Ep 395 - Tracking Your Reading with Traci Thomas!

Summary

Reading Glasses Podcast Summary
Episode: Ep 395 - Tracking Your Reading with Traci Thomas!
Release Date: January 23, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara
Guest: Tracy Thomas from The Stacks podcast

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Introduction to Tracking Reading in 2025

In Episode 395 of Reading Glasses, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara delve into the topic of tracking reading habits in 2025. Joining them is special guest Tracy Thomas from The Stacks podcast, who shares her extensive experience with various reading tracking methods.

Guest Introduction: Tracy Thomas

Tracy Thomas, a seasoned podcaster from The Stacks, brings her expertise in reading tracking to the conversation. Her involvement adds depth to the discussion, as she has been an avid reader and tracker for years.

Current Reads

Bria Grant is currently reading The Survivalists by Kashana Collie, a novel about a lawyer entangled with doomsday preppers. She describes it as a timely choice given the year’s challenges:

"It's about a lawyer who starts dating a guy involved with doomsday preppers, leading her into a world obsessed with how the world might end."
[01:24]

Mallory O'Meara discusses her read, Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller:

"It's about siblings who have never left their home and are forced to navigate the modern world after their mother's death. It's a mix of sadness, humor, and insightful commentary on family decay."
[02:18]

Tracy Thomas is juggling two reads: Pure Innocent Fun by Ira Madison III and Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez. She highlights their blend of memoir and pop culture nostalgia:

"Ira's essays on pop culture moments like Tom Cruise jumping the couch, and Edgar's memoir on being queer and Latino in Florida, offer a rich tapestry of personal and cultural insights."
[03:12]

Listener Feedback: Bookstore Gift Cards and Parental Responsibility

A significant portion of the episode addresses listener questions about the responsibility of gift givers when teens purchase books with bookstore gift cards. A listener, Sarah, asks whether she's obliged to return books to the same little free library or any library:

"Am I obliged to bring these books back to the same little free library to return them, or would it be okay to drop them off at any little free library?"
[46:51]

The hosts collectively advise that:

"You're not responsible for how others use gift cards. It's the parent’s responsibility to monitor their child’s reading choices."
[05:22]

Tracy reinforces this by stating:

"Parents are ultimately responsible for what their kids read. If you’re concerned, it’s your job to monitor their bookstore visits and purchases."
[06:09]

Listener Jennifer supports this by sharing her experience as an elementary librarian:

"Parents are ultimately responsible. Do not send your child unaccompanied to a book fair with $50 and expect someone else to do that job for you."
[07:01]

Tracking Reading Methods: Digital vs. Physical

The discussion shifts to various methods of tracking reading habits, emphasizing the pros and cons of each.

Digital Tracking:

Tracy Thomas prefers using a comprehensive spreadsheet:

"I track titles, authors, genres, publication details, and even personal metrics like average pages read per day and money saved by borrowing from libraries."
[15:58]

She elaborates on the complexity and utility of her system:

"My spreadsheet includes tabs for genres, authors, publication years, and even specific metrics like audiobook minutes and money spent versus saved."
[21:54]

Bria Grant utilizes both Goodreads and StoryGraph but leans towards spreadsheets for their simplicity:

"I use Goodreads for quick ratings and StoryGraph for tracking, but primarily rely on spreadsheets like Cawpile for detailed organization."
[18:52]

Mallory O'Meara shares her preference for using Book Buddy, a simple app:

"Book Buddy is just a list app where I can rate books and view comprehensive statistics at the end of the year. It's been my go-to for seven years."
[28:11]

Physical Journaling:

Mallory maintains a physical journal for its meditative benefits:

"I started using an A4 lined Rhodia notebook in 2022, which allows me to track titles, authors, letter grades, and specific 'wheelhouse' items for each book."
[31:25]

Bria also appreciates the romanticism of a physical journal:

"I enjoy filling out a physical journal with the name, author, and a letter grade for each book. It helps me reflect on my reading habits and personal growth."
[30:40]

Recommendations for Listeners: Starting Your Tracking Journey

The hosts offer advice for listeners interested in tracking their reading but unsure where to begin:

Bria Grant suggests starting with a simple physical journal:

"Write down the name and your thoughts about each book. It’s an easy way to start without feeling overwhelmed."
[43:01]

Tracy Thomas recommends digital options for those who enjoy structured tracking:

"If tracking sounds appealing, go for a spreadsheet or an app like StoryGraph or Book Buddy. Choose what fits your style to avoid it becoming a chore."
[42:02]

Mallory O'Meara emphasizes flexibility:

"Tracking can help you understand your preferences and read more intentionally. Whether it’s through a journal, an app, or a spreadsheet, find what works best for you."
[44:02]

Listener Problem Solved: Little Free Libraries

Sarah’s question about little free libraries sparks an engaging conversation on the ownership and responsibility of donated books. The consensus among the hosts is that marked books can be returned to any little free library:

"You can drop the books wherever you want because they’re part of the public little free library system. Don’t stress about returning them to the exact spot."
[48:57]

Tracy adds:

"If someone misuses the library by adding inappropriate items like newspapers or DVDs, it’s okay to move those books to another location. The intent is to share books freely without strict restrictions."
[52:04]

Guest Promotion: The Stacks Podcast

Tracy Thomas promotes her own podcast, The Stacks, where she interviews authors and readers, and hosts a monthly book club:

"Our book club pick for January is The Ministry of Time by Colleen Bradley. It’s a great place to explore honest opinions and engage with diverse perspectives."
[52:31]

Upcoming Releases and Community Engagement

Mallory shares exciting news about her upcoming books:

"Both Bria and I are releasing The No Pressure Book Journal next month. We're hosting a launch party at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on February 5th."
[13:20]

Listeners are encouraged to join their Slack community for active discussions and to participate in reading challenges:

"Our Slack channel has a 'now reading' tab that's very active. It's a great place to get book recommendations and engage with the community."
[30:11]

Conclusion

Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara wrap up the episode by reminding listeners to send in their book tracking preferences and questions to readingglassespodcastmail.com. They also highlight their merchandise store and request listeners to rate and review the podcast to help reach more book lovers.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Bria Grant on The Survivalists:

  "It's a book about doomsday preppers and modern dating leading into a bunker scenario."
  [01:25]

• Tracy Thomas on Tracking Responsibility:

  "Parents are ultimately responsible for what their kids read. If you’re concerned, it’s your job to monitor their bookstore visits and purchases."
  [06:09]

• Mallory O'Meara on Physical Journals:

  "I love my fountain pens, and tracking in a physical journal feels very meditative to me."
  [33:26]

• Tracy Thomas on Wheelhouse Items:

  "I categorize books by themes like institutional failings or cult nonfiction, which helps me make personalized recommendations."
  [37:16]

---

For more insights and to join the community, visit Reading Glasses Podcast or email readingglassespodcastmail.com.

Transcript

[Tracy Thomas]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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.

[Bria Grant]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, we're discussing how we're tracking our reading in 2025.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Even though I don't want this year to be. I wanted. I want it to be 2026 already.

[Bria Grant]

You want to move? You want to move on?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm done with this year.

[Bria Grant]

We're recording a new studio, and I realized I have to turn my head in a weird way to talk to you, but I think it's o. But, you know, we have a guest here, actually, so we're going to look at the guest. We have special in studio guest Tracy Thomas here from the Stacks podcast.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Hey.

[Bria Grant]

Thank you for having me.

[Tracy Thomas]

Thank you for having me.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Are going to freak out about this. People have been asking for you for a while.

[Tracy Thomas]

Really?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, my gosh. Thank you. People who have been asking, those of you who haven't been asking.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, before we get into anything, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

I am reading. Okay, this is a straight. So we're recording this the week. Second week of fires. Week two of fires.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. It's not 2025 anymore. It's just Year of Fire.

[Bria Grant]

And I. It's a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and I was like, this seems like an appropriate book for this time. I'm reading the Survivalists.

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, Shashana Collie. Have you read it? I read it last year when it came out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I've been wanting to read it. It's been on my list, and I thought, okay, it's a book about doomsday preppers.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Right.

[Bria Grant]

And so that's. So I started reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's hilarious.

[Bria Grant]

I'm only about a fourth of the way through, but it's about a lawyer. And you can help me because, I don't know, she's more of a normal person, doesn't have any strange hobbies and is dating and goes out on a date with this guy who owns a coffee brand. But then, as it turns out, he's involved with these sort of like, doomsday preppers. And that's as far as I am modern dating. She gets into doomsday stuff. So it is about these people who are sort of obsessed with how the world's gonna end. And one is building a bunker in the backyard.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

That's all I really know so far.

[Tracy Thomas]

That's all. You don't wanna say more anyways.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, great.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Dick's so good it makes you doomsday.

[Bria Grant]

And I don't know where she ends up in this situation, but New York. Based in New York.

[Tracy Thomas]

And she's got a new book coming out this year. Yeah, I don't remember what it's called. I don't know anything about it, but I know that it's coming this year.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, yeah. Oh, great. Well, this is really good so far. And, yeah, I'm really liking it. What are you reading, Mallory?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am reading Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller, who's an author that I really love. And it's a wicked weird book. It kind of reminds me of the Bog Wife in the way that it's like family decay. It's like, in modern day. And it's about these siblings. They're 55 years old and they have never left their home. They live with their mother. The girl doesn't know how to read, and the guy, like, can't drive in cars because he gets carsick. So they, like, they live, like, a very rustic existence. And then their mother drops dead and they find out that she had all these secrets and took all this money. And now they're kind of, like, thrust into the modern world and they have no idea what to do. Like, they don't have smartphones, like, and they're trying to hide that fact from people. So it's kind of sad, but also kind of funny and just, like, very interesting to see these two people who have been so insulated their entire lives being forced to be out in the world and they just have no idea. It's. It's really great so far. What are you reading, Tracy?

[Tracy Thomas]

I'm reading. Is it okay if I'm reading two things? You can read as much as you want. So I'm reading off the page right now. Pure innocent fun. Which is an essay collection from Ira Madison iii, who is the host of Keep it, one of the hosts of Keep it podcast. And it's sort of. I'm probably like four essays in. And my sense is that it's a little bit memoir and a little bit pop culture sort of nostalgia writing. So there's an essay on Fant Family Matters. There's an essay on Tom Cruise jumping the couch on Oprah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Tracy Thomas]

I just started one about Martin, the TV show. So that's that. And then on audio, I'm listening to Edgar Gomez's memoir and essays also. It's maybe more of a true memoir called Alligator Tears.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think I Can see the COVID Pink.

[Tracy Thomas]

No, it comes out in February. It's pink and it has like a billboard on it. And he is writing about being queer and Latino in Florida and his childhood with his mom. And his dad is Puerto Rican and is drug addict and ends up going back to Puerto Rico. So he's sort of raised by his single mom who's Nicaraguan. And it's good. I mean, I'm really early in both of them. And they're actually like both sort of similar because they're these sort of like queer coming of age memoirs, though Ira's is much more like pop culture and Edgar's is much more like memoir in.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A truce and a true Tom Cruise jumping on furniture.

[Tracy Thomas]

It's like there's less pop culture references. It's more like his story.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They both sound wicked good though. I know.

[Bria Grant]

I feel like it's a Florida book. You're gonna immediately pre order this.

[Tracy Thomas]

Are you from Florida?

[Mallory O'Meara]

No.

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, you just.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I've only been to Florida like twice, but I don't know why. I think it's cuz I like weird shit.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And everything in Florida is like a little weird.

[Tracy Thomas]

A little weird.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A little weird.

[Tracy Thomas]

A little weird. Okay. Okay, that tracks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So I am reading Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller.

[Bria Grant]

I'm reading the Survivalist by Kashana Colley.

[Tracy Thomas]

I'm reading Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez and Pure Innocent Fun by Ira Madison iii.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Bria, we got so much feedback about whether or not you're responsible for what someone buys with your bookstore gift card that you gave them.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, wait, you have to.

[Tracy Thomas]

We're not responsible.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Tracy doesn't need to hear anything.

[Tracy Thomas]

She's like, no, wait, if you. If I give you Bria a gift card and you buy something weird, well, I. Responsible.

[Bria Grant]

Well, I'm glad you're a parent, so this is helpful. But it was actually. Someone gave a teen, a teen a.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Gift card for their birthday.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay.

[Bria Grant]

And the teen went to the store and bought a smutty a book with some smut in it. And the mom got really mad, not super happy with the gift card giver. Which.

[Tracy Thomas]

How old's the teen?

[Mallory O'Meara]

15 or 16?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, I'm very.

[Mallory O'Meara]

The same face that Tracy's making is the same face of all the people who wrote into us.

[Bria Grant]

We don't assume cuz we're not parents. And so we do try to like be. You know, we are not here to give parenting advice, so.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we're about to get a bunch of. We're getting a bunch of parenting.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, so we got parenting feedback.

[Tracy Thomas]

Kid is like 15 or 16. Does the parent think that the kid doesn't know about sex?

[Bria Grant]

Well, that was a hard question.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, they have phone. Well, the kid probably has a phone.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, that was. That was. That was my argument. I'd rather. If I had a teenage daughter, I'd rather get her exposure to sex be through romance novels instead of pornhub romance novel.

