Welcome to Episode 256 featuring our Author Spotlight with biographer Sara Catterall! Sara’s new book, AMELIA BLOOMER: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon, was on Chris’s Top Ten list, and Emily was so into it that she cried at the end. We think biography lovers, history buffs, women’s rights advocates, and activists of all stripes will enjoy this biography. We had a great time talking with Sara, so don’t miss our conversation with her at the end of the episode. In our “Just Read” segment,...
Mar 24, 2026•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 256
Welcome to Episode 255, where we dig into talking about FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley! We also discuss two adaptations that we’ve watched. We both plan to watch more adaptations and remain fascinated by Shelley and her work, so we are not done with FRANKENSTEIN. Thanks to everyone who attended the Zoom discussion and to those who have chatted with us via email, Goodreads, and social media. Books we finished since the last episode and talk about include: HOBOMOK AND OTHER WRITINGS ON INDIANS by Ly...
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 255
Welcome to Episode 254! We are so excited to welcome Tiya Miles to the podcast to discuss her most recent book, NIGHT FLYER: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People. Don’t miss our conversation, which immediately follows our regular segments. [Should we put in a time stamp?] Chris has finished FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, and Emily is #currentlyreading the novel, so we talk about it, but not too much, since we will discuss it in depth on Episode 255 after our March 1st Zoom convers...
Feb 24, 2026•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 254
Welcome to Episode 247! Can you believe it is already time to share our annual Holiday Gift Ideas?? Each year, starting with Episode 2 back in 2016, we share some bookish (or biblioadventuring) gifts. We hope you benefit from these in the form of presents for loved ones and/or for yourself! We also discuss our fourth quarter readalong pick – the last in our year of reading ghost stories – HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix. Thanks to everyone who read along and those who attended the Z...
Feb 10, 2026•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 253
Welcome to Episode 252, where we share LISTENER TOP TEN READS of 2025! In past years, there hasn’t been much of a spread between the first and second place books on the list. But this year there is a 15-point spread between the first and second books! As usual, the first-place book was a novel, but the second-place book was nonfiction—a first ever for that. Usually, nonfiction doesn’t show up until well into the list’s mid-teens. Thanks to everyone who shared their top tens– you help grow our TB...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 252
Welcome to Episode 251 – Another Annual Top Ten Celebration with Russell of Ink and Paper Blog! We each share our list of Top Ten books read in 2025 and a favorite Biblio Adventure. Of course, more than 30 books were mentioned during this conversation. It seems impossible to narrow it down to ten books, and we remind ourselves that these are our top ten that day, but it is a fun exercise. Don’t forget to submit your Top Ten reads via our Google form: http://bit.ly/ListenerTopTen2025 We will disc...
Jan 13, 2026•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 251
Welcome to Episode 250! We joke that we turned “250” before “America250,” the moniker given to the United States’s anniversary celebration. The country is celebrating 250 years in 2026. This is also our last episode of 2025, and we want to thank you for listening and making this another fantastic year filled with good books and good friends! Some highlights: We have our usual segments in this episode, but first, we review how we did with our reading intentions for 2025. Overall, we did well, eve...
Dec 30, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 250
Welcome to Episode 249–we are now NINE! That’s right, December is our anniversary month. Episode 1 launched on December 6, 2016, and we’ve published a new episode every other Tuesday since then. Thank you so much for listening and all your encouragement along the way. We always wonder, especially around our anniversary: how did you discover our podcast?? Let us know in the comments or send us an email if you prefer (bookcougars@gmail.com). Another big deal about this episode is that we finished ...
Dec 16, 2025•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 249
Welcome to Episode 248! This episode is a bit different. We have an Author Spotlight with biographer Natalie Dykstra. If you’ve been listening to the podcast since this summer, you know that we both read her fascinating biography, CHASING BEAUTY: THE LIFE OF ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER. We also visited the exceptional, impressive, excellent – let’s go with indescribable – Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. As a result, we had A LOT to talk about with Natalie, and our conversation went long....
Dec 02, 2025•54 min•Ep. 248
Nov 18, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 247
Welcome to Episode 246! We recap some fun Biblioadventures in this episode. Emily got to see Mel Rosenthal in conversation with Virginia Evans about her debut novel The Correspondent at an event hosted by RJ Julia Booksellers. Chris had a research visit to Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where she enjoyed their book arts exhibit and admired the mantel in front of which Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Raven.” She also had an impromptu browse at New Haven’s used bookstore, Grey ...
Nov 04, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 246
Welcome to Episode 245! A highlight of this episode, if you want to call it that, is our discussion of Henry James’s ghost story, “The Jolly Corner,” from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES. Chris also read his novella, “The Turn of the Screw,” so we actually talk about two Henry James stories. We’re sorry. Haha. We jest, but in all honesty, we struggled with James’s writing style, even if we thought the plots were engaging. If you’re a Henry James fan, what are we missing? We’d love to hear from...
Oct 21, 2025•1 hr 23 min
Welcome to Episode 244! In years past, the cooler temps and changing leaves were indicators that the year was winding down. This year, we also have THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce as a gauge. After this episode, we have only three more stories left to read – can you believe it? (We can guess the mixed responses to this question! haha.) We both enjoyed “The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Bierce, which we discuss in this episode. Other books we’ve read and tal...
Oct 07, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 244
Welcome to Episode 243! Rejoice, it's officially fall, which we think is the best time of the year to read ghost stories! In the last episode, when we announced our fourth quarter readalong pick – HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix – for our year of reading ghost stories, we said we’d share some of the other novels we considered in this episode, and we do, eight of them. We also discuss the next story in THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES, ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ b...
Sep 23, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 243
Welcome to Episode 242! It’s great to know we have some risk takers among us! We dared readers of our monthly newsletter to sign up for the fourth quarter readalong prior to knowing what the book was and a handful of adventurous readers took us up on it. Thank you for trusting us, and listen to this episode to hear the announcement about the Q4 readalong book. Some of the recent reads we discuss are: GOODBYE WITHOUT LEAVING by Laurie Colwin THE IMPROBABLE VICTORIA WOODHULL by Eden Collinsworth T...
Sep 09, 2025•59 min•Ep. 242
Welcome to Episode 241! Some highlights of this episode include a discussion of our third quarter readalong, THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE by Julia Fine, and its companion read, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1892 short story, THE YELLOW WALLPAPER. Thanks to the readers who joined us for the Zoom conversation and helped deepen our appreciation of both stories. We also discussed “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W.Jacobs from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES from Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, and learned that it ...
Aug 26, 2025•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 241
Welcome to Episode 240! It’s another 10th episode, which means we’re giving away a book as we do every tenth episode. One lucky newsletter subscriber will receive a copy of CHASING BEAUTY: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Natalie Dykstra. If you’re not yet subscribed to our monthly newsletter, you can sign up on our website (go to the “support/subscribe” tab). Dykstra will be our guest on the podcast in October, and we hope many of you will join us in reading her award-winning biography o...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 240
Welcome to Episode 239! Playwright Laura Thoma joins us to talk about her first commissioned play, Letter to My Soul, which will premiere at the GreenStage Guilford Live Arts Festival on August 10th. We discuss another story from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES, “At the End of the Passage” by Rudyard Kipling, which didn’t seem very ghostly to us. Other stories we’ve read and discuss include BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan (out 9/2/2025); SUMMER ON THE LAKES, IN 1843 from the new Library of American ed...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 239
Welcome to Episode 238 which features an Author Spotlight with the wonderfully creepy Clare Beams! To clarify: it’s her work that’s creepy, in a good way. As you’ll hear in the interview, Clare is lovely, smart, feminist, and fun. We both enjoyed her latest book, THE GARDEN, which is part historical fiction, part ghost story, and part pregnancy horror story all wrapped up in a novel about a woman who finds herself in a place she never imagined with results that . . . well, you’ll have to read it...
Jul 15, 2025•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 238
Welcome to Episode 237 where we DO NOT talk about the scheduled ghost story, “Thrawn Janet” by Robert Louis Stevenson due to human error. We’ll discuss it on the next episode along with “The Open Door” by Margaret Oliphant. Now, on to what we DID discuss. What we’re currently reading: THE GARDEN by Clare Beams, SILAS MARNER by George Eliot, and COOKING IN REAL LIFE by Lidey Heuck. What we’ve just read: THE SHINING by Stephen King, MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks, and SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter...
