Not all holiday movies need to be squeaky clean kids' stuff. There's a lot out there for adults as well and Nick Rodriguez joins me to discuss some of our favorite off-beat holiday favorites.

Discussed:

Elf

Nightmare Before Christmas

Christmas Story

Bad Santa

Krampus

Black Christmas

The Ref

Home Alone

Bad Moms Christmas

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

Christmas With the Kranks

Love Actually

Stepmom

The Holiday

Muppets Christmas Carol

Spirited

Klaus

Jingle Jangle

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Frosty the Snowman

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1965)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Charlie Brown Christmas

It's a SpongeBob Christmas

Ed, Edd 'n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle

Wish For Wings That Work

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Star Wars Holiday Special

Despite the strikes in the entertainment industry, there are still a lot of great shows to watch on TV this fall, and Tana has joined me to talk about some of our favorites that might become yours as well.

Discussed:

After Party

Shrinking

Lincoln Lawyer

The Diplomat

Loki

Successor

Righteous Gemstones

Discovery of Witches

Only Murders in the Building

Three Pines

Jack Ryan

Reacher

Good Omens

All the Light We Cannot See

Black Cake

Lessons in Chemistry

Joe Pickett

1923

My Pack Life

Underground Railroad

24 Hours in A&E

Ozark

Daisy Jones & the Six

Strike

And these are the earrings I was wearing that Tana talked about: Chevron Lane

Tana and I have some spooky, creepy, gory, and frightening books for this spooky season for you, almost all of them new releases.

The Vampires of El Norte, by Isabel Cañas

The Hacienda, by Isabel Cañas

Murder Road, by Simone St. James

Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix

How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix

Spite House, by Johnny Compton

My Heart is a Chainsaw, by Stephen Graham Jones

Don't Fear the Reaper, by Stephen Graham Jones

Crossroads, by Laurel Hightower

Arnold's Letter, by Michael Van Der Voort

All Hallows, by Christopher Golden

Downpour, by Christopher Hawkins

Delicious Monsters, by Nichelle Samburg

Nightmare Man, by J. H. Markert

Nestlings, by Nat Cassidy

Let Him In, by William Friend

Winter People, by Jennifer McMahon

Ghost 19, Simone St. James

Loss and dealing with it is a life lesson we learn early on, and it can come up in so many different ways, with us all dealing with it in different ways. Michelle joins me today to talk about some books that were meaningful to us and imparted empathy for characters going through losing someone they love. These are not just books that address grief. There are so many stories and so many characters, they just each have a burden of loss they carry with them.

Discussed (Tissue rating, out of 5):

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt (3 tissues)

Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston (3 tissues)

The Guncle, by Stephen Rowley (5 tissues)

The Celebrants, by Stephen Rowley

Before I Let Go, by Kennedy Ryan (4 tissues)

Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman (5 tissues)

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, by Fredrik Backman

Beartown, by Fredrik Backman

Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanne Raybourn (2 tissues)

The Half Moon, by Mary Beth Keane (2 tissues)

Amazing Grace Adams, by Fran Littlewood

Go As a River, by Shelley Read

Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer

Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Other recommendations from Michelle:

The Supremes at Early's All-You-Can-Eat, by Edward Kelsey Moore

The Secret to Hummingbird Cake, by Celeste Fletcher McHale

The Accidental Text, by Becky Monson

The Ways We Hide, by Kristina McMorris

Surviving Savannah, by Patti Callahan

The Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin

P.S. I Love You, by Cecilia Ahern

Truly Madly Guilty, by Liane Moriarty

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, by Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Unsinkable Greta James, by Jennifer E. Smith

A Year on Ladybug Farm, by Donna Ball

Under the Southern Sky, by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Smells Like Tween Spirit, by Laurie Gelman

One True Loves, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick

Thank You For Listening, by Julia Whalen

Truths I Never Told You, by Kelly Rimmer

House of Eve, by Sadeua Johnson

Under the Magnolias, by T.I. Lowe

A Wish for Winter, by Viola Shipman

The Secret of Snow, by Viola Shipman

Tana is back and we share our favorites from this summer

Books:

Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano

The Bookbinder, by Pip Williams

The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley

Queen Hereafter, by Isobel Schuler

Monstrilio, by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier

TV:

The Lincoln Lawyer

Movies:

Oppenheimer

Mission Impossible

Summer reads are a favorite theme of mine and I am always looking for fun books that fall into this category, so I'm sharing my recommendations with you with the hopes that you might also find some good ones.

Literary Fiction:

Keeper of Lost Things, by Ruth Hogan

Return to Valleto, by Dominic Smith

The Librarianist, by Patrick deWitt

The Guncle, by Steven Rowley

Cozies:

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, Catherine Ingelman-Sundberg

Carlene O'Connor books: Irish Village Mysteries, County Kerry Mysteries, and Home to Ireland Mysteries

Richard Osman books: Thursday Murder Club series

Alan Bradley books: Flavia de Luce series

Rom-Coms:

Beth O'Leary books: The Flatshare, The No-Show, The Road Trip, and The Switch

Sophie Kinsella books: Shopaholic series, Remember Me, and I've Got Your Number

Lily Bennett's Bucket List, by Katherine Dyson

Steamy Romance:

Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang

Darynda Jones books: Charley Davidson series, Betwixt & Between series, and Sunshine Vicram series.

Chick Lit:

Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J. Ryan Stradal

Mary Alice Monroe books: Beach House series

Sandra Dallas books

Liane Moriarty books: What Alice Forgot, Truly Madly Guilty, Apples Never Fall and Big Little Lies

Dude Lit:

Reed Farrel Coleman books: Gus Murphy series

Last Flight of Poxl West, by Daniel Torday

IQ series, by Joe Ide

Harry Dresden series, by Jim Butcher

Alex McKnight series, by Steve Hamilton

SF/Fantasy:

Ink Blood Sister Scribe, by Emma Törzs

The Binding, by Bridget Collins

Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Measure, by Nikki Erlick

House In the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett

Books about Greek myths: Circe, by Madeline Miller; Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller; Clytemnestra, by Costanza Casati; Psyche & Eros, by Luna McNamara; Atalanta, by Jennifer Saint; House of Names, by Colm Toibin

Mystery/Thrillers:

The Hawthorne and Horowitz Investigate series, by Anthony Horowitz

All the Sinners Bleed, by SA Cosby

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson

On a Quiet Street, by Seraphina Nova Glass

Harlan Coben books

Sally Hepworth books

Peter Swanson books

Jane Harper books

Nonfiction:

Soul of an Octopus, by Sy Montgomery

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, by Fredrik Backman

Memoirs: As You Wish, by Cary Elwis; Bossypants, by Tina Fey, Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh; Solutions and Other Problems, by Allie Brosh; anything by David Sedaris

A Walk In the Woods, by Bill Bryson

Mary Roach books: Stiff, Gulp, and Grunt

Nick joins us again this time to talk about the three most recent books he's discussed with his book club from March to May, and a sneak preview of upcoming books to be read and discussed over the summer.

Discussed:

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, by Akwaeke Emez

The Lost Apothecary, by Sarah Penner

Once There Were Wolves, by Charlotte McConaghy

Upcoming:

Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson

The Half Moon, by Mary Beth Keane

Pieces of Blue, by Holly Goldbert Sloan

Tana is back to discuss some of our favorite memoirs by folks who are not celebrities, who have, arguably better stories to tell.

Discussed:

The Girl Who Smiled Beads, by Clemantine Wamariya

I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet, by Shauna Niequist

Almost American Girl, by Robin Ha

We Ate Wonder Bread, by Nicole Hollander

I'm Still Alive, by Roberto Saviano

Poppies of Iraq, by Bridgitte Findakly

Ducks, by Kate Beaton

Educated, by Tara Westover

Hillbilly Elegy, by JD Vance

Brain on Fire, by Suzannah Cahalan

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

All That You Leave Behind, by Erin Lee Carr

The Liar's Club, by Mary Carr

In a Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado

The Dirty Life, by Kristen Kimball

Stitches, by David Small

Maus, by Art Spiegelman

Discussed:

Movies

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Rainman

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Forrest Gump

Girl, Interrupted

The Other Sister

Snow Cake

Silver Linings Playbook

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Still Alice

Please Stand By

The Accountant

Perks of Being a Wallflower

TV Shows

Big Bang Theory

The Good Doctor

As We See It

Nanette

Books

10 Steps to Nanette, by Hannah Gadsby

The Reason I Jump, Naoki Higashida

The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion

The Maid, by Nita Prose

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon

Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Good Sister, by Sally Hepworth

The Hilarious World of Depression, by John Moe

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman

Fan Girl, by Rainbow Rowell

Unlike me, Tana is a big movie-watcher and she's joining me this episode to discuss all the movies nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and we'll also discuss a few others in other categories or nominees for other major awards.

Oscar: Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Top Gun: Maverick

Triangle of Sadness

Women Talking

Tár

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nominated for Supporting Actress, Costume Design, Original Song, Visual Effects, Makeup and Hairstyling)

Menu (Nominated for Golden Globe Actor in Musical or Comedy)

Woman King (Nominated for Golden Globe Best Actress, BAFTA and others, snubbed by Academy)

RRR (Nominated for Original Song)

Tell It Like a Woman (Nominated for Original Song)

Argentina, 1985 (Nominated for International Film)