My Wife Likes Books

A fortnightly reading podcast

04

Where the Crawdads Sing, Should You Rate Your Books, and A Little Life: The Postman

Three books on the chopping block, a debate about whether you should rate your reads at all, and we're deep into Section Two of A Little Life — finally meeting Jude properly.

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Readalong

A Little Life

A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara

Section Two: The Postman

Books Discussed

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

On the Calculation of Volume

Solvej Balle

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding

Kristin Newman

A Little Life

Hanya Yanagihara

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Show Notes

Sophie sacrifices Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (no one who grew up in a marsh has teeth like that), Sarah sacrifices On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, and Sallie venerates What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman — a memoir about travelling the world while your friends have children.

We get into book ratings: whether you need them, what a five-star actually means, and why Sallie’s system is just vibes (and probably the healthiest approach out of all of us).

Then we’re deep into Section Two of A Little Life — The Postman. We finally spend real time with Jude, meet Harold properly, and ask whether Andy is doing nearly enough as a healthcare professional.

⚠️ Content note: this episode contains discussion of self-harm, child abuse, and sexual abuse as depicted in A Little Life. Spoilers for A Little Life, Section Two: The Postman.