Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

A broke documentary maker is paid a fortune to film the paranormal legend of the Temple of the Last Days, a cult that ended in a massacre in the Arizona desert in 1975. As he interviews the survivors across London, France and Arizona, the shoot starts recording things that shouldn't be there, and the horror follows him home.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro

(07:20) First impressions

(17:15) Spoiler-free discussion

(34:41) SPOILER ZONE - the plot

(51:18) SPOILER ZONE - the discussion

(1:07:57) DOSAGE rating

(1:13:02) Outro

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⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spoilers for Last Days by Adam Nevill run [34:41]–[1:07:57]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "DOSAGE rating" chapter above to hear our ratings.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• Last Days by Adam Nevill
• Endless Night by Richard Laymon
• Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
• Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
• I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

Celeste has been unwell this week and this week is a Special Episode where Jae talks about his favourite genre: Fantasy!

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro

(02:10) Honourable mention - Harry Potter

(04:01) Top 5 - The Stormlight Archive

(07:09) Top 4 - Piranesi

(10:38) Top 3 - Mistborn trilogy

(14:35) Top 2 - The Realm of the Elderlings

(19:29) Top 1 - The Name of the Wind

(24:27) Outro

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson
• The Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

Naomi Roth's husband changes the locks, empties their accounts, and moves in a woman twenty years younger. Naomi starts watching her — and doesn't stop when she should.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro

(10:41) Happy Father's Day

(17:57) Spoiler zone - the plot

(38:47) Spoiler zone - the discussion

(1:07:01) DOSAGE rating

(1:09:19) Outro

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⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spoilers for The Divorce by Freida McFadden run [17:57]–[1:07:01]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "DOSAGE rating" chapter above to hear our ratings.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​The Divorce by Freida McFadden
• The Housemaid series by Freida McFadden
• Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
• Never Lie by Freida McFadden
• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

Natsuki is eleven and believes she's a magician from the planet Popinpobopia. Her cousin Yuu believes he's an alien. It sounds like a story about childhood magic — and then it isn't.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(03:13) Content warning & first impression

(09:50) Spoiler-free discussion

(19:41) Spoiler discussion

(57:12) Spoiler-free again

(1:04:20) DOSAGE rating

(1:13:02) Outro

━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spoilers for Earthlings by Sayaka Murata run [19:41]–[57:12]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "Spoiler-free again" chapter above to rejoin us.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
• Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
• Loner by Teddy Wayne
• The Divorce by Freida McFadden
• The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

We read Agustina Bazterrica's Tender Is the Flesh, a dystopia where animal meat becomes toxic and society quietly reorganises around eating people instead. This one's about euphemism, complicity, and how fast the unthinkable becomes routine.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(6:02) About the author

(11:39) Content warning & spoiler-free discussion

(40:17) Spoiler discussion

(1:07:19) Spoiler-free again & DOSAGE rating

(1:16:26) Outro

━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━Spoilers for Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica run [40:17]–[1:07:19]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "Spoiler-free again" chapter above to rejoin us.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
• ​Someone Came Knocking by Anne Hilton-Bruce
• ​Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

This week's dose is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: a man wakes with amnesia on a one-way mission to Tau Ceti, discovers an organism is consuming the sun, and has decades at most to find out why one star is somehow immune. It's an extinction-level premise that turns out to be one of the warmest, funniest books either of us has read.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(21:48) About the author

(26:49) Spoiler-free discussion

(39:00) Spoiler discussion

(1:27:26) DOSAGE rating & outro

━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

A NOTE ON SPOILERS: Project Hail Mary keeps a major character offstage for the first third of the book, and their arrival is a genuine surprise. The film's trailer gave it away well before release, so we treat it as public — but if you've avoided the marketing and haven't read it yet, be aware we discuss this character throughout, even from [1:27:26] onwards. Read first if you can.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• ​The Martian by Andy Weir
• ​Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• ​Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
• ​The Vegetarian by Han Kang
• ​The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠⁠
• ​And Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

This week we're taking on Endless Night by Richard Laymon: a fast, savage splatterpunk novel about a teenage girl surviving a massacre and being hunted across one endless night — and it's my (Jae's) very first taste of the genre!

