Book Cougars Podcast: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read

Welcome to Episode 213! BookTuber Shawn Breathes Books joins us to celebrate Jenny Colvin and “I’ll Have What You’re Reading,” the memorial buddy read we jointly hosted with him the last few months. We also discuss Andrea Robbin Skinner’s recent revelation about her mother, Alice Munro, and how it has impacted us as readers. Some other highlights: In #CurrentlyReading, we are each reading another...

Welcome to Episode 212! This episode is different from all of our previous shows because Emily was unexpectedly called out of town to attend her granddaughter’s birth! Baby Neena arrived three weeks early. She and her mom, Rachel, are doing great. And yes, Emily has already read a book to her, SPOT GOES TO THE FARM, by Eric Hill. Instead of recording our regular segments, we share reminders about...

We dove into summer with our first big Biblio Adventure of the season! It involved art by kids inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” lobster, a little free library, and Bank Square Books. A great day! In other Biblio Adventures, Emily went to see Ann Leary talk about her new essay collection, I’VE TRIED BEING NICE, at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT. She also...

Welcome to Episode 210, where we have the pleasure of welcoming back Our Mystery Man, John Valeri! For those of you who are new to the Book Cougars, John is a frequent guest. He’s a reader, professional reviewer, and interviewer extraordinaire (check out his BookTube channel, CENTRAL BOOKING). John joins us to not only recommend some hot new mystery/thrillers but also to share insights on the guid...

Welcome to Episode 209! We were thrilled and honored to talk with New York Times bestselling author, mystery legend, and social justice advocate Sara Paretsky. We talk with Sara about her newly published novel, PAY DIRT, the 22nd installment in her V.I. Warshawski series, founding Sisters in Crime, and so much more. Don’t miss our conversation at the end of the episode. We pay tribute to the late...

Welcome to Episode 208, which features a fantastic author spotlight with Sara B. Franklin. Her new biography, THE EDITOR: HOW PUBLISHING LEGEND JUDITH JONES SHAPED CULTURE IN AMERICA, is a must-read. It is not hyperbole to say that everyone reading and eating today has been touched by Judith Jones’s work, and Franklin’s writing is a delight to read. We had a great Biblio Adventure to Brooklyn with...

Welcome to Episode 207. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with rare book dealer and author Rebecca Romney. Her first book was PRINTER’S ERROR: Irreverent Stories from Book History, and she made a significant contribution to the world of romance fiction with her collection, THE ROMANCE NOVEL IN ENGLISH: A Rare Book Survey, 1769-1999. You won’t want to miss our conversation with Rebecc...

Welcome to Episode 206 where we have a fantastic conversation with Rebecca Rego Barry, author of THE VANISHING OF CAROLYN WELLS: Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author. One reviewer referred to Barry’s book as a “process biography.” It is true, Barry takes you along on her investigation into the life of Carolyn Wells who, it turns out, wrote more than mysteries. She wrote poetry, plays, sc...

Welcome to Episode 205! April is National Poetry Month and we are here for it. Emily is currently reading YOU ARE HERE: Poetry in the Natural World, a new anthology edited by Ada Limón, and Chris is reading BOATS FOR WOMEN by Sandra Yannone. Since our last episode, Chris finished listening to WAKE UP WITH PURPOSE! What I’ve Learned in my First Hundred Years by Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. She also...

We begin Episode 204 with the announcement of our second quarter readalong in our year of reading romance and end with a delightful conversation with author Allison Pataki about her fabulous new novel, FINDING MARGARET FULLER. Since our last episode, Emily has continued with her intention of reading a short story every Monday. She read “Lot” by Bryan Washington from the story collection LOT: Stori...

Welcome to Episode 203! Some highlights of this episode: Emily dives into the pages of THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon and the delicious world of baking with THE COOKIE THAT CHANGED MY LIFE cookbook by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno. Meanwhile, Chris is back in high school with Jenna Miller's new sapphic YA romance, WE GOT THE BEAT. Emily devoured Elle Cosimano's new release, FINLAY DONOVAN...

Welcome to Episode 202 of the Book Cougars, featuring an Author and Editor Spotlight with Jessica Pryde. Chris and Emily are enjoying and learning from Jess’s ground-breaking anthology, BLACK LOVE MATTERS: REAL TALK ON ROMANCE, BEING SEEN, AND HAPPILY EVER AFTERS. Thanks to listener Katie for putting this book on our radar. We’re both currently immersed in audiobooks. – Chris is reading a new biog...

