Ep 465 - Testing Out Pagebound + Getting More Library Cards!

Summary

Reading Glasses Ep 465 – Testing Out Pagebound + Getting More Library Cards!

Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O'Meara
Date: June 4, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This week’s episode of Reading Glasses is all about maximizing your reading life with bookish gadgets and digital resources. Brea and Mallory take on a challenge from their 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge: “Try out a reading app or gadget.” They test out the much-requested Pagebound app, discuss how trying new tools can enhance the reading experience, and share advice for readers coping with dwindling library resources—including how to score more library cards. As always, they end the show with tailored book recommendations, this time focusing on alternate histories with Indigenous perspectives.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hilarious Opening: Amateur Surgery & Book Lights

• The episode kicks off with an unexpectedly graphic and funny story about Brea trying (unsuccessfully) to remove a massive splinter from Mallory’s leg, with the aid of a book light and a horror filmmaker circle.
  • Notable Quote [00:53] — Mallory: “If you're in a pinch, Bria Grant is a good person to have in an emergency.”
  • Notable Quote [01:19] — Brea: “I’m actually great in an emergency. I go Zen. I go completely.”

2. What Are You Reading? Book Chat

Brea's Pick:

• I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig
  • Cozy murder mystery about a retired serial killer framed for a murder in her retirement home.
  • “It's a really great little… murder mystery. Super cozy, very fun, fun characters.” – Brea [03:09]

Mallory's Pick:

• The Wardrobe Project: A Year of Buying Less and Liking Yourself More by Emma Edwards
  • Memoir about not buying clothes for a year and learning about consumerism and self-perception.
  • “She's a really great narrator. She's really funny. If you are someone who, like many of us, buys a lot of clothes… this book is great.” – Mallory [04:22]

3. Listener Feedback: Multitasking Madness

• Listeners share their creative ways to multitask with books, from reading while doing gel manicures to listening to audiobooks while playing chess.
  • Notable Quote [06:44] — Brea: “I think we need to know… these chess scores, cause that does seem amazing.”
• Discussion about the tricky balance of reading and other daily life activities, especially for busy parents.

4. 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge: Testing the Pagebound App

What is Pagebound?

• A new social book tracker app with gamification elements:
  • Quests: Reading challenges (earn points for various reading activities).
  • Leveling Up: Gain access to custom avatars and badges.
  • Tracking: Mark books as ‘actively reading’, ‘TBR’, ‘interested’, ‘DNF’, ‘finished’, or ‘paused’.
  • Social Features: Every book has its own forum; interact with other readers’ progress and notes.
  • Customizable Taste: Users select five books to showcase their personal taste, similar to Letterboxd.
• Mallory: “Page Bound is about tracking your reading and joining quests and getting points. So it's kind of like gamifying… but then it has this whole other social part as well.” [12:59]

Aesthetics and User Experience

• Both hosts agree: Pagebound is visually appealing, perhaps the cutest of all book tracker apps.
• “Goodreads feels like walking into a half-abandoned mall… Page Bound is very easily the cutest.” – Mallory [16:27]
• Bria enjoys picking top books to represent her taste, and both appreciate the spoiler-based progress notes for books.

The Gamification Factor

• Great for readers who are motivated by earning badges, leveling up, and completing themed challenges.
  • “The thing that is different about Page Bound between Goodreads and Storygraph is the gamifying… If that will motivate you to read a little bit more, this is, this is for you.” – Mallory [17:39]

Will They Keep Using It?

• Both hosts say the app is not for them long-term (they’re not “gamifiers” and don’t love tracking their reads in public), but recommend it for folks who want motivation, community, and an ad-free, fun place to focus on books.
• “If there's a place in your reading life that you are looking for improvement… I think that trying out an app like this… can be helpful.” – Mallory [21:36]

5. Broader Advice: Do Gadgets & Apps Improve Your Reading Life?

• For some, yes: Gamified or social reading apps can encourage more reading and provide healthy screen-time alternatives to algorithm-driven social media.
• Shoutout to Book Buddy (an app Mallory loves for private tracking) and the general appeal of ad-free spaces for book lovers.

---

Practical Advice: Coping with Slashed Library Resources

Listener Question: Vanessa’s Hoopla access dropped from 10 to 3 items/month.

Tips:

• Double-Dip With Multiple Library Cards:
  • Investigate eligibility for library cards with systems beyond your local—many places (like San Francisco) allow non-residents to get cards [26:42].
• Reciprocard:
  • A new online tool that helps determine what other libraries you’re eligible to join for digital lending. Bria and Mallory plan to test this on a future episode [27:11].
• Ask Librarians:
  • Your local librarian can point you to additional digital resources or memberships (some systems allow fee-based cards).

Mallory: “You don't need to feel guilty about it… you're not breaking in and stealing their books!”
Brea: “Multiple library cards? Hell yeah. That's a green flag.” [29:21]

---

Book Recs: Alternate History Where North America Was Never Colonized

Listener Request: Fiction by Indigenous authors imagining North America had never been colonized.

Mallory’s Picks:

• The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard
  • Own-voices sci-fi thriller set in an uncolonized North America, starring an Ojibwe detective [31:07].
• Earthdivers (graphic novel) by Stephen Graham Jones
  • Near-future Indigenous survivors travel back in time to prevent colonization [34:23].
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (with sequel)
  • YA; Indigenous people are the only ones left who can dream in a dystopian future—society has collapsed, giving it a post-colonization feel [33:02].

Brea’s Pick:

• The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
  • Not Indigenous-authored, but a sweeping alt-history in which Europe is nearly wiped out by plague, and Indigenous nations lead a coalition with Chinese and Muslim powers [31:47].

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• [12:59] Brea: “We're doing Page Bound… a hot new bookish app. It builds itself as a social book tracker…”
• [16:27] Mallory: “Goodreads feels like walking into a half-abandoned mall.”
• [18:44] Brea: “People have been trying to break this social media for reading for years.”
• [21:12] Brea: “If you're looking to scroll… this could be a really good app for that.”
• [29:21] Brea: “Multiple library cards? Green flag.”
• [31:07] Mallory: “My recommendation is The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard. 100% exactly solves what Laura is looking for.”

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:06] – Episode intro and splinter saga
• [02:21] – “What are you reading?” segment
• [05:45] – Listener feedback: Audiobook chess multitasking
• [12:59] – Main Discussion: Reviewing Pagebound
• [21:12] – Are digital reading tools helpful? Social media alternatives
• [25:51] – Bookish Problem: When your library’s digital resources are cut
• [30:31] – Book Recommendations: Alternate history with Indigenous North America

---

Episode Takeaways

• Pagebound is a fresh, fun option for those who want to gamify their reading and enjoy ad-free social book tracking.
• Multiple library cards are an essential hack for digital reading when budgets tighten.
• There’s a growing (but still limited) range of alt-history fiction centering Indigenous futures and pasts—listeners are encouraged to explore and request more of it.
• Book lovers should choose the tech and tracking systems that best support their motivation, mood, and reading goals—there’s no one-size-fits-all.

---

“Less ads in all of our lives—that’s honestly why I love my book buddy so much.” – Mallory [23:44]

---

Contact & Community:

• Email: [e-mail]
• Instagram: @readingglassespodcast
• Join the newsletter & Discord for episodes, book lists, and more!

Sponsors: Skip ads and promos—this summary focuses on all the book talk!

---

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

You're listening to Reading Glasses, a show about book culture and literary life designed to help you read better. I'm author and book devourer, Mallory o'. Meara.

[A]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e

[B]

reader, an amateur surgeon,

[A]

y'. All. I tried to get a splinter out of Mallory's leg. I dug in her leg for hours. Hours. And that's what she did.

[B]

Splinter. This was, like, almost two. A piece of wood almost two inches long.

[A]

I can't explain to people how big this splinter was, how deep in my leg it was. It's. It's this wild. Like, people like, it's just a splinter.

[B]

I'm like, no.

[A]

Now, I had a splinter in her leg that was like a half inch long. And we spent more than that trying to get it out.

[B]

Inch and a half, at least.

[A]

It's. It's wild. It's wild. And I did not successfully get it out. And she still has a splinter in her leg, which everyone's going to be very concerned about.

[B]

Mallory.

[A]

But I'm okay. Make sure we update them.

[B]

I'm okay. But it was pretty amazing. Bria was there with a little. With a book light and tweezers and needles. It was like the.

[A]

Wow. We should do a shout out for that book light for as a. As a.

[B]

It was like, you know that scene in Stephen King's the Stand where they're, like, doing emergency surgery by a lantern? Like, five of Hollywood's best horror filmmakers are laying around my. Sitting around my leg. But, yeah, if you ever. If you're in a pinch, Bria Grant is a good person to have in an emergency.

[A]

I'm actually. I'm great in an emergency. I go. I go Zen. I go completely.

[B]

Yeah, it was pretty. Pretty impressive. Bria was on it.

[A]

I'm just so mad that I couldn't get it out because I just was like. I posted video.

[B]

It was biggest splinter I've ever seen anybody have.

[A]

I felt like I'd be able to get a note. I don't know. Well, this week, we're not talking about amateur surgery. We're talking about ticking off another box on the 2026 reading glasses. Glasses challenge. Try a reading app or gadget. And we're talking about page bound, which y' all want us to talk about. So we're. We. We're doing a little review, plus we give advice on what to do when your library's resources are cut and recommend indigenous fiction first.

[B]

Bria, what are you reading? A medical manual.

[A]

I'm ready. Here's the wildest thing, and this is just a side note for everyone. If you look up how to get a splinter out on YouTube, you would think that's just going to bring me to a very simple video. No, it's like, biggest splinter ever and, like, some man's gross foot. And, like, it's just what is happening to YouTube. YouTube is no longer Googleable. I didn't know that.

[B]

The Internet just sucks now.

[A]

Yeah, that's right. It's in shittification, I guess. I just finished a book called I'm not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig, which is a confusing name. I keep thinking it's Craig Ferguson, but it's Fergus Craig. And it is about a former serial killer who's a nice lady named Carol, who. I mean, she does. She did kill a lot of people, but she gets out of prison and then she goes to this retirement home and she's like, this is it. I'm gonna, like, retire in this nice retirement home in this community. And then someone drops dead, and people are like, well, we know who did it. It must be the serial killer who just moved in. And so her and her little ragtag group have to figure out who is the murderer in the retirement home.

[B]

This is the type of book you really love.

[A]

It's a really great little. It was a great little murder mystery. Is super cozy, very fun, fun characters. What are you reading?

[B]

I am reading a book. I was gonna say that I think you would really like this, but I think you already live this book doing the audiobook of the wardrobe project. A Year of Buying Less and Liking yourself More by Emma Edwards. And this woman, this is her second book. She's also, like, a financial person, but she realized while she was, like, going through her finances, how much money she spends on clothes and was like, all right, what if I just do a whole year where I'm not allowed to buy any clothes? I can buy new underwear if I need it, but I'm not allowed to buy any clothes. I'm not allowed to buy vintage clothes. I'm just not allowed to buy any clothes at all for one full year. And, like, what that showed her about herself and what that showed her about her habits and, like, what buying new clothes is really tied to. It's. It's not just about clothes. Like, it's about trying to be a new person. And it's really fascinating because I, like, last year, I. I started doing this thing where I don't buy clothes online anymore, and I try to only buy vintage clothes, but when you buy them online.

[A]

When you buy them online, you buy. It's a real risk.

[B]

It's a real risk.

[A]

I was occasionally get. I'm like, this is a good ad. I do want this dress and order. I'm like, this is crap. This was horrible.

[B]

It's crap. Or like, because I just have a very weird body type. Like as I'm a power lifter. So like my. I have huge lats. Like, I just have weird proportions that are not for the typical typical American female form. And so this is very rare that I buy. I would buy something online and like it. And I was like, I have bought all these clothes and I'm not even wearing them. So I stopped. And so this, this book is great that she reads it. She's a really great narrator. She's really funn. And it's just a really. If you are someone who like many of us buys a lot of clothes, like, really. It's always trying to like, you know, you see, you get an ad for a type of pant and you're like, look at the woman. I could be the woman who buys those pants. She cooks, she. She gardens. She makes her own sourdough bread. Like it's really like ashes. It's an interesting thing where she like has this thing where she breaks your closet down to like aspirational clothes. The greatest hits, which are like things that you actually wear and really like all the duplicates you have of those things that you really like, but they're not the not as good versions that you've bought because you like those things. Like she like has this really interesting breakdown and I'm like, that's it. That it literally is what everyone's closet is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'm really enjoying it. It's a great book so far. So that is the Wardrobe Project by Emma Edwards.

[A]

And mine is I'm not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig.

[B]

We want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Elizabeth wrote in to say I'm writing to respond to the episode on multitasking. I'm a civil rights lawyer and a busy mom with two little kids, so the bulk of my reading time is arguably done while multitasking. I read while eating, between sets, while working out, while nursing the baby to sleep, etc. I very rarely get a long luxurious stretch to simply read. I actually bought a books palma 2 to encourage more reading time because I wanted to replace the time I spent scrolling and those awkward little chunks of time with reading. It's been a huge help. But the bigger reading multitasker in my family is my husband. He is a prolific audiobook listener and listens while doing everything. The weirdest, most confusing activity he does while reading is playing chess. I play chess myself, but it seems like something that requires a fair bit of thought and attention, so I'm always perplexed to see him sitting on the couch scratching the dog earbuds in playing chess on his phone. I'm not sure he is optimizing either the reading or chess experience, but his chest rating is pretty good and his reading retention seems fine. So maybe he just has a weird brain that can actually do two things at once. Wow.

[A]

I think we need to know here we need to see these chess scores cuz I that does seem amazing. Or it feels like if if you're tuning in for a little bit and then tuning out to listen to the book. I don't know.

[B]

I don't know. I have. I I can play chess. I used to play chess a lot, but I haven't regularly in a long, long time.

[A]

Well, you should try it while reading a book. Sarah wrote in and said Dear Bria Mallory, hello from a Sarah. Of course I'm writing response to your multitasking episode and wanted to share a couple of instances where I read and multitask. I read while doing other things because it makes me happy and I love it. I don't feel pressure to get through books, but reading makes so many things in life even better. When my children were babies, I loved to read while nursing, feeding them a bottle after lovingly gazing at them for a few minutes. It was time for my book. Babies take a Long Time to Eat. Adding a book made a wonderful experience even more divine and I truly believe keeping reading a priority helped my mental health. That's nice. I also love to read when I'm doing a gel manicure at home. Oh, you're doing your gel manicure at home? Send me more information on that. You need to put your hand under a lamp for two minutes after each coat. This is prime reading time. It makes the manicure so much more fun for me. In both instances, an e reader makes things much easier, but I've been known to balance a physical book when necessary. I love your show and never miss an episod. Thanks for all you do to make reading fun for your listeners. I would love to hear your thoughts on point of view in books. Do you have a preference between first, second or third?

[B]

Actually, for one, we do have an episode about this coming up and this is interesting because I also read in between coats because I'm the type of person that's like time to paint my nails and I paint one coat and I'm like I want to do a bunch of stuff with my hands immediately. I'm really bad at waiting.

[A]

I love this is a big I take it to the nail salon and I have I I read between coats but I just put it in the middle and then I like turn the page with my other hand when I'm doing it. But yeah, I totally do the same thing during gel and petties. Many and petty. I do. I do it all at the same time.

[B]

Wow, you're like, like the cowardly lion at odds. Just

[A]

do you want to read Sarah's Wheelhouse?

[B]

Yes, it is found family in unexpected places, women behaving badly, our world, but eerily different horror across the board. Books about food or restaurants, people who live off the grid because of religious or anim anti establishment convictions. Ooh, that's fun. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes and before we test out page bound for the Reading Glasses challenge, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by ZOC Document folks. Raise your hand. Not if you're driving, actually. Well, this could be good. If you are painting your nails right now while you're listening to this podcast, raise your hand, maybe wave it around a little bit so it can dry off. Raise your hand if you've been putting off a dental cleaning, a checkup, a gynecologist appointment. Really any kind of appointment. Yeah, we all, we're all overdue with something and so but instead of making those appointments, what do we normally do? We go online and look up Reddit threads instead of actually going and going to the doctor when we should. But this year. But this year you can do things differently. You can find a doctor you love and book the appointment with zocdoc. But Bria, what is zocdoc?

[A]

Zocdoc is a free app and website that helps you find and book high quality in network doctors. So you can find someone you love, whether that's dermatologist, a dentist, a primary care, eye care, any of the 200 plus specialties offered on Zocdoc. You can easily search by specialty or symptom to build the care team that's right for you. So when you're ready, you can actually see their real time availability. So you go, you search and then you see their real time availability and then you click to book instantly. You don't have to play phone tag, you don't have to wait around. You aren't looking for something and you found out they don't have any availabilities. Once you find a good one, you can see all that in one spot, which is fantastic.

[B]

Instead of having five of your friends dig around in your leg, what you could do is go to zocdoc and find someone to help you.

[A]

But that would be very, that would be better.

[B]

Learn from my mistake.

[A]

I'm not a doctor. I'm just a podcaster. But two nights ago I was a doctor.

[B]

So yeah, don't, don't make my mistake. Don't, don't have friends of yours dig around in your leg with a pair of tweezers. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments. This is so, so easy to do. Go to zocdoc.com glasses to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's zdoc.comglasses zocdoc.comglasses thanks Zocdoc for sponsoring this message. Glasses.

[A]

Glasses.

[B]

Hey Lexus. Hey, Ella. What animal has the most teeth? I would guess a shark, a snail. No, snails don't have teeth. They have thousands and they are freaky looking. No, I don't want that to be true. Okay. Did you know that the hippocampus in your brain is named after for the half horse, half fish, sea creature found in Greek mythology? I didn't know that. But we're meant to be doing animal trivia and hippocampus isn't a real animal. Well, that doesn't matter on Comfort Creatures. You're right.

[A]

It doesn't matter at all.

[B]

Comfort Creatures is a cozy show for lovers of animals of all shapes and sizes, real and unreal. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then join us every Thursday for new episodes on MaximumFun.org. This week we're ticking off another box on the 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge. Try out a bookish app or gadget. Lots of folks have been emailing us asking us to try out page bound. So we figured, perfect excuse. Did we like it? And most importantly, do we think trying out bookish apps and gadgets can improve your reading life? All right, first off, the rules for this part of the challenge. This is about trying something. You don't have to commit to it for a year, a month, or even a week. Whatever. Feel like it was a good try to you. You can try any app that has to do with books and reading or some sort of gadget that helps with books or reading. We've obviously covered a lot of these on the show, but we haven't done an app in quite a while. So here we go.

[A]

We're doing Page Bound. It is a hot new bookish app. So it builds itself as, like, a social book tracker, but instead of, like, the. The graphs you get from storygraph, Page Bound is about tracking your reading and joining quests and getting points. So it's kind of like gamifying in some ways, but then it has this whole other social part of it as well. So you get points for doing activities like hitting reading goals, and the more points you get, you get to level up. And as far as we can tell, you get access to more avatars. That is what it seems like. You get like, little. It's like, oh, this is like a dragon, a dragon 20 or whatever. You can join quests which are reading challenges. You get badges, and that's just like, kind of some fun stuff you get to do.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So what else does this do?

