Episodes
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Welcome to Episode 261!
It looks like our first quarter readalong title, FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, has not lost its grip on us. We both finally watched and in this episode discuss The Bride!, written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Wow. It is a wild ride of a movie and, much like the original novel, not for the faint of heart.
Emily watched Remarkably Bright Creatures, based on the novel of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt, and Chris saw The Devil Wears Prada 2, inspired by the novels by Lauren Weisberger
What a great year for page-to-screen adaptations 2026 is shaping up to be! Two forthcoming adaptations that we’re looking forward to are a mini-series of East of Eden by John Steinbeck and a series called Anna Pigeon based on Nevada Barr’s series that starts with TRACK OF THE CAT.
Books we’ve Just Read include FIVE by Ilona Bannister,
FROM POTTERS FIELD: Scarpetta #6 by Patricia Cornwell, and THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler.
It is now officially #BigBookSummer, and we’re ready to dive into some books that are 400+ pages. Emily plans on starting with the BEARTOWN trilogy by Fredrik Backman, and Chris’s first big book will be 11/22/63 by Stephen King.
We’d love to hear about your summer reading plans. Leave a comment or send us an email ([email protected]).
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode261 -
Welcome to Episode 260! It’s another 10th episode, which means we have a GIVEAWAY for newsletter subscribers. One lucky subscriber of our free monthly newsletter will win hardcover copies of:
Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano
Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson
Subscribe by May 21 to be entered to win–there’s a link in the shownotes, or go directly to our website. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on May 22, 2026.
It will come as no surprise that we talk about A LOT of books in this two-hour episode. First of all, we went to The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia, where we saw the following authors talk about their new books:
All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun
Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan
Crucible by John Sayles
Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han
Little Movements by Lauren Morrow
Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry
Pollock’s Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Take It From Me by Alia Hannah Habib
The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Whidbey by T Kira Madden
Booktopia is our favorite Biblio Adventure, and we hope Northshire does it again next year!
And then JOHN VALERI, Our Mystery Man, joins us to talk about Buddy Reads! Emily and John discuss WELCOME TO THE HYUNAM-DONG BOOKSHOP by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan. Chris and John talk about Patricia Cornwell’s new memoir, TRUE CRIME, and their reread of her Scarpetta series.
If you’d like to get together with us to talk about FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE by Fannie Flagg, we still have a couple of spots available for our June 7th discussion. Email us at [email protected].
We hope you enjoy this mammoth episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode260 -
Welcome to Episode 259!
We got a lot of reading done since the last episode:
📖 Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan
📖 The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 by Patricia Cornwell
📖 The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
📖 All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun
📖 Blunt Instrument by Amy Bloom
📖 Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
In Biblio Adventures, Chris celebrated Independent Bookstore Day at The Book Barn in Niantic and at Bank Square Books in Mystic. Emily visited her son in Colorado and had a productive workday at the Carbondale Public Library, one of her favorites. She also discovered a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant at the Denver airport – it’s in the A gates behind a facade of book-filled bookshelves! The facade holds real books that are a take-one-leave-one library.
