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

Episode 268 - Goodbye Big Book Summer, Hello Shorty September!

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

Episode 267 - Author Spotlight with Susan Gregg Gilmore

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 Will

Episode 266 - Author Spotlight with Jennifer Putzi

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 abo

Episode 265 - In the grip of JAWS

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

Episode 264 - Author Spotlight with Claire Fuller

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, creep

Episode 263 - Author Spotlight with Denise Kiernan

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, Wr

Episode 262 - Q2 Readalong: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

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

Episode 261 - Still in the Grip of Frankenstein, and Now Gyllenhaal's The Bride!

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 e

Episode 260 - Buddy Reading with Our Mystery Man John Valeri

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

Episode 259 - Busted by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Welcome to Episode 259! We got a lot of reading done since the last episode: 📖 Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan 📖 The Body

Episode 258 - Author Spotlight with Heather Harper Ellett

Welcome to Episode 258! In a first for Book Cougars Author Spotlights, we welcome back an author not to discuss their next book, but to learn about why and how their fir

Episode 257 - Author Spotlight with Emily Franklin

We have a fascinating Author Spotlight with EMILY FRANKLIN whose new novel comes out today! LOVE AND OTHER MONSTERS is historical fiction at its finest – engaging and wel

Episode 256 - Author Spotlight with Sara Catterall & Q2 Readalong Announcement

Welcome to Episode 256 featuring our Author Spotlight with biographer Sara Catterall! Sara’s new book, AMELIA BLOOMER: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon, was on C

Episode 255 - Q1 Readalong: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Welcome to Episode 255, where we dig into talking about FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley! We also discuss two adaptations that we’ve watched. We both plan to watch more adapt

Episode 254 - Author Spotlight with Tiya Miles

Welcome to Episode 254! We are so excited to welcome Tiya Miles to the podcast to discuss her most recent book, NIGHT FLYER: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free

Episode 253 - Author Spotlight with Sharon M. Harris

Welcome to Episode 247! Can you believe it is already time to share our annual Holiday Gift Ideas?? Each year, starting with Episode 2 back in 2016, we share some bookis

Episode 252 - Listener Top Tens of 2025 and New Year Reading Intentions

Welcome to Episode 252, where we share LISTENER TOP TEN READS of 2025! In past years, there hasn’t been much of a spread between the first and second place books on the l

Episode 251 - Top Ten Reads of 2025 with Russell of Ink and Paper Blog

Welcome to Episode 251 – Another Annual Top Ten Celebration with Russell of Ink and Paper Blog! We each share our list of Top Ten books read in 2025 and a favorite Bibli

Episode 250 - In podcasting years, we’re older than America250

Welcome to Episode 250! We joke that we turned “250” before “America250,” the moniker given to the United States’s anniversary celebration. The country is celebrating 25

Episode 249 - It’s Our Ninth Anniversary!

Welcome to Episode 249–we are now NINE! That’s right, December is our anniversary month. Episode 1 launched on December 6, 2016, and we’ve published a new episode every