Episode 193 - Book Club Fundamentals with Davina Morgan-Witts Founder & Publisher of BookBrowse

Chris and Emily were thrilled to sit down and talk with Davina Morgan-Witts, the Founder and Publisher of BookBrowse. Founded in 1998, BookBrowse is one of the earliest independent online book resources. Davina and her team of editors and reviewers are committed to being “Your guide to exceptional books.” If you are not yet familiar with BookBrowse, check it out. It is a helpful and fun resource for solo readers and book clubs. Since our last episode, Emily was on the road again and visited two public libraries in Maine. The Curtis Library in Brunswick had a Robert McCloskey exhibit featuring his books Blueberries for Sal, Time of Wonder, One Morning in Maine, Burt Dow Deep-Water Man, and Make Way for Ducklings. She also browsed the Wiscasset Public Library, which claims to be “the oldest continuous circulation library in the country.” (We understand such claims are dicey in the library world and so encourage you to research the matter for your own biblio-edification if you so desire.) Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Chris enjoyed several Couch Biblio Adventures. She watched Eye of the Needle via Kanopy, a 1981 adaptation of Ken Follett’s novel of the same name; the first episode of Lessons in Chemistry an Apple TV series based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus; and The Fall of the House of Usher, Mike Flanagan’s new horror mini-series on Amazon Prime that’s an homage to several of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales. And we have been reading some great books! Emily is currently reading C. Pam Zhang’s LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, a dystopian novel, while Chris is following Dante’s rise to the Light of God’s Divine Love via THE PARADISO. Some of the books we discuss include COUNTRY PLACE by Ann Petry, AFTERLIFE by Julia Alvarez, MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE by Jenna Levine, THE QUICKENING by Elizabeth Rush, THE PURGATORIO by Dante Alighieri, AND THE GOTH HOUSE EXPERIMENT by SJ Sindu. We hope you enjoy this episode. As always, if you have any questions or comments, find us on social media or email us at bookcougars@gmail.com. Happy Reading! Chris & Emily