[B]

So the quests are pretty fun. They're like either certain types of books or read a certain amount of books. They're just, you know, reading challenges. And when you track books, this is the part that's fun. So when you track books to enter these for these, like, quests, there's six different things you can mark it at. You can mark it as actively reading on your TBR interested, which is very fascinating that there is a difference between interested in reading it in tbr, but okay. DNF finished or paused. So reading.

[A]

I. I see the difference. Reading is you're currently reading TBR is you're gonna read it. Interested is maybe you're gonna read it. Okay.

[B]

I mean, that could be. I mean, there's. There's a lot of stuff that could be good with this. So in. When you. So you track them, you review them, there's like, every single book has its own little forum, and you can join people that are talking about them or, you know, just like, read people's thoughts. You can rate them out of five stars overall, and they have set four separate categories that you can. So it's like almost like a little mini copy. So there's like four different categories that you can rate out of five stars. Of enjoyment, quality, characters, and plot, which is pret. And you can also make friends. And my favorite part about this is it's Sort of like letterbox, where you pick, like, a group of books to represent your taste. You pick five. What did you think of this, Bria?

[A]

And also, there's, like, a feed. So, like, I think if you have friends, you'll, like, they'll be on your feed. Yeah.

[B]

You can see what people are doing.

[A]

Yeah. And like, and you. As you post something, you're like, oh, this person just posted. They paused this book. Or they. They're interested in this book. Or, like, they're 10 of the way through this book and they're making a note, which. That was the part that I thought was really interesting.

[B]

The spoiler thing.

[A]

Yeah. So it's. Oh, you know, Mallory O' Meara is 2% of the way through the book and wrote that note. And you. If you're 2% of the way through the book, you can click that note and know that it's not gonna spoil it for you. And you can go to specific books as well. So. Okay, I did enjoy. I also liked picking the top books that represent your taste. That was something I was immediately like, ooh, okay, interesting.

[B]

Well, you know, you and I love an assessment that shows who you are as a person. We are. That is a trap that will get you and me every time.

[A]

It's totally true. I looked up both Wolfworm and Get a Life, Chloe Brown because I'm reading both of those, and I felt like the reviews were really thoughtful. And so I went on. And I went on the feed, like, for those particular books, so you can do that as well. And I thought they were really great. People will be like. Like I said, they. They say how far they are into the book, and then a thought that's like a spoiler. So It'll be like 10% of the way in. It's like, Chloe wants to get laid, and it's like funny jokes, kind of similar to letterboxd, except you could do it more. Like, as you're going through the book, it's really cute. That feels like a lot to me and be like, okay, I'm 10% of the way through this book, and I have a thought, but that's just like, kind of the way I. I just don't read like that. I'm not gonna go pause and go right on a social forum. But it was cute. I think the website is really aesthetically pleasing.

[B]

Yes. I honestly, I think that is one of the best parts about this, is that, I mean, we've established that goodreads is just ugly. Good. Goodreads feels walking into goodreads feels like walking into like a half abandoned mall.

[A]

Like, it is just, it's literally, it's like the, it's like the back rooms of.

[B]

Oh, my God. You would film, film a little sketch where we're walking around Goodreads like it's back rooms and we get stuck in,

[A]

like, it does feel like backrooms.

[B]

A weird land of old book reviews. But it's, and storygraph is very cute. But I think of all of them, Page Bound is very, is very easily the cutest. Like, it just, it's, it's the most aesthetically pleasing. I really liked it. I won't be using it long term because I don't track books in public because that makes my skin crawl. But if you are, if you, you know, you miss Goodreads, you don't really like Goodreads anymore because it's owned by Amazon and you've. You, you like storygraph, but maybe there's something about storygraph that isn't totally for you. I would try this. Like, the challenges are very cute, and I think, Bria, you hit the nail on the head. The thing that is different about Page Bound between Goodreads and storygraph is the gamifying. And I know there's a lot of people who love that. If you love to earn a point, get a badge, complete a challenge, complete a quest, and that, that's the kind of thing that will motivate you. Read. If you're like, well, I'm about to go to bed, but, oh, if I, if I do this, I'm gonna get a few more points and level up to the next level. And if that will motivate you to read a little bit more, this is, this is for you. Something I also liked is that the challenges are good for finding books. Like, they're. A lot of them are themed. Obviously. The two that I looked at first were Werewolves and Monstrous Feminine. And it's just like 30 different book titles that fall into that category. And you pick all the ones that you've read and you get, if you've read a certain amount, you get a bronze badge. If you get more than that, if you get, if you've read 15 of those, those books, you get a silver. If you've read all of them, you get a gold. And it was just fun.

[A]

Is it once you've read or it's like you read them for the challenge,

[B]

you could do both. Like, I, okay, like, I, I went into the werewolves one and marked all the werewolf books that I had read, but I was like, oh, well, if I read this many more, I'm gonna get a gold badge. Like, it's, it's a, it's. It's really fun. Bria, do you think that test, trying out new book apps and gadgets and stuff can actually improve your reading life?

[A]

I think, okay, yes. I can't, I can't. Yes. This is more feedback about this specifically. But I do think that if, especially if you're a person who likes gamifying or if you're looking for a social aspect to reading, people have been trying to break this social, this social media truly reading for years. I've been on a few of these. There was one called like litzy early or something. Something, let's see. That was the one. And we've tried a few out on the show to various amounts of success. But if you are looking for that, I think finding an app could be good. If you're looking for a social place to talk about your books, I think people are looking to gamify and like, look for like, reasons to read. They want to be motivated. For me, it's not like I don't need it specifically. It kind of feels like another task to do. Like, reading is the task for me. But I can see why people would love it and why it would be motivating for various reasons depending on what people are really looking for. Do you like testing out gadgets? I mean, we do a lot of testing out gadgets on this show.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, anything that could make physically reading easier for you I think is great. But if you, again, if you're someone who's motivated, it depends on the type of person you are. That that's what so much of this stuff on the show comes down to. Is like, is this going to stress you out or is it going to motivate you to read? Like, you and I love, love, attract, love to track things. I don't think you and I are gamified people necessarily. You and I, I think are both quite sat with our cawpiles. But if you, you do really like gamifying things and you like seeing what other people are reading, which I do like. And I think the thing that is great about this is that you're not going to get sold stuff. And like, I miss the early days of Instagram when it was mostly just Instagram and you so many great pictures of people reading books. Like, people like just people take it. I. That's what a lot of my. In my own Instagram post used to be, were just like pictures of the books that I was reading and I didn't have to worry about being sold a new pair of pan. Like if you miss that, the page bound and like litzy fable, a lot of those things, they, they scratch that itch. And so I think it can be, it can add to your. Like, especially if it's taking away time from, from apps that are stressful to you. You know, I think that could be a huge life improvement if you're, if you're like, I just want to scroll something, I just want to look at pictures of things or I just want to see. I just, I want, I'm in that like, sort of mind. I don't, I'm not ready to read right now, but I'm in a sort of I brain rot mode. Something like this could be really, really good. And I think it's a lot better to scroll page down than it is Instagram.

[A]

That's such good advice because you're right. I mean, I think I've said this on the show, but one morning I woke up and I opened Instagram like first thing and I was like, oh no. And the first thing came up was an ad. And I was like, you've done this to yourself. Like, I've made this choice to look at an ad first thing in the morning. Like, it's horrible. And like, yes, if you're looking to scroll, there's. I know a lot of people say they scroll their library website or they try to scroll other things. Like, this could be a really good app for that.

[B]

You're right. Yeah. So I think, I think if you are, if there's a place in your reading life that you are looking for improvement. Like you, you want to read more, you want to be on apps less, you want to read more of a certain. Like there's just something that some goal that you are trying to hit. I really think that trying out an app like this or just an sort of, some sort of reading app can be helpful. You know, we loved our little bean guy. Like right now we're all trying to read more, be on social media less. And I think these apps can be really helpful for it. It like. And again, sometimes you actually just don't want to read. Sometimes you just do want to like turn your brain off for a few minutes and you want to just scroll on something. Do this instead. Like, right, I'm at the point now where being on the Internet is like repulsive to me because so much of it is like AI ads, AI slop, awful news about something. Like, and, and that's just like.

[A]

Or, or my, my feed right now. I must have clicked on something, Mallory, because now my feed is all like, how to monetize your Instagram feed? It's people monetizing their Instagram feeds by telling me how to monetize their Instagram feeds. It's the worst snake eating his tail. So it's just like people going like, here's how I made a million dollars on Instagram. But like, I cannot get rid of this algorithm because first of all, I do kind of slow down because I'm like, you made a million dollars on Instagram? But then I know that's not true. It's like not true. This is, none of this is true. It's fake. But it's. The way they're doing is by me slowing down and looking at the million dollar product post.

[B]

Yeah. Anyway, well, that's the other thing.

[A]

I don't live here anymore.

[B]

So much of the Internet is fake right now. Like every video is staged. Everything is like, there's so. There's so many fake videos that now there's a subcategory of video that is testing out the videos to see if the, the, the food they made or the, the hack they used is fake. It is like it truly. It makes me want to crawl out of my own skin. And at this point I'm only on hockey Twitter so I can keep up with the playoffs. And the reading smut Instagram, which in the, the algorithm with that is. It is mostly like dick jokes and reading. Yeah, but yeah, it's like that stuff still bleeds through and like, but sometimes like right before you go to bed, you wanna, you wanna scroll something. It's like you wanna, it's like you want a cigarette before bed. And I would rather look at page bound like in scroll and see what people are reading. Like, I think that alone is an improvement to your reading life. But try. If you are someone who wants to read more, try gamifying it. I think giving these a shot is really worth it and can help improve your reading life and your life overall. And the good thing about pagebound is it's free. There is. You can pay for it monthly. I think you can pay like five or ten bucks a month, kind of like storygraph. But it's free and there's no ads, so I don't know, less ads in all of our lives. That's. Honestly, that's why I love my book buddy so much, is like it's not connected to social media. It's not trying to Sell me anything. I mean, the problem is that it is built on Google's search engine. So the search engine is crap now, which really sucks. But yeah, more, more, more book apps with less ads, I think. So you can send your thoughts on bookish apps and gadgets. We'd love to hear what you tested out for this part of the challenge to reading glasses. Podcastmail.com before we give out some advice for when your library system loses resources, we're going to take a quick break. Break.

[C]

International Waters is back, baby. Do you like fun, silly conversations? Do you like fun, silly games? We got them both and it's on International Waters. I am the host, Dave Holmes. This is a panel show that pits American and British comics against each other in a lively and hilarious competition. What is gentleman's relish? Who is Bagpush? Why is the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile so emotionally resonant? And why doesn't American cheese have its own anthem? Get the answers and be left with numerous questions about that and so much more nonsense and or cod swallow twice a month here on International Waters. You can catch international waters on maximumfun.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners. Vanessa writes in to, say, Debri and Mallory. Last year, my library's monthly hoopla limit dropped from 10 checkouts to 5. This year it's dropped to 3. I know this is probably due to funding issues and absolutely don't blame the library, but is there anything I can do to help? And are there other resources I can use? I feel retroactively spoiled by the days when I piled my hoopla account with graphic novels and audiobooks purely out of curiosity and without much painstaking thought. All right.

[A]

This is a horror movie.

[B]

This is a horror movie. Truly a horror movie. This is the true horror.

[A]

If this, this is. This is a nightmare. And I'm so sorry, Vanessa. This seems. This is. This is a true nightmare. To really not be able to pile three checkouts. It's not enough checkouts. I need so many more checkouts than that.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

It's very bad.

[B]

Painful.

[A]

So sorry.

[B]

So what do we do, Brian? We've. Because we've talked about this on. On the show a bit.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So depending on where you are, you need to see what other library systems you might have access to. So in California, you could get a San Francisco library card even if you don't live there. So there's other. Might be other places where you can you. What we're gonna say is you're gonna need to double dip into like another. Another library system. Yeah. And there's ways to do that that even if, like you feel. You don't need to feel guilty about it because in California you can get a San Francisco library. You know, like, there's like, there's ways you can. You can do it without that are allowed.

[B]

It's not a list like you live. It's not like you're breaking into the library and like stealing their. Stealing their books. And I will say, I saw this posted. I think it was in the discord. There is a new thing online called Reciprocard. Bria and I are going to test it out on the show, but it's basically, it's. It's like a Libby extension and you put in your library system and you could see what other libraries you are eligible for. So we're going to test this out for the show. I'll put a link to it that's for free. But we've. As we've. We've discussed on the show a few times, but it's been a while. If you can afford it, some library systems let you pay a yearly fee for access this. So the thing is, we. Again, we've done episodes on this, but things do change pretty quickly and change all the time. Again, this poor glasser's library system is changing every year less and less. So do some research and see what's available in your state. Honestly, you can even ask your librarian to help you. I'm sure they will be able to help you find other systems that you can join. If you sidle up to that front desk and you go, hey, we're only allowed three checkouts. What can you do?

[A]

To where.

[B]

Where else can I get my fix? The librarian is going to hook you up. But I mean, this is. This is what this administration is doing. Like, this library funding is getting slashed. It truly is a nightmare. Like waking up to three checkouts. Bria.

[A]

Wow. That's. That is truly my nightmare.

[B]

Like, oh, my God. I'm like, I'm.

[A]

I'm.

[B]

I'm picturing like the psycho violins playing over us looking at our Libby accounts and going, three checkouts. So we feel you. This is awful. But there are ways to. To get other. Because, I mean, I think what we're both saying is that unless there's a huge political change, which hopefully there will be sometime in the future, you're not going to be able to help out your library too much. I mean, but still use it. Still use those checkouts because the like, the more you use it, the more the library can be like, see, look at, everybody's using three checkouts. We need more funding. But to help support your reading habit, on top of that, you should, should double dip.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Oh man.

[A]

Imagine sorry this is happening to you, Vanessa.

[B]

You look at someone's wallet and they got multiple library cards.

[A]

Hell yeah.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[A]

That's a green flag.

[B]

Green flag. So you can send your bookish problems to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. Time to answer a recommendation request from Laura. So and we just want to remind folks that members reading glasses members which there is a link in the show notes to become one of those you they get to cut the line on the recommendation requests and get their recommendation requests answered. And our monthly members only bonus episodes which we are recording the first one today for June. So there's, there's a big, big, big members only bonus episode full of personalized book recommendations. There's a link in the show notes again you can, you can get access to this for just five bucks a month. So again, Laura says hi Brianne Mallory. I love listening to reading glasses. I've learned about so many new books, genres and authors from you. That's why I realize you are the perfect ones to ask for my book. Reck. I'd love a recommendation for an alternative history place in North America as if we were never colonized by Europeans. I've been reading Native nations by Kathleen Duvall and trying to learn more about the tribes local to me. And I would totally eat up a fictional story as if the first nations were still the dominant culture today. Bonus points for an indigenous author. Bria, you want to read Laura's wheelhouse

[A]

folklore, especially non western folklore. Cozy fantasy, good witches, atmospheric magical realism, adventures in places and times I've never been in, twisty page turning thriller. And also there's a thank you to me for the Wayward Children book release reminder every year. Which no problem, I also have.

