In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Alexandra Bell’s 2025 novel The White Octopus Hotel. Topics include plane books (and plane experiences in general), some gripes about the novel, art deco, and the intricacies of time travel. Plus, we check in about the Remarkably Bright Creatures movie, and talk about Spider-Man.

This week’s drink: Death in the Afternoon via liquor.com

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 ½ oz absinthe
• 4 to 4 ½ oz chilled champagne 
• For a less potent cocktail, you can swap the champagne with tonic water and/or decrease the amount of absinthe

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pour absinthe into a coupe glass
2. Top slowly with the champagne 

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst

Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana by Abe Streep

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

You can email us at [email protected].

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library. 

Join us next time as we read The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon