My Wife Likes Books

My Wife Likes Books

di MWLB
LibriCommedia
Why the Format You Choose Changes the Book You Read and A Little Life Section 5: The Happy Years (We Need to Talk About That Ending)
Esplicito
If you've ever DNF'd a book on Kindle that you loved in print, or fallen in love with a story only because of its narrator, this episode is for you. We discuss: whether audiobooks, physical copies, or Kindle actually help you connect with a book; why Babel by RF Kuang might be the worst possible novel to read on an e-reader; tandem reading and Spotify's new page-sync feature; reading speed, narration quality, and why fantasy is notoriously hard on audio. Plus: The Offering returns. Sophie venerates Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Sallie brings Philip Pullman's underrated Sally Lockhart series. Sarah makes the case for Babel (RF Kuang) — but will Sallie ever actually finish it? Then we get into Section 5 of A Little Life — The Happy Years. Full spoilers for this section only. Content warnings: sexual assault, child sexual assault, sex work, physical abuse, domestic violence, death, injury detail. This episode features voice notes from real listeners — including one who DNF'd A Little Life on audio, switched to print, and then DNF'd that too. Books discussed: Why We Sleep (Matthew Walker) · The Sally Lockhart Series (Philip Pullman) · Babel (RF Kuang) · The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern) · Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens) · Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer) · Private Peaceful (Michael Morpurgo) · Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) · A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara) Find us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks · Join our Fable book club · Buy us a coffee. · Buy a book mentioned in the episode.
E7
9 giu 2026
1:42:45
Stagione 1
Meet My Wife Likes Books — The Reading Friend Group You've Been Missing
Trailer
My Wife Likes Books is the podcast for people who love reading but have no one to talk to about it. Three friends with completely opposite taste in books — a read-everything obsessive, a fantasy and literary fiction devotee, and a romantasy lover — meet every fortnight to recommend, argue, and overshare about their reading lives. If you've ever felt like the only reader in your friend group, you've found your people. Hang out with us wherever you get your podcasts. Your hosts are Sarah Berry, Sallie Chedburn and Sophie Bishop. Want to support the show? Buy us a coffee | Follow us on Instagram | Join our Fable book club Sarah is on Fable, Pagebound and Storygraph Sophie is on Fable and Storygraph Sallie is on Fable Show music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shave Ivers (silvermansound.com) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced and edited by Oscar Rogers
S1
4 mar 2026
1:39
Who Are We? Three Friends, Zero Shared Taste in Books
Trailer
Before we get into the books, meet the hosts. Sarah reads everything and has opinions about all of it. Sophie lives for fantasy and literary fiction and has a complicated relationship with romance. Sallie is a burnt-out romantasy reader who reads selectively but feels deeply. Together we somehow make it work — mostly by disagreeing. My Wife Likes Books is for readers who want a friend group, not a review show. Hang out with us wherever you listen to podcasts. Want to support the show? Buy us a coffee | Follow us on instagram | Join our Fable book club Sarah is on Fable, Pagebound and Storygraph Sophie is on Fable and Storygraph Sallie is on Fable Show music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced by Oscar Rogers
S1
9 mar 2026
1:21
What Actually Happens on My Wife Likes Books — Hot Takes, Book Fights, and a Readalong That's Already Hurting Us
Trailer
Every episode of My Wife Likes Books follows the same format — and here's exactly what you're signing up for. We share what we're currently reading, put a book on trial for praise or criticism, dig into a reading-life theme, and work through our communal readalong of Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life together. Fair warning: we already have feelings about it. New episodes drop every other Tuesday starting 17th March. For readers who want a friend group, not a review show. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and leave a rating — it genuinely helps more than you know. Want to support the show? Buy us a coffee | Follow us on instagram @mywifelikesbooks | Join our Fable book club Sarah is on Fable, Pagebound and Storygraph Sophie is on Fable and Storygraph Sallie is on Fable Show music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced by Oscar Rogers