[B]

Seanan McGuire should be sending Bria yearly fruit baskets.

[A]

I, I listen. No one's shouting out these books more than me. Every year, once a year we get a big Wayward Children moment. Maybe we should do an episode at the beginning of January every year. It's called the Wayward Children.

[B]

The Wayward Episode.

[A]

The Wayward Episode. What do you have here?

[B]

So my recommendation for this is a book called the Peacekeeper by B.L. blanchard. So this is an own voices sci fi thriller that takes place in a never colonized North America, although you wouldn't call it America you call it something else. And the main character is an Ojibwe detective solving a murder that is close to home and uncovers some big family secrets that get Sci Fi E. Which is pretty fun. But. But I think this 100% exactly solves what Laura is looking for.

[A]

This is tough. By the way, our bonus episode. Y' all have Got to. It is. It is so specific that I was just like, are you fucking kidding? In a great way.

[B]

In a great way.

[A]

In positive. Positive. This one was also tough for me. I didn't have one that I'd actually read, but I did some digging, and Kim Stanley Robinson did a book who I trust, who's not an indigenous author, unfortunately, but is a cool sci fi author and I do trust. And he wrote an alternative alternate history of America or the world where essentially the Black Death plague kills 99% of the European population. And then it. This big story. Sorry, it's called the Year. Did I say what it was called? It's called the Years of Rice and Salt. It's. And then he wrote this big story where, like, so most. Most of the European population dies, and then it's centuries of Europe being repopulated by Muslim pioneers, and then the indigenous people of America form a league with the Chinese and Muslim invaders. It becomes this whole thing. So it's a totally different type of alternate history. It seems pretty cool. This is a very specific book. Ask. And I don't sometimes listen. I love y'. All. Sometimes you're asking for books that may not exist, or. There's one. There's, like, one book, and maybe we haven't read it, but. Mallory, what about Marrow Thieves? I don't think. I know it's not an alternate history, but it is an alternate future.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, Merrow Thieves might. It's not exactly this, but it might scratch that itch. Yeah. And that's a book we love. Cherie dimaline. She is. Is. She's such a great author. And Marrow Thieves is so good. And the. The sequel to it came out a couple years ago, but it's. Yeah, it's like a world where people can't dream anymore, and it's driving the world mad. But the only people who can still dream are indigenous people, and they are now being hunted. But like society, it has almost the feel of not being colonized because society has collapsed, and a lot of the indigenous people are moving around the continent in, like, traveling bands. So, yeah, it's. Yeah, the. The, like, the regular power. The regular, like, societal structures have sort of collapsed. And it's just so good. It's a YA book and the main character, like, the character work in that book is just so. I, I haven't read the sequel yet, but it's really good. Another one that we, we haven't shouted out on the show for a while is Stephen Graham Jones's Earth Divers, which is another. This is another, like, future one. It's like, like far future. The world has been ruined by climate change and like, the only people who are alive are this small group of indigenous survivors. And so they go back in time to stop the colonization of the Americas.

[A]

Oh, wow, I didn't know about that book. That's a great one.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Well, that's a great suggestion.

[B]

It's like, it's not a world where things have never been colonized. It's where you go back to stop the colonization in the first place, which is pretty sick. So my recommendation is the Peacekeeper by B.L. blanchard, but you could also do the graphic novel Earth Divers by Stephen Graham

[A]

Jo, recommending the Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson or the Marrow Thieves by.

[B]

Or the Marrow Thieves, Cherie Demeline. Wow. A lot of, A lot of. A lot of hot wrecks in this.

[A]

We're trying. Well, listen, sometimes we're like kind of. It's like a. There's a bullseye and we can't quite. I can't quite hit it, but I'm hitting around it. I'm getting very close. Okay. And so I feel like it's still on the board somewhere, which is something I offer more.

[B]

Yeah, I cannot do.

[A]

That's true.

[B]

So, Laura, let us know what you end up reading and if this satisfies what you're looking for. And if you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it to Reading Glasses Podcast Gmail to, as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. And remember, you can buy reading glasses totes and bags and shirts and stickers over at our Void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes and if you like the show, you want to do something real nice for us that's completely free, rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. Give us a five star rating. Give us a nice little review. It really helps the show. It is so great for us and helps us reach more readers. You can email us at Reading Glasses podcast gmail.com. find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[A]

Thanks for reading.

[B]

Maximum Fun. A worker owned network of artist owned shows supported directly by you.