the Boston Athenaeum and have  a meal at the Chipotle located at the site of the original Old Corner Bookstore.

Emily is heading to Cape Cod where she hopes to attend parts of the Provincetown Book Festival.

– Upcoming Reads – [01:12:35]
Wellness – Nathan Hill
Heartbreaker: A Hell’s Belles Novel – Sarah MacLean
Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques – Fancy Feast
And a Dog Called Fig: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life – Helen Humphreys

– 4th Quarter Readalong – [01:14:35]
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams is the official book for the last quarter of the year reading within our theme of Books about Books. Our Zoom discussion will take place on Sunday, December 3rd at 7pm (ET), send an email if you would like to reserve a spot. You can join the Goodreads discussion here.

– Author Spotlight with Shuly Cawood– [01:17:20]
We chat with Shuly Cawood about her new poetry collection Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough.

You can learn more about Shuly and her writing workshops and purchase signed copies of her books here.

– Also Mentioned –
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman
Ron Charles review of The Invisible Hour
The Second Shelf BookTube channel with Britta Böhler
House of Books in Kent, CT
Cacophony of Bones: The Circle of a Year – Kerri Ní Dochartaigh
Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
Ink and Paper Blog booktube channel with Russell Gray
Vincent Virga author of the Gaywycke series
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M.  Auel
Radclyffe
Bold Strokes Books
The Nix – Nathan Hill
Ann Patchett

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 190 - Haunted by Hawthorne & The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

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

– Tenth Episode Giveaway –
To be entered to win, join our newsletter by September 15, 2023.
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America – Nancy Maclean
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl

– Currently Reading – [3:56]
The Inferno of Dante – Dante Alighieri translated by Robert Pinsky (CW)
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)
My Friend Anne Frank: The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds – Hannah Pick-Goslar (CW)
Thin Places – Kerri Ní Dochartaigh (EF)(audiobook)
Kerri has been in conversation with Katherine May on How We Live Now and The Wintering Sessions.
Adversity for Sale – Jay Jeezy Jenkins (CW)

– Episode Sponsor – [12:27]
Kissing Asphalt – Delicia Naimi
Learn more about Delicia and order a signed copy of her book here.

– Just Read – [13:14]
Lark Ascending – Silas House (EF)
Hawthorne: A Life – Brenda Wineapple (CW)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (CW)(EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [46:32]
Chris and Emily met with longtime listener Karen (aka @barkerforbooks) in Salem, MA. They visited The House of the Seven Gables, Salem Athenaeum, the Salem Public Library, and other Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites. We used The North Shore Literary Tour by Kristin Bierfelt as a resource. Chris purchased the book at Wicked Good Books on her previous trip to Salem.

The Book Cougars hosted a watch along of the 1934 movie adaptation of The Scarlet Letter.

Emily browsed The Strand Bookstore with Aunt Ellen in search of a copy of A Woman’s Story by Annie Ernaux.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [01:08:05]
To wrap up Scarlet Summer, Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Boston on September 21 to visit Hawthorne related sites including the Boston Athanaeum and have  a meal at the Chipotle located at the site of the original Old Corner Bookstore.

On September 17 at 7PM, Chris’s wife Laura is having a public reading of her book Yours in Words as part of the Green Stage Festival in Guilford, CT. The dramatic radio production of the play was featured on Book Cougars Episode 66.

Chris plans to watch the biography Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the Service of a Mind .

– Upcoming Reads – [01:10:53]
Reflections in a Golden Eye – Carson McCullers (CW)(EF)
Something So Good It Can Never Be Enough – Shuly Cawood (CW)(EF)
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women – Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo (EF)

– Out Now – [01:12:50]
Morning in this Broken World – Katrina Kittle  
Creep: Accusations and Confessions – Myriam Gurba
From Dust to Stardust – Kathleen Rooney

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)

– Also Mentioned –
Easy A movie
The Crucible movie based on the play by Arthur Miller via Hoopla
Master of American Literature: The Hawthorne Legacy on Kanopy
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
Author Mary Beth Bass
Voices Against Injustice organization
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA
Blond Joyce Carol Oates

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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Episode 189 - Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese

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

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [1:58]
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Properties of Thirst – Marianne Wiggins (EF)

– Just Read – [4:38]
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman (CW)
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais (EF) (audiobook narrated by Amy Landon)
The Profile – Willa Cather (CW) (Learn more about the short story project.)
The Wehrwolf – Alma Katsu (CW)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)

– Episode Sponsor – [30:40]
The Brickworks by Lucy E.M. Black
Learn more about Lucy and her books here.

– Biblio Adventures – [31:30]
Chris and Emily spent two days in the Berkshires in Massachusetts where they followed in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They did a house tour of Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount, spent time with librarian Nynke Dorhout, walked the grounds where there is currently an outdoor sculpture exhibit, and attended a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams. They also shopped at The Bookstore. (Watch the documentary about how the store survived the COVID pandemic.)  
Check out the video of our two-day adventure.

Emily had a couch biblio adventure watching Slow Horses on Apple TV based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron.

Chris went on a visit to Chicago where she stopped at Galena Book & Paper where she purchased A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen, and Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell. She also made a stop at The Book Cellar.

Emily was a guest on Shawn the Book Maniac’s Booktube channel where they talked about polygamous reading.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [52:34]
Chris and Emily are heading on a full day joint jaunt to Salem, MA where they will see The House of the Seven Gables, and other Nathaniel Hawthorne historic sites.

Chris and Emily are planning to attend Popular Romance Fiction: The Literature of Hope conference at Yale University September 8-9, 2023. Learn more and sign up here.

– Upcoming Reads – [54:34]
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (CW)(EF)
September 10th at 7PM (ET) we will host our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Out Now – [55:33]
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan
The Breakaway – Jennifer Weiner

– Author Spotlight with Laurie Lico Albanese – [55:57]
We chat with Laurie about her book Hester, the second book in our Scarlet Summer.
Learn more about Laurie and her books here.
Laurie will be on a panel at the Salem Literary Festival on September 8, 2023.

– Also Mentioned –
Evidence of Things Unseen – Marianne Wiggins
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Birthmark – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Summer – Edith Wharton
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
The Library Book – Susan Orlean
Margaret Fuller
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine – Rozsika Parker
House of Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fellowship Point – Alice Elliott Dark
Euphoria – Lily King
Book cover designer Olga Grlc

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

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Episode 188 - Author Spotlight with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle

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

Become a member of our Patreon Community!

– Currently Reading – [1:42]
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF) (audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna (EF)
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits – Jack Murnighan (CW)
Deer Season – Erin Flanagan (CW) (audiobook narrated by Sarah Welborn)

– Just Read – [11:58]
Let Us Descend – Jesmyn Ward (EF) release date 10/3/2023
The Vanity Fair article written by Jesmyn Ward: “On Witness and Repair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic”
A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay (CW)
The Last Ranger – Peter Heller (EF)

– Biblio Adventures – [28:02]
Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to Boston where they worked at Simmon’s University Library. The day ended with an event at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA where Laura Sims (How Can I Help You) will be in conversation with Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are: Stories).

Chris and Emily went on another joint jaunt closer to home in Old Saybrook where they lunched at the French bistro Cocotte located in the original James Pharmacy. Then they went across the street to the Hart House Museum to visit the exhibit “Family Matters: Inspiration and Insights from the Lives of Anna Louise James and Ann Petry.”

– Upcoming Jaunts – [39:31]
Chris and Emily are heading up to The Berkshires in Massachusetts for an overnight where they will be following in the footsteps of Nathaniel Hawthorn who lived there from 1850 - 1851.  They will visit Edith Wharton’s estate, The Mount to attend a conversation between Stacy Schiff and André Bernard. Schiff is known for her biographies including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and her most recent The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams.