S1
13 mar 2026
1:17
Reading Goals, A Little Life Chapter One, and Three Books You Need to Read Now
Esplicito
Sarah is reading The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, Sophie is deep into Golden Son by Pierce Brown, and Sallie is working through Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli. We're also bringing our first offerings to the table — Sarah recommends Piglet by Lottie Hazell, Sallie makes the case for Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers, and Sophie champions Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Then we get into our first theme: reading goals. Do we set them? Do we keep them? And we kick off our A Little Life read along with chapter one reactions. For readers who want a friend group, not a review show. Support the show Buy us a coffee | Instagram | Join our Fable book club Show music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced by Oscar Rogers Other books mentioned this episode People in the Trees — Hanya Yanagihara To Be Taught If Fortunate — Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet — Becky Chambers The Galaxy and the Ground Within — Becky Chambers Shark Heart — Emily Habeck Priory of the Orange Tree — Samantha Shannon Legends and Lattes — Travis Baldree Before the Coffee Gets Cold — Toshikazu Kawaguchi The Housekeeper and the Professor — Yoko Ogawa To Paradise — Hanya Yanagihara
S1 · E1
17 mar 2026
53:34
Into Thin Air, Fake Dating & The Allure of Reading in a Fancy Hotel
Esplicito
This week we're deep in Chapter Two of A Little Life — and it turns out JB might actually be redeemable? We explore what Hanya Yanagihara is doing with race, privilege, and the way her characters see the world, and ask the big question: is Jude even in this book? In The Offering, Sophie pitches Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (a gripping first-hand account of the 1996 Everest disaster that has absolutely no business being this unputdownable), Sarah makes a case for The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (fake dating, banter, and a number of erections), and Sallie sacrifices An Enigma of Brontës — which started promisingly and then used a phrase that we will not be repeating. We also talk reading retreats: Sallie has just returned from Gladstone's Library, Sarah has strong opinions about which books you should and absolutely should not bring, and we float the idea of a MWLB retreat that we are definitely, absolutely going to organise. Spoilers for A Little Life Chapter Two. Books discussed in this episode: Into Thin Air — Jon Krakauer The Love Hypothesis — Ali Hazelwood An Enigma of Brontës — Maureen Peters The Gallows Pole — Benjamin Myers Wuthering Heights — Emily Brontë Into the Wild — Jon Krakauer Legends & Lattes — Travis Baldree Empire of Pain — Patrick Radden Keefe Thin Air — Michelle Paver People in the Trees — Hanya Yanagihara Funny Story — Emily Henry A Little Life — Hanya Yanagihara You can buy any of these books through our Bookshop.Org store to support the pod. Want to support the show? Buy us a coffee | Follow us on Instagram | Join our Fable book club Show music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (Free Royalty Free Music | CC BY 4.0 | Silverman Sound Studios ) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced by Oscar Rogers
S1 · E2
31 mar 2026
59:51
What Makes Young Adult Actually Young Adult, Westerns, and Being A Good Friend
Esplicito
What separates a young adult novel from everything else — is it the age of the protagonist, the writing style, or just the absence of explicit content? This week Sarah, Sophie and Sallie get into it, sharing their favourite YA reads (The Hunger Games, Noughts and Crosses, Maximum Ride) and unpacking why so many books end up in the wrong section of the library entirely. Plus: The Offering. Sallie brings Lessons in Chemistry for veneration. Sophie makes a passionate case for Lonesome Dove, a 900-page western that converted a committed non-western reader. And Sarah offers The Summer I Turned Pretty, with a verdict that will surprise anyone who's heard her talk about the TV show. Then it's the read-along. This week: chapter three of A Little Life — the one where the plot finally arrives. Was Willem a good friend to Jude, or was he protecting himself? And why does Hanya Yanagihara write about colour unlike anyone else? ⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses self-harm. Spoilers for A Little Life chapters 1–3 and Part 1. Want to read any of the books we discuss on the show? Find them on our bookshop.org store. Find us on Instagram @mywifelikesbooks · Read along with us on Fable · Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/mwlb
S1 · E3
14 apr 2026
1:00:42
Where the Crawdads Sing, Should You Rate Your Books, and A Little Life: The Postman
Esplicito
This week, In The Offering, Sophie sacrifices Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (no one who grew up in a Marsh has teeth like that), Sarah sacrifices On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, and Sallie venerates What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman — a memoir about travelling the world while your friends have children. We also get into book ratings: whether you need them, what a five star actually means, and why Sallie's system is just vibes (and probably the healthiest approach out of all of us). Then we're deep into Section Two of A Little Life — The Postman. We finally spend real time with Jude, meet Harold properly, and ask whether Andy is doing nearly enough as a healthcare professional. Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of self-harm, child abuse, and sexual abuse as depicted in A Little Life. Spoilers for A Little Life, Section Two: The Postman. Books discussed in this episode: Where the Crawdads Sing — Delia Owens On the Calculation of Volume — Solvej Balle What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding — Kristin Newman Into Thin Air — Jon Krakauer Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry A Little Life — Hanya Yanagihara The People in the Trees — Hanya Yanagihara You can buy any of these books through our Bookshop.org store to support the pod. Want to support the show? Buy us a coffee | Follow us on Instagram | Join our Fable book club Show music adapted from "What A Wonderful Day" by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0 Artwork by Keith Kilpin Produced by Oscar Rogers
S1 · E4
28 apr 2026
1:27:19
The Power, The Starless Sea, and A Little Life Section 3 — Plus: Who Made You a Reader?
Esplicito
This week we're bringing three venerations to the table — Sallie makes the case for Naomi Alderman's The Power, Sarah champions The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and Sophie goes wildcard with the Mr. Men and Little Miss series. We also get into the people who shaped our reading lives: librarians, grandmothers, boyfriends who worked in Waterstones. Then we dig into Section 3 of our A Little Life readalong — Vanities — covering Willem's existential crisis, Jude thriving at work, and JB's meth addiction tearing the group apart. Content warning: this section contains discussion of substance abuse and self-harm. Next up: Section 4, The Axiom of Equality. Read it before our next episode. Find every book we've discussed at uk.bookshop.org/shop/MWLB. Follow us on Instagram at @mywifelikesbooks and support the show at buymeacoffee.com/MWLB.
S1 · E5
12 mag 2026
1:26:08
The Debate We've All Been Waiting For - Is ACOTAR a Classic? Plus Haunted Houses and DNF Culture
Esplicito
This week, Sarah brings The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and explains why reading it alone in a hotel room was a terrible decision. Sallie attempts to canonise A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas as a "modern classic", prompting one of our most heated debates yet, while Soph argues for the heartbreak and brilliance of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. We also talk DNF culture, book guilt, refusing to abandon books and continue our A Little Life readalong with Section IV, The Axiom of Equality. Please note, the latter half of this episode contains discussion of heavy themes from A Little Life, including trauma, abuse, self-harm, suicide, addiction and mental illness. Books discussed on this episode: The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas Circe - Madeline Miller Mythos - Stephen Fry The Secret Barrister The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins The Gallows Pole — Benjamin Myers After a Dance - Bridget O'Connor The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton The Book Thief - Markus Zusak Milkman - Anna Burns Marked - Kristin Cast and P. C. Cast Remarkably Bright Creatues - Shelby Van Pelt London Falling - Patrick Radden Keefe A Little Life — Hanya Yanagihara Want to read any of the books we discuss on the show? Find them on our bookshop.org store. Find us on Instagram @mywifelikesbooks · Read along with us on Fable · Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/mwlb
S1 · E6
26 mag 2026
1:45:11
1 di 2