Red Wine Reads

This week, we read Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh

Rebekah joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why Otessa continues to fascinate me, even though I’ve disliked every book I’ve read of hers
• How Otessa crossed so many lines in this book
• Why we refuse to go watch the film adaptation

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will h...

This week, we read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Sierra joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• How I was able to steer clear of any spoilers up until this point
• Why Tamlin gives me the ick 
• The pure excitement that Sierra feels to FINALLY talk about this book with me

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that ...

This week, we read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Ella joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why, as two people people who don’t normally read romance, ate this s**t up. 
• The fact that our girl Diana can sure write a sex scene
• How all of the elements — romance, historical anecdotes, character development, setting — came together to create a love...

It's our birthday month, so we wanted to start off our new season with a bang (literally). This episode was originally recorded in 2022, but I have sat on it, waiting for the perfect time to post it. And now, it is the perfect time to post it! 

Today, we're reading Birthday Girl, a steamy romance in which Jordan, a 19-year-old, falls in love with the almost-40 Pike. The only snag in their romance? Jordan is dating Pike’s son, Cole....

This week, we read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Bekah joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• The dark past of author, Delia Owens, that may or may not influence the plot/characters of the book. 
• What order you should read the “Where the Crawdads Sing” trifecta including book, movie, and New Yorker article.
• How this book became a phen...

This month, we’re starting Season 3 off with a BANG. Outlander, ACOTAR, Kristin Hannah and Ottessa Moshfegh? Oh yeah, this month is going to be good. We got a little romance for you (it is the month of love after all). We got a little mystery and weirdness for you. We have characters you love to root for and characters you love to hate. 

Whatever your taste in books, we hope you find something you’re looking for. 

Here are our pick...

This week, we read Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Abby joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• The characters who really made this book such a devious, sexy inside look into the richest people in Singapore 
• The biggest plot holes in the movie that the book filled in
• Why the audiobook absolutely SLAYS 

Open your book and press play on a p...

This week, we read Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Bekah joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why there were way too many characters in the book that it muddled up the ending
• How Bekah became the biggest Studio Ghibli stan out there
• The many discrepancies between the book and the movie, and why in this case, the movie is better. 
<...

This week, we read — and watched! — Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain

Sierra joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why Jenna fell asleep during the movie. 
• How well this book was adapted to screen — they did a great job, almost word-for-word the same!
• Why the movie’s creative interpretation of the ending irked us both. 

Open your boo...

This week, we read Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

This nonfiction novel follows the twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history — the Osage Murders. 

Ella joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why we both gave the book 5 stars
• What we missed in the movie adaptation
• The pai...

This week, we read Twisted Love by Ana Huang

This first book in a four book series follows Ava and Alex — a duo whose love that was never supposed to happen unleashes secrets that could destroy them both...and everything they hold dear Twisted Love is a contemporary brother's best friend/grumpy sunshine romance. 

Sierra joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• How many tropes were actually in this book
...

This week, we read Atonement by Ian McEwan 

This 2001 novel follows thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis who witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives—together with her precocious literary gifts—brings about a crime that will change all their lives.

Ella joins me on this episode to discuss: 

This week, we read How to Fall in Love with Anyone by Mandy Len Catron

This memoir from the author of the popular New York Times essay, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,” explores the romantic myths we create and explains how they limit our ability to achieve and sustain intimacy. When her parents divorced after a twenty-eight year marriage and her own ten-year relationship ended, those were the questions that Mandy Len Catron...

This week, we read The Paris Apartment  by Lucy Foley.

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. She decides to visit her half-brother Ben in Paris — but he’s not there. The longer he stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Ever...

This week as book three of our Spooky Reviews Series, we read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

This novel tells the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly house called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of...

This week as book two of our Spooky Reviews Series, we read The Hike by Drew Magary

This novel follows Ben, a man who finds himself on a path into the woods behind his hotel, but he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.

Rebekah and Marlee j...

This week as part of our Spooky Reviews Series, we read The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

This novel follows Vivi, a witch who cursed her long-lost lover Rhys after he broke her heart. Nine years later, Rhys returns to their home of Graves Glen and finds himself facing two dangerous things: his scorned ex and a cursed town. 

Sierra and Claire join me on this episode to discuss: 

• Why this book fell so flat...

This week, we read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

This novel follows Dana, a black woman who travels back in time to Antebellum Maryland and has to save her family line. She must face the horrors of American slavery and explores the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now.

Ella joins me on this episode to discuss: 

• The reason why EVERYBODY IS NOT READING THIS EFFIN’ NOVEL! 

This week, we read Priest by Sierra Simone

This novel follows a Catholic priest in small town Kansas who meets Poppy — a high-end stripper trying to escape her horny past — and they spark a very strong connection. 

Abby Williams, who can never take communion the same way ever again, and Sierra Marshall, the expert in all things romance and smut, join me today to talk about sex and faith. 

In this episode we cover: 

• Read more