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 Roanhorse
• The Difference Engine – William Gibson & Bruce Sterling
• I'm Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
• Ripe – Sarah Rose Etter
• Notorious RBG – Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
• Normal People – Sally Rooney
• When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
• Becoming – Michelle Obama
• It Ends With Us – Colleen Hoover
• The New Life - Tom Crewe

This 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.

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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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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