Red Wine Reads

This week, we read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Would I have done anything different, if I had the chance to undo my regrets?” That’s the gist of this novel. Yes, this book tackles some HEAVY topics (please take care when listening) and yes, this book sheds some light on the reality of how sucky life can be sometimes. Yet, it’s also a book that shows how forgiving people can be and how joyful living can be, if we just ask for help and give it a chance. 

Abby Williams, the author of her own story and pilot of her own reading journey, joins me on today’s podcast episode to discuss what The Midnight Library is and what we would do if we had access to it. 

In this episode we cover: 

• How powerful regret can be in one’s life.  


• Why we didn’t need most of the characters we met in this book. 


• How Matt Haig’s tackles topics like depression, suicide and asking for help in a graceful, yet impactful way. 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you looking back at your life and realizing there’s a lot more life to live, so that probably means we should start listening to more podcasts. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: 2018 Bien Nacido Estate Syrah Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County ($60), Ballard Canyon Syrah 


• TV SHOW - The Man In The High Castle, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt


• BOOK - The Vanishing Half, Dark Matter, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman


• MOVIE - Yesterday, The Family Man

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you! 

For a classic written over 150 years ago, this book has an uphill battle to stay relevant in today’s pop culture. Yet, somehow, it keeps being mentioned, referenced, and remade into movies and TV shows. It makes sense because who doesn’t relate to a story about four sisters just trying to navigate work, relationships, and self-discovery? 

This week, we read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Sierra Marshall, who is an Amy at heart, joins me today to talk about the classic that keeps coming to the forefront of cultural conversations time and time again. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Which March sisters we relate most to 


• How Louisa May Alcott was able to write about the modern woman over 150 years ago


• Why Amy is Sierra’s favorite character in this book 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you calling your sister (or your girlfriends) to tell them you love them. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK - Red Wine, Spiced Apple & Bourbon Cocktail, spiked apple cider  

• TV SHOW - Charmed, Gilmore Girls


• BOOK - Malibu Rising, March Sisters


• MOVIE - Little Women (1994, 2019), Brooklyn

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains detailed descriptions of cannibalism and murder, so please take care when listening. 

Woah. What a f***ing book. Our editor said we got a little carried away with this episode, so let me be super clear: we DO NOT condone cannibalism or murder. But we do condone superb writing and unique storylines. Dorothy is a food critic who is also a murderer. She is a psychopath who eats the men she kills. 

This week, we read A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

Rebekah Sausmikat, lover of all books, weird and slightly disturbing, joins me today to discuss a book that surprised us in many different ways. 

In this episode we cover: 

• The difference between sociopaths and psychopaths and which one Dorothy is.


• Our society’s fascination with cannibalism.


• Is this book a feminist take on murder? 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you questioning who to trust, especially when it comes to the unreliable, psychopath narrator. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Corpse Reviver No. 2 (absinthe, gin, Lillet blanc, orange liqueur, lemon juice), Cab Sav. (Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon)

• TV SHOW - Yellowjackets, Dexter


• BOOK - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Killers of a Certain Age, Tender is the Flesh, Lapvona 


• MOVIE - Fresh, Promising Young Woman


• SPECIAL PAIRING - Against the Odds Podcast (Plane Crash in the Andes)

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you! 

WELCOME TO OUR FIRST IN-PERSON EPISODE!

What is a perfect memoir? According to us, it’s this book right here: Stay True by Hua Hsu. This is a story about friendship, growing up, and seeing the world through an Asian-American lens. Hua sheds light on a very poignant time in his life—college. Discovering himself amid the flurry of pop culture ‘zines was hard enough, but losing a friend in a fatal carjacking caused him to have to grow up quicker than most. 

This week, we read Stay True by Hua Hsu.

Ella Kopeikin, lover of Cinderella stories and a good friend of mine, came to visit me in-person to discuss this beautiful book.

In this episode we cover: 

• The power of friendship that extends beyond the bounds of time. 


• Why we should never be allowed to work at a tech company (yes, it did take us an hour to set up two mics…)


• The formula to the perfect memoir 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you taking stock of your own friends and feeling that deep gratitude for each of them. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• TV SHOW - My So Called Life, Never Have I Ever


• MOVIE - Everything Everywhere All at Once, Reality Bites, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure 


• BOOK - Persepolis (mainly book 2), Everything I Never Told You, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

Drink Pairings: good ‘ole PBR

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

This goes into our top 10 memoirs. When you read a really good memoir, though your life may not reflect the one you’re reading about, you still relate to the author on some level. Selma Blair wrote a magical memoir that we think will go down in history and stamp her mark in the history books for years and decades to come. 

This week, we read Mean Baby by Selma Blair.

Ella Kopeikin, lover of L.A. and really good storytelling, joins me today to talk about a memoir that both broke us and gave us hope for the future. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Why Selma Blair is an absolute bada** 


• Why Ella and I would also bite people in high-stress social situations.


• Why we both love and hate Selma’s mother

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you reaching for the tissue box and your journal because you will feel all of the feels. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK PAIRINGS: Nature’s best liquid, water. 