[Bria Grant]

It's not like. It's not like a straight up.

[Tracy Thomas]

It's a romance, but also like she's reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Tracy Thomas]

Isn't everything. Like, kids can't read. Everyone's illiterate. Like, if this is what's getting her or them or whoever to read a book is a little sexy time. Like, I don't hate it. I actually think that it's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we're about to hear from a bunch of glassers who agree. So Jennifer wrote in to say, I'm a mom to two children, an elementary librarian, and I host several book fairs a year during which I sell books that have varying levels of content. I can tell you with full confidence that you were right. This is not the glasses problem. And he was not at fault. On more than one occasion, I've had angry parents me why their child was allowed to buy X book at the book fair. My response is always the same. Parents are ultimately responsible for what their kids read. If you are concerned they will purchase a book that is inappropriate for them, it is your job to police how and when they can go to a bookstore, spend money, or engage with literature. Do not send your child unaccompanied to a book fair with $50 and expect someone else to do that job for you. Oh, my God. I trust my children to read what they can handle. And we have frequent conversations about how some books can give them bigger feelings than they're ready for. If it ever comes to that, they should put the book down and come talk to me. Your book shaped gavel came down on the right side on this one for sure. I want one of those so bad. Bigger feelings than you're.

[Bria Grant]

They're ready for such a cute way to kind of put. To put these comp. Something that's a little bit more adult.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

Yes.

[Tracy Thomas]

Although again, I was reading so many adult books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Same.

[Tracy Thomas]

I didn't read kid books.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

And I'm okay because I also feel like I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This might be a generational thing too, because I feel like when we all were younger, YA wasn't as big of a thing. There were some books like island of Blue Dolphins and shit. But like, after you got through those in elementary school, then it was on to Stephen King.

[Tracy Thomas]

But I also feel like even like the kid like ya. When. I mean, I'm 38. So when I was younger, like, it was pitched down for even younger.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It was more middle grade.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

By the time I was in high school, I wasn't like, wanting to read the Cistern of the Traveling Pants or whatever. I was like, let me read about Jonestown, like, asaptually. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

100%.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, totally. Rose wrote in and said, I am a parent of two teen girls ages 14 and 15. Here's my take on the question of whether the gifted is responsible for the gift card being used to purchase a spicy book. Y'all were spot on. The gifter is absolutely not responsible. If a parent wants to monitor teen reading and purchasing, that's on them to do. Second, you were in the right on the fact that teens are going to read what they want is what you said. I remember sneaking over to the adult section of the library with my friend to read Clan of the Cave Bear.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which I have never read.

[Bria Grant]

Core library memory is there. I think I just watched this. This movie. Is there a movie? I think there's a movie starring Daryl Hannah. I think I literally just watched this movie with some of my friends.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, she. It's Daryl Hannah, like in a bush looking.

[Bria Grant]

Yes, it is. There's a lot going on in that movie. Point is, it's normal for teens to be curious about romance, relationships, and intimacy. Reading is one of the least harmful ways they can explore these ideas, in my opinion. I share your mindset that teens are much less likely to be harmed by anything they read than visuals they come across online. One of my teens is a big romance reader. I read some of the books with her. We talk about the writing and the content. She knows she can have questions. And we visit local bookshops like the Ripped Bodice, where they have staff that is knowledgeable and excited to help readers find the right books. Reading romance has led to some great questions and conversations. Sure, sometimes it's stuff I didn't expect, but as a parent, that's your job. For parents who believe sheltering and avoiding these topics is the better path, best of luck. But enforcing that is definitely their responsibility. Not any gift givers. Sounds like people are on the same page.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. And Kristin said a gift card is basically restricted cash. The person who received it is the one that holds liability for how it's spent as the mother of a 14 year old. I'm glad so many teen parents wrote in for this one.

[Bria Grant]

I didn't know we had this many teen parents listed.

[Tracy Thomas]

We got a lot of.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There's a whole parent channel in the slack. We got a lot of parents. I will absolutely call out the mom and say it's a parent's responsibility to monitor what they feel their child should read. The only exception would be if someone else took the daughter to the store, like dad or aunt, or if the friend took the daughter to the store to spend their gift card. I can kind of see some shared responsibility. There's or if the friend handed the daughter a physical copy of Icebreaker. That was the book. But it only takes a quick Google search to know that Icebreaker is a romance. And if mom doesn't want her daughter reading sex, then all romance should be suspect. I wouldn't recommend icebreaker for my 14 year old, but if a 16 or 18 year old wanted to read it, I'd be open to negotiation. That said, if the daughter has a library card and any amount of patience for Icebreaker specifically, as it's pretty buzzy and has some gnarly hold times, she can read anything she wants without her parents knowing.

[Bria Grant]

Good point. Is that the library you can, you can get these books?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

I also just. I don't know. I don't think I'm. Well, I've said this many times. I don't think that I'm like that great of a parent. My kids are only five, but like, I know that I'm already doing it wrong for sure. But I sort of have the mind of like, if it. If they want to read it, they can read it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

Even if it's like super duper fucked up. Like, I don't know. I just like as long as you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Talk to them about it.

[Tracy Thomas]

But even still, like, even if they want to sneakily run and read something awful like, okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Because you're also not gonna stop them.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I grew up reading romance novels. You could have torn those out of my dirt. My little hands.

[Bria Grant]

That's what I feel like. Like if they have a curiosity about something, they're going to find a way to. And the greatest thing you could do is have an open dialogue about it.

[Tracy Thomas]

But even if they're like embarrassed about it and they're like, I really want to. I'm trying to think of like something that would be like, I really want to read, what's something that would make me want to die if my kid was Reading that, it's definitely not romance. Like, something like our example is always Hillbilly LG First I was gonna say. But then I was like, that seems, like, extreme. Because actually, the truth is, I actually really want to read mine Kampf. But I'm just curious what's in it. I'm just really curious what's actually written in it. But that being said, that's. I'm not.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm trying to think maybe. The Anarchist Cookbook.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah. What's that book that all the kids read before they, like, did Columbine? Like, there's, like, that one book.

[Bria Grant]

I don't know.

[Tracy Thomas]

Anyways. I can't think of it. Anyways, one of those kinds of books, you know, like Hill LG or something.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So, like, if I caught my kid reading Trump's book, I'd be like, yeah, like something.

[Tracy Thomas]

I would be like, oh, I'm. I feel badly about myself as a parent, but I don't think I would be like, you can't read that. No, I just be like, how is it?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. What's going on in there?

[Tracy Thomas]

Because also, they're kids. Like, they're gonna change their mind about things. Like, I read that I don't believe in now that I read as a teenager, because I was like, what is this? Other people are talking about it. Like, I have friends who used to love the fountain head or whatever.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Sure.