Jul 01, 2025•54 min•Ep. 237
Welcome to Episode 236, where we are both back at Book Cougars HQ and happy to be sitting across the table from one another again. We did some Biblio Adventuring since the last episode! Emily joined the Pride celebration in Middletown, CT which kicked off with Drag Storytime at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore. She also had a lovely visit to Big Red Books in Nyack, NY. Chris was back in the Midwest where she visited the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, K...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 236
Chris and Emily recorded Episode 235 over Zoom. Emily was holding down the fort at Book Cougars HQ in Connecticut and Chris dialed in from Pittsburgh, PA. She was on the road back to Connecticut from Illinois and had some fun Biblio Adventures to share including a visit to Van Wert, Ohio where she visited The Brumback Library and had lunch with Linda, the BC’s librarian. She also visited the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and got to browse Caliban Bookshop. Emily saved the day or at least story ...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 235
Welcome to Episode 234, featuring an Author Spotlight with memoirist Elissa Altman. We talk about her writing process, including the use of two particular desks that she sits at depending on the focus of her work. We also get into the specifics of journals vs. diaries and, of course, we asked her about writing implements! Her new book, PERMISSION: THE NEW MEMOIRIST AND THE COURAGE TO CREATE, is out now. In our Just Read segment we talk about books in several different genres. Emily finished a no...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 234
On Episode 233, we are thrilled to welcome back, MATTHEW GOODMAN! We are so grateful that Zoom and, before them, Skype (remember them?) opened up the world to conversations with authors. That said, there’s still nothing like sitting in the same room with other humans talking about books, ideas, and historic happenings. Matthew joined us at Book Cougars HQ here in Connecticut to discuss his new book, PARIS UNDERCOVER: A WARTIME STORY OF COURAGE, FRIENDSHIP, AND BETRAYAL, now available from Ballan...
May 06, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 233
We were thrilled to talk with author Eowyn Ivey about her new book, BLACK WOODS BLUE SKY. During our conversation, Eowyn shared her writing habits, including a description of her writing cottage, and tells us about her reading life. Topics ranged from motherhood on the page and in real life, her family’s literary life in Alaska, and Proust vs Joyce. In our own reading lives, we both read and discuss “The North Mail” by Amelia B. Edwards from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES: from Elizabeth Gask...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 232
We were thrilled and a little nervous to sit down with Ruth Franklin to talk about her work and share our origin story. The Book Cougars may not have been born without Ruth Franklin. Or, come to think of it, Shirley Jackson. We were excited to talk with Ruth about her brilliant new work, THE MANY LIVES OF ANNE FRANK, and her previous biography, SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE. You won’t want to miss our conversation with Ruth. She is a fantastic writer and a great conversationalist. The i...
Apr 08, 2025•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 231
Welcome to Episode 230 where we talk about some books. As this is another tenth episode, we are also hosting a giveaway! One lucky newsletter subscriber will win a paperback copy of our second quarter readalong pick, THE GOOD HOUSE by Tananarive Due. Newsletter subscribers are automatically entered to win our recurring tenth episode giveaways. Chris unexpectedly read the surprise hot book of the season, CARELESS PEOPLE: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams,...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 230
Welcome to Episode 229! We kick off this episode with the announcement of our second quarter readalong pick for our year of reading Ghost Stories. We hope you’ll read along with us! Speaking of which, we also have an in depth conversation about “What Was It?” by Fitz-James O’Brien, the second story in the PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES that we’ll be buddy reading throughout the year. Join us on this, too! Emily checked off the Western square on her Ghost Stories Bingo Card by reading LONE WOMEN b...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 229
Welcome to Episode 228! 2025 is the year of the Ghost Story. We’ve created a tab on the website to keep you up-to-date on our quarterly readalongs, the schedule for the year-long buddy read of THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce, and there is a downloadable Ghost Story Bingo Card; we would love for you to play along. Be sure to bookmark the page and check back for updates. On this episode we do a deep dive on Shirley Jackson’s THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE wh...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 228
Welcome to Episode 227, featuring an author spotlight with Megan Marshall discussing her new collection of essays, After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart. Megan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer who turns her writerly gaze and historical imagination on her own life, her family and friends, and the “after lives” of her biographical subjects. After Lives publishes the day this episode drops–purchase your copy post-haste or request it at your library. We have been enjoy...
Feb 11, 2025•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 227
