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

Mothers, madness, alcoholism, researching slave revolts, wilderness guides — Emily and Chris discuss recent books they’ve tackled that range widely in subject matter but are all excellent reads. And guess who showed up yet again? Marilynne Robinson! We know, we know. She seems to be everywhere. Last episode Robinson was mentioned in a biblioadventure with Peter Heller and this episode her writing...

Emily finished ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy, her #BigBookSummer challenge read. It was a good read, but — phew! — big and intense. Chris read Kate Moore’s new nonfiction release, THE WOMAN THEY COULD NOT SILENCE, the true story of Elizabeth Packard’s battle against her husband and the system that tried to lock her away. Although the women’s rights movement still has a ways to go, some of the books...

We’ve been having a great reading summer and hope you are, too! In Episode 136 we discuss a slew of different types of books we’re reading, from classics to new releases to some forthcoming novels — LIGHTNING STRIKE by William Kent Krueger and O BEAUTIFUL by Jung Yun (pre-order now or request at your library). Emily was highly impressed by Ashley Audrain’s debut novel, THE PUSH, which Aunt Ellen r...

Both Book Cougars rave about Jung Yun’s forthcoming novel O BEAUTIFUL (St. Martin’s Press, Nov 9). We’ve been (im)patiently waiting for this novel and we give it a solid four thumbs up! Pre-order it now or ask your library to order a copy, or ten. Thanks to Juliet Grimes for sending us a copy of CLARK AND DIVISION by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime, Aug 3). Chris highly recommends this historical myste...

Chris and Emily are making progress in their #BigBookSummer classics and diving into some brand-new fiction as well. Emily went on a thrilling, if dark, adventure through Paul McLain’s new novel, WHEN THE STARS GO DARK, and Chris time traveled to meet THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN via Marie Benedict’s and Victoria Christopher Murray’s cowritten novel about Belle da Costa Green. We traveled to several sta...

Emily and Chris recorded together in person in a new space: Emily’s office, AKA the new Book Cougars recording studio! Emily shares her exciting biblioadventures in Colorado and Chris meets up with The Great Gatsby in two books and one documentary. Emily read Beach Read, the novel by Emily Henry, not the concept, and Chris is reading Books for Idle Hours by Dona Harrington-Lueker, about how the co...

Get ready, we reveal our Summer Reading Goals, and Our Mystery Man, John Valeri, stops by to share some of his, as well. Chris takes us along on her biblio adventure to Chicago including her stops along the way. We have a great interview with Gina Barreca, the editor of the flash non-fiction essay collection, Fast Funny Women.

We reveal our Big Book Summer Reading challenge books, and a couple of our listeners let us know about their choices, as well. Chris talks about a controversy regarding reader book reviews and Emily got a chance to watch a video with the dynamic duo of John Valeri and Playwright Laura Thoma on the Central Booking YouTube channel. We discuss Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, our joint rea...

We recorded together for the first time in over a year! It was amazing to sit and talk about books over the kitchen table. Hashtag grateful. Emily went on a whirlwind adventure with Maggie Shipstead’s GREAT CIRCLE and Chris got down with I WILL SURVIVE, song lyrics by Frederick J. Perren and Dino Fekaris, illustrated by Kaitlyn Shea O’Connor. It’s another tenth episode which means it’s time for an...

On Episode 129 we chat with author Chris Tebbetts about his book, Me Myself & Him, what it is like to co-write books with James Patterson, and how he keeps in touch with his inner child. Chris reflects on a biblio adventure with one of her favorite writers, Sarah Waters, and Emily dives into one of the hottest book releases of the year, Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.

On Episode 128 we talk with Dr. Melissa Homestead about her book, The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather and Edith Lewis. We had several biblio adventures. Chris shares what she learned about the Emily Dickinson archives housed at Harvard’s Houghton Library and also shares an event via the GLBT Historical Society with a powerful group of panelists. Emily geeks out over...

On Episode 127 we talk with playwright Laura Thoma about her play, Magpie, which was recently published with Next Stage Press. Chris and Emily recount a joint jaunt to Old Saybrook to visit author Ann Petry’s childhood home. They also stop by the Acton Public Library and visit the metal sculpture in front; is it a cricket, a fly, or a praying mantis? In honor of National Poetry Month, we share a f...

