Useless Doctors Book Club

WOOHOOO it's our 50th episode!!! Apparently Harshini's "wooo" at the beginning of this episode wasn't excited enough. Anyway, for this special episode, we read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and watched the movie, released in 2022, together. The story follows a young woman, Kya, who grows up alone in North Carolina marshland and is later accused of murdering town sweetheart, Chase Andrews....

This week on your favorite podcast we are discussing the book that Pooja chose, "The Dead Romantics" by Ashley Poston. The book follows a young romance novelist returning to her hometown after a tragedy when someone VERY unexpected shows up at her door. As we discuss this romance novelist's problems, we talk about "forced quirkiness", cardboard cutout love interests, and why millennial protagonist...

In today's episode, we are reading another romance book, The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall, chosen by Sarah (the lover of rom coms). The book follows Freya Scott who is recently single after her long-term boyfriend left her the day before their wedding. Her best friends decide to give her a series of fun challenges for every wedding she attends that summer to get her mind off her heartbreak. Lis...

In this week's episode, we read the promising fantasy book, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. A cool title, right? In a society of book eaters, our main protagonist Devon fights her traditional role (and her enemies) with her son who happens to prefer eating minds to eating books. Harshini chose this book to see if she could change Pooja and Sarah's minds about fantasy books with one that was nominat...

Hello hello, the useless doctors are back for season 4! We are ringing in our new season with an experience of a book called "Patricia Wants To Cuddle" by Samantha Allen!  Pooja chose this book thinking we'd all like to read about the messy behind-the-scenes of a reality television dating show, and boy, were we surprised with what we ended up reading. Did we give this book a rose? Listen in t...

Hello everyone! Get ready because it's the last episode for season 3! In this episode we decided to switch things up a bit and watch the movie "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" which is based on the book "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" by Maria Semple. We picked this movie because some scenes were filmed in Pittsburgh where we all went to college so we could recognize some of the places. In the movie, Ber...

Hello! In this episode we read the mystery Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia Manansala. The book follows Lila Macapagal who becomes a judge for Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant. When the head judge of the pageant is murdered, Lila works hard to figure out the killer. This book left us hungry and craving some Filipino food but will the mystery hit the mark? Listen to find out!

Welcome back to our listeners! On this week’s podcast, we discuss the book “The Portrait of a Mirror” by A. Natasha Joukovsky. This book tells the story of two couples, Wes & Diana, and Vivien & Dale, and how their lives change after they meet. During our discussion talking about the dramatic lives of the main protagonists here, we somehow end up drastically off-topic, ruminating over the...

For this episode, we read Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (author of the super popular book, The Love Hypothesis, featured in S1 Ep15). Picked by neuroscience PhD student Sarah herself, this book follows a new couple co-leading a neuroengineering project who are trying to figure out their feelings for each other. We made UDBC history in this episode, listen to find out how!

In this episode, we discussed the spooky, "And Then There Were None"-inspired thriller, Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. A family gathered for the grandma's 80th birthday discovers that someone is starting to take them out one-by-one and uncovers some dark secrets along the way. Warning: we spoiled quite a few other movies in comparing them with this book. Listen to hear our thoughts!

In this week's episode, your favorite doctor trio read a small-town murder mystery titled "All Good People Here" by Ashley Flowers. A recent release, and a debut novel, the story follows a young woman Margot Davies who moves back to her small hometown to care for her ailing uncle and ends up becoming involved in a murder investigation. Listen in to hear us, in classic UDBC fashion, plot alternativ...

In this episode, we explore the other lives of Nora Seed if she had made different decisions in her past. This book was named Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction in 2020 so we decided to check out what all the buzz is about. Throughout this episode we discover Sarah's horrible ability to remember/pronounce names and debate whether it's possible to travel to different dimensions. We also include our...

Welcome back! This week the Useless Doctors read a book recommended by Harshini titled, The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Originally published in Korean in 2007, this book follows a young woman and the ramifications of her decision to go vegetarian. In this episode, Sarah, Pooja, and Harshini spend an embarrassingly long time discussing the life of birthmarks, sibling and spouse relationship dynamics, a...

This week we are back with a thriller recommended by Pooja titled, These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever! Set in 1970s Pittsburgh, the story follows two college students as they navigate school, family drama, and their inner desires. Cue. Our. Intrigue. While you'll have to listen to the entire episode to hear our final thoughts on the novel, you can look forward to hearing a rant by Sarah, Ha...

In the sixth episode, we rate and review the best selling romance book, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. This book explores a summertime romance during childhood and their dramatic reunion in adulthood. Throughout the episode we talk about what makes a solid romance and all the epic drama that takes place in this book. Listen to hear our thoughts!

This episode reviews the mystery/thriller The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill. In this book, a scream is heard in a library and bonds four strangers into close friends as they try to figure out who screamed. Listen to our review to find out the best ways to become friends with people you don't know and how to sniff out the murderer!

For our fourth episode of the season, we delve into the summer vibes with My Summer Darlings by May Cobb. Your three favorite useless doctors decided to read about three lifelong friends turn neighbors whose lives get turned upside down when a newcomer moves to their small Texas town. Listen in to hear Sarah ruminate over the logistics of cheating and Harshini's qualms with dysfunctional mother-da...

In today's episode, we read yet another mystery titled A Game of Fear by Charles Todd. This book is #24 in the Inspector Rutledge series and follows Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge as he tries to solve a murder with no body. We chat through the plot details Harshini may or may not have missed, Pooja's favorite part of the book (Rutledge's crush on a woman who is barely in the book), and wheth...

For our second episode of season 3, we read Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka, which tells the story of Ansel Packer, a serial killer on death row. We chat through the different characters in this novel that help the story unfold and a bit of philosophy (not Sarah's favorite). This was definitely a different style of book than we've read on the podcast, listen to find out how we liked it!

Guess what, your fav trio is back with season 3! For our season 3 premiere we, along with our special second-time (!) guest Mahima, read A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell. We also watched the movie, which stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively and discuss our thoughts on both. Listen in to hear Harshini continuously confuse the two main characters, Pooja defend her absurd rating system, Sarah question t...

The season 2 finale is upon us! This week we chat about It Had To Be You by Georgia Clarke, a "Love Actually" style rom-com. We discuss what romantic cliches and tropes work for us, Sarah's distaste for boring couples, and Pooja's inability to not cry during any heartwarming scene in a book or movie. Is choosing a book based on a book quiz the way to go? Listen to hear our thoughts!

In today's episode, we brought another gothic book to the podcast called Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist. The book is another book Sarah found while exploring deep in the Goodreads recommendations lists. Tripping Arcadia follows Lena who becomes an assistant to the doctor of a wealthy family. She uses her previous knowledge of herbs to wreak havoc in the family. Will this gothic be a hit? Listen...

For this episode, Harshini chose the highly anticipated sequel to the very first book we read for the podcast ( Dial A for Aunties ): Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto . The story picks up on Meddy and the four Chinese-Indonesian aunties we loved in the first book as they navigate Meddy's own wedding and an attack by the mafia . We've referenced the first book many times in our podcas...

Hello hello everyone! This week we are back with a short story collection recommended by Pooja titled, Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg! While discussing one of Pooja’s all-time favorite books (!!), we chat about the differences between audiobooks and physically reading, the Tinder Swindler, Harshini and Sarah’s misunderstanding of what exactly salted cir...

In today's episode we read Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. We dive into life in the Galápagos during a pandemic and relationship struggles that happen when one person changes while the other doesn't. Is it too early to read a book describing raw COVID-19 emotions? Listen to hear what we think!