Why the Format You Choose Changes the Book You Read and A Little Life Section 5: The Happy Years (We Need to Talk About That Ending)

A Little Life Ending Explained + Our Summer Book Swap

Season one ends where it began: with A Little Life. Spoilers ahead — we're finishing our readalong with the big questions. Did Hanya Yanagihara always intend for Jude to die by suicide, or did Willem's death push the story there? Is this book a masterpiece or trauma porn, and does it matter that readers can't agree? We talk favourite and least favourite characters (sorry, Caleb), what Harold and Malcolm's quiet forms of love taught us, and whether this book should ever come with a "don't read this" warning from the person who loves it most. Before that: it's our last episode before the summer break, so we've swapped books with each other to read while we're off air — Throne of Glass, The Passage, Daisy Jones & The Six, Assassin's Apprentice, Shark Heart, and Horrorstor all make an appearance. Plus a mid-year check-in on our reading goals (spoiler: Sarah is not on track). We're back after the summer with A Court of Thorns and Roses as our next readalong — follow us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks for updates on where to start reading.

Do Book Prizes Actually Matter? Plus A Little Life Sections 6 & 7: What He Died Believing

If you've ever argued with a friend about whether a book prize actually reflects what real people read — or felt personally attacked when someone sacrifices your favourite Emily Henry — this episode is for you. We discuss: whether the Booker Prize is for readers or for people who want to be seen reading; the International Booker vs the Women's Prize and which one actually has the best track record; the Hay Festival's 2026 pleasure reading list and why it's everything the Guardian's "best novels" list isn't; and what it means when a book wins an award but nobody enjoys reading it. Plus: The Offering. Sophie sacrifices Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky) — bleak, monotonous, and full of Russians called the same name. Sallie attempts to sacrifice Happy Place (Emily Henry) and Sarah absolutely will not have it. Sarah venerates Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer — the book that'll give you a framework for JK Rowling, Michael Jackson, and every other artist you love and shouldn't. Then we reach the end of A Little Life. Sections 6 and 7: Dear Comrade and Lispenard Street. Full spoilers for these sections only. Content warnings for the readalong segment: suicide, self-harm, death, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, eating disorders. Books discussed: Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky) · Happy Place (Emily Henry) · Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (Claire Dederer) · Orbital (Samantha Harvey) · Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders) · Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell) · Piranesi (Susanna Clarke) · Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) · A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara) Find us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks · Join our Fable book club [https://fable.co/club/my-wife-likes-books-with-sarah-290830749328?club_type=free] · Buy us a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/mwlb?status=1] · Buy a book mentioned in the episode [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/mwlb]

Why the Format You Choose Changes the Book You Read and A Little Life Section 5: The Happy Years (We Need to Talk About That Ending)

If you've ever DNF'd a book on Kindle that you loved in print, or fallen in love with a story only because of its narrator, this episode is for you. We discuss: whether audiobooks, physical copies, or Kindle actually help you connect with a book; why Babel by RF Kuang might be the worst possible novel to read on an e-reader; tandem reading and Spotify's new page-sync feature; reading speed, narration quality, and why fantasy is notoriously hard on audio. Plus: The Offering returns. Sophie venerates Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Sallie brings Philip Pullman's underrated Sally Lockhart series. Sarah makes the case for Babel (RF Kuang) — but will Sallie ever actually finish it? Then we get into Section 5 of A Little Life — The Happy Years. Full spoilers for this section only. Content warnings: sexual assault, child sexual assault, sex work, physical abuse, domestic violence, death, injury detail. This episode features voice notes from real listeners — including one who DNF'd A Little Life on audio, switched to print, and then DNF'd that too. Books discussed: Why We Sleep (Matthew Walker) · The Sally Lockhart Series (Philip Pullman) · Babel (RF Kuang) · The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern) · Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens) · Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer) · Private Peaceful (Michael Morpurgo) · Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) · A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara) Find us on Instagram and TikTok @mywifelikesbooks · Join our Fable book club [https://fable.co/club/my-wife-likes-books-with-sarah-290830749328?club_type=free]· Buy us a coffee. [https://buymeacoffee.com/mwlb?status=1]· Buy a book mentioned in the episode. [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/mwlb]

The Debate We've All Been Waiting For - Is ACOTAR a Classic? Plus Haunted Houses and DNF Culture

This week, Sarah brings The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and explains why reading it alone in a hotel room was a terrible decision. Sallie attempts to canonise A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas as a "modern classic", prompting one of our most heated debates yet, while Soph argues for the heartbreak and brilliance of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. We also talk DNF culture, book guilt, refusing to abandon books and continue our A Little Life readalong with Section IV, The Axiom of Equality. Please note, the latter half of this episode contains discussion of heavy themes from A Little Life, including trauma, abuse, self-harm, suicide, addiction and mental illness. Books discussed on this episode: * The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson * The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller * A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas * Circe - Madeline Miller * Mythos - Stephen Fry * The Secret Barrister * The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins * The Gallows Pole — Benjamin Myers * After a Dance - Bridget O'Connor * The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton * The Book Thief - Markus Zusak * Milkman - Anna Burns * Marked - Kristin Cast and P. C. Cast * Remarkably Bright Creatues - Shelby Van Pelt * London Falling - Patrick Radden Keefe * A Little Life — Hanya Yanagihara Want to read any of the books we discuss on the show? Find them on our bookshop.org store. [https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/mwlb] Find us on Instagram @mywifelikesbooks · Read along with us on Fable [https://fable.co/club/my-wife-likes-books-with-sarah-290830749328] · Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/mwlb [http://buymeacoffee.com/mwlb]

The Power, The Starless Sea, and A Little Life Section 3 — Plus: Who Made You a Reader?

This week we're bringing three venerations to the table — Sallie makes the case for Naomi Alderman's The Power, Sarah champions The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and Sophie goes wildcard with the Mr. Men and Little Miss series. We also get into the people who shaped our reading lives: librarians, grandmothers, boyfriends who worked in Waterstones. Then we dig into Section 3 of our A Little Life readalong — Vanities — covering Willem's existential crisis, Jude thriving at work, and JB's meth addiction tearing the group apart. Content warning: this section contains discussion of substance abuse and self-harm. Next up: Section 4, The Axiom of Equality. Read it before our next episode. Find every book we've discussed at uk.bookshop.org/shop/MWLB [http://uk.bookshop.org/shop/MWLB]. Follow us on Instagram at @mywifelikesbooks and support the show at buymeacoffee.com/MWLB [http://buymeacoffee.com/MWLB].