This year is the 35th anniversary of the movie adaptation of Fannie Flag’s novel, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE, which just so happens to be our second quarter readalong pick. There will be showings at major theater chains this month, so check out your local listings. There are a few spots left for our June 7th discussion of the novel and movie (7 pm ET). Email us – [email protected] – if you’d like to participate.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode259 -
Welcome to Episode 258!In a first for Book Cougars Author Spotlights, we welcome back an author not to discuss their next book, but to learn about why and how their first novel is being published for a second time – with a new publisher and a new ending! We enjoyed Heather Harper Ellett’s debut novel, AIN’T NOBODY NOBODY, and were thrilled to invite her back to talk about the new life being breathed into her fantastic literary mystery, which also now has an audiobook version. Don’t miss our conversation, which follows our regular segments.We finished/DNF’d some good/okay reads since last time:– PET SEMATARY by Stephen King – THE GOLDEN BOY by Patricia Finn – TRUE CRIME: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell – RAISING HARE by Chloe Dalton– SHOELESS JOE JACKSON COMES TO IOWA: Stories by W.P. KinsellaIn Biblio Adventures, we visited some fabulous independent and used bookstores:–CT: River Bend Bookshop’s new location in West Hartford; Grey Matter Books, the Book Trader Cafe, and Atticus Bookstore Cafe in New Haven–MA: Papercuts Bookshop in Jamaica Plain, Boston–NYC: Pickle Books and P&T Knitwear Books on the Lower East SideAnd check out Emily’s conversation with author Rebecca Kauffman about her novel THE RESERVATION over on Ingredient One.As always, we talk about more books and #biblioadventures than we list here. We hope you enjoy the episode and check out the show notes for links to all/most of the books, movies, and places that we mention.Happy Listening and Happy Reading!https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode258
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We have a fascinating Author Spotlight with EMILY FRANKLIN whose new novel comes out today! LOVE AND OTHER MONSTERS is historical fiction at its finest – engaging and well researched – that tells the story of Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley’s stepsister, who was very much a part of the group that spent time in that Swiss villa writing (or not writing) ghost stories to pass the time during the Year Without Summer. Who was Claire? Why has Claire been forgotten by history? Why did Mary intentionally leave Claire out of her 1831 preface to Frankenstein? You’ll have to read the novel to find out, but first, we hope you enjoy our conversation with Emily.
Books we discuss in our “Just Read” segment:
WRITTEN IN THE WATERS: A Memory of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts
IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 by Marcel Proust
CRUEL & UNUSUAL, Scarpetta Book 4, by Patricia Cornwell
THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson
As always, we also talk about what we’re currently reading, what we hope to read, and Biblio Adventures.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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, we talk about a wide variety of books:
ANDERSON IN BLOOM by Jennifer Dugan
THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU by Libby Page
EVERY DAY I READ: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan
NEVER CAUGHT: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
MISSING SISTER by Joshilyn Jackson
ULTRALEARNING: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott H. Young
In #BiblioAdventures, we recap several “Couch Biblio Adventures,” including watching the movie HARRIET, binging the new season of VIRGIN RIVER, and dipping into the new SCARPETTA series. Chris was in Rhode Island and visited the B&N in Warwick, and finally got inside Ink Fish Books in Warren. She also saw Edith Wharton’s house in Newport, where the writer lived prior to building her dream home in the Berkshires. Emily had zero luck seeing Laura Zigman and Alice Hoffman in conversation about the new collection of essays, THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD – events have been sold out! Congrats to them for a successful book launch.
We’re also #currentlyreading some great books and have our eyes on some beauties we can’t wait to get to.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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 Lydia Marie Child
AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY by Susanna Kwan
ALL THAT REMAINS by Patricia Cornwell
THE RESERVATION by Rebecca Kauffman
In Biblio Adventures, we got to see THE LIBRARIANS documentary, directed by Kim A. Snyder, at the Schubert Theater in New Haven. It drew a big crowd of librarians and library lovers. The film documents the attack on school libraries launched by a billionaire and politician, with cookie-cutter campaigns that spread across Texas and into other states, such as New Jersey. Librarians are on the front lines fighting against these threats to our First Amendment rights and the foundations of our democracy. New showings are added to their website regularly, and you may be able to organize one yourself. It is streaming on PBS from Feb 9-May 9, 2026 [https://thelibrariansfilm.com/streaming/]
As for Couch Biblio Adventures, we both watched FRANKENSTEIN, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Chris also recommends Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson, a short documentary on the making of Del Toro’s adaptation. And she watched FRANKENSTEIN: The Man Who Made a Monster, starring Boris Karloff, who originated the iconic flat-headed creature with neck electrodes. It is interesting to see which aspects of Shelley’s story movie makers choose to focus on, what changes they make, and the new elements/characters they create. We are checking off some boxes on our Page-to-Screen Bingo card.
We hope you enjoy this episode, and that you are finding comfort, inspiration, and understanding in books.
Happy Reading! -
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 conversation with listeners. We still have some spots available–if you’d like to join in, send us an email ([email protected]).