Welcome to Episode 201 featuring an Author Spotlight with LUANNE RICE recorded at the beautiful and welcoming Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library in Old Lyme, CT. Luanne’s new novel, LAST NIGHT, is out now. You’ve heard us rave about it in recent episodes and we do our best to keep our conversation with Luanne spoiler free. Some highlights of this episode: After recording with Luanne, we headed to Bank S...

Thank you for listening over the years and helping us reach our 200th episode! To celebrate this milestone, we invited special guests to call the Book Cougars hotline and recommend two forthcoming books they can’t wait for all of us to read. This idea was inspired by Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness, hosts of the podcast Books on the Nightstand, who had a segment called “Two Books We Can’t Wait fo...

Welcome to Episode 199! We have read A LOT since our last regularly recorded episode in December, so be prepared! In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about books by Lois Hamill, Hisashi Kashiwai, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, Josie Silver, James R. Benn, Alice Hoffman, Kate Jacobs, Tiago Forte, Julie Alvarez, Luanne Rice, Elizabeth Acevedo, Ann Hood, and Abraham Verghese. Phew! Spot any of your favori...

Welcome to our fourth annual Top Ten Reads of the Year episode with BookTuber Russell Gray of Ink and Paper Blog! We each talk about our top ten reads of 2023. Some books were published in 2023, and others are a bit older, but they all stirred our hearts and minds and we want to sing their praises. Russell, Emily, and Chris all have such different reading tastes that there is sure to be at least o...

Welcome to our last episode of the year! We reflect on our 2023 reading intentions, announce our 2024 readalong theme, and have a delightful conversation with Australian author Pip Williams to cap off our year of reading Books About Books. Some of the books we just read & discuss: – THE HELSINKI AFFAIR by Anna Pitoniak – THE QUEEN OF DIRT ISLAND by Donal Ryan – UNNATURAL DEATH by Patricia Cornwell...

Once again, we are grateful for the miracle of modern technology that allowed us to record this episode from two locations. Chris was recovering from the flu and, to keep Emily healthy, we recorded over Zoom. In our Just Read segment, we talk about nine very different books in a variety of genres: epic poetry, memoir, biography, and novels, including a graphic novel. Both Cougars finished THE BOOK...

Welcome to our 8th Annual Bookish Holiday Gifts episode! The first time we recommended holiday gift ideas was on Episode 2, way back in December 2016. Listeners enjoyed it so much that we’ve done it every year since. We hope you enjoy our ideas this year. Links to items discussed are in the show notes. We would like to note that none of our suggestions are ads or affiliates. They are things we hav...

Episode 194 is bookended by Poetry and Romance. We begin with the poem “Only Love” by James Crews from the poetry collection, THE PATH TO KINDNESS: Poems of Connection and Joy. We end with an Author Spotlight with Sarah MacLean. Sarah is a powerhouse reader, advocate, and writer of romance fiction. Her new release is KNOCKOUT, book three in her Hell’s Belles series. We had a great time talking wit...

Chris and Emily were thrilled to sit down and talk with Davina Morgan-Witts, the Founder and Publisher of BookBrowse. Founded in 1998, BookBrowse is one of the earliest independent online book resources. Davina and her team of editors and reviewers are committed to being “Your guide to exceptional books.” If you are not yet familiar with BookBrowse, check it out. It is a helpful and fun resource f...

Author Spotlight: Chris and Emily have a great time talking with Fancy Feast about her new (and debut) essay collection, NAKED: ON SEX, WORK, AND OTHER BURLESQUES. We bid adieu to Scarlet Summer with a recap of our Biblio Adventure to Boston where we visited sites related to Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first stop was the land upon which Brook Farm operated in West Roxbury, MA where we hiked to the cr...

Chris and Emily are happy to welcome back author SHULY CAWOOD to talk about her new poetry collection, SOMETHING SO GOOD IT CAN NEVER BE ENOUGH. Shuly reads a poem and talks about her poetic process, and we ask her to discuss our favorite(s) in the collection. We enjoy Shuly’s poetry in part because it is so accessible. Biblio Adventures are always fun and interesting, and we went on one that open...

It’s another 10th episode which means we’re hosting a giveaway for newsletter subscribers! One lucky winner will receive a copy of DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy Maclean and THE DANTE CLUB by Matthew Pearl. To be entered to win, head to www.bookcougars.com/subscriber to join our newsletter; the winner will be chosen on September 15th....

The Book Cougars are thrilled to welcome Laurie Lico Albanese, author of HESTER, our second readalong for Scarlet Summer. Laurie dishes on Hawthorne, shares her inspiration for Isobel, and talks about her writing process. Don’t miss our Author Spotlight with Laurie at the end of the episode. Other highlights include: In our “Just Read” segment we talk about DEER SEASON by Erin Flanagan, THE VERY S...