Useless Doctors Book Club

The season 2 finale is upon us! This week we chat about It Had To Be You by Georgia Clarke, a "Love Actually" style rom-com. We discuss what romantic cliches and tropes work for us, Sarah's distaste for boring couples, and Pooja's inability to not cry during any heartwarming scene in a book or movie. Is choosing a book based on a book quiz the way to go? Listen to hear our thoughts!

In today's episode, we brought another gothic book to the podcast called Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist. The book is another book Sarah found while exploring deep in the Goodreads recommendations lists. Tripping Arcadia follows Lena who becomes an assistant to the doctor of a wealthy family. She uses her previous knowledge of herbs to wreak havoc in the family. Will this gothic be a hit? Listen to find out!

For this episode, Harshini chose the highly anticipated sequel to the very first book we read for the podcast (Dial A for Aunties): Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto. The story picks up on Meddy and the four Chinese-Indonesian aunties we loved in the first book as they navigate Meddy's own wedding and an attack by the mafia. We've referenced the first book many times in our podcast, especially since Pooj loves it, but did the second book live up to our expectations? 

Hello hello everyone! This week we are back with a short story collection recommended by Pooja titled, Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg! While discussing one of Pooja’s all-time favorite books (!!), we chat about the differences between audiobooks and physically reading, the Tinder Swindler, Harshini and Sarah’s misunderstanding of what exactly salted circus cashews represent, and Pooja’s drawer of excuses. Did Sarah and Harshini like this book as much as Pooja? Listen to find out!

In today's episode we read Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. We dive into life in the Galápagos during a pandemic and relationship struggles that happen when one person changes while the other doesn't. Is it too early to read a book describing raw COVID-19 emotions? Listen to hear what we think!

For our 25th (!!) episode, we read the very popular book-turned-movie The Martian by Andy Weir. We discuss how much effort went into saving one person stuck on Mars, what the main character Mark Watney could've done differently, and how we felt about alllll the scientific details in the book. Lots of fun stuff! The three of us have matching NASA sweatshirts (Sarah wore hers during the recording), but did we all like this book? Listen to find out!

This week the Useless Doctors read a book Pooja chose, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen! Considered one of the greatest novels of all time, written by one of the most popular authors of all time, Pride & Prejudice is a staple of English literature. Yet somehow none of us have ever read the novel. While discussing our thoughts we chat about 19th-century dating habits, Austen’s love for exposition, and if classics are worth reading.

The world seems to love this book, but did the Useless Doctors? Listen to find out!

In today's episode, we explore the mysteries in The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. We talk about family drama and what it takes to kill a person. Also, can a book still hit the mark if the side plots are more interesting than the main plot? Listen to find out!

We're back with a book about a book club! The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is a horror/thriller book about a group of suburban moms bonded by their love of mysteries and true crime dealing with some disturbing events and a suspicious newcomer in their community. We talk through our realization that the book was different than we expected, laugh at Sarah getting scared, and try to guess what grossed Pooja out the most. Harshini picked a horror book about vampires knowing Sarah hates horror and Pooja hates supernatural things, but did she actually succeed in finding a book of the genre we all liked? Only one way to find out!

In this week’s episode, we welcome a special guest, our friend Miriam, as we discuss Beartown by Fredrik Backman! Together we chat about Pooja's list of emotional moments in the book, Miriam's enjoyment of Backman's characterization and the featured friendships, Sarah's dislike of all things sloooow-burn, and Harshini's thoughts on the (wild!) ending. Is it possible that a book about a high school ice hockey team in a small isolated Swedish town won all of us over? Listen to find out!