Other books we are currently reading include IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 by Marcel Proust, THE RESERVATION by Rebecca Kauffman, and RUSS & DAUGHTERS: 100 Years of Appetizing by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper.
Our BiblioAdventures have primarily been of the Couch variety: Chris watched a Jane Austen-inspired romance called SENSE, SENSIBILITY, & SNOWMEN, and Emily watched the second event in the Aspen Winter Words series featuring Mitzi Rapkin in conversation with Lily King about her new novel, HEART THE LOVER. We did run into a delightful Little Free Library after a delicious dinner at Fair Haven Oyster Co. along the banks of the Quinnipiac River, and we sing the praises of a #LFL we both often visit in Stony Creek, CT.
NEW BOOKSTORE ALERT! If you’re in Chicago, Partners in Crime Bookshop just celebrated their grand opening. Let us know about it if you check it out, or tag us (#bookcougars) if you post photos of your visit.
Okay, we’ll stop writing now so you can start listening. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!
Happy Reading!
Show notes for the episode can be found here: https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode254 -
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 Zoom conversation. Cacawewe!
In our Just Read segment, we talk about:
THE BONE THIEF by Vanessa Lillie
WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN by Jenn McKinlay
ANNE BRONTË NIGHT WALKER: A Brontë Blood Chronicle by Gea Haff
Chris also DNF’d two novels. It happens.
In Biblio Adventures, Emily went to Bank Square Books in Mystic to hear Luanne Rice in conversation with Vanessa Lillie about her novel THE BONE THIEF. Chris had a good old browse at Barnes & Noble in Milford, CT, where she stumbled upon one of our gift ideas.
Thank you to this episode’s sponsor RESONANT BLUE AND OTHER STORIES by Mary Vensel White.
Happy Listening and, until next time, we wish you lots of Happy Reading!
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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 TBR lists! Reminder that we have a Top 10 shelf on our Bookshop.org page for purchase and for you to learn more about each of the books.
We also talk about our 2026 Reading Intentions. These are often works in progress, which is a good thing, because after recording, we both realized we had forgotten a couple of intentions.
It had been a longer-than-usual time span since we last recorded a regular episode, so we had some catching up to do in our “Just Read” segment, which includes:
BETH IS DEAD by Katie Bernet
PRACTICAL MAGIC by Alice Hoffman
A BACKWARD GLANCE by Edith Wharton
BODYWORK: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos
POSTMORTEM and BODY OF EVIDENCE by Patricia Cornwell
THE AUTHOR WEEKEND by Laura Zigman (release date 5/5/2026)
A TANGLE OF OBSIDIAN by Lydia M. Hawke
THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi
We had some wonderful Couch Biblio Adventures, but we also managed to get out into the world. Emily visited Slackline Press in Branford, Connecticut, and Davoll’s General Store in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where she saw Catherine Newman in conversation with Emily Franklin. Chris was in Huntsville, Alabama, and visited The Snail on the Wall bookstore, named after Virginia Woolf’s short story, “The Mark on the Wall.” She also checked out the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.
Happy listening, take care of yourself, and stay safe out there. Until next time, we wish you lots of Happy Reading! -
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 discuss listener top tens on the next episode.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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, even if we had to look in our notes to see what they were! Emily had one that really surprised us, and may have slipped into our subconscious to help create our theme for 2026.
What we’ve read since last time:
THE AWARD by Matthew Pearl
“A Small, Good Thing” from the collection WHERE I’M CALLING FROM by Raymond Carver
JURASSIC GIRL: THE ADVENTURES OF MARY ANNING, PALEONTOLOGIST AND THE FIRST FEMALE FOSSIL HUNTER by Michele C. Hollow
THE LAST WITCH by C.J. Cooke
“Street Haunting: A London Adventure” from the collection, COLLECTED ESSAYS by Virginia Woolf
A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens (the audio version narrated by Ralph Cosham)
SAPPHIRA AND THE SLAVE GIRL by Willa Cather
In Biblio Adventures, Chris watched Hank Phillipi Ryan’s excellent interview with Matthew Pearl about his new novel, THE AWARD, on A MIGHTY BLAZE. Emily spent a week in the Big Apple and visited the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Café Con Libros in Crown Heights, and Bibliotheque NYC in Soho.