• TV SHOW - Please Like Me, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay  


• BOOK - The Liars' Club, Becoming, Traveling Mercies, Prozac Nation


• MOVIE - Introducing Selma Blair, The Glass Castle

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you! 

This month, we’re diving into the weird, the emotional, and the mystical. If you’re a memoir reader, we have something for you. If you like the classics, we’ve got just the book for you. If you want a magical story of sliding doors scenarios, then stay tuned! And if you’re looking for a book to make you squirm, just a little bit, then we have what you need. 

Here are our picks for February: 

Stay True by Hua Hsu - a memoir about growing up and the importance of friendship. 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - a classic about the role of women and how sisterhood shapes each woman. 

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers - a book following the life of a psychopath who kills and eats her past lovers. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - a magical tale about a library that can tell you what your life could’ve been. 

Which book are you most excited for? 

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

When you’re in the midst of reading heavy, emotional novels, you might be looking for a book that’s easy to read and lighthearted. This is that book. Today we’re talking about the YA dystopian novel, Red Queen. This book is #1 in a four-book series that takes place in a world where people with silver blood have powers and people with red blood don’t — except for Mare Barrow. 

This week, we read Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard 

Abby Williams, lover of historical fiction and a good plot twist, joins me today to talk about a book that gave us a warm, familiar feeling of mindlessly reading a fast-moving book. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Why sometimes you need a book with weak characters and a predictable storyline to just cleanse your reading palate. 


• What YA dystopian novels made up our childhood. 


• Why we chose this book over another to review this month.  

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you wanting to look up that “spicy” scene in Divergent that you read over and over again in the 8th grade. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK PAIRINGS: Champagne with creme de violet (grey purple like Mare’s sparks), Epicuro Primitivo


• TV SHOW - Wednesday, Avatar the Last Airbender 


• BOOK - Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games - Mockingjay


• MOVIE - Divergent, Frozen

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

In our opinion, for books to be great, they need to be one or the other. Today we discuss this acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner from 2019, which didn’t cause the same adoration for us, as it did for some readers. This book about trees, nature, and human destruction had the potential to be really good, but keep listening to find out why it wasn’t (in our non-expert opinions). 

This week, we read The Overstory by Richard Powers

Rebekah Sausmikat, who loves a good dose of horror and nature with her books, joins me today to discuss a book that was way overhyped on social media in our opinion. 

In this episode we cover: 

• How too many characters led to messy storylines. 


• Why this book should’ve stopped at 250 pages, and those last 150 pages really ruined the book for us. 


• Why the females in this book reminded Rebekah of fairy, pixie dream girls. 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you looking up at the trees and saying thank you, but also wondering why Richard Powers killed so many trees to print this pretentious book. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• The Blue Planet (TV Show)


• Annihilation (Movie)


• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  (Book)


• Ishmael (Book)

Drink Pairings: Lavender & Prosecco Drink, Créme de Violette, Bonterra Wines

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

Are we attracted to Jesus? This fictional telling of Jesus’ wife, Ana, has us in love. We love the feminist take in a Biblical setting. We love the love between Jesus and Ana. And we love the female relationships explored in this novel. It’s a book surrounding faith, written for everyone, and relatable to those trying to find their purpose in life.  

This week, we read The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Sierra Marshall, lover of romance and getting lost in imagined worlds, joins me today to talk about this book that pulled on all the right heart strings. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Jenna’s list of quotes from this book that spans the length of her desk. 


• Why secular and faith-based audiences agree that this is just a really good book with great storytelling. 


• Why Sierra might be crushing on Jesus…hard. 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you longing for more in this life…like more books and more cocktails. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• The Spanish Princess (TV Show)


• Jesus Christ Superstar (Movie)


• Spencer (Movie)


• Women, earth, and Creator Spirit Book (Book)


• The Color Purple (Book)

Drink Pairings: literally any red wine (or water, because water into wine and all of that). 

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

You probably won’t agree with us when it comes to this book...

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry follows chemist Elizabeth Zott who is fighting for equality in her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute in the 1960s. But when she and Calvin Evans—the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder—fall for each other, their budding romance ends abruptly. So, a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of a chemistry-based cooking show Supper at Six. What happens when Elizabeth Zott not only tries to change the way women view cooking, but also view themselves? 

Our Historical Fiction expert, Abby Williams joins me today to talk about why it took us a month to finish this book.

In this episode we cover: 

• Why the world doesn’t need any more dog narrators. 


• Why our sense of humor is broken when it comes to this book.


• Is Elizabeth Zott quirky or just unlikable? 

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you feeling like you missed something…like the humor everyone is talking about. 

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• The X-Files (TV Show)


• Radioactive (Movie)


• Chuck (TV Show)


• The Fault in Our Stars (Book)


• Project Hail Mary (Book)


• Sharp Objects (Book)


• The Theory of Everything (Movie)

Wine Pairings: Substance Cabernet Sauvignon (it has an element on the label, very science-y)

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!