Reading Glasses – Episode 439

How to Make a Best of List + Meredith from Fangoria!

Release Date: November 27, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Special Guest: Meredith Borders (Fangoria)

Episode Theme:

This episode explores the art and intention behind making a “Best of” book list—how to choose your top reads of the year, the criteria to consider, and why the process matters for readers. Mallory and Brea share their personal strategies, offer tips for creating an inclusive and reflective list, and chat with Fangoria’s Meredith Borders about her new hardcover horror anthology and the enduring power of magazines. Plus: recommendations for immersive reads.

Episode Breakdown

1. What Are You Reading? (00:53 – 05:08)

• Brea’s Pick:

  • A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
    • Holiday romance with adult film star accidentally cast in a Hallmark-style movie.
    • “I can highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for like a cozy, cute romance that has smut, has spice, but it's light spice. It's not dominating the whole book. Super loved it. Very cute.” (04:45, Brea)

• Mallory’s Pick:

  • Sharkheart by Emily Habeck
    • Literary magical realism: people morphing into animals; main character’s partner turns into a shark.
    • “Holy—did you love it?”—“It wrecked me… such a beautiful meditation on grief…” (03:23–03:32, Mallory)
    • Short chapters make it a quick yet powerful read.

2. Listener Feedback and Tips (05:08 – 11:36)

• Libby App Changes:

  • Kyla prefers the new “suspend hold” system, finding it less stressful as a mood reader.
  • “With the new system, I can wait as long as I want before unsuspending the hold and not feel any guilt about how long it's been…” (05:34, Kyla via Brea)

• On Speed Reading:

  • Tessa shares that minimizing subvocalization and using a finger or pointer increases both speed and comprehension.
  • “When I read faster, my comprehension goes up because I'm not spacing out in the middle of a paragraph.” (07:52, Tessa via Brea)
  • Mallory and Brea discuss their own speed reading approaches.

3. How to Make a Best of Book List (12:25 – 25:16)

Premise: Behind the scenes of best-of list making. Aimed at book lovers and challenge participants, not just professional critics or podcasters.

Main Points and Takeaways:

• Diversity and Representation:

  • Strive for lists that span genres and authors.
  • “I want to make sure it's a really diverse list. Not just diverse authors, but diverse genres.” (14:10, Brea)
  • “It narrows things down. If you're like, all right, I only want to put haunted house books on this list… try to pick the best haunted house book.” (15:05, Mallory)

• Tips for Curation:

  1. Category Making:

     • Break down best-of lists by genre or even subgenre for specificity (“Best enemies-to-lovers,” “Best stressed-out mom thriller”).
     • “You can do best romance, best horror, best memoir, or get really specific…” (15:29, Mallory)

  2. Cultural Significance:

     • Consider why a book resonates now and how it represents the current moment.
     • “I try to find culturally significant books…how in 10, 15 or 100 years we're going to look back and be like…that book was pretty important.” (16:55, Brea)
     • Could be a distinct “Culturally Significant” category.

  3. Book Critic vs Book Recommender:

     • Focus on your personal experience and not just “objective” merit.
     • “These are just the best books of the year for me. They are my favorite books.” (17:54, Mallory)
     • “If you think a book is going to be important and that’s why you want to put it on your list, do it.” (17:54, Mallory)

  4. Revisit Your Ratings:

     • Consider how books live on in your memory and recommendations, not just your initial rating.
     • “There's actually one book… I have brought up to people all the time… but it wasn't rated as highly at the time—I don’t know why. That past Brea was wrong, actually.” (20:28, Brea)

  5. The Three-Factor Test (Mallory):

     • How quickly you read it (engagement)
     • How you felt finishing it (satisfaction)
     • How much you think about it after (lasting impact)
     • “A book I tore through but never thought about again probably won’t make the list…Conversely, a book I have thought about a lot might get bumped up.” (22:34–23:00, Mallory)

  6. Self-Reflection—Why Make a List?

     • “It’s a fun exercise to kind of know, learn more about yourself and what you're reading…it's like a wrap up of your whole reading year.” (23:15, Brea / 23:52, Mallory)
     • “It does feel official to be like, oh, that book was on my best of the year list last year. When you're recommending things to people. Feels very official.” (24:51, Mallory)

4. Guest Interview: Meredith Borders, Fangoria (28:40 – 45:21)

Highlights:

• What’s Meredith Reading?

