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!

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. 

Cosy 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!  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 mushrooms you definitely shouldn't eat in the woods.  Notes: 1) Rosemary Shrager was in such shows as Kitchen Showdown, Soapstar Superchef and the gem that was Ladette to Lady.  2) There was a 'Millicent Bulstrode' character in Harry Potter, not Matilda! 3) The Toxic Bachelors character is called Gray Hawk, Serena should never have doubted you Rachel. Tut tut.

Cosy Murder 2: The Trial by Rob Rinder (Rachel's Recommendation)  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 get his tenancy? Will Jimmy Knight be sent to the slammer? Court is now in session. You are hereby ordered (politely) to serve as juror and justice WILL be served. What, like it's hard?

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman Cosy Murders 1: Serena's Recommendation  Get the gang together on your zimmers because the time has come for...COSY MURDER SEASON! 🔪🧣🍁☕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! And we're starting with a modern favourite- The Thursday Murder Club!  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 of the iconic granny gang is your spirit animal!  Notes: We recorded this episode before the movie was released. We do have opinions on it, but they are not shared here! Except perhaps #justiceforbogdan ;)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Deadly 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...

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 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 our days reading in the corner would make a great team... Right?  Notes: Go to our social media for the mentioned video of Rachel tasting bloody Mary. Difference between psychopath and sociopath: Sociopaths are prone to fits of rage and hot headedness, whereas psychopaths remain calm and emotionless. Psychopaths usually seem to lead normal, even very successful lives whereas sociopaths struggle to maintain regular work and family life.

The Running Man by Stephen King Deadly Competitions 1: Rachel's Recommendation  Minus 55 minutes and countingOn your marks, get set...DEADLY COMPETITIONS TIME! ⏳🔪 Grab your running shoes and grab a natural energy drink (cocktail) full of electrolytes because it's time for a new Booktails Podcast theme!  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 alive despite a corrupt government with all the wrong priorities. Topical who????    Notes:  Photos of Rachel's pencil maze available on Instagram and Patreon. Also, the new Running Man movie was partially filmed in Glasgow, ooh!