On Sunday, August 27th at 7PM (ET) we are hosting a watch party of the 1934 movie adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. Please send an email if you would like to join and we will send you instructions on how to log-in and watch along.  

On September 10th at 7PM (ET) will be our Scarlet Summer Zoom discussion. Send an email if you would like to join the conversation.

– Upcoming Reads – [44:23]
Weyward – Emilia Hart
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – Bianca Marais
Hour of the Witch – Chris Bohjalian
The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
Tituba of Salem Village – Ann Petry

– Author Spotlight with writing duo Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle – [46:50]
We chat with Erin Flanagan and Katrina Kittle about their new book’s Come with Me (8/22) and Morning in this Broken World (9/1).  
Learn more about Erin and her upcoming events.
Learn more about Katrina and watch her Ted Talk Strong At Our Broken Places.

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Also Mentioned –
Writers Digest Magazine
Author Sharon Short (aka Jess Montgomery)
Ulysses – James Joyce
National Willa Cather Center
Books by Nicholas Evans: The Loop and The Horse Whisperer
The Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E. Harrow
Author Anne Tyler
Author Christina Consolino

Help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Episode 187 - Author Spotlight with Alli Frank & Asha Youmans

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

– 3rd Quarter Readalong our Scarlet Summer –
For more details and to download the Bingo card follow this link.
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (July)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (August)
The Invisible Hour – Alice Hoffman (September)
Send an email if you would like to join the Zoom conversation on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm (ET).

– Currently Reading – [2:42]
Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark – Cecelia Watson (CW)
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth – Elizabeth Rush (EF) release date 8/29/2023
How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope – edited by James Crews (CW)
The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy – edited by James Crews (CW)

– Just Read – [10:06]
The Breakaway – Jennifer Weiner release date 8/29/2023
How Can I Help You – Laura Sims (CW)
Come with Me – Erin Flanagan (EF) release date 8/22/2023
What Did it Take?: The Story of Anna Louise James – Whitney McKendree Moore (CW)
We Ride Upon Sticks – Quan Barry (EF)(audio)

– Biblio Adventures – [29:11]
Chris and Emily went to the Red Heat Tavern for the Vintage Book Club to discuss The Street by Ann Petry (audio). The next meeting date is Thursday, October 19 at 1:00 (ET) at Wood Memorial Library and Museum to discuss Country Place.

Chris and Emily went on a joint jaunt to the Grolier Club in NYC to do some archival research. They also stopped in at the newly opened McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers in Rockefeller Center.

– Upcoming Jaunts – [46:16]
Chris and Emily are heading on a joint jaunt to Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA on August 2nd at 7pm where Laura Sims (How Can I Help You) will be in conversation with Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are: Stories). You can register for the event here.

– Upcoming Reads – [47:44]
A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul Tremblay (CW)
The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (CW)
The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl (CW)
Hester – Laurie Lico Albanese (CW)(EF)(audio)
Join our Patreon Community by August 15th if you want to win a copy of this book.
Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen – Rebecca May Johnson (EF)

– Author Spotlight with writing duo Alli Frank and Asha Youmans – [52:24]
We talk with Alli and Asha about their new novel The Better Half and their writing life.
You can learn more about them here.
Their other books: Tiny Imperfections and Never Meant to Meet You

– Also Mentioned –
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore – Elizabeth Rush
Milkweed Editions
Shirley Jackson
Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: The Remarkable True Story of American Heroine Ida Lewis – Lenore Skomal
The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem – Stacy Schiff
Tayari Jones
What a Library Means to a Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books – Sheila Liming
Jojo Moyes

You can help support the Book Cougars via our affiliates:
Libro.fm audiobook platform: Follow this link and use promo code: bookcougars
Shop on Bookshop.org – support the Book Cougars and independent bookstores!

If you’d like to help financially support the Book Cougars, please consider becoming a Patreon member. If you would prefer to donate directly, email for instructions.

Join our Goodreads Group!

Check out our BookTube Channel and be sure to subscribe!

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.