We chat with Luanne Rice about our mutual love of the Long Island Sound and beachcombing for treasures. Luanne also shares a candid account of her experience with emotional abuse and how she came to write about it in her newest novel, The Shadow Box. Chris shares the new Dolly Parton book, STORYTELLER, and we discuss the merits of a singer songwriter winning the Nobel Laureate - think Bob Dylan. E...

We got the chance to talk with Shuly Cawood about her new poetry collection, Trouble Can Be So Beautiful at the Beginning. Together we ponder how some poetry resonates and some does not. Chris shares exciting news about a new book chronicling the life of Willa Cather and Edith Lewis. A surprise buddy read of Jennifer McMahon’s soon to be released book, The Drowning Kind. And we share lots of Couch...

We have a conversation with Dr. Charlotte Markey about The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Less Fearless. The pandemic is keeping us close to home these days, but Chris does some traveling via books to Cairo, Egypt circa 1912 and Boston, Massachusetts. Emily reads a couple of novels that make her uncomfortable, but in a good way. We also make an announcement about our upcoming...

We have a conversation with Kerri Arsenault about her book Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains. Topics covered include archival research, genealogy, toxic chemicals, and local politics. Chris and Kerri also get a chance to reminisce about the pink huffy bikes of their youth. Emily discusses the theme of motherhood and shared familial responsibility that showed up in her reading and listening ov...

We welcome back Our Mystery Man, John Valeri. He gives us some book recommendations and tells us about two authors we should all be reading. Chris and Emily went on a Joint Couch Biblio Adventure to hear Min Jin Lee discuss The Great Gatsby. She wrote the introduction for the newly released Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. We also discuss the complexities of burying a dead body, Our Mystery Man wo...

Get ready, our first regular episode of 2021 is packed with a lot of bookish banter! We did a lot of reading over the last few weeks. We also got a chance to chat with Jason Pinter, founder of Polis Books and author of the Rachel Marin series. The second book in the series, A Stranger at the Door, is available now. Also, reminder that we have an upcoming readalong of Mill Town: Reckoning with What...

We talk about our Top Ten Books of 2020 with special guest Russell Gray of Ink and Paper Blog. There was only one duplicate, so that means 29 books to add to your reading lists! It is a wonderful, eclectic group of books including fiction, horror, memoir, nonfiction, thriller, and more! And we announce our next giveaway! Subscribe to our newsletter by January 10th to be automatically entered to wi...

We had the pleasure of chatting with Bill Goldstein about his formative years as a reader, working at Publisher’s Weekly, meeting and interviewing authors, his writing process, and his bookshelves. Bill is a legend in the book industry and we are thrilled to have had the chance to speak with him. Chris is reading about productivity techniques as well as Daring Greatly with Brené Brown. Emily read...

We are excited to celebrate our 4th Anniversary or Birthday!? So many amazing years of books and biblio adventures. In this episode we chat about a Brexit romance, eel behavior, female hysteria, poetry, serial killers, white advantage vs. white privilege, wintering, and more.

We talk with Patrick Sweeney to learn more about EveryLibrary and what they are doing to help build support for libraries in the United States. We share a multitude of Couch Biblio Adventures including the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival, National Book Awards Ceremony, and the Texas Book Festival. And we were pleasantly surprised to discover that we both read Emma Donoghue's newest book...

We discuss our readalong of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi. She is the first Omani woman to have a novel translated into English and it is the first novel originally written in Arabic to win the Man Booker International Prize. Lots of firsts for Alharthi! We also chat about a big stack of books, virtual biblio adventures galore, and a surprise upcoming joint read of Emma Donoghue’s newest book...

We had the pleasure of speaking with Hank Phillippi Ryan who has won 37 Emmy awards for her investigative reporting! She brings this knowledge to the table when she sits down to write her Charlotte McNally Mystery series, Jane Ryland Thrillers, and multiple stand-alone books, including her most recent, The First to Lie. We also discuss the importance of starting your holiday shopping early this ye...

Chris and Emily share admiration for the poet Mary Oliver and suggest a hack for getting more poetry reading into your life. They both did quite a bit of reading and chat about a lot of books! Authors mentioned include V.E. Schwab, Deesha Philyaw, Jennifer Risher, Kim Powers, P. Djèlí Clark, and Joseph O' Connor, to name a few.