My Wife Likes Books

Епизоди

• 
  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) 09.06.2026 1ч 42мин

  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.
• 
  Meet My Wife Likes Books — The Reading Friend Group You've Been Missing 04.03.2026 1мин

  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 clubSarah is on Fable, Pagebound and StorygraphSophie is on Fable and StorygraphSallie is on FableShow music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shave Ivers (silvermansound.com) is licensed under CC BY 4.0Artwork by Keith KilpinProduced and edited by Oscar Rogers
• 
  Who Are We? Three Friends, Zero Shared Taste in Books 09.03.2026 1мин

  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 clubSarah is on Fable, Pagebound and StorygraphSophie is on Fable and StorygraphSallie is on FableShow music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0Artwork by Keith KilpinProduced by Oscar Rogers
• 
  What Actually Happens on My Wife Likes Books — Hot Takes, Book Fights, and a Readalong That's Already Hurting Us 13.03.2026 1мин

  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 clubSarah is on Fable, Pagebound and StorygraphSophie is on Fable and StorygraphSallie is on FableShow music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0Artwork by Keith KilpinProduced by Oscar Rogers
• 
  Bonus episode: Your Summer TBR Sorted: Prize Winners, Page-to-Screen Adaptations & the Books We Can't Stop Talking About 31.07.2026 25мин

  Welcome to the first of our summer bonus episodes! While we're on our break between seasons, we're catching up on everything happening in the book world — the awards drama, the TBR-worthy new releases, and the book-to-film adaptations you need on your radar before autumn.What We've Been Reading Sarah's deep in Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore (climate horror meets romance meets thriller — a lot going on), Soph's comparing notes on Jane Harper's Exiles, and Sallie's 40 pages into the delightfully weird Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.Your Summer Reading List, Sorted We round up the biggest prize winners so far this year, including the Indie Book Awards (fiction winner: The Names by Florence Knapp) and the British Book Awards — which introduced brand-new categories this year for graphic novels, romantic fiction, and sci-fi/fantasy. Plus: the Booker Prize longlist is about to drop, so we tell you when to watch for it.Books Becoming Films (Get Ahead of Everyone Else) From Christopher Nolan's star-studded The Odyssey to Verity, Sense and Sensibility, and The Love Hypothesis, we run through the book-to-screen adaptations landing this year — so you can read the book before your friends even know there's a film.Autumn's Biggest Releases We preview the new releases we're most excited about, including new books from Naomi Alderman, Madeline Miller, and Becky Chambers — and yes, we talk about that Sarah J. Maas announcement.Coming Next Season We're back in September with a new readalong: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Grab your copy now so you're ready to start with us.Correction: Sarah get's Naomi Alderman's book title wrong, it's actually called "Don't burn anyone at the stake today."Find us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks · Join our Fable book club · Buy us a coffee. · Buy a book mentioned in the episode.
• 
  Bonus Episode – What Would Grey's Anatomy Characters Read? Diagnosing Meredith, Christina, Bailey, George & Derek's Bookshelves 17.08.2026 25мин

  Scalpel. Suture. TBR pile. In this bonus episode, Sarah, Sophie and Sallie put down their own books for a minute to diagnose the reading lives of Grey's Anatomy's most iconic characters — because if they're real (and we've decided they are), they definitely read.For each character, the hosts debate three things: their ultimate favourite book, their unexpected guilty-pleasure genre, and the one thing that makes them DNF a book on the spot. Expect fierce disagreement, a genuinely unhinged Miranda Bailey romantasy theory, and Derek Shepherd getting exactly the level of scrutiny he deserves.Books mentioned:Black Sun – Rebecca RoanhorseThe Difference Engine – William Gibson & Bruce SterlingI'm Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdyRipe – Sarah Rose EtterNotorious RBG – Irin Carmon & Shana KnizhnikNormal People – Sally RooneyWhen Breath Becomes Air – Paul KalanithiBecoming – Michelle ObamaIt Ends With Us – Colleen HooverThe New Life - Tom CreweThis is our second summer bonus episode — the main show returns in September with a new readalong: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.Find every book we discuss on our Bookshop.org store support the show on Buy Me a Coffee, and join the conversation on Fable.☕ Buy Me a Coffee 📚 Fable
• 
  Reading Goals, A Little Life Chapter One, and Three Books You Need to Read Now 17.03.2026 53мин

  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 showBuy us a coffee | Instagram | Join our Fable book clubShow music adapted from “What A Wonderful Day” by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com) and licensed under creative commons BY 4.0Artwork by Keith KilpinProduced by Oscar RogersOther books mentioned this episodePeople in the Trees — Hanya YanagiharaTo Be Taught If Fortunate — Becky ChambersThe Long Way to a Small Angry Planet — Becky ChambersThe Galaxy and the Ground Within — Becky ChambersShark Heart — Emily HabeckPriory of the Orange Tree — Samantha ShannonLegends and Lattes — Travis BaldreeBefore the Coffee Gets Cold — Toshikazu KawaguchiThe Housekeeper and the Professor — Yoko OgawaTo Paradise — Hanya Yanagihara
• 
  Into Thin Air, Fake Dating & The Allure of Reading in a Fancy Hotel 31.03.2026 59мин

  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 KrakauerThe Love Hypothesis — Ali HazelwoodAn Enigma of Brontës — Maureen PetersThe Gallows Pole — Benjamin MyersWuthering Heights — Emily BrontëInto the Wild — Jon KrakauerLegends & Lattes — Travis BaldreeEmpire of Pain — Patrick Radden KeefeThin Air — Michelle PaverPeople in the Trees — Hanya YanagiharaFunny Story — Emily HenryA Little Life — Hanya YanagiharaYou 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 clubShow 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 4.0Artwork by Keith KilpinProduced by Oscar Rogers
• 
  What Makes Young Adult Actually Young Adult, Westerns, and Being A Good Friend 14.04.2026 1ч

  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
• 
  Where the Crawdads Sing, Should You Rate Your Books, and A Little Life: The Postman 28.04.2026 1ч 27мин

  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 OwensOn the Calculation of Volume — Solvej BalleWhat I Was Doing While You Were Breeding — Kristin NewmanInto Thin Air — Jon KrakauerLonesome Dove — Larry McMurtryA Little Life — Hanya YanagiharaThe People in the Trees — Hanya YanagiharaYou 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 clubShow 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
• 
  The Power, The Starless Sea, and A Little Life Section 3 — Plus: Who Made You a Reader? 12.05.2026 1ч 26мин

  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.
• 
  The Debate We've All Been Waiting For - Is ACOTAR a Classic? Plus Haunted Houses and DNF Culture 26.05.2026 1ч 45мин

  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 JacksonThe Song of Achilles - Madeline MillerA Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J MaasCirce - Madeline MillerMythos - Stephen FryThe Secret BarristerThe Hunger Games - Suzanne CollinsThe Gallows Pole — Benjamin MyersAfter a Dance - Bridget O'ConnorThe Luminaries - Eleanor CattonThe Book Thief - Markus ZusakMilkman - Anna BurnsMarked - Kristin Cast and P. C. CastRemarkably Bright Creatues - Shelby Van PeltLondon Falling - Patrick Radden KeefeA Little Life — Hanya YanagiharaWant 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
• 
  Do Book Prizes Actually Matter? Plus A Little Life Sections 6 & 7: What He Died Believing 23.06.2026 1ч 34мин

  If you've ever argued with a friend about whether a book prize actually reflects what real people read — or felt personally attacked when someone sacrifices your favourite Emily Henry — this episode is for you.We discuss: whether the Booker Prize is for readers or for people who want to be seen reading; the International Booker vs the Women's Prize and which one actually has the best track record; the Hay Festival's 2026 pleasure reading list and why it's everything the Guardian's "best novels" list isn't; and what it means when a book wins an award but nobody enjoys reading it.Plus: The Offering. Sophie sacrifices Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky) — bleak, monotonous, and full of Russians called the same name. Sallie attempts to sacrifice Happy Place (Emily Henry) and Sarah absolutely will not have it. Sarah venerates Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer — the book that'll give you a framework for JK Rowling, Michael Jackson, and every other artist you love and shouldn't.Then we reach the end of A Little Life. Sections 6 and 7: Dear Comrade and Lispenard Street. Full spoilers for these sections only.Content warnings for the readalong segment: suicide, self-harm, death, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, eating disorders.Books discussed: Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky) · Happy Place (Emily Henry) · Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (Claire Dederer) · Orbital (Samantha Harvey) · Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders) · Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell) · Piranesi (Susanna Clarke) · Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) · 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
• 
  A Little Life Ending Explained + Our Summer Book Swap 07.07.2026 1ч 14мин

  Season one ends where it began: with A Little Life. Spoilers ahead — we're finishing our readalong with the big questions. Did Hanya Yanagihara always intend for Jude to die by suicide, or did Willem's death push the story there? Is this book a masterpiece or trauma porn, and does it matter that readers can't agree? We talk favourite and least favourite characters (sorry, Caleb), what Harold and Malcolm's quiet forms of love taught us, and whether this book should ever come with a "don't read this" warning from the person who loves it most.Before that: it's our last episode before the summer break, so we've swapped books with each other to read while we're off air — Throne of Glass, The Passage, Daisy Jones & The Six, Assassin's Apprentice, Shark Heart, and Horrorstor all make an appearance. Plus a mid-year check-in on our reading goals (spoiler: Sarah is not on track).We're back after the summer with A Court of Thorns and Roses as our next readalong — follow us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks for updates on where to start reading.