Welcome to Episode 213!

BookTuber Shawn Breathes Books joins us to celebrate Jenny Colvin and “I’ll Have What You’re Reading,” the memorial buddy read we jointly hosted with him the last few months. We also discuss Andrea Robbin Skinner’s recent revelation about her mother, Alice Munro, and how it has impacted us as readers.

Some other highlights:

In #CurrentlyReading, we are each reading another chunkster for Sue Jackson’s #BigBookSummer: Emily is cooling off with THE SNOW CHILD by Eowyn Ivey, and Chris is going back in time with MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS by Antonia Fraser.

We have a spoiler-free conversation about FELLOWSHIP POINT by Alice Elliot Dark which we both enjoyed.

Short stories read since the last episode:

“Janus” by Ann Beattie and “In the Gloaming” by Alice Elliott Dark both from the collection THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY edited by John Updike and Katrina Kenison.

“A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You” by Amy Bloom from the collection A BLIND MAN COULD SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU: STORIES.

“Uncle Valentine” by Willa Cather in UNCLE VALENTINE AND OTHER STORIES, edited by Bernice Slote

“The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier from the collection THE BIRDS AND OTHER STORIES [This collection was first published in the UK in 1952 with the title, THE APPLE TREE: A SHORT NOVEL AND SEVERAL LONG STORIES]

In Biblio Adventures, we recap the great day we had on Long Island, NY We took a ferry from New London, CT, to Orient Point, NY, then drove south to the Barnes and Noble in Bridgehampton to check out their new store layout. Then we headed north to Sag Harbor, where we were delighted by a John Steinbeck and Charley sculpture (“Assistant Editor” by Seward Johnson) and explored Sag Harbor Books. Other stops included Black Cat Books on Shelter Island and the Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport. Check out our vlog of the day on our YouTube channel

Emily had a Couch Biblio Adventure, thanks to our listener Kathy who told us about a conversation with Percival Everett, Cord Jefferson, and Jelani Cobb via City Arts & Lectures

Chris watched LETTERS TO JULIET, a rom-com inspired by the book of the same name by Eve Friedman and Ceil Jann Friedman. She also went on a quick shopping spree at McNally Jackson Books at Rockefeller Center.

A reminder that our third quarter readalong is ENVY, by Sandra Brown. There are a few spots left for our Zoom discussion on Sunday, 9/15, at 7 pm ET. Email us if you’d like to join us. bookcougars at gmail dot com.

Thanks for listening, and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2024/episode213