Strange and Beautiful Book Club

Strange and Beautiful Book Club

Long time partners, Rachel and Matt, bring their unique blend of wit and weirdness to the worlds of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. From quirky movie reviews to lively book discussions, they keep you entertained and informed with their mature humor and infectious enthusiasm. Join them as they chase their little nerd hearts through the genres they love.

Episodes

November 7, 2025 142 mins
Mark as Played

The shortest Dark Tower content yet and Stephen King still managed to work in a dick. 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in between (but mostly spicy!). It's like sitting down with girl friends to chat about hot book...

Mark as Played

Rachel and Matt discuss the final installment of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Part 2 of 2 of our discussion. 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in between (but mostly spicy!). It's like sitting down with gi...

Mark as Played

Matt and Rachel discuss the final novel (and in our opinion - the best) in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in between (but mostly spicy!). It's like sitting down with girl frie...

Mark as Played

*Fixed the Audio* Matt and Rachel discuss the second to last book in the Dark Tower series, "Song of Susannah" by Stephen King. Did anything actually happen in this book? Listen and find out!


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and e...

Mark as Played

FINALLY CAUGHT UP! We will be back on our regular schedule now so "Song of Susannah" will be out the first Friday in August!


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in between (but mostly spicy!). It's like sitting down wi...

Mark as Played

Rachel and Matt discuss the remainder of Wolves of the Calla and a bunch of other related (and not related) stuff too. Hug your fluffy pets today for Pip, he will be missed. 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in betw...

Mark as Played

We discuss Murderbot Season 1, Episode 7 - Complementary Species. 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in between (but mostly spicy!). It's like sitting down with girl friends to chat about hot book boyfriends but in p...

Mark as Played

As some of you may have guessed, Pip crossed the rainbow bridge the weekend before last and it really threw me for a loop. Please enjoy this very lightly edited episode. There's more coming now that I'm in a place to catch up. <3


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah ...

Mark as Played

Slightly delayed but here it is and we got so excited to chat about this one that it just made sense to split it into parts so it won't be too too long. But don't worry, you won't be waiting a month for the next one. 

Without further ado - here is the "Wolves of the Calla" episode from Matt and Rachel of the Strange and Beautiful Book Club


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Bu...

Mark as Played

Rachel is on the road until next week so our episode on "Wolves of the Calla" will be delayed. Murderbot and our book episode will all be out next week! See you soon! 

In the mean time, please enjoy this reprise of our first foray into the world of the Dark Tower 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

List...

Mark as Played

Kate, Matt, and Rachel discuss the third episode of the Murderbot series, "Risk Assessment". As always, we are trying our best to use "it" for Murderbot and I think we improved immensely. Shooting to be even better about "it" next time!


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Han...

Mark as Played

Surprise! We're chatting Murderbot today and every Friday while new episodes are airing! As you know, we've already covered these books with Kate back in 2023(?) - A long time ago... so there are bound to be some spoilers although we are going to try and keep it to the show relevant information for anyone who hasn't read the books. 

These are fun, lightly edited episodes because we are literally just too excited about this ...

Mark as Played

Rachel and Matt discuss the fourth book in the Dark Tower series. Did we agree? Were we both weirded out by the protagonist's ages or was that just Rachel... listen and find out!


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy books, serious books, and everything in ...

Mark as Played
March 7, 2025 76 mins

Contains Spoilers! Also, we are moving! So there will be no book episode in April or probably May but then you get to hear all about how we moved to an abandoned motel in a remote lake side town in the far, far north. Which sounds like a book premise but it isnt!

Matt and Rachel discuss the book, "Black River Orchard" by Chuck Wendig. Did we love it? Did we get the same joy out of this horror novel as we did out of Double D...

Mark as Played
February 7, 2025 107 mins

Matt and Rachel discuss the second installment in the Empire of the Vampire trilogy. Did we love it just as much? Does Rachel regret her tattoo? Listen and find out!

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Mark as Played

In honor of the late, great, David Lynch. Here's a repost of our episode on his absolutely bananas adaptation of Dune. Would he be glad to be remembered for this movie? No. Do we love him for it anyways? Also yes. 


There's more from the Strange and Beautiful Network!

Enjoying our work? Buy a cup of Hot Jala! https://ko-fi.com/strangeandbeautifulnetwork

Listen to Rachel, Kate, and Hannah discuss spicy book...

Mark as Played
January 3, 2025 79 mins

According to Wikipedia:


Twenty-seven years after Daysdeath, a mysterious phenomenon that has cast the world into perpetual darkness, vampires have successfully conquered humanity. Gabriel de Leon, the last living vampire hunter, is held prisoner awaiting execution for killing the Forever King, Fabien Voss. However, the Undying Empress orders Gabriel to tell her personal historian, Jean-Francois Chastain, his entire life...

Mark as Played

Enjoy this special bonus episode crossover with our friends at Cinematic Anarchy! 

Seasons Greetings from the Hosts of Cinematic Anarchy and The Strange and Beautiful Podcast. It's been a few weeks of rest since we posted and episode (Mostly Because the gifts don't wrap or buy themselves) and now we are back for a holiday episode with our good friends Matt and Rachel to discuss indie vamp flick "Red Snow." is it Misery? Is ...

Mark as Played

This show is available to stream for free on Tubi or with a paid subscription on Amazon Prime. Tube has the version of The Gathering we watched but it's listed as the last episode of season 1. 

Per wikipedia: 

Babylon 5: The Gathering is the test pilot movie of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, aired on February 22, 1993. It is also the first of six feature-length films in the Babylon 5 media franchise.


The...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Ruthie's Table 4

    For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.