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!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode243