Forget The Wine - Reclaiming The Book Club

Laura and Madeline clash in their discussion of Rachel DeLoache William's True Crime Memoir, My Friend Anna. Was Rachel authentic or manipulative in her version of events surrounding the outing of a "fake heiress" that shocked the world in 2019? Madeline shares her "Four Categories of Con Artists".

Laura and Madeline discuss feminism, characterization, and the unique oral-history narrative format of one of the hottest books of 2019. They'll also question the reliability of Reese's Book Club, and whether the coming Amazon series will live up to the audiobook performances.

Madeline and Laura discuss the worldview projected in My Year of Rest and Relaxation and why Ottessa Moshfegh is the Kayne West of female writers.      

Madeline and Laura dig into their issues with Sally Rooney's sophomore novel Normal People and analyze why it didn't live up to her first work, Conversations With Friends. 

Madeline and Laura discuss Ling Ma's lyrical apocalypse novel, Severance. We talk about the how the millenial lens affects the tropes of a zombie story, and provide recommendations for similar works.

Laura and Madeline discuss Caroline Kepnes' creepy stalker novel 'You' and compare it to the smash hit Netflix show of the same name.

Madeline and Laura count down their top 5 books of 2018, talk about the year's biggest literary trends, and shout out the 2018 releases we missed, but still want to read.

Laura and Madeline discuss whether Catherine Lacey tackled too much in her novel The Answers. Do her characters find "answers" to questions regarding love, relationships, chronic pain, and enlightenment?

Laura and Madeline discuss their love/hate relationships with the main characters of the novel Conversations With Friends. What does Irish author Sally Rooney have to say about love, relationships, and professional success as seen through the millennial lens?

Laura and Madeline discuss open relationships and gender dynamics in Sarah Dunn's novel The Arrangement.

Laura and Madeline discuss Marlena, the coming of age novel with a dark twist by Julie Buntin.

Madeline and Laura discuss Celeste Ng's bestseller Little Fires Everywhere. 

Laura and Madeline discuss Shelia Heti's work of auto-fiction, Motherhood. Is it too navel-gazey? Is it a novel-as-therapy? Or did we love the introspective, ponderous book. Listen to find out.

Laura and Madeline discuss whether it was nature or nurture that drove Kevin to commit mass violence in Lionel Shriver's intense and disturbing novel We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Laura, Madeline and special guest Marty discuss Andrew Sean Grier's Pulitzer Prize winning comedic novel Less. We talk about what worked for us, what didn't and why we thought it won the Pulitzer. 

Madeline and Laura discuss Tayari Jones' 'An American Marriage'. Does the emotional Oprah's Book Club pick live up to the hype? Listen as we discuss the novel which addresses an individuals encounter with the criminal justice system and the ripples that touch that person's community.

If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present? Laura and Madeline discuss fate, freewill, life and death while analyzing Chloe Benjamin's 2018 novel The Immortalists. 

Join Madeline and Laura as they discuss the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit From The Goon Squad. M & L discuss Egan's unique narrative structure and its intriguing effect on the novel's themes of intersecting lives and the passage of time. Did Egan successfully achieve her goal of writing a contemporary version of Proust's seven-volume masterpiece? What chapters stirred us and what chapters missed the mark?

Madeline and Laura discuss the bestselling YA novel by Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give.  Remember when book clubs were about books? Two women were tired of the "book club" being portrayed as a thinly veiled "ladies wine night" in popular culture, and decided to fight this bastardization themselves. Laura and Madeline share a love of reading and discussing books. Their book club started completely via email correspondence, as Madeline is currently a homeless nomad traveling the world. After some time dissecting and debating the merits of popular novels published within the past decade, they decided to bring their passion to a whole new level of nerd: a podcast. Join them in their examination and interpretations of contemporary novels. One novel discussed per episode.  And, ok, if you want to drink a glass of wine while you listen they won't judge you. They won't audibly judge you.

Madeline and Laura discuss Emily Fridlund's debut novel set in rural Minnesota, History of Wolves. Remember when book clubs were about books? Two women were tired of the "book club" being portrayed as a thinly veiled "ladies wine night" in popular culture, and decided to fight this bastardization themselves. Laura and Madeline share a love of reading and discussing books. Their book club started completely via email correspondence, as Madeline is currently a homeless nomad traveling the world. After some time dissecting and debating the merits of popular novels published within the past decade, they decided to bring their passion to a whole new level of nerd: a podcast. Join them in their examination and interpretations of contemporary novels. One novel discussed per episode.  And, ok, if you want to drink a glass of wine while you listen they won't judge you. They won't audibly judge you.