The Dust Jacket

We discuss whether this 2012 still holds up or if the controversies are too much for it. We also talk about the wide range of philosophical questions it asks. 

TW: assisted suicide

Spoilers at 5 minutes in

We discuss the Fourth Wing-esque, possibly AI-written, new romantasy Silver Elite, with a special guest from our book group, Kate the librarian! 

We get into some of the rumors swirling around this book, why it was only disappointingly bad, not amusingly bad, and more. 

Spoilers start at 27 minutes

We discuss The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. For some of us, it was an iconic formative book. For others, a dumb thing boys liked. 

Spoilers start at 19 mins

We have a special guest star--our niece and TJR superfan Kayla--on the pod to talk about TJR's previous book, Carrie Soto Is Back, and also Taylor Jenkins Reid in general. 

Spoilers start at 27 mins 

We discuss the high-profile 2023 vampire novel The God of Endings, by Jacqueline Holland. Should you read other vampire novels before you write your own? Would you like to be immortal or nah? Did this even need to be a vampire book? All that and more...

Spoilers start around 20 minutes in

Special guest Lauren helps us discuss the future cult classic, Victorian Psycho, by Virginia Feito. A bizarre, grotesque, and hilarious novel. 

No plot spoilers, but fair warning: we do talk about a lot of the surprising and outlandish moments in this book. If you want to go in completely fresh, read it first

We discuss The Book Censor's Library, by Bothayna Al-Essa, which was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for work in translation. 

Spoilers start at 14 minutes in

We discuss the standout 2024 lit-fic novel, Blue Sisters, by Coco Mellors

We discuss the 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist The Unicorn Woman, by Gayl Jones. This book is notable for its obscurity and also its low review scores.

Later, Dacey digs into the Pulitzer Prize process and we float some totally unfounded theories about what goes on in those jury meetings.

We discuss the shocking memoir of One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz, who was in a cult for over a decade. 

We also have a special guest, the person who recommended this book, Alayne!

We talk about the new novel by the acclaimed author of Black Cake. The love streak is over: neither of us liked this one. It's probably our fault. 

Spoilers from 7 minutes in

We discuss the first installment of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy, Dawn. This might be the first book we both really liked! 

Light spoilers start at 8 minutes

We discuss The Favorites, by Layne Fargo. Is it too soapy or just soapy enough? Does knowing it's "Wuthering Heights on ice" make it better or worse? 

Spoilers from about 15 mins in

We talk about Lottie Hazell's 2024 debut novel, Piglet. One of us rated this book 5 stars, and the other one.... didn't... 

We discuss the classic Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, which is an astounding 212 years old! We talk about what still works two centuries later, what feels dated, and whether this book is the origin point of popular romance tropes

We discuss the breakout 2024 hit The Wedding People, by Alison Espach. Yet another book about a wedding... 

(Trigger warning: this episode (and the book) talks a lot about suicide)

In which we discuss the 2024 Oprah's book club pick and inspiration for Cillian Murphy's latest movie, Small Things Like These. We talk about how we felt like this novel didn't live up to its potential and do some research that we probably should've done beforehand (but we get there in the end!) 

Special guest alert! Our friend Jules joins us to discuss the New York Times 2024 novel of the year, the truly bizarre All Fours, by Miranda July