Podcast
Reads and Rants Pod
Hosted by Bari and Emily · EN
To explore the depths of our favorite books by blending insights, opinions, and a little humor.
20episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ranting about... Malibu Rising
Feb 1302:07:57Tap to summarize🌴 Ranting About… Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins ReidSurfboards. Secrets. Siblings. And a party that burns everything down.In this episode, we dive into Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid — the 80s-set historical fiction beach read about the iconic Riva siblings and one unforgettable summer night in Malibu.We unpack:✨ Nina Riva and the burden of being “the responsible one”✨ Mick Riva: Are all men trash?✨ Fame, abandonment & inherited trauma✨ The party heard ’round Malibu✨ Breaking cycles and choosing yourselfWe also talk about the Taylor Jenkins Reid universe, 80s nostalgia, celebrity culture, and why this New York Times bestselling novel hit perfectly in summer 2021.If you love:📚 Book club discussions🌊 Beach reads with depth🎶 Celebrity drama💔 Messy family dynamics🔥 Character-driven historical fiction…this episode is for you.💬 Who’s your favorite Riva sibling? Did you forgive Mick? Was the fire destruction… or freedom?Keywords: Malibu Rising podcast, Taylor Jenkins Reid deep dive, Riva siblings analysis, historical fiction discussion, celebrity family drama, beach read book club.If you want, I can make it even punchier or slightly more chaotic Reads & Rants-coded.
Transcribe →Ranting about... The 'People We Meet on Vacation' Movie
Jan 1700:55:20Tap to summarizeAHHHHH! It’s finally here 👀People We Meet on Vacation went from page to screen — and we have opinions.In this bonus episode, we’re breaking down the book vs. movie adaptation:🎬 What the movie changed 😬💘 Poppy & Alex’s chemistry — did it translate?? 😭 The moments that still emotionally destroyed us👀 What made us scream “the book did it better…”Perfect for:✨ Emily Henry fans✨ Romance readers who love adaptation discourse✨ Anyone asking “should I read the book first?”If you love Emily Henry, rom-com adaptations, and ranking every emotional beat like it’s a sport — this episode is for you 💕✈️🔍 People We Meet on Vacation movie, book vs movie podcast, Emily Henry adaptation, romance book to movie, romcom book review, BookTok podcast, Emily Henry bonus episode.
Transcribe →Episode 23: Ranting about... Daisy Jones & The Six
Dec 601:38:30Tap to summarize🎸 Reads & Rants: Ranting about... Daisy Jones & The SixThis week we’re diving into the glitter-drenched chaos of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & The Six , the book (and hit series!) that made all of us wish we were on tour in the ’70s.We unpack the Daisy vs. Billy creative chemistry, the quiet power of Camila, addiction and fame in the LA rock scene, and how TJR’s oral-history format turns the band’s mythology into something that feels real. Plus: Book vs. show changes, the Aurora soundtrack, Fleetwood Mac parallels, and why BookTok + Gen Z are living for this ’70s revival.Backstage drama, heartbreak, and a whole lot of glitter — it’s the fictional rock documentary of our dreams.In This Episode:🎤 Daisy + Billy’s tension🎶 ’70s rock culture & Fleetwood Mac inspo📀 The Aurora album📚 Book vs. show✨ TJR’s universe (Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising)Call to Action:💬 Tell us your favorite fictional band or chaotic creative duo!🎧 Follow Reads & Rants on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your bookish chaos.📸 Join the conversation on Instagram @ReadsAndRantsPod and tag us in your Daisy Jones aesthetic posts!Tags:Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones podcast, Daisy Jones analysis, Fleetwood Mac Rumours, 70s rock fiction, BookTok books, best book podcasts, oral history novel, Daisy Jones show recap, Aurora soundtrack review
Transcribe →Episode 22: Ranting about ... The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Oct 3101:45:55Tap to summarize🎙️ Ranting about… The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 💚✨Step into the world of Old Hollywood glam, scandal, and sapphic love affairs as we unpack The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid! From iconic emerald gowns and tabloid-worthy secrets to heartbreak, ambition, and morally gray women, we’re diving deep into everything that makes this book a BookTok favorite. Join us as we debate Evelyn’s true love, rank all seven husbands (the good, the bad, and the Don Adler), and spill our dream casting tea 🍸 — Ana de Armas? Jessica Chastain? You decide.Grab your “Evelyn Hugo” cocktail and tune in for fame, feminism, and a little heartbreak on the side. 🥂💚 Themes and Tropes: sapphic love, fame & fortune, morally gray women, found family, old Hollywood, ambition, reinvention, bisexual rep💚 Buzz: BookTok favorite, Taylor Jenkins Reid universe, literary fiction, celebrity gossip, glamorous tragedy, classic Hollywood romance🎧 Available wherever you get your podcasts — don’t forget to tell us: Who you would rather have a drink with? What Hollywood Scandal Era would you want to live in? Who had a more tragic love story Jack & Rose or Evelyn & Celia?
Transcribe →BONUS: Episode 21: Ranting about ... Sinners and Vampire lore w/ Super Film Club
Oct 1401:19:04Tap to summarizeGrab your garlic and your popcorn because this week Reads & Rants teams up with our friends at Super Film Club for a fang-tastic crossover episode all about vampire fiction, folklore, and the film Sinners 🎬From Dracula to Twilight, Carmilla to Sinners, we’re tracing how the undead evolved from gothic monsters to seductive immortals — and how Ryan Coogler’s Sinners gives the vampire myth a hauntingly fresh twist.💬 We dive into:The first vampires in literature and how they shaped the genreWhy Ryan Coogler chose Remmick’s Irish backstory — and what it says about race, power, and immortalityThe evolution of vampire tropes from gothic horror to BookTok romantasyOur favorite book and film vampires 🩸The eternal debate: Book Vampires vs. Movie Vampires — who reigns supreme?Pop culture check-in: the vampire renaissance and why we can’t stop falling for the undead🕯️ Tropes & Buzzwords: dark romantasy • gothic horror • paranormal romance • morally gray characters • enemies to lovers • forbidden desire • immortal angst • found family covens • cinematic universe🎧 Listener Question:Would you want to live forever as a vampire — or is mortality the real magic?Tell us your favorite vampire in the comments!✨ Follow us @readsandrantspod and tag your favorite vampire-core aesthetic with #ReadsAndRants and #SinnersMovievampire lore podcast, Ryan Coogler Sinners, vampire fiction analysis, vampire folklore explained, Dracula book discussion, Twilight rewatch, Carmilla lesbian vampire story, The Vampyre Polidori, Sinners movie breakdown, Reads and Rants podcastSecondary Keywords:dark romantasy podcast, gothic horror literature, paranormal romance books, film and book crossover episode, vampire mythology, Irish vampire history, vampire backstory symbolism, booktok recommendations, spooky season podcast, Halloween vampire episodeTrending Hashtags / SEO-Friendly Tags:#VampireLore #BookTokPodcast #ReadsAndRants #SinnersMovie #RyanCoogler #Dracula #TwilightSaga #Carmilla #DarkRomantasy #FilmPodcast #BookPodcast #PopCulturePodcast #VampireFiction #GothicHorror🎯 SEO Tags for Spotify & Apple Podcasts
Transcribe →Episode 20: Ranting about... For the Throne
Sep 1901:43:20Tap to summarize🎉 One Year of Reads & Rants! 🎉We’re celebrating our 1-year anniversary with a deep dive into Hannah Whitten’s For the Throne—a dark romantasy sequel full of shadowy magic, morally gray characters, and enemies-to-lovers tension that had us swooning and ranting. That’s not all– we’re joined by a most specialist guest and fantasy superfan, Liz Kluge! This episode we’re breaking down:🖤 Trope Talk: gothic fairy-tale retelling, spicy enemies-to-lovers, bonds of sisterhood, reluctant monsters, and “I’ll burn the world to save you” energy🌲 Wilderwood vs. Shadowlands — light vs. dark, roots vs. shadows, love vs. sacrifice😭 That bittersweet finale we’re still not overIf you’re searching for your next BookTok romantasy obsession, love a messy morally gray love interest, or can’t resist a little enemies-to-lovers banter, this one’s for you. Thanks for sticking with us for a whole year—here’s to many more episodes of books, banter, and rants 🥂💌 Listener Questions: Would you rather:Fight the leviathan or the seamstressNeve’s year abroad or red’s forest escape Arranged marriage or face kiri and her priestessesWine or beerEammon or Solmir
Transcribe →Episode 19: Ranting about... For the Wolf
Sep 401:40:46Tap to summarizeEpisode Title: 🌲✨ Ranting about… For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten ✨🌲The Vibes:Gothic romantasy 💀🌹Beauty and the Beast meets Little Red Riding HoodDark forests, blood magic, cursed traditions, and a broody Wolf you’ll definitely simp forPerfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Uprooted, and other fairy tale retellingsTropes We’re Talking About:Slow burn romance 🔥Morally gray love interests 🖤Sentient, creepy woods 🌲Found family + sisterhood 💕Duty vs. desire ⚔️❤️Why You’ll Love This Episode:If you’re hunting for your next fantasy romance, dark fairytale retelling, or atmospheric romantasy series, this episode is for you. We’ll rant, rave, and swoon over Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf—a must-read for fans of gothic fantasy, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and booktok favorites.Listener Questions:Would you rather…Red cloak or silver crownTamlin (pre-ACOSAF) or Eammon Control over nature or getting visionsForest keep vs PalaceCall to Action:Light a candle, grab your cloak, and join us in the Wilderwood 🌲 Don’t forget to follow, rate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, and share with your fellow book lovers!
Transcribe →Episode 18: Ranting about... Emily Henry’s book boyfriends & more
Aug 1501:30:58Tap to summarize💕We laughed, we swooned, we ranted … and now we’re closing out our Emily Henry era in peak chaotic fashion — by ranking all our book boyfriends from the EH universe. From broody beach-house neighbors to our favorite sweethearts, no fictional man is safe from our very “official” madness bracket.We’re also spilling our favorite romance tropes (forced proximity! rivals-to-lovers! small-town meet-cutes!) and giving shout-outs to the side characters who low-key stole the show. If you’ve ever debated who rules the EH multiverse — Augustus Everett, Charlie Lastra, Wyn Connor — this one’s for you.Whether you’re a Beach Read babe, a Happy Place stan, or still daydreaming about People We Meet on Vacation, come giggle, swoon, and over-analyze with us as we send off the queen of contemporary romance herself.✨For the hopeless romantics & booktok besties: Emily Henry ranking, romance book tropes, book boyfriend tier list, romcom book recommendations, small-town romance, booktok podcast, romance book wrap-up, best romance novels 2025.
Transcribe →Episode 17: Ranting About... Great Big Beautiful Life
Aug 101:41:10Tap to summarize🎙️ Ranting about… A Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry 📚✨This week, we’re spiraling (in the best way) over A Great Big Beautiful Life, the newest emotion filled, utterly glamorous novel by Emily Henry. If you thought she couldn't ruin us more than she did with Funny Story... think again.We unpack the big feelings, the slow-burn romance, the love that you have to let go, and the moments that made us want to call our sisters, exes, and maybe our therapists. Plus, we talk about what makes this book such a shift in Henry’s usual rom-com style, and why it still completely works.🎧 Whether you're deep in BookTok or just want to know if this one is worth the read (spoiler: yes), hit play.✨ In this episode:A spoiler-filled love letter to Emily Henry and the evolution of her writingFavorite moments we can’t stop thinking aboutWhy this book feels like a hug and a heartbreak🔎 Buzzwords: Emily Henry, A Great Big Beautiful Life, book podcast, romance books, grief books, emotional reads, BookTok faves, slow burn romance, literary fiction, new books 2025, sad girl book club, podcast for readers, best book podcasts, fiction podcasts, Reads and Rants
Transcribe →Episode 16: Ranting about... Funny Story
Jul 701:33:36Tap to summarize🎙️ Ranting About... Funny Story by Emily Henry 💔🍒✨In this episode of Reads & Rants, we’re unpacking Emily Henry’s 2024 rom-com Funny Story — a breakup book that’s equal parts soft, swoony, and chaotically healing? We’re talking fake-dating tropes, roommate hookups, and what happens when your life changes course. Yes, it’s messy. Yes, it’s healing. Yes, we’re obsessed.💫 From revenge Instagram posts to emotionally intimate audiobooks, we break down:🔑 Key scenes that had us screaming into the void💘 Why Miles might be Emily Henry’s best book boyfriend yet😭 Our favorite quotes and most gut-wrenching moments🍒 Fun drinks to sip while you listen🎶 Pop culture vibes from April 2024: Taylor Swift’s record-breaking album, the Spice Girls reunion, and moreThis one’s for anyone who's ever had to rebuild their life from scratch... and accidentally fallen for their messy, emotionally intelligent roommate.Emily Henry, Funny Story, Funny Story podcast, Miles and Daphne, Emily Henry books ranked, fake dating romance books, breakup healing books, forced proximity romance, cherry cocktail, spicy audiobook moments, best books of 2024, romantic comedy novels, roommates to lovers, Emily Henry new release, Reads and Rants podcast, romance book podcast, booktok podcast, bookish podcast, Taylor Swift book comparisons🎧 Stream now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your fiction-fueled rants!📸 Tag us with your favorite Funny Story quote or cocktail @readsandrantspod — we’re here for the chaos AND the healing.
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