A pregnant wife, a cheating husband, and a cookbook that doubles as a weapon - this episode, Jess and Rach dig into Nora Ephron's Heartburn, the novel she wrote about her own very public divorce (and the ex-husband, Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, who tried to stop it getting published).

⚠️ Spoiler warning - we're assuming you've read it.

Inside this episode:

• The real reason Carl Bernstein tried to block the book, and the deal that let it get published anyway
• The exact vinaigrette recipe hidden inside the novel, and why food does all the emotional heavy lifting
• Why Nora's mother's dying words became the family motto: "Everything is copy"
• The book's opening line, and the real dinner party (with Carl Sagan at the table) that inspired the pie scene

Plus Meryl Streep narrating the audiobook, Jack Nicholson's casting drama on the 1986 film, and the Harry Styles salad dressing scandal that proved Heartburn never really left pop culture.

Rate, review, and tell us: book ending or movie ending, which one gets it right?

📚 booktriviapodcast.com
Reddit: r/booktriviapodcast
Substack & Instagram: @booktriviapodcast

Robert Langdon, a murdered curator, and a 2,000-year-old conspiracy hiding in a painting of a woman with a suspicious smile - this episode, Jess and Rach crack open Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, the book that sold 80 million copies and earned its own official Vatican debunker.

⚠️ Spoiler warning - we're assuming you've read it.

Inside this episode:

• The real, still-unsolved CIA sculpture hidden on the US cover (plus two more Easter eggs)
• The villain whose name is a literal anagram of the authors who sued Brown for plagiarism
• The judge who hid his own secret code inside the 71-page court ruling
• The real sealed vaults under Rosslyn Chapel that nobody's opened since 1690.

Plus Dan Brown's pre-fame career as a failed pop star, his messy 2020 divorce, and the horse he allegedly named after himself.

Rate, review, and drop your guess for the final puzzle in the comments.

📚 booktriviapodcast.com

Reddit: r/booktriviapodcast

Substack & Instagram: @booktriviapodcast

Kristy Thomas needed a babysitter for her little brother, couldn't find one — and accidentally built a business empire that sold 176 million copies. This bonus episode, Jess and Rach dig into Kristy's Great Idea, the book that launched The Babysitters Club.

We cover:
📞 The Scholastic editor who noticed one obscure book kept outselling everything else — and built an entire series around a "glimmer of an idea"
✍️ Why Kristy is Ann M. Martin's favourite character despite being her total opposite — and which member Martin actually based on herself
🩺 The real reason Stacey has diabetes, and the twist years later involving Martin's own cat
🎨 The single Scholastic staffer who hand-wrote every character's "unique" handwriting — including Stacey's little heart-dotted i's
📚 Kirsten Dunst's first-ever modelling job, hiding on a Babysitters Club cover you've definitely seen
🎬 VHS specials to HBO to the 1995 film to Netflix's 100%-on-Rotten-Tomatoes reboot that still got cancelled

Plus: the John Green quote where he paraphrases Faulkner to describe his love for Stacey McGill, completely unironically.

If you're searching for:
Kristy's Great Idea podcast
The Babysitters Club Kristy's Great Idea
Baby-Sitters Club characters trivia
Ann M. Martin facts
— you've found your people.

🎙️ Book Trivia Podcast — Where Lit Lovers Come to Test Their Smarts
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