Shows
Booktails PodcastEnsnared by Tiffany RobertsInterspecies Valentines 2
Okay readers, letâs get weird đ·ïžđđ„
If you thought Ice Planet Barbarians was too strange you wonât believe what weâre talking about for our second book in our interspecies valentines series!Yup, itâs a spider romance. Kind of. We still donât 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 w...
2026-01-3052 minBooktails PodcastIce Planet Barbarians by Ruby DixonInterspecies 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 letâs get into it!
For the first book of our alternative interspecies romance this Valentineâs month we will be discussing the representation and treatment of women and the surprisingly complex science of the characters staying alive on an inho...
2026-01-2355 minBooktails PodcastPiranesi by Susanna ClarkeGreek 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 didnât make a mistake including it in the podcast!
Join Serena and Rachel as they sip our Albatross cocktail, discuss the bookâs 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...
2026-01-1648 minBooktails PodcastThe Song of Achilles by Madeline MillerGreek Retellings 2: Serena's RecommendationÂ
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. M...
2026-01-0945 minBooktails PodcastA Thousand Ships by Natalie HaynesGreek 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 g...
2026-01-0154 minBooktails PodcastOur Favourite Books In 2025Time 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. Â
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 w...
2025-12-2655 minBooktails PodcastThe Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley DunbarFestive 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...
2025-12-1949 minBooktails PodcastThe Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas by James Paterson & Tad SafranFestive Frolics 3
On the first day of Christmas Booktails gave to you a baby Alan in a pear tree! Â 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?Â
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 ch...
2025-12-1252 minBooktails PodcastJenny Colgan Interview - The Secret Christmas LibraryFestive Frolics 2: The Secret Christmas Library and interview with bestselling author Jenny Colgan.Â
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 w...
2025-12-0541 minBooktails PodcastThe Holiday Swap by Maggie KnoxFestive Frolics 1: Rachel's recommendationÂ
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!Â
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2025-11-2848 minBooktails PodcastButter by Asako YuzukiPrize 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!
2025-11-2157 minBooktails PodcastThe Safe Keep by Yael van Der WoudenPrize 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!
2025-11-1445 minBooktails PodcastJames by Percival EverettPrize 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!
2025-11-0742 minBooktails PodcastMisery by Stephen KingSpooky 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.
2025-10-3148 minBooktails PodcastPet Sematary by Stephen KingSpooky Stephen King 3: Serena's RecommendationÂ
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 t...
2025-10-2457 minBooktails PodcastIT by Stephen KingSpooky Stephen King 2: Rachel's RecommendationÂ
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 f...
2025-10-1755 minBooktails PodcastThe Shining by Stephen KingSpooky 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!Â
But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy so if you feel like visiting the Overlook's g...
2025-10-1057 minBooktails PodcastThe Last Supper by Rosemary ShragerCosy Murders 3.
Are you hungry? Grab a seat at the table because Rosemary Shrager is about to serve you up quite the meal and we are here to pour the tea!Â
Take a sip of your perfectly paired aperitif Death by Rhubarb and meet the cast of very posh potential murderers in this classic country manor setting where murder is definitely on the menu. But can our wholesome granny/ granddaughter sleuth duo solve the case before it's too late? Rachel and Serena get very hungry this episode exploring red herrings, celebrity writers, quirky sidekicks and m...
2025-10-0351 minBooktails PodcastThe Trial by Rob RinderCosy Murder 2: The Trial by Rob Rinder (Rachel's Recommendation)Â
WE OBJECT, YOUR HONOUR - to the use of advocaat in a SECOND pod cocktail! But we do not object to the second book in our cosy murder series - The Trial by (Judge) Rob Rinder.
The cocktail this week is the Cliveden's Gotcha, or if you fancy a mocktail, the Solicitor. Gather your evidence and get ready to present your case to the eternal judges Rachel and Serena as we cut through the legal jargon to examine this cosy courtroom drama. Will Adam Green ever g...
2025-09-2657 minBooktails PodcastThe Thursday Murder Club by Richard OsmanCosy Murders 1: Serena's RecommendationÂ
Get the gang together on your zimmers because the time has come for...
COSY MURDER SEASON! đȘđ§Łđâ
Change to your winter duvet, get your knitting out and put the kettle on because the seasons are changing and it's time to curl up with murder of the most comforting variety!Â
And we're starting with a modern favourite- The Thursday Murder Club!Â
Join our very own Booktails Murder Club by listening to the episode and CHASING it down with a Coopers Chase tea cocktail, sleuth your way through the book and find out which...
2025-09-1953 minBooktails PodcastThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsDeadly Competitions 3
That's right, it's the one you were all thinking of! There's no way we could do a Deadly Competitions series without including this beloved franchise.
Get ready to be plucked from District 12 and dropped  into a fight for survival, with politics, intrigue and maybe even love along the way. Get your bow and arrows ready for business, and may the odds be ever in your favour...
2025-09-121h 08Booktails PodcastBattle Royale by Koushun TakamiDeadly Competitions 2
If you thought your school was bad, it had nothing on this one! It's time to dive into the Battle Royale phenomenon- 42 kids are taken on a 'school trip', given weapons and told to kill each other until only one survives.
With a Kiriyama Bloody Mary in hand (pasta sauce) Serena and Rachel join the race for survival and find out how long they would last in a battle royale. Have a think to yourself who from your school days you would want to form an alliance with! Those of us who spent...
2025-09-051h 03Booktails PodcastThe Running Man by Stephen KingDeadly Competitions 1: Rachel's RecommendationÂ
Minus 55 minutes and counting
On your marks, get set...
DEADLY COMPETITIONS TIME! âłđȘ
Grab your running shoes and grab a natural energy drink (cocktail) full of electrolytes because it's time for a new Booktails Podcast theme!Â
We're starting with a bang with The Running Man by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)
Join Rachel and Serena as we don our disguises and race alongside Ben Richards through streets, hotel rooms and sewers and and even through a pencil maze of our own creation and try our hardest to stay...
2025-08-2954 minBooktails PodcastThe Trial by Franz KafkaCentenery Series 3 (Rachel's Rec)
If you've ever missed your stop on the train this episode is for you. We're channeling Kafka and staying alcohol free this week, but feel free to add a splash of something stronger to K's Defence if you prefer! He needs all the help he can get with this Trial after all!
Have you ever felt like you're living in a bureaucratic fever dream? (Every time you have to book an appointment at your GP?) Don't go in a huff and burn your writing like Kafka! There's always the chance you...
2025-08-2258 minBooktails PodcastThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldCentenery Series 2.
There's no way we could do a series on books from 1925 without including one of the most studied and revered books of all time!
That's right, we are bringing out the big guns and meeting The Great Gatsby. But is he a hero or a fraud? Is Daisy really the worst? And what is actually up with those famous eyes in the sky? All these questions and more will be answered by Rachel and Serena this week.
So grab a gin Rickey cocktail and look out your dancing shoes. There's a...
2025-08-081h 02Booktails PodcastGentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita LoosCentenary Series 1: Serena's RecommendationÂ
"Kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever." This is just one important life lesson given to the reader by the force which is Lorelei Lee.
Join Serena and Rachel, 'Tiara' cocktail in gloved hand, as they talk through Lorelei's famous trip to Europe, meet her many suitors, wish Dorothy was their best friend too and reflect on the joys and misadventures of being a fabulous flapper in 1925.
2025-08-0140 minBooktails PodcastToxic Bachelors by Danielle SteelSummer Beach Read 3: Serena's RecommendationÂ
Serena and Rachel may be hungover this week but my oh my do they have some strong views on this book! Prepare yourself for chats on love-bombing, mommy issues, prejudice, sexism, ageism, classism, a whole lot of trauma and general all- round misogyny. You might need another summer beach holiday to recover from this ride.
Toxic they certainly are, so fair warning: your blood will boil reading this book. But at least we can have some good laughs with a dark cherry martini over it.
2025-07-251h 10Booktails PodcastOne Summer by Taylor ColeSummer Beach Read 2
It's the beginning of summer, your boyfriend has just left you for someone else - but the sun is shining, it's time to get out of the city and spend a long, hot, sexy summer in ... a wee island in Cornwall?
Join Rachel and Serena to surf the wave of Taylor Cole's One Summer and expect singing in Simlish, discussions on flaky heroines, cute animal sidekicks far too many eccentric old ladies with funny names and some mudlarking chat. We still don't really know what that is either.Â
NOTES: It's c...
2025-07-1846 minBooktails PodcastYou and Me On Vacation by Emily HenrySummer Beach Read 1 - Rachel's recommendation
Peach schnapps lovers and sunscreen experts unite: this is your time.Â
It's classic romantic comedy this week complete with the AC breaking and cute inside jokes! Join us as we delve into this Emily Henry delight and discuss dream travel jobs and real life romcom situations! Learn about Serena's recent 2 star holiday, full of German karaoke, climbing walls and cash only cocktail bars.
Real life should be as lovely as this book, so listen along and make your day that much more magical!
2025-07-1151 minBooktails PodcastThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsScience Fiction 3
What do you do at the end of the world? DON'T PANIC. Go to the pub and have a few pints of our Black Hole cocktail, then jump on a spaceship and listen to Vogon poetry as the earth blows up under you!
Hitch a ride with us as we blast off to podcast universes unknown, and test your Hitchhikers Guide Knowledge at the end before you say "So long, and thanks for all the fish."
2025-07-0431 minBooktails PodcastUbik by Philip K. DickScience Fiction 2 - Rachel's Rec
This week we are very excited to dive into Philip K Dick's trippy 1969 masterpiece Ubik, so use your anti-precog powers to go back in time with us.
Drink your Ubik Coffee as we deep dive into what this book really means (hint: metaphors... maybe?) and, of course, reenact some Ubik style ads.
And, for some reason, we sing CĂ©line Dion and imagine Phil Collins drumming in space.
2025-06-2750 minBooktails PodcastDune by Frank HerbertSci- Fi 1- Serena's Recommendation
 đ¶Scieeeeence Fictiooon, triple feature đ¶Â
The time has come for us to take our protein pills and put our helmets on, we're heading headfirst into the sci fi universe! Be like our confident king Paul and feel your main character energy this ep. From concubines to pirates to bad robots, this book has it all. Is Paul Atreides as sexy as a Sharpie- breasted bird?
Give yourself many fancy names for Chosen One and you can be a sexy little desert mouse too.
2025-06-2047 minBooktails PodcastGoosebumps by R.L. StineNostalgia 3 - Serenaâs Recommendation
Are you scared of things that go bump in the night? What about living dummies or giant man eating blobs? It's time to pay homage to R.L. Stine, "the Stephen King of children's literature", and hopefully he made plenty of loofa doing it. ;)
Whether these delighted you (like Rachel) or terrified you (like Serena) as a child, it's time to give yourself goosebumps.Â
Notes: Serena was wrong. There was a first Night of the Living Dummy, as discovered later on in the podcast.
There were hundreds of...
2025-06-1335 minBooktails PodcastAre You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy BlumeNostalgia 2 - Rachel's Recommendation
Fancy reliving your teens? Maybe not, but join us to reminisce about ours in the second instalment of our Nostalgia theme!
Periods, boys, boobs and bras are the hot topics in Judy Blume's 'Are you There God? It's Me, Margaret'. Were you a Pre-Teen Sensation, or maybe more of a Laura Danker? Either way, there's space for you here.
Whether you prefer your rim salty or spicy, wash it all down with one of the all time great cocktails - a classic Margarita!
2025-06-0636 minBooktails PodcastThink Again by Jacqueline WilsonNostalgia 1
What makes you feel nostalgic? For us it's reindeer ice cream, Barbie motor homes, Groovy Chick everything and Fatdog Mendoza. And, of course, Jacqueline Wilson books.
What teacher did you fancy at school and why is the answer your Art or English teacher? Like Ellie, we're all grown up now, but does anyone really grow up?
Come with us for a deep dive into the ultimate comfort read. Grab your Blue WKD and your padlocked diary and let's get down to it!
2025-05-3039 minBooktails PodcastFourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosRomantasy 3 - Serena's Recommendation
A reader without a cocktail is a tragedy.
A reader with too many cocktails is drunk.
Is your favourite hobby starting a revolution like our shadow Xaddy? If so then you'll already know this social media Romantasy phenomenon, if not, welcome new rider.Â
Whether your soundtrack to Fourth Wing has been 'Ordinary' or good old Pirate Metal, let us be the new music in your ears to this epic spicy Dragon frolic, accompanied by a golden Andarna cocktail (ingredients on Booktails Instagram). Orgasm after orgasm. It's been o...
2025-05-2354 minBooktails PodcastOutlander by Diana GabaldonRomantasy 2 - Rachel's Recommendation
Trigger warnings: Discussions of Sexual assault and violence.
The moment has come! Two real Scottish lassies discussing Outlander in the homeland. We are shameful Scots who don't like whiskey, but we're drinking it anyway - in cocktail form! We would not be chill with just moving to the 1700s and would have very few useful skills, would you? Message us on social media to share yours!Â
*Notes*
- The Outlander book series is not yet complete.
- If you have been affected by t...
2025-05-1642 minBooktails PodcastA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. MaasRomantasy 1
This week Rachel found a dead fox in her garden and was whisked away to a fairy kingdom. Do you have the hots for Tamlin or Rhysand, our red flag kings? Or do you prefer cartoon lions or beasts? We listen and we don't judge. We all know what we're here for, and that's some good old fairy smut. But nevertheless this one may get controversial...
*NOTES*
- The scrapped ACOTAR streaming series was in fact, HuluÂ
- Rhysand's eyes are described as "violet"
2025-05-0947 minBooktails PodcastDoomed Romances - Edited by Joanne Ella ParsonsGothic Romance 3
It's a slightly different one for the third week of gothic romance as instead of a novel we are looking at the British Library's anthology, Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love edited by Joanne Ella Parsons (2024). This book features the OG vampire novella Carmilla and a whole host of short stories from hundreds of years ago to present day, featuring a ghost bride, fairytale retellings, a dance with the devil and a surprising number of sailors!
The Tiger's Charm Cocktail: 2 shots black forest liqueur, cava and apple juice to taste! We're...
2025-05-0234 minBooktails PodcastWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëGothic Romance 2 - Serena's Recommendation
Get lost on the Yorkshire moors with Rachel and Serena as they debate how much of a red flag Heathcliff and Cathy really are (spoiler alert: very), in Emily Brontë's classic gothic romance Wuthering Heights (1847), plus - why is Nelly so very annoying? (We know you were thinking it!) And actually - are there ANY redeemable characters in this book? Let's find out!
The Heathcliff Cocktail: 1 shot vodka, Cava and Elderflower Cordial to taste! Enjoy!
2025-05-0231 minBooktails PodcastDracula by Bram StokerGothic Romance 1 - Rachel's Recommendation
Is Van Helsing sexy? This and other burning questions will be answered by Serena and Rachel as they examine the plot, characters, tropes and spice of Bram Stoker's classic 1897 vampire novel, complete with analysis of gender politics, Twilight comparisons (of course) and a lot of hatred for Lucy's mum.Â
Dracula's Kiss Cocktail: 1 shot vodka, 1 shot Black forest Liqueur, cava and cranberry juice to taste. garnish with frozen cherries and enjoy!
2025-05-0235 min