We talk about our 2026 theme: books/stories with movie/TV adaptations. Our first quarter readalong pick is FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley. The Zoom discussion will be in March; the exact date is TBD. We’ll use #booktofilm2026 as our official hashtag.
Reminder: if you played Ghost Story Bingo with us this year, email us an image of your card by midnight on 12/31/2025.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading! -
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 ([email protected]).
Another big deal about this episode is that we finished THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES: FROM ELIZABETH GASKELL TO AMBROSE BIERCE! We discuss the last story, “Afterward” by Edith Wharton, and also share our top *cough* three stories from the collection. There’s a big surprise about that.
The books we have read since the last time include:
THE CHICKEN SISTERS by KJ Dell’Antonia
CITIZEN REPORTERS by Stephanie Gorton
DREAM STATE by Eric Puchner
FIEND by Alma Katsu
WHAT CAN I BRING by Casey Elsass
MORE THAN ENOUGH by Anna Quindlen (release date 2/24/2026)
We had some fun Biblio Adventures, including running into author Hank Philipi Ryan when we went to see Hanna Halperin in conversation with Oyinkan Braithwaite at The Harvard Bookstore. We spent the day in Boston before that evening's event, starting with a delicious lunch at Flour Bakery + Cafe. Highlights include visiting the Houghton Library, Bob Slate Stationer, the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, and the Harvard Art Museum. We discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, DRACULA. Emily enjoyed a conversation between cookbook writers, Casey Elsass and Dorie Greenspan. She also watched the first episode of The Chicken Sisters, a new serial based on the novel. Chris went on a road trip around Rhode Island and Cape Cod, searching out lighthouses and trolls created by Thomas Dambo.
Oh, and we announce our reading theme and first readalong book for 2026.
Thanks to this episode’s sponsor: LET THE WILLOWS WEEP by Sherry Parnell.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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.
We greatly appreciated Natalie taking so much time to speak with us, and when it came to editing, well, we didn’t know how to cut anything, and, to be honest, we didn’t want to cut anything! So, this episode is an extended Author Spotlight with Natalie Dykstra! We hope you enjoy it and that you pick up CHASING BEAUTY. This biography won a New England Society of New York Book Award and the Marfield Prize, the national award for arts writing. We read it in paper, digitally, and can also recommend the audiobook narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed.
We’ll be back with a “regular” episode in two weeks, when we’ll discuss Edith Wharton’s “Afterward,” the last story in our year-long reading of THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES.
Thank you to this episode’s sponsor: CLOSING COSTS by Janie Steele.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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 Matter Books.
We also had some Couch Biblioadventures. Because we recently read Daphne Du Maurier’s excellent short story, “The Birds,” we thought we’d also watch Alfred Hitchcock’s movie of the same name, which was inspired by the written word. Spoiler alert: the movie is nothing like the short story. PSA: the birds are LOUD. Other literary-related movies we watched include The Turn of the Screw, starring Michelle Dockery and Dan Stephens. Emily made an exciting discovery about A Star is Born—did you know some famous writers penned the screenplays for various incarnations of this classic story?
Some of the books we discuss include:
– All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley
– Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon by Sara Catterall
– Death at the Door: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery by Olivia Blacke
– A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhurst
And we discuss our second-to-last ghost story from The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce: “The Readjustment” by Mary Austin.
Chris has finished, and Emily is currently reading our Q4 readalong book, How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. The Zoom conversation is on Sunday, November 9th, at 7 pm ET. It is free and open to all, but registration is required. We still have a few spots available, so email us if you’re interested ([email protected]).
Special thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau
and Paper Roses by Debby Show.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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 you!
The image for this episode is a selfie we took in front of Henry James’s portrait at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston earlier this year. It was painted in 1911 by his nephew, William “Billy” James.
We had much more fun reading and discussing “The Birds” by Daphne Du Maurier. There’s a new collection of Du Maurier’s short stories out, AFTER MIDNIGHT: THIRTEEN TALES FOR THE DARK HOURS, which prompted our buddy read of this suspenseful tale of increasing dread. We plan on watching Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of the same name before the next episode.
In our “Just Read” segment, we also talk about:
THE LAST RESORT by Erin Entrada Kelly
THE DOGS OF VENICE by Steven Rowley
AFTERTASTE by Daria LaVelle
AGNES GREY by Anne Brontë
In Biblio Adventures, we were thrilled to make it to the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT, to see SPUNK. Zora Neale Hurston dreamed of seeing her short story, published in 1925, adapted for the stage. It took one hundred years to happen, but her wish has come true.
As always, there’s more “inside.”
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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 talk about include A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES by T. Kingfisher, 107 DAYS by Kamala Harris, SUNNY SIDE UP by Katie Sturino, MARGARET FULLER: Collected Writings edited by Brigitte Bailey, Leslie Eckel, and Megan Marshall, and DEATH AT THE WHITE HART by Chris Chibnall.
In Biblio Adventures, Emily recaps some of the bookish highlights from her vacation on Cape Cod, including BOOKSTORES (Provincetown Bookshop, Tim’s Used Books, and Titcomb’s Bookshop), LIBRARIES (Provincetown Public Library, the Sturgis Library, Eldridge Public Library and the South Chatham Library), and a bunch of LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES, including a charming mosaic #LFL. Chris spent a day working in the Barnard College Archives and then met a friend for a delicious dinner at Osteria Accademia, a book-lined restaurant on the Upper West Side. Afterwards, she headed to Grand Central to catch a train home to Connecticut and experienced the building’s power outage, which made her worry about Dementors and rats.
Last but not least, we are thrilled to welcome back OUR MYSTERY MAN, John Valeri for his 14th guest appearance. John joined us to discuss two ghost stories that are on our Ghost Stories Bingo card: “The Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde. He also drops a few reading recommendations because it wouldn’t be a proper visit from Our Mystery Man without them.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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’ by M.R. James. We had mixed reactions to this one.
Chris finished and highly recommends THE GHOST STORIES OF EDITH WHARTON. Emily recommends a cozy ghost novel, the first in the Ruby and Cordelia Mystery, A NEW LEASE ON DEATH by Olivia Blacke. Other books we’ve just read include THE RAREST FRUIT by Gaëlle Bélem (translated by Hildegarde Serle), TO CATCH A THIEF by David Dodge, and ALL THE WORLD CAN HOLD by Jung Yun (pre-order now, release date 3/10/2026).
BiblioAdventures include the Barnard College archives, Book Culture, the Columbia University Bookstore, and The Hungarian Pastry Shop.
Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Playback by Carla Malden.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
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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
THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach
HOTEL SILENCE by Auđur Ava Ólafsdóttir (translated by Brian Fitzgibbon)
THE PECULIAR GIFT OF JULY by Ashley Ream
“The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” and “The Eyes” from THE GHOST STORIES OF EDITH WHARTON
“Luella Miller” from HORROR CLASSICS edited by Darryl Jones
“The Wind in the Rose-Bush” by Mary Wilkins Freeman from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES edited by Michael Newton
In Biblio Adventures, we recap the fun talk we had with Patrons at our monthly Reading Salon about books we’ve wanted to throw across the room. Some of us resisted the urge, some did not. Emily watched a conversation about REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier between Ali Velshi and Jennifer Egan. We took a ride down to Bridgeport for lunch and a visit to Kindred Thoughts Books.
We also do a quick recap of our #BigBookSummer reads. We don’t go into great detail since we’ve talked about the books in recent episodes. If you’re interested, we did a more indepth recap on our YouTube channel. (www.youtube/BookCougars)
Big thanks to all of our patrons and financial donors who help keep the podcast going, and to those who spread the word and stay in touch with us. We literally couldn’t do this without you!
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode242 - Show more