  • King Sorrow by Joe Hill
    • “Pretty early on into the book being like, oh, this is an all timer. Like, I'm gonna love this book for the rest of my life…beautiful characters, I cried like 100 different times…” (29:28, Meredith)
  • Weave World by Clive Barker
    • “It's so strange, which we love…He just has such beautiful poetry to his words…” (31:16, Meredith)

• Fangoria Compendium Project:

  • A hardcover, full-color anthology spanning Fangoria’s history, with additional Kickstarter for a fully indexed digital archive.
  • “We're doing a big hardcover, full-color, really beautiful compendium. It's called First and the Fangoria Compendium.” (32:11, Meredith)
  • “The edition on the Kickstarter is not going to be available anywhere else…a special cover, gilded edges, red ribbon bookmark…” (33:33, Meredith)
  • John Carpenter writing the forward; contributors include key horror luminaries.

• Magazines in the Reading Life:

  • Value: Immediacy, serendipity (pick off the newsstand), different perspectives, shorter bites for busier readers.
  • “Magazines are still providing that experience on a literary level…allows you that inner richness in a much more manageable chunk.” (38:24, Meredith)
  • Magazine reading is “a treat,” a “snack” for readers, and enhances literary discovery and self-image (“You look cool with your croissant and a magazine…” 40:27, Meredith)

• Meredith’s Reader Wheelhouse:

  • “The meeting of horror and fantasy…anything King Arthur related…” (41:06, Meredith)
  • Literary cozy mysteries: “I'm gonna be obsessed with that slightly more literary version of that where it's a little bit deeper…” (42:17, Meredith)
  • Tana French and Louise Penny are favorites; currently enjoys Thursday Murder Club.
  • Aspirations: Working on a cozy mystery set in Germany featuring an expat.

5. Immersive Book Recommendations (46:45 – 50:15)

• Listener Sydney asks: For books with settings that can inspire immersive reading environments—lighting, ambiance, snacks, sensory input.

• Brea Recommends:

  • Migrations by Charlotte McConaghey
    • Set on a freezing boat in the Arctic—read with cold air, blue lights, salty snacks.
    • “You could turn the temperature way down…lighting low…sit there in front of like an air conditioning unit blasting cold air in your face…” (47:47, Brea)

• Mallory Recommends:

  • Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
    • Moody, rainy English setting, perfect with tea and scones, rainy day playlist.
    • “Whenever I think about this book, I think about fog and rain and puddles and scones and cups of tea…” (49:39, Mallory)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “These are just the best books of the year for me. They are my favorite books.” (17:54, Mallory)
• “I want to make sure it's a really diverse list. Not just diverse authors, but diverse genres.” (14:10, Brea)
• On recommending culturally significant books: “That is…sort of how I like to view art and culture.” (17:00, Brea)
• “How I felt about it when I was reading it, how I felt about it when I finished it, and how I feel about it now. Months later—a best book of the year is always high marks on all three.” (22:11, Mallory)
• “If you have read 50 books and 10…can't name 10 that are your favorite, you should probably go and think about what you're reading a little bit more.” (23:15, Brea)
• “I love making lists.” (23:48, Mallory)
• Meredith: “Magazines are just… especially when it comes to current events or just something you want to read about…they can be that perfect in between, between like a spontaneous thing you want to know about but without any of the other noise that comes with the Internet.” (38:42, interviewer paraphrasing Meredith)
• “You look cool with your little croissant and your coffee and your magazine—like that's a nice look on you.” (40:27, Meredith)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• What Are You Reading?: 00:53–05:08
• Listener Feedback & Speed Reading: 05:08–11:36
• Best Of List Process & Tips: 12:25–25:16
• Interview: Meredith Borders: 28:40–45:21
• Immersive Reading Recommendations: 46:45–50:15

Episode Tone & Style

Warm, encouraging, slightly irreverent and self-aware; practical, reader-centric advice with playful asides and personal anecdotes. The show emphasizes personal meaning, diversity, and pleasure in the reading experience over “literary seriousness.”

Useful For Listeners Who:

• Struggle or stress over making their own annual “Best Of” book lists
• Want concrete tips for list curation and self-reflective reading
• Are curious about the value and place of magazines in the reading life
• Love horror and pop culture history (Fangoria discussion)
• Seek book recommendations tailored to immersive, atmospheric experiences

Further Information / Links

• For Fangoria Compendium Kickstarter: Visit Fangoria.com or Kickstarter (link in show notes)
• To join Reading Glasses Discord or sign up for the newsletter: see show notes
• Merchandise, contact info, and podcast rating links: see show notes