In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss our One Hundredth Book!! M.L. Rio’s 2017 novel If We Were Villains. Topics include Stranger Things, Bisexual Disaster Oliver Marks, insufferable drama kids, the genius of Shakespeare, 90s Shakespeare adaptations, the frustratingly vague ending, and shades of Half-Blood Prince (and High School Musical??)

This week’s drink: The Friendly Betrayal via The Attic on Eighth

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ oz Bourbon
• 7 drops grapefruit lavender bitters
• ¾ oz grenadine
• Juice of half a lemon
• Ginger ale, to top

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a rocks glass filled with ice, pour in the bourbon and bitters, stir until cold
2. Slowly drizzle the grenadine over it to create a layered effect, following with the lemon juice
3. Top off with the ginger ale, give it another light stir and enjoy

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Derry Girls (on Netflix)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read Circe by Madeline Miller.

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Gabrielle Zevin’s 2014 novel The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Topics include a seemingly lackluster movie adaptation that we definitely will end up watching, the Hallmark movie premise that’s very well written, our desire to monologue in real life, reading short stories, literary fiction vs. genre fiction, chicken pox and shingles, what spices we would be, the elegance of picture books, the triumphs and perils of middle school/high school English classes (shout out to Mr. Solorio, the GOAT), the perfect amount of sentimentality in this book, and the dream of owning a bookstore.

This week’s drink: Hot Buttered Rum via Friday Night Cocktails

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz gold rum
• 1 TB buttered rum batter*
• Boiling water, to top
• Cinnamon stick, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a mug, add the rum and batter. Fill with boiling water and stir until the batter is dissolved. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

*For the buttered rum batter: In a large bowl, combine ⅔ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temp), ¼ cup honey, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, ⅛ tsp ground cloves, and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge (or freezer).

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

The Art of Gluten-Free Bread by Aran Goyoaga

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio.

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s 2019 novel The Mercies. Topics include Leif Erickson Day, an entire village of women obviously being witches, the divide between the old ways and the new, men feeling the need to burn women to appease their fragile little egos, and endless night in the north. Plus: inflammation! (and not the witch burning kind).

This week’s drink: Nordic G&T

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-2 TB caraway seeds
• 2 oz gin
• Tonic water
• Lemon wedge

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix gin and caraways seeds together in a small jar, leave overnight or as long as you can! When ready to make the cocktail, strain the caraway seeds and pour strained gin over ice. Top with tonic water and a squeeze of lemon!

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Stephen Graham Jones’s 2025 novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Topics include pronouncing French words, tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki drinks, reading (and watching) horror, new vampire lore, the importance of buffalo, America’s nightmare, the nuance of Arthur Beaucarne, and giant mole people.

This week’s drink: Blood Moon Boulevardier via The G&M Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

For the syrup:

• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1 3 inch orange peel

For the cocktail:

• 1 oz bourbon
• 1 oz Campari
• Optional: red edible glitter

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Start by making the spiced wine syrup. Add 1 cup red wine, 1 cup sugar, 3 cinnamon sticks, 3 whole cloves, 1 star anise, and 3 inch orange peel to a small pot. Cook on medium until all the sugar has melted and the mixture has thickened (about 30 minutes), then let cool.
2. Add 1 ounce bourbon, 1 ounce of campari, and 1 ounce of the spiced wine syrup to a mixing glass with ice. Stir to combine. (optional: add red edible glitter)
3. Pour into a coupe glass with an ice sphere

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Bring Them Home documentary

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2022 novel Thrust. Topics include chicken stock, Neptune’s gin, water apocalypse, the Statue of Liberty (and Clueless quotes about it), the sexy bits of the novel, toxic masculinity (oh hey, we know her), and feeling your feelings. Plus, we talk about The Life of a Showgirl (of course).

This week’s drink: Sea Foam via Rhubarb & Lavender

INGREDIENTS:

Sea salt foam:

• 2 oz liquid egg whites, equivalent to two egg whites
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ¼ tsp sea salt

Cocktail:

• 2 oz gin, such as Hendrick's Neptunia
• 1 oz simple syrup
• ½ oz lemon juice
• dried seaweed, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a mixing bowl combine the egg whites, lemon juice, and sea salt. Beat on high until there are soft peaks. The extra liquid from the lemon juice will prevent the foam from becoming too stiff and some liquid will separate from the foam. Set aside while making the cocktail. Makes enough for 2 to 3 cocktails.
2. In a cocktail shaker add the gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Add ice, then cover and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass. Spoon a layer of foam on top. Garnish with dried seaweed if desired. Enjoy!

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love by Samin Nosrat

Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories from My Middle East by Noor Murad

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter

Eat Up! Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want by Ruby Tandoh

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let me Go. Topics include the 20th anniversary of this book, how to classify it, the ethics of cloning for organ harvesting, memory and loneliness, rich people clones, talkin’ the title, Kathy as narrator (and carer), and the medical inaccuracies of Grey’s Anatomy. Plus, we talk at length about quitting social media. And remember: there’s no cow on the ice.

This week’s drink: Amaretto Sour via Friday Night Cocktails

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ ounces amaretto liqueur
• 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 teaspoon rich simple syrup
• Garnish: dried orange wheel

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add amaretto, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a shaker.
2. Add ice and shake until well-chilled.
3. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
4. Garnish with a dried orange wheel
5. For Kayla’s variation, add 1 oz of bourbon and an egg white (dry shake first before adding ice and shaking again until chilled)

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Njuta: Enjoy, Delight In: The Swedish Art of Savoring the Moment by Niki Brantmark

A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnston

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read Thrust by Lidia Yuknavitch

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Christopher Buehlman’s 2012 novel Between Two Fires. Topics include delicious cocktails we had in California, how this book came on our radar, our appreciation of the writing and language used, the horrors unleashed (and how extra they are), the devastation of the Black Death, Heaven vs. Hell (and religion vs. science), and our motley band of heroes. Plus, we try to parse the true nature of Delphine (God?). And we, inevitably, talk religion.

This week’s drink: Wine

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bottle of your favorite wine

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Open the bottle, pour into a glass, and drink until you forget the horrors around you

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Tilt by Emma Pattee

New season of The Great British Baking Show

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In this week’s episode, Kayla and Taylor discuss Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest novel, Atmosphere. Topics include the powers of TJR, the particular charms of Lydia, Barbara (aka the WORST PERSON EVER), gaaaaaays in spaaaaaace, the iconic Sally Ride, the unbearable emotion of the last few pages, Joan’s views on God (and issues we may have with them), the utterly terrifying vastness and unknowableness of space, and toxic masculinity. Plus, we go on a tangent about gender and sex ed. Also: cannibalism.

This week’s drink: Aviation (via liquor.com)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ounces gin
• ½ ounce maraschino liqueur
• ¼ ounce creme de violette
• ¾ ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• Garnish: brandied cherry

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the gin, maraschino liqueur, creme de violette and lemon juice to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass.
3. Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Current/recommended reads, links, etc.:

Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr

Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight by Margaret Lazarus Dean

Sally documentary (on Disney+)

Challenger: The Final Flight documentary (Netlfix)

Yellowjackets (TV show)

Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Varta

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library.

Join us next time as we read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlam