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 · Buy us a coffee. · Buy a book mentioned in the episode.