Happy 2023, y’all! For the first episode of the year, Kayla and Taylor discuss the themes and major beats of Ottessa Moshfegh’s 2018 novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Topics include selfishness vs. self-centeredness, the alarming amount of prescription drugs being consumed in this novel, and the genius of the ending.

This week’s drink: Dry Manhattan via foodviva.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Rye Whisky
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 2 dashes (8 drops) Angostura bitters
• Cocktail cherry for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice until half full
2. Add the rye whisky, dry vermouth, and bitters to the shaker and shake until it starts to mist from the outside
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
4. Garnish with a cherry

Current Reads and Recommendations:

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Follow us on Instagram @literatureandlibationspod.

Visit our website: literatureandlibationspod.com to submit feedback, questions, or your own takes on what we are reading. You can also see what we are reading for future episodes! You can email us at literatureandlibationspod@gmail.com.

Please leave us a review and/or rating! It really helps others find our podcast…and it makes us happy!

Purchase books via bookshop.org or check them out from your local public library. 

Join us next time as we discuss The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff