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

Welcome to a special MIN JIN LEE triple header to celebrate her new novel, AMERICAN HAGWON.

Part 1: We talk about AMERICAN HAGWON in the first part of the episode. The novel publishes on 9/29, and if you haven’t already preordered or reserved a copy at your library, consider this your reminder to do so. It’s an excellent reading experience, from the characters to their situations to the writing itself. It’s a multigenerational, multi-family, multi-location saga that we didn't want to end.

Part 2: We share the conversation we had with Min Jin Lee about PACHINKO that was recorded live at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT, way back in 2018 (and featured on Episode 41).

Part 3: In 2019, we chose FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES as a readalong pick. The first part of this segment is from Episode 89 and includes our conversation about the novel, and then Min joins us for a more in-depth discussion.

Breaking news: Min used to say she was writing a trilogy, but has recently announced she’s writing a quartet of the Korean diaspora experience. Her fourth novel is titled Marshall Plan. There’s no pub date yet, but you can bet we’ll be on the lookout.

We’re happy to report that the memoir Min mentions in Part 3 is still in the works.

Thanks for listening, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode269

Welcome to Episode 268!

We recap our Big Book Summer reads, which were all good. There wasn’t a DNF among them, although Chris hasn’t yet finished ROOTS.

Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier and AJ Dungo

All We Hide by Robyn Gigl

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan

Land by Maggie O’Farrell

Point of Origin: Scarpetta #9 by Patricia Cornwell

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman, release date 9/8/2026

American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee, release date 9/29/2026

Time marches on, so although it is goodbye to Big Book Summer, we now say hello to Shorty September! This year, we’ve challenged ourselves to choose books that are <200 pages.

Emily plans to read:

Zorrie by Laird Hunt

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Morning Star: Growing Up with Books by Ann Hood

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu, translated by Morgan Giles

Consider the Oyster by M.F.K. Fisher

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Chris plans to read:

My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather for an upcoming event via the National Willa Cather Center

Murder at the Tavern: A Guilford Mystery by Juliana Harris

(Don’t) Call Mum by Matt Wesolowski

The Night Library of Sternendach: A Vampire Opera in Verse by Jessica Lévai

Gibbons or One Bloody Thing After Another by James Morrison

Cinder House by Freya Marske

If you’re playing along, what short books do you plan to read this month? (Seriously, we want to know.) If you share on social media, use the hashtag #ShortySeptember for others to find your picks and recs, and vice versa.

Oh, and we announce our Q4 Readalong pick for our year of reading Page-to-Screen Adaptations. It’s a novel that grew out of a song and was then adapted into a movie.

As always, we talk about more books than are listed here. Thanks for listening, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode268

Welcome to Episode 267, featuring an Author Spotlight with Susan Gregg Gilmore. Her new novel, THE CURIOUS CALLING OF LEONARD BUSH, is the fiction winner of the 2025 Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. The novel is available now in hardcover and pubs in paperback on September 8th, so pre-order now or ask your library to order a copy.

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about:

All We Hide by Robyn Gigl

The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman (release date 9/8/2026)

The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture by Jimmy Carter

We discuss our Q3 Readalong pick

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh, and the companion read,

Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier with illustrations by AJ Dungo

In #BiblioAdventures, Chris recaps her trip to Alabama and Georgia where she visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Virginia Highland Books, the Atlanta History Center, Horton’s Books and Gifts, and Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest. A flight delay/reroute also gave her time to visit Parnassus Books at the Nashville airport.

Big thanks to the sponsors of this episode, Social Animals by Camille Perri and Greta Garbo and the Rise of the Modern Woman by Scott Reisfield.

As always, we talk about more books than are listed here. Thanks for listening, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode267

Welcome to Episode 266, featuring an Author Spotlight with Jennifer (Jenny) Putzi, a leading scholar of nineteenth-century American women's writing. She talks with us about her captivating new book, THE RECONSTRUCTION DIARY OF FRANCES ANNE ROLLIN: A Critical Edition, which is out now from UNC Press. Jenny is also co-director of the Black Women's Diaries Project, an exciting digital humanities initiative with a public website that will launch this November.

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about:

“The History of Sound” short story in the collection THE HISTORY OF SOUND by Ben Shattuck

THE SECRET OF SNOW by Tina Harnesk, translated by Alice Menzies

“The Killers” by Ernest Hemingway

In #BiblioAdventures, we recap Christopher Myers’ wonderful presentation of his new family memoir, ROBERT SHAW: An Actor’s Life on the Set of Jaws and Beyond, at Mystic Seaport Museum. We spill the tea on what actor Robert Shaw, a lifelong reader and an award-winning author, thought about the novel JAWS by Peter Benchley.

We also talk about:

Couch Biblio Adventures: Not Dead Yet/Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up and Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

Bookstore visits: The Curious Cat Bookshop, a new B&N, Ink Fish Books, and The Yellow House

Public libraries: Southington Library, The George Hail Free Library, the Daniel Albert Piercy Library, and the main branch of the New York Public Library.

As always, we talk about more books (and screen adaptations) than are listed here. Thanks for listening, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode266

Welcome to Episode 265!

Content warning: We talk a lot about JAWS in this episode, both the novel and the movie. We jest about the content warning (maybe), but there’ll be more JAWS talk in the next episode, too, because after we recorded this one, we jumped in our biblio-adventure-mobile and headed to Mystic Seaport for a related author event: Christopher Shaw Myers talking about his new nonfiction book about his uncle, ROBERT SHAW.

Other books that we discuss in our “Just Read” segment include:

The Man by Laura Sims (a spontaneous #buddyread)

Man Overboard! by Kathleen Rooney

When the Stammer Came to Stay by Maggie O’Farrell, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini

The Card-File System of Note-Taking by Jacques Goutor

Unnatural Exposure, Scarpetta #8 by Patricia Cornwell

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

In #BiblioAdventures, Emily talks about starting to watch the adaptation of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and Chris recaps Ellen Carol DuBois’ Zoom event on her biography, Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life. This was an in-person and online event hosted jointly by the Lewes Public Library, Browseabout Books, and the History Book Festival.

As always, we talk about more books (and movies) than are listed here. Thanks for listening, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode265

Welcome to Episode 264!

We were thrilled to have a chance to speak with CLAIRE FULLER about her new novel, HUNGER AND THIRST. If you’re looking for an atmospheric, creepy, twisty, coming-of-age novel that’ll keep you wondering what’s really going on, look no further! Claire’s Author Spotlight follows our regular segments.

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about:

📖 JAWS by Peter Benchley

📖 MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe

📖 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE by David Sedaris

In #BiblioAdventures, Emily recaps attending Soon Wiley’s fascinating event at RJ Julia Booksellers. Soon, author of Cece Downings Start Over Summer, was in conversation with Patricia Santomasso, the audiobook narrator of the novel. Chris visited the Pandemonium Rainforest Project and was excited by their book tent outside and their loungey vintage book room inside. She also had two #BuddyRead conversations with friends: the novel 11/22/63 by Stephen King and ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER by Seth Grahame-Smith (both the novel and the movie adaptation).

Speaking of buddy reads, in the last episode we announced our third-quarter readalong in our year of reading Page-to-Screen adaptations: THE COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh. The film adaptatio was written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. We chose this title months ago and were saddened to hear of Satrapi’s recent death. Because of this, you may want to request it from your library right away; we hear there are now waitlists for it. PERSEPOLIS was originally published in two volumes, so you may find those if the complete version is a longer wait or unavailable.

We have also chosen a companion read: WAKE NOW IN THE FIRE by Jarrett Dapier with illustrations by AJ Dungo. This is a graphic novel based on the true story of PERSEPOLIS being banned by the Chicago Public School system in recent years.

The Zoom discussion is set for Sunday, August 16th at 7 pm ET. It is free and open to all, but you do need to email us to register ([email protected]).

As always, we talk about more books (and movies) than are listed here. Thanks for listening and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

Show notes for the episode can be found at: https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode264

Welcome to Episode 263!

We were excited to talk with Denise Kiernan about her timely new book on the eve of America’s 250th birthday, OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution.

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about:

TABLE 4 AT THE RIVER CAFE: Conversations about Food and Life by Ruthie Rogers

11/22/63 by Stephen King

LAND by Maggie O’Farrell

“The Summer People” by Shirley Jackson (in the collection DARK TALES)

WHEN SHE WAS OURS by Anna Nordberg (pubs on 8/1/2026)

CAUSE OF DEATH: Scarpetta #7 by Patricia Cornwell

WHISTLER by Ann Patchett

In #BiblioAdventures, Chris visited four bookstores in Mystic, CT: the Maritime Bookshop at Mystic Seaport Museum, Bank Square Books, No Other Book Like This, and Alice’s Little Haunted Bookshop. Emily watched the movie adaptation of FOE by Iain Reid.

We are both #currentlyreading HUNGER AND THIRST by Claire Fuller. We also have a #buddyread planned of JAWS by Peter Benchley to coincide with a Jaws-related author event at Mystic Seaport on July 22nd. Christopher Shaw will talk about his new biography of his uncle, ROBERT SHAW: The Misunderstood Genius Behind Jaws.

As always, we talk about more books than are listed here. We hope you enjoy this episode, and we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

P.S. We also announce our third quarter readalong pick for our year of page-to-screen adaptations. We’ve chosen a related companion read about the banning of this pick by the Chicago public school system.

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode263

lcome to Episode 262!

We had a fantastic discussion with an enthusiastic group of listeners about our second quarter readalong, Fannie Flagg’s novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE. We talk about both the book and the movie. If you’re curious about our Q3 readalong choice, you’ll have to wait a little longer; we will announce it on the next episode).

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about:

SWIMMING STUDIES by Leanne Shapton

TWILIGHT SLEEP by Edith Wharton

FOE by Iain Reid

SIZZLE & DRIZZLE: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips by Nancy Birtwhistle

MS. MEBEL GOES BACK TO THE CHOPPING BLOCK by Jesse Q. Sutanto

In #BiblioAdventures, Chris had a great time attending the 2026 BIO Conference, and Emily had a #buddyread of Anne Tyler’s THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST with Russell from Ink and Paper Blog. Both of us were excited to attend Amy Bloom’s recent event at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison where she talked about her new mystery novel BLUNT INSTRUMENT.

We are both #currentlyreading OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan, which publishes next Tuesday, 6/23! Denise will be our guest in July, so if you have a question you’d like us to ask her, leave a comment or email us ([email protected]).

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode262

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