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

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

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

By: Book Cougars
Listen for free

About this listen

 Chris and Emily discuss books and literary adventures2016-2018 Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • Episode 235 - Hello, Pittsburgh Calling!

    Episode 235 - Hello, Pittsburgh Calling!
    Jun 3 2025
    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 time at Wesleyan R.J. Julia. She was there with her daughter to share her granddaughter’s first bookstore story time and ended up hosting said story time! Books we’ve read since the last episode and discuss include: — RENEGADE GIRLS: A QUEER TALE OF ROMANCE AND RABBLE-ROUSING by Nora Neus and illustrated by Julie Robine — THE GOOD HOUSE by Tananarive Due — A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND: THE KU KLUX KLAN'S PLOT TO TAKE OVER AMERICA, AND THE WOMAN WHO STOPPED THEM byTimothy Egan — A DOG IN GEORGIA by Lauren Grodstein (forthcoming 8/5) — THE GREAT GATSBY AT 100 by Sheila Liming — THE WRITING LIFE by Annie Dillard This episode’s ghost story is “The Ghost in the Cap’n Brown House” by Harriet Beecher Stowe from THE PENGUIN BOOK OF GHOST STORIES FROM ELIZABETH GASKELL TO AMBROSE BIERCE. We also talk about meeting up for coffee with Deanna (a listener from Virginia), our upcoming jaunts, and mention the books we’ve chosen to kick off the #BigBookSummer Reading Challenge. Many thanks to Shirley Russak Wachtel, author of THE BAKER OF LOST MEMORIES, for sponsoring this episode! We hope that if you go on a road trip this summer, you’re able to drive at your preferred pace, on your preferred type of road, and listen to the audiobook of your choice. Happy Reading!
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Episode 234 - Author Spotlight with Elissa Altman

    Episode 234 - Author Spotlight with Elissa Altman
    May 20 2025
    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 novel, Chris read a poetry collection and a work of literary criticism, and we did a joint read of a short story in our Penguin Classics collection of ghost stories: LEAVING by Roxana Robinson WHEN I WAS STRAIGHT by Julie Marie Wade JANE AUSTEN’S BOOKSHELF by Rebecca Romney “GREEN TEA” by Sheridan Le Fanu We recap an exciting joint jaunt to NYC to meet up with Aunt Ellen, where we saw the Belle de Costa Green exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum and attended Selected Shorts: Classics with a Twist with Meg Wolitzer and Friends at Symphony Space. As always, there are more books and Biblio Adventures discussed than we mention in this blurb. Special thanks to Janet Clare author of TRUE HOME, for sponsoring this episode. Happy Listening and Happy Reading! https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode234
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 40 mins
  • Episode 233 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman

    Episode 233 - Author Spotlight with Matthew Goodman
    May 6 2025
    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
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 39 mins
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
No reviews yet