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(12:05) About the author & trend in horror novels

(20:56) Spoiler-free discussion

(48:08) eBooks vs. physical books

(58:35) Spoiler discussion

(1:31:01) Spoiler-free again & DOSAGE rating

(1:39:20) Outro

━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spoilers for Endless Night by Richard Laymon run [58:35]–[1:13:01]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "Spoiler-free again" chapter above to rejoin us.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Endless Night by Richard Laymon
• The Cellar by Richard Laymon
• The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson
• IT by Stephen King
• Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

• ​Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode and preview Shorts on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠
• And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doseofbookswithjc
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

This week's dose is The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith's London detective novel following battered war-veteran PI Cormoran Strike as he reinvestigates a supermodel's death that everyone else has written off as suicide — and this whole episode is spoiler-free.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(17:57) About Robert Galbraith (aka J. K. Rowling)

(31:57) The Cuckoo's Calling discussion

(1:13:25) Brief Harry Potter discussion

(1:18:35) DOSAGE rating

(1:20:13) Outro

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
• ​Endless Night by Richard Laymon
• ​The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
• ​The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
• ​The Martian by Andy Weir
• ​Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• ​Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
• ​Neuromancer by William Gibson
• ​I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
• ​Hyperion by Dan Simmons
• ​Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• ​Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• ​A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
• ​Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
• ​Loner by Teddy Wayne

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

A deep-dive review of Teddy Wayne's Loner, following a lonely Harvard freshman whose fixation on a classmate slowly pulls him somewhere darker, as Jae and Celeste unpack the novel's uncomfortable payoff and what it reveals about loneliness, entitlement, and perspective.

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(17:02) Spoiler-free discussion

(30:29) Spoiler discussion starts

(1:13:06) Spoiler-free again & DOSAGE rating

(1:18:45) Outro

━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ SPOILER SECTION ⚠️

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Spoilers for Loner by Teddy Wayne run [30:29]–[1:13:06]. Skipping ahead? Tap the "Spoiler-free again" chapter above to rejoin us.

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Loner by Teddy Wayne
• ​Gone to See the River Man by Kristopher Triana
• ​Last Days by Adam Nevill
• ​The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
• ​Endless Night by Richard Laymon
• ​Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine
• ​Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
• ​Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda
• ​Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• ​The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
• ​The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
• ​You series by Caroline Kepnes

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960⁠
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊

Two book-loving friends. A stack of books. Welcome to Dose of Books. 💊

In this episode, we are each counting down our top 3 reads of the first half of 2026!

⏱️ CHAPTERS (tap to jump)

(00:00) Intro & reading updates

(13:26) Top 3 - Jae

(20:08) Top 3 - Celeste

(28:59) Top 2 - Jae

(32:50) Top 2 - Celeste

(42:13) Top 1 - Jae

(48:58) Top 1 - Celeste

(1:00:09) Miscellaneous & outro

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

For anyone who wants to follow up on the reads that came up:

• ​Party Games by Jon Athan
• ​Loner by Teddy Wayne
• ​Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
• ​Hooked by Asako Yuzuki
• Butter by Asako Yuzuki
• ​The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
• ​Never Lie by Freida McFadden
• Saltblood by Francesca De Tores
• The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
• The Dandelion Dynasty series by Ken Liu
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
• Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
• The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
• ITCH! by Gemma Amor
• You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White

🎧 FIND US & CONNECT

• ​Watch this episode on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@DoseofBooks⁠
• ​Also on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dose-of-books/id6787073960
• ​Enjoyed it? Subscribe and follow so you never miss a dose
• ​We'd love your feedback — any constructive criticism is welcome
• ​Email us anytime: [email protected]

Thanks so much for listening — see you in the next dose! 💊