Book Cougars Podcast: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read
Book Cougars
246 episodes
11 hours ago
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 (bookcougars@gmail.com).
Special thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau
and Paper Roses by Debby Show.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode246
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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 (bookcougars@gmail.com).
Special thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau
and Paper Roses by Debby Show.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode246
Episode 233 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman
Book Cougars Podcast: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read
1 hour 38 minutes 56 seconds
6 months ago
Episode 233 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman
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 Ballantine Books. The book is a narrative history about Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous, two middle-aged women who smuggled out British servicemen from behind enemy lines, their arrest, Etta’s best-selling memoir about their efforts, and the price Kate paid for that book. Don’t miss our conversation with Matthew at the end of this episode. Paris Undercover is about history, but it speaks to our current time.
Some highlights in this episode:
We both have started reading around in THE PORTABLE FEMINIST READER, edited by Roxane Gay, starting with “If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem. Chris also read “Being Female” by Eileen Myles. Emily finished the novel FOOD PERSON by Adam Roberts, and Chris read the graphic memoir EPHEMERA by Briana Loewinsohn.
It was also time for another ghost story from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce. We both thought “The Signal Man” by Charles Dickens was “meh,” although it had some good lines and moments.
In Biblio Adventures, we recap seeing Maura Casey at Bank Square Books in Mystic, our Independent Bookstore Day jaunts to Breakwater Books in Guilford and R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT, and Emily’s volunteer experience at Cherry Jubilee in NYC.
We had such a fun time recording this episode and hope you enjoy it.
Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode233
Book Cougars Podcast: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read
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 (bookcougars@gmail.com).
Special thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Epic and Lovely by Mo Daviau
and Paper Roses by Debby Show.
Happy Listening and Happy Reading!
https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode246
