Booktails Podcast

International Women’s Day 1 It is a truth universally acknowledged that a book podcast in possession of an International Women’s Day theme must be in want of Pride and Prejudice. It is the classic romance, classic strong female heroine, the classic novel in every sense! Whether you’ve read it twenty times or you thought about watching the Keira Knightley adaptation once, this is for you. Join Serena and Rachel as they delve into what makes this book timeless, sexy sexy names, why everyone thinks Mr Collins is a sleazy old man and how to embrace being an old spinster at 27 (take note Charlotte Lucas!) So don’t test our poor nerves, just make yourself a Pemberley Pimm’s and join us on the dance floor! 

Interspecies Valentines 4. It’s time to get squeaky… but not squeaky clean. Squeaky dirrrrrtyyyyy! 🎈 Join an aspiring artist who meets a balloon seller and his boyfriend and ends up falling for them both. Just one catch- they are secretly balloon animals under a spell. And the sorceress who cast it wants them back… ✨ We are channelling all the fun of the fair with our nostalgic sweetie cocktail this week 🍬so grab a strong one and discuss trauma bonding, balloon appendage and THAT ending with Serena and Rachel. Once you pop you can’t stop… 🎈

Interspecies Valentines 3. Rawr. 🦖If your innocent dinosaur-obsessed inner child is ready to be traumatised, read on. Ready? Okay. It’s Dino Smut. And yes, some would say it’s deeply disturbing. But some people are into it (apparently!). And one thing is for sure, it’s a silly, tongue-in-cheek romp through prehistory so let’s just have a laugh about it, right? Riiiiight?!  Grab yourself a Palomasaurus (see what we did there?) and join Rachel and Serena to discuss the science of time travel and whether or not the author is really a palaeontologist as she claims. Wild! Come along and enjoy the riiiide! 🦕

Interspecies Valentines 2 Okay readers, let’s get weird 🕷️😈🔥 If you thought Ice Planet Barbarians was too strange you won’t believe what we’re talking about for our second book in our interspecies valentines series!Yup, it’s a spider romance. Kind of. We still don’t fully understand it. Ketahn is a vrix, an alien with armoured skin, mandibles and many legs. The queen of his community has been chasing him for some time when he stumbles across Ivy asleep in a crashed spaceship and decided to take her as a pet, but- well, you know where this is going…. So if spiders are your secret kink or you just fancy a laugh, join Rachel and Serena to discuss the ethics of getting freaky with a non-human and how, whatever form they take, apparently men will always be men. *eye roll* 

Interspecies Valentines 1 TW: This series features non human romance and questionable consent. Strap on your space belts because this is going to be a wild ride! Take a journey with Serena and Rachel to an icy far off planet full of VERY friendly locals! Grab a Big, Blue and Horny frozen cocktail and let’s get into it! For the first book of our alternative interspecies romance this Valentine’s month we will be discussing the representation and treatment of women and the surprisingly complex science of the characters staying alive on an inhospitable planet. But mostly discussing alien c**ks. Because wow is there a lot to discuss. Trust us you don’t want to miss this one!

Greek Retellings 3 This book was new to both of us and we may have made a mistake calling it a Greek retelling but we certainly didn’t make a mistake including it in the podcast! Join Serena and Rachel as they sip our Albatross cocktail, discuss the book’s relation to the Covid 19 epidemic, the power of positive thinking, joys of isolation and try to work out what is actually going on with that ending! We will also draw our own labyrinth based on the house and try our best to find the way out (tune in to find out if we’re still lost to this day) or if we even want to be found! 

Greek Retellings 2: Serena's Recommendation  You know the story of Achilles right? A beautiful and strong demigod, destined to be the greatest and fastest warrior anyone has ever seen, never mind that pesky ankle of his! Well, get ready to see him in a new light, and to hear his tragic love story play out before you with nothing you can do to stop it, as much as you might wish you could! Join Serena and Rachel to explore love, loss and war, ancient LGBT histories, the confusing levels of godhood and epic centaur wingman skills. Make yourself an Ambrosia cocktail and float away to Mount Olympus with us before a classic game of 'guess whether the quote is by ancient Greek poet Sappho or Taylor Swift'. And tell us once and for all, is it Odysseus' world and we're all just living in it?

Greek Retellings 1: Rachel's Recommendation It's time for a new year and a whole new Booktails theme! We are starting off strong with Greek myth retellings! First up is 'A Thousand Ships' by Natalie Haynes: a retelling of the Trojan war from the stories of the women who were front and centre! From slaves to queen's to goddesses, Haynes gives voice to them all and Serena and Rachel weigh in on why we are so obsessed with the Trojan war and play a classic game of Siblings or Lovers: Greek Gods Edition! Speaking of goddesses, this week's cocktail  Hera's Kiss just might be one of our favourites ever! Beautiful and delicious, it is also spicy and unexpected and packs one hell of a punch! 

Time for our yearly round up: the best books we read this year, whether surprise new releases or old favourites we've read many times, and our favourite episodes of 2025 in case you're wondering where to start! And our final game of the year is not to be missed: the Booktails Job Swap! Producer Mark is presenting, Rachel is editing and Serena is on 'music': it's going to be a riot.   Thank you so much for joining us this year on Booktails - next year is going to be super exciting and we can't wait to share it with you all! 

Festive Frolics 4: Serena's Recommendation Christmas is just around the corner and we are heartbroken that this is our final festive frolic of the podcast this year! But we've put the perfect gift under your tree in the shape of this delightful mature romance in a picturesque English village complete with quirky ensemble and disastrous dates! You'll want to try our yummy Gingerbread Margi-rita, the perfect accompaniment on these chilly winter nights! Don't wait to unwrap this gift of an episode which includes discussions on real life gingerbread villages, representations of female aging and why you would never want to live in a remote English countryside village. We hope someone nice comes down your chimney and wish you a wonderful Christmas! Make sure to join us next time for an episode of our best books of the year! 

Festive Frolics 3 On the first day of Christmas Booktails gave to you a baby Alan in a pear tree!  It's the 12 days of Christmas as you've never seen them before! A grumpy widower and his children start receiving very specific and familiar gifts on the days leading up to Christmas... but who is sending them and what could they mean?  Join Rachel and Serena as they rake through ladies dancing, unbelievable children, lords a leaping, maids a milking, unfit fathers, lack of Christmas activities, five gold rings, ghost mothers and whatever happened to that partridge chick in the pear tree?!

Festive Frolics 2: The Secret Christmas Library and interview with bestselling author Jenny Colgan.  It's a big one readers: it's our first author interview and we were over the moon to have the one and only Jenny Colgan on to discuss their new book with us! Join us as we drink a festive old fashioned, chat about real life castle libraries, why books are always the best Christmas gifts and play a festive game of Red Flag Green Flag! Will the love interests in this book will be on the naughty list this year? Only one way to find out! 

Festive Frolics 1: Rachel's recommendation  It's the most wonderful time of the year! That's right, the season is upon us, time to roast those chestnuts and sing some carols in the snow! And for this first romantic romp you might just want to look out the mistletoe! Join Serena and Rachel as they follow identical twins who swap lives for the twelve days before Christmas in this Hallmark-esque holiday adventure, featuring just about every festive romcom trope going, from small town bakeries to Christmas eve blizzards! Just don't forget the sourdough starter!   

Prize Winners 3: British Book Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year We hope you're hungry readers, because if not you're about to be! Based on a true case this book explores murder, feminism and most importantly, the joys of eating. It's never too late to change your life or to start eating good food! After today's game Rachel and Serena will never be eating margarine again. We're even putting butter in our cocktails these days! So grab a knife and join us for Butter!

Prize Winners 2: Women's Prize for Fiction Winner Let's go girls! The Women's Prize was set up in response to the lack of female writers being shortlisted for the Booker Prize despite being more numerous than males, and they have been paving the way for representation and equality ever since! Yasss Queens! This week we dive into the Safekeep and discuss literary wartime lesbians, hare obsessions, twist endings and what pears have to do with any of it! Get yourself a Pears and Hares cocktail and let's get into it!

Prize Winners 1: Pulitzer Prize Winner First up in this prize winning books of 2025 category is a retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which will turn that tale on its head with an unforgettable narrator and a completely new spin on the hi-jinks of a couple of children in the American South! Travel down the Mississippi with Serena and Rachel as they discuss past mojito trauma, the language of slavery, absurd travelling royalty, the power of writing  and the ultimate reveal. YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER! OH YES I AM!

Spooky Stephen King 4. Misery is the undisputed perfect name for this 1987 Stephen King classic, but we are here to ease your misery today! Listen along as we discuss the bodice ripping novel-within-a-novel, Annie's unhinged psyche and iconic quotes and an unexpected ending, all paired with a delicious Suffering Bastard cocktail courtesy of Hauntingly Good Spirits. Is it a horror or a thriller or just plain cockadoody? You decide.

Spooky Stephen King 3: Serena's Recommendation  This is the book King himself rates as his scariest and it's clear why! A normal young family moves to rural Maine and is ripped apart by the forces at work in the ancient burial ground in their backyard. This week Serena and Rachel find hidden Stephen King universe Easter eggs, learn what kind of pet would haunt them, find unexpected spicy scenes and realise that Stephen King is absolutely not a cat person. The perfectly paired cocktail this week courtesy of Hauntingly Good Spirits is the Corpse Reviver and this might have been our favourite of the collaboration. Just try it and thank us later. In the iconic words of Jud Crandall "Sometimes dead is better" but since it's spooky season let's revive some corpses and dig up Pet Semetary! 

Spooky Stephen King 2: Rachel's Recommendation  Whoa it's a biggie this week! Over one thousand pages to be exact! We are diving headfirst into the sewers and into one of the spookiest Stephen King stories around! Journey with us to Derry, Maine where danger lurks just below the surface. Rachel and Serena become honorary members of the Losers Club this week as they sip on Drunk Ghost cocktails courtesy of Hauntingly Good Spirits, and discuss fear, success, trauma and friendship and the ongoing mystery of Bob Gray aka. Pennywise aka an alien?! We all float here at Booktails Podcast and we have a sneaking suspicion you'll float too...

Spooky Stephen King 1 HEEEEEEERE'S BOOKTAILS! It's finally spooky season and we are celebrating with the master of horror this month, Stephen King! Join us roaming the iconic hallways of the Overlook Hotel as the nights draw in. Join Rachel and Serena as they discuss unreliable narrators, the Kubrick film adaptation, justice for Wendy and try to get to grips with who or what Tony is, whilst getting more than a little tipsy!  But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy so if you feel like visiting the Overlook's ghostly bar the Undead Gentleman himself would be only too happy to serve you up a delicious cocktail courtesy of the marvellous Hauntingly Good Spirits book! Seriously these cocktails are the real deal and not to be missed! This one is a Red Rum drink but hopefully murder won't be on the cards for you tonight...  Notes: Serena's frozen Jack photo is available on Instagram.