[Tracy Thomas]

Who now are like, e. Sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. When you're a teen, you're experimenting. You're. You're putting on different types of people.

[Tracy Thomas]

And sex isn't bad.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No.

[Tracy Thomas]

Just want to throw that out there.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I read so many smutty romance novels that me and my friends passed around to each other. And again, look at me.

[Bria Grant]

Look at you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Look at me now. Podcaster, living my dreams. So you can email us@reading glassespodcastmail.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, quick bookmark from me. Just a reminder to folks that my book's coming out next month. Both. Both of my books are coming out next month. Me and Bria's book, the no Pressure Book Journal. And shoot.

[Bria Grant]

I meant to bring you one.

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, did you bring one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I should have brought you one. We can email you one. And my next adult nonfiction Daughter of Daring is out on. Oh, I'm the worst.

[Tracy Thomas]

You don't know your own pub day.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's moved a few times.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay. I'm like dying over here.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's moved a couple of times. My book solo and our book have moved pub days multiple times. So it's out on February 18th. But you can pre order it, right? Or make sure your library has it. I already. I checked last night. There's a bunch of people on hold for it at the LAPL already, which makes me really happy. But if you're interested in Hollywood history and you like me talking to you, this is the perfect book for you. And Bria and I are also just to tell everyone in advance, we are having a launch party in person at Skylight Books for our no pressure book journal. It is happening 7pm at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on February 5th. We're super pumped. Come hang out with us. We're gonna be talking about the joys of reading and the journal and getting shame and guilt outta your book life. And I don't know, I'll bring the slide whistle. It's gonna be a blast.

[Bria Grant]

What a thrill.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What a thrill. So before we talk about tracking our reading, we're gonna take a quick break.

[Tracy Thomas]

Ego some John Hodgman et ego some Janet Varney. And we're the hosts of E Pluribus motto, a podcast dedicated to exploring the mottos of every state in the union.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Every episode, we will spotlight one state and discuss its official symbols.

[Tracy Thomas]

The motto, flowers, birds, beverages, songs, and.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Even official state muffins.

[Tracy Thomas]

Plus, we'll hear from guests whose lives have been inspired by the state's iconography and from residents who call that state home.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Bring some snacks, a map, and your travel journal, because this podcast is a virtual journey like no other.

[Tracy Thomas]

Audi nostrumi pluribus mato quae libet alia lunae di Maximum Fun.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And for the Latin challenged among you and us, listen to E blur a button motto every other Monday on Maximum Fun. This week, we're talking about tracking our reading in 2025. What are we using? Journals, apps, spreadsheets. And what exactly are we tracking? We are diving into the data. Tracy, we invited you on this episode just assuming that you're a book tracker. I. I kind of panicked right before I I I emailed you the list of questions because I was like, what if she doesn't? And I was like, no, she totally tracks her books. There's no way she doesn't. So are you. To start off, let's go into the apps. Like, Are you a StoryGraph or a Goodreads user?

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay, I am a StoryGraph user. For the last two years, I started using Goodreads in 2009. So I've been a longtime Goodreads person. I still have my Goodreads, but I mostly am on storygraph.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I feel like that's most people now.

[Tracy Thomas]

I don't. I'm so torn. I don't want to be on Goodreads.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But I'm there.

[Tracy Thomas]

I'm there because what I've been told by booksellers and authors is that that's where those people go to decide if they're gonna stock a book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Cause it's just been so long.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah. And so I feel like I'm like, well, I don't wanna not be championing the books I'm championing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I get you by being off.

[Tracy Thomas]

Of a space and like hurting the authors.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's just like the Amazon thing where like publishers still pay attention to Amazon sales, but most book people are trying to push bookshop.org or different like non evil links. But it's hard because publishers still look at Amazon.

[Tracy Thomas]

Right. So I copy and in both places. But the way that I use storygraph and Goodreads is like my reviews. It's the first thing I do after I finish a book and I just quickly write sentences. So like any review that you see, it's like my immediate stream of consciousness thoughts like, I like this, I didn't like this, whatever. Sometimes people will be like, I saw in Goodreads. You hated this book. I'm like, no, I just was like listing the things I didn't like so I would remember. Because I forget that people see my Goodreads.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I just forget.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

So I will put more like thoughtful things on my Instagram because I review every book that I read over there as well. Yeah. But it takes a long time. I bought like 15 books I haven't reviewed.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're such a good bookish citizen.

[Tracy Thomas]

I try. That was something I said that I would do when I first started doing this and now I don't like doing it anymore.

[Bria Grant]

But it's your relationship with social media. You think it's just that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Tracy Thomas]

And also that like it gets no traction on social media. So it just feels like a waste of my time. But I do, I have a substack as well. And I review everything each week. Like quick mini reviews.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh my God.

[Tracy Thomas]

Over there. And so you are tracking and reviewing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Your little heart out.

[Tracy Thomas]

I try because, okay, I have like very strong opinions about reviewing, which is that if people come to me for book things, which I'm so grateful that they do. Right. Like that I've been able To. To do the work that I do is really lovely. But part of it is, like, if you're a critic or a public person who has opinions about things, you can't. I don't think you can just share the things you like. And so I try to share everything so that maybe, like, Ria, you have a different opinion about books than me. But you know what? You know my taste well enough, if you follow me, to know if you'll like the book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, right.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, I'll say like, okay, it's this, it's that and this. And you'll be like, well, I love those things. So of course you hated it. But if I only talk about the things I love, how would you know how you align with me?

[Bria Grant]

Oh, interesting.

[Tracy Thomas]

And so I sort of feel like that's my responsibility to the people who take time to come and listen to what I have to say or come read what I have to say.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And especially if you're doing long form reviews on like a substack or something.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, well, they're not that long. They're like mini reviews. I try to keep it to a paragraph because also, like, I know people don't really want to read long form reviews of every book I read, I read.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, I think that's just people's attention spans now. Although maybe now that TikTok is dying, rip our attentions will. Will scooch back a little bit more maybe.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, we'll see. Who knows.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Bri, are you still hanging in there on Goodreads?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, well, I'm. I'm also Goodreads in storygraph. And it's also because I think I've been on there since 2000. I think I've been on there since 2008. But I was just trying to remember when I joined Goodreads, but it's been so long and I'm just. But it's more of a place where I just go, like immediately after I read a book, I go and I'm like, I read this and I give it usually just like a five stars or no stars. Like, it's kind of one or the other. I just like, you know, I liked it or I probably thought it was fine or. Because I usually don't finish books that I don't like. And then I've been doing storygraph. I want to continue doing storygraph because I do like storygraph as a system and I like supporting them. But again, it's just like tracking what I read. I'm not really reviewing there. It's more of A tracking system so that when I finish a book at two in the morning and I don't want to get up and do anything, I just want to put it somewhere because otherwise I'm gonna forget that I read it. Honestly. What about you? What are you doing?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, I have a Goodreads account. I've had a Goodreads account since around the same time. 2008, 2009, 2010. But I haven't been on there since my first book came out because I would rather drink a bleach martini than be subject to reading people's opinions about my books. But I also really strongly believe that's not my place. That's a place where readers to go share their true, heartfelt opinions about things. It is not right for me to be in there and, like, looking at them. And I don't know. But I decided I'm not doing storygraph this year. I did it last year. I did it for a full year. I really liked it, but I'm not doing it this year. I just track in so many other places. And now that I'm doing Cawpile with you, like, oh, yeah. It's just. I was like, everything that I'm getting from storygraph, I'm getting more from Cawpile.

[Bria Grant]

So are you familiar with the Cawpile spreadsheet?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, boy. Get ready.

[Tracy Thomas]

But I have an insane reading tracking spreadsheet that I built over the last few years.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, it's kind of like that.

[Bria Grant]

I'm sure. Sure it is like that. Oh, okay, Wait.

[Tracy Thomas]

But what is a Cawpile?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It stands for. Oh, fuck.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, no.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Character atmosphere. Writing.

[Tracy Thomas]

Plot.

[Bria Grant]

Plot. Yeah, plot.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Plot.

[Tracy Thomas]

Maybe Place.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm trying to remember what the I is.

[Bria Grant]

Intrigue.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Intrigue. Logic and enjoyment. Enjoyment, wow.

[Bria Grant]

But it is a very spreadsheet that someone made. Someone some nice youtuber or something.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Book roast. Book Roast is her name.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, great. Thank you. Made and then made it public. Like, so it started with, like, just those numbers, I assume, and then it takes those numbers and averages them out. So you give it like a 1 through 10, and then you kind of see what your overall rating is. But it also has a ton of other stuff in it, and I've added a lot to mine as well. But it has like, you know, author, pub.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Date. Translated. Not translated. Yeah, the kind of representation it has.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. So it has tons of stuff in it. I've added more to mine where, like, just this year I was like, I should really be tracking audiobook narrators because I feel like there's ones I really, like, and I always forget who they are.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

And then. And then I'm like, oh, I love this person. I'll look them up. I'm like, yeah. You've listened to three other books by like.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's a smart thing to try.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. So there's certain things, like, I'm trying to keep track of just on the spreadsheet.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

What's on your spreadsheet?

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay. So none of those letters. Mine is like, well, so I built it a few years ago, and then at the stacks Patreon, we sort of. It was a yearly one, and then we turned it with help of two. Amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is open for other people.

[Tracy Thomas]

It's open only for, like, Patreon members, but only till the end of January. So it's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

If you're.

[Tracy Thomas]

If you're not in by the end of January, don't get it till the next year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. Classes you can get on it, but you got to move your butt.

[Tracy Thomas]

Go fast. But it was each year we turned it into something that's every year. So you can add a new sheet for the new year, but it tracks title, author, imprint, publisher, like publishing house.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, you do imprint and publishing house. Yeah, I think about this all the time. Okay, great.

[Tracy Thomas]

I love that publication year, which is more just for the data that comes up on other tabs, which I'll get to publication year. When you read it, how many stars you give it. I do not believe in half stars. So you can. But you can also customize yours. I'm just like, I don't know. It's a. It's a made up thing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like 3.

[Tracy Thomas]

Or was it 4?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am up to you, and I will go back.

[Tracy Thomas]

But I just, like three and three quarters. Like, no, it's just.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It was four.

[Tracy Thomas]

It was four. It's fine. It's your personal tracker, but whatever. I also have things like country of origin, so where the person's from, continent of origin. I have audiobook narrator. I also started tracking editors recently because I feel like editors, which you can't always find, but often in the acknowledgments, you can.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I feel like if they're a good editor, they'll. My. Peter, you're not listening, but you're always in my acknowledgments.

[Tracy Thomas]

I feel like it says a lot about. About a book to me now that I started tracking, if. If I know who the editor is, I'm like, oh, Kathy Belden edited your book. Like, it's a banger. So I started putting that In I know for like an everyday reader, that might not be as important, but like, for professional readers, it is something that I think about a lot that's in there. Genres in there. What kind of books? Like fiction, non fiction. And then within that there's another tab for essays, short stories, nolla, graphic novel, or graphic memoir.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So sort of similar. But this is. I like this.

[Tracy Thomas]

This is really. I'm only giving some tabs. There's a lot. State of Origin because. So that's. So this is like the main. This is the main first sheet. Okay. So this is just called Total Books. That's where you input all the data. The next sheet is like Total Books.

[Bria Grant]

I'm literally about to join your Patreon right now.

[Tracy Thomas]

I can pull it up for you guys. It's like Total Books, like statistics. So you see what percent of books, like, are from this country or this place for all of your reading for as far back as you track. And then there's a breakout sheet for just that year. So I think. So there's a 20, 25 sheet. And it also has like, how. How many pages you read on average a day, how many audiobook minutes or hours you read on average a day, how much money you spend on books and you can put in how much money you save if you put in the price of the book and that you got it from the library.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah. I love when libraries give you that receipt that's like, you saved $56 today.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah. And it also tracks, like, how many books you read that came out that year. It also has a thing for why you read. So like, book club, for fun, for work, for school, whatever. And then we have a tab called Read the World where it has all the countries and all the states. And when you input that, you can see how many different countries you read from in a year. And you can also track that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, that's for you previous year.

[Bria Grant]

Because. So I did that last year. I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Part of our reading challenge.

[Bria Grant]

Because we do like, a challenge every year.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, we do.

[Bria Grant]

I had. I had a little trouble. This is. We're getting way off topic. But I had trouble. Sometimes I would finish the book and then I'm like, where was this? And also, like, I would kind of forget where they were or if it was like, oh, this is a road trip. It takes place in like five different states.

[Tracy Thomas]

Author, country, and state of origin, not where the book is set. Oh, oh, because like, that's cool.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like.

[Tracy Thomas]

Because like, if you read Kristin Hannah's the Women.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

You read a Book about Vietnam. But, like, that's not a Vietnamese book, right? So, like, I would consider that. That her to be a. Wherever she's from.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Right.

[Tracy Thomas]

So that's how I do it. But people within the stacks pack, they have different things. Some people say, like, where was the person for the majority of their years? Or where was the person? Like, after childhood or whatever. I just. To keep it clean because I'm such an intense, organized person. I just say, where were you born? So even if you were born in a place and then you left too, I'm just like, that's where you're from. And so sometimes it evens out. Like, sometimes it's like a person was born in Vietnam and came to America too. And sometimes a person was born in Canada and went to Spain at like. So I'm just. I'm just not that in intense about it. But I'm always tracking author identity, not subject matter, because I think that gets.

[Bria Grant]

It's too hard. And it's also just like, yeah. Then you're like, there's like 15 states in this book. I'm like, I don't know it yet.

[Tracy Thomas]

So that's what I do. And then. So that's Read the World. There's also a tab for our reading challenge each year. And then there's a tab, a TBR tab, where I use that. Just any book that comes into my house, I enter it, where I got it from, how much it costs, if I purchased it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I love that you say that. Like, the books are coming of their own volition from the publishers.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like knocking on the window, they're coming from the publishers. I do buy them also, like the little free library. There's a tab to, like, organize where a book came from. So, you know, and that's also in the main. So there's like, a lot of things that I'm tracking. And then I personally. This is. I don't think this is in the public one that I share. I built this page myself, and I didn't think other people cared about it, but it's a publishing schedule for the year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, people really care about the books.

[Tracy Thomas]

That are coming that year. Organized by month. For me.

[Mallory O'Meara]

People are always looking for that or not, because it's very hard to find. There's not a lot of. I mean, Publishers Weekly does it, but you might have to pay for it. But it's very. My friend Liberty Hardy does. Does it on her Patreon, but it's hard to find, like, a comprehensive list of books that are Coming out.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Yeah. We started doing an anticipated book steps. Now we're just talking book podcast, but we started doing an anticipating book, which.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We'Re recording after this.

[Bria Grant]

People are so they want to know that information.

[Tracy Thomas]

So on my, on my thing, on my spreadsheet, it is just the books that I personally am excited about.

[Bria Grant]

Great.

[Tracy Thomas]

Because it's too hard to do, like, what's coming, which I think Liberty does a much. She does broader thing, but she also reads a thousand times more books than me.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Reads 400 books a year.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah. I'm like, what in the hell? Anyways, So I like, on my sub stack, once a month, I post like, the books I'm the most excited about. I try to keep it to like less than eight for a month, but on my spreadsheet, it can be a little bit bigger. It's just easier for me to pay attention to what's coming in that way. But not everything goes on that list. Like, sometimes there's things I'm like, oh, that sounds interesting. Like, and I'll say, wanna read on. On storygraph. But if I'm like, I really want to read this. I want to make sure I remember about it, then it will go in the spreadsheet.

[Bria Grant]

That's good because I feel like there are books that, like, we even talk about in our anticipated books, and then I forget about them. And then I'm like, oh, I did want to read that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I make a list. So are we doing any other apps like Fable? Sorry. I'm keeping us on track.

[Bria Grant]

We need to do.

[Tracy Thomas]

That's all I do.

[Bria Grant]

But you, you do another app?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do. My husband, Book Buddy. I have been using Book Buddy now for seven years.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, whenever you got off goodread, it's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, actually. Wow. I didn't even pick up on that. But yeah, so I, I literally. That's how you know. So book podcasting with someone for so long. But Book Buddy is just. I mean, it's, it's literally just like a list app. App for your books. And I've been using it for, for so long. And it's, it's. I like it because it's just so simple. Like, you just. I just put the book in the rating. It tracks everything else for me. And what I really like about it is it's like an American Express card at the end of the year where I can toggle like, like, show me all my five star reads. Show me all the reads that came out this year. Show me this, show me that.

[Tracy Thomas]

You know, my spreadsheet does this pretty.

[Bria Grant]

Cool join the Patreon all the time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But yeah, me and book buddy are platonic life partners. We are very happy together. I can't ever see myself not using it anymore. But I don't. I, I, We. We talked about Fable on the show. But I think, and maybe this is true for all three of us, is that I don't really use the social aspects of these apps.

[Tracy Thomas]

Not at all.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think, think and I understand if you're a type of person who is not a book podcaster, but also, like, you don't have a lot. You don't have a lot of bookish friends. Like, you don't. You're looking for that kind of bookish community. But this is the water that you. The three of us swim in every day. Like, I don't feel the need.

[Tracy Thomas]

And you guys have a Slack. Yes, I have a discord.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

So I am immersed in bookish conversation with my community.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

So, like, that seems like a nightmare because I don't know those people. I know the people in my community.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. I don't look at the slack, but I weirdly do look. A lot of people have friend of me on Goodreads, so I have quite a. A few friends on there that I don't know. And I do kind of scroll through to see what people are reading on Goodread friends. I accept every single person.

[Tracy Thomas]

I don't know how to do it, and it's too many. So I just tell people, just follow me, because if you request, I'm not. I'm never going. There's too many, and I don't know how to do it and I'm not gonna be there.

[Bria Grant]

That's fair.

[Tracy Thomas]

That's fair.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's fair.

[Bria Grant]

It is a lot. And you do have to keep up with it, which is a whole thing. But I. It's interesting because I. It's. A lot of people listen to reading glasses, so there's a lot of people who have, like.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's why I look. So in our Slack channel, we have a now reading tab and it's very, very active. Tons of people are posting it in every day. So I like to scroll through there just to see what our community is interested in. Sometimes I get book recommendations from there. But I think because of that, maintaining, like, a social aspect of Goodreads or Storygrapher Fable would just be too much.

[Tracy Thomas]

Too much.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, Somehow too much books. All right, so on the other side of digital things, are we doing any physical things? Do you have a print journal that you keep?

[Tracy Thomas]

No.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay. I know you do, Bria.

[Tracy Thomas]

I do.

[Bria Grant]

But I haven't been keeping up with.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It, really, since I moved to the spreadsheet. But it is another woman. I know it has come in.

[Bria Grant]

Spreadsheet. I really love a spreadsheet, and I kind of didn't realize how much I would enjoy filling it out, like, just sitting down and, like, really thinking through and finding all the information. But I do want to keep my journal updated because there's something about. I do love a physical journal. I find it very romantic. So I like filling it in. I like, like, you know, I just like the name of the book and the author and, like, my letter grade. But you've been keeping the same physical.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Journal for, like, a long time.

[Bria Grant]

How many years?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, the same. I started the same one that I have in 2022, but I've been keeping. I used to do one book a year, and I started that in one journal a year. One journal a year? One book a year. I only get one.

[Tracy Thomas]

I miss days.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's gonna be a banger. I started in 2015, so this is my 10 year trackiversary, I guess. So I used to do one journal per year. And then 2022, I got like a big A4. If paper nerds out there. I'm getting. I have. It's an A4 lined Rhodia notebook.

[Bria Grant]

What does that mean?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's so. It's the size. It's like 8 by 11. It's like, big. It's not like a little journal.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's like, it's big. And because it's so big, I think I'm going to have space for the next 10 years, probably. And everyone knows Bria is required to burn them upon my death.

[Bria Grant]

That's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All of them. All the book journals. All the journals. But especially the book journals.

[Tracy Thomas]

But what about. Well, what about your papers? What about. What about when we want to write.

[Bria Grant]

The Mallory Omera library?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, I mean, I might donate, like, my work, my research stuff to a library, but please, burn. Burn my. Burn my regular journals and burn my books. Reacting journals. Do not.

[Tracy Thomas]

Do not listen to her. You're dead. We can't. We can't abide by dead people's wishes. I'm sorry. What if we need. What. What if we need to tell your story?

[Mallory O'Meara]

And my story includes my. How many letter grades I gave to all the books I read in 2020.

[Bria Grant]

For a while, it was popular to make these books where you would go and you're like, I'm gonna live. Live like it's like, Julian, Julia. Like, it was like, I'm gonna make all the Julia Child's recipes. I'm gonna live like the Oprah. I'm gonna do everything overst. What if someone went and wanted to read all the books you ever read?

[Tracy Thomas]

Yes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Too bad.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay, we're not. Okay, Glass, we're not burning the journals.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, you are burning the journal.

[Tracy Thomas]

It'll be made available 50 years after your death.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, yeah, we'll all be gone.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You know what? I will compromise. You can write. You can take the journals and write a list of all the books you have to burn. My reviews of them.

[Tracy Thomas]

We will publish them. We'll keep them locked away till at least 50 years after your death, upon which our heirs will honestly make decisions. I like how I become the keeper of your journal.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Tracy is now the ex. Executor of my will. Just your book journal.

[Tracy Thomas]

Will your personal journal do what you.

[Bria Grant]

Want, but your book journal.

[Tracy Thomas]

Those are your professional papers.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, not these.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Tracy Thomas]

I almost respect your wishes. Continue.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But I like having it. It feels very meditative to me. I mean, I. I'm also, like, a huge pen and ink nerd, as Bria knows. I love my fountain pens, and it just feels nice. And also, like, I track. We can get into. Actually, after the break, we're going to get into this, but I track something in my physical journal that I don't track anywhere else. Ooh.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A cliffhanger. All right, before we dive into what exactly we're tracking and my big secret, we're going to take a quick break.

[Tracy Thomas]

The Flophouse is a podcast where we watch a bad movie and then we talk about it. Guys, how does ET Poop? Well, he's not that regular, but as he's gotten older, he has two cloacas, one under each arm.

[Bria Grant]

No.

[Tracy Thomas]

I was just looking forward to you going through the other ways in which Wild Wild west is historically inaccurate.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You know how much movies cost nowadays when you add in your popped corn.

[Tracy Thomas]

And your bagel bites and your cheese fritters, you can't go wrong with a Henry Cavill mustache. Here at Henry Cavill Mustaches, the only supplier.

[Mallory O'Meara]

The flop house. New episodes every Saturday. Find [e-mail]. okay, we're back. So what exactly are we tracking? You went into it. Is it. But are. Is there a place where it's just title and author? Are you. I guess the most important thing is, Tracy, you're tracking all this stuff. Are you looking back regularly? Yes. Like, are you utilizing that data?

[Tracy Thomas]

So, like, sometimes someone Will ask a book recommendation about, like, I'm looking for a poetry collection. And I will go into my little tracker, I will filter it for poetry collections that came out at this period or something from this time frame or by an author from this country or, you know, I can. I also track, like, race very loosely and sexual orientation very loosely. Like, very loosely. It's either like straight or queer. Yeah. Male, female, non binary, trans, like, very. Because also I'm like. And I do the best that I can based on information.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm not like, we've talked about this on the show. You're not like, hiding in the author's bushes outside their house looking.

[Tracy Thomas]

So, like, like, there's also a tab for like, disability slash, like neurodiversity. And that one, there's also just one that says, like, unknown. Because, like, sometimes I don't fucking know that person's business. But I will go in and sort. If someone's looking for a book about disability, I can go in and I can look and be like, is this person chronically ill? Did, like, how did they self identify? And then I can make recommendations off of that. So, yeah. And definitely at the end of the year, like, books published this year versus, like, books I read this year because, you know, we probably. I'm sure you all read ahead too, sometimes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

So I do go back and I do use it to sort and filter. And then also on those, like, data pages where I can see what I read in a year, over time, I can look and see if I had a goal to read less books by big five publishers. I can look and see how I did compared to the previous year or over time. So I'm extremely goal oriented in that way that I will go back and look and be like, how did I do?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Did I earn ice cream?

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, can I brag about this on the Internet or do I have to shut the fuck up?

[Mallory O'Meara]

And Bria, so you, you haven't been updating your print journal, but what do you keep? I mean, I feel like Cawpile is like this sexy woman that has come to town and kicked everybody else out of there.

[Tracy Thomas]

I think the same.

[Bria Grant]

Like, I like a spreadsheet and I also, I do like to go. I, I do, like, at the end of the year, kind of looking back and seeing what I've done and like, oh, I, I didn't read that many books by whatever or this many. I read a lot of, of books from this particular publisher. And I don't know why, like, just kind of examining, like, what My habits have been. And why. And, like, if I need to think about those and if it's something I want to change or something I want to continue.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But what was in your physical journal?

[Bria Grant]

The physical journal is just the name.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Of the books and the title and the author.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And the writing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, but that was.

[Bria Grant]

All those in there. But, yeah, the cawpile is now kind of taken over, and it's just.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's that.

[Bria Grant]

It's a spreadsheet. Like, I do, like a spreadsheet. And I also added in there for recommendations, like wheelhouse items, doorways, appeal factors, things like that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

See, that's what I have in my physical journal.

[Tracy Thomas]

What's a wheelhouse item?

[Bria Grant]

That's something we talk about quite a bit.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think it started on book riot. And it's basically a book's wheelhouse is like. Like the subjects and tropes. Like Claire Fuller's unsettled ground would be family decay. Cute dog. Literary fiction. Like, it's got it.

[Bria Grant]

You know, people, when they come to you and they're like, I want enemies to lovers. And you're like, great, okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And that's why I track it in my journal is specifically for the glassers, which is not helping my thought that you should burn my teeth.

[Tracy Thomas]

We probably need to keep these for the papers because it's for the public. You have a public audience in mind.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So it's title, author, letter, grade, which I will do a plus or minus for sometimes, and then the wheelhouse items for each book. And it's not just for the glassers, I guess, because it's also for me. It's very interesting to me to sort of assess how my own tastes change. Like, sometimes I'll notice, like, I've been reading a lot of family decay books recently, and I'm like, do I really. Is this something I really like weird families that have never seen the light of day.

[Bria Grant]

Fine.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Family decay.

[Bria Grant]

It's just.

[Tracy Thomas]

That's a.

[Bria Grant]

It's a.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is also, I guess, one of my favorite movies. But it's like a weird. It's like a family that is so insular and, like, has kept away from the outside world. Maybe because of, like, a weird thing or secret, though, kind of. Yeah, yeah. Like, that kind of like.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, it's just like they. They don't see the outside world. They're very. Yeah, okay. Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. It's like kind of culty decay. Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

I never heard that before.

[Bria Grant]

No, I don't like that as a term.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. I Love. I love, like, a weird, insular family that has, like, weird, creepy habits and, like, is away from the outside world. But it's that kind of stuff. It's like writing down those things. Each book can help me kind of track what I've been into. Or sometimes I use this example. Last year, I used to be wicked into circus books until I realized I was like, I haven't read a circus book that I've liked in a long time. So I had to take it out of my wheelhouse for, like, things that I look for.

[Tracy Thomas]

So wheelhouse is your personal wheelhouse?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes, my personal wheelhouse.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Like, and books can fall into it. Like, give us an example of something.

[Tracy Thomas]

So, like, mine is institutional failings. So like the Sackler family, the Challenger disaster. I love investigative journalism that deals with, like, big important people making big fucked up mistakes. Oh, yeah. And also a cult nonfiction. Cult moment. I like nonfiction a lot. So reported journalism, investigative journalism, history. Sometimes I, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll mess around with a biography here and there. It just depends if it's hot. Yeah, I read Reagan's 32 hour biography that came out last year because the New York Times said it was of the 10 best books of the year. I don't agree, but I had to read it.

[Bria Grant]

I had to read it to find out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I mean, that's commitment.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. People who read it, though, people.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It was.

[Tracy Thomas]

It was fine. Yeah, it was good. It started really good.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It better. Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

The first 22 hours.

[Tracy Thomas]

I mean, legitimately. The last 10 hours, I was like, are we gonna get to anything here?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like, he's just asmr. Before you fall asleep.

[Tracy Thomas]

All the shit that I was there for, like aids, the war on drugs, the challengers, all those things for the last, like three hours. And then he was like. And then these things happened and I was like, babe, I've been here for 30 hours.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Please give me the good stuff.

[Tracy Thomas]

Max Boot, I love you, but I need more. Please. But I didn't get it, which was a bummer.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow. Okay.

[Tracy Thomas]

Not. Those are some of my wheelhouses.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So are we feeling like, is this adding to our reading life? Is this something we would recommend? Because there are readers that don't track their reading, which is as a super anxious person who lives by the email and spreadsheet. Yesterday I didn't answer a text from Bria, and she started. She thought I was dead.

[Tracy Thomas]

Okay, okay.

[Bria Grant]

By the way, can I just preface this of all. I. I texted Mallory the day before and I said, is your email Connected to your brain because we're working on something that we're launching that we haven't talked about yet. But we.

[Tracy Thomas]

They.

[Bria Grant]

They. Max Fun will send us an email. Mallory responds to me within 30 seconds and was like, here's my opinion. I'm like, what?

[Tracy Thomas]

I don't know you're talking about.

[Bria Grant]

Like, I haven't checked my email in like, a. What? Anyway, and then I texted Mallory because David lynch died, who Mallory is a very big fan of. Didn't hear back. Back. And I was like, oh, no, what's happening?

[Mallory O'Meara]

And then I got very concerned because I'm. I'm attached to my. I'm an anxious person. If I, like, I have to check my email.

[Bria Grant]

Everybody attached to her phone.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, do you want to not be attached to your phone? I have a thing for you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Are you just gonna throw my phone over that fence? No.

[Tracy Thomas]

It's called the brick. Have you heard about this?

[Bria Grant]

This is advertised to me on Instagram when I'm looking at my phone.

[Tracy Thomas]

It has changed my life.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We can talk about it after.

[Tracy Thomas]

We'll talk about it after.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, I'm interested.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But okay. If you're not a freak like me and you're a reader, that just doesn't track. Do we recommend this? Like, what are this. Besides the fact, like, a lot of the things we're talking about are book podcaster things, but, like, as readers.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What are. Would we recommend this? Are we getting a lot out?

[Tracy Thomas]

I love tracking. I am a tracking type of person.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Do you track other things in your life?

[Tracy Thomas]

That's a great question. I have one of those brains where I just remember a lot of things. So. Yes. But like, I do. I write down a lot of things physically. This is one of the few things I actually don't write down physically.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, it's too much.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, it's too much. And also, I can't always have my, like, notebook book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, I. The first thing I do is I'm like, I finished a book reward.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I turned in the tracker serotonin. Serotonin.

[Tracy Thomas]

But like I said, I was doing Goodreads. Tracking my books on Goodreads in 2009, long before I was ever a professional reader or even close to it. So I've always liked to keep track of those things. For sure. I don't know. I recommend it to someone if it sounds like something they would want to do, but if it sounds like a chore, I would not recommend it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. Which we also co. Sign always. But, like, so what would be a good intro for this, like, seems like Cawpile might be a little too intimidating or like, a really big spreadsheet. Like, what would we recommend to someone for someone who's never. Besides buying the reading glasses. No pressure. Book journal, which is coming out next month. What would be a good way to dip your toe into this pond, do we think?

[Bria Grant]

I mean, I think just a physical journal, writing it on the name, what you thought about it or something is very easy to do. Or joining a social media app, especially, because I do think a lot of people get a lot out of the social aspect that maybe we aren't getting. I will say I feel like I write a lot of stuff down because I don't remember anything. I have a horrible memory. And. And I do find it interesting to go back and, like, look at. I've always written a lot of stuff down. A lot of, like, goal setting and, like, oh, here's how I was doing with, like, my writing at this time or whatever. And looking at those journals from, like, 10 years ago, or just, like, the goals I reached, the goals I had, the things I was thinking about. It is kind of helpful to help you become a person you like. You're like, I'm spending a lot of time thinking about this, and this is not important to me, or, you know, things like that. So I think it does help the average person if they really are trying to just see who they are. I don't think you have to improve your reading. I think you can read whatever the fuck you want, but I think you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

See what kind of reader you are, what you are, what you like, what.

[Bria Grant]

You don't like, or you can go buy books that you want to. Don't waste your money on books that you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

That you are not gonna want to read.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Also good if you have goals, like, if you're doing a reading challenge or if even. Even, like, I want to read more, I want to read more of a certain type of book, certain type of author, or read less of a certain type of thing. I mean, I can't imagine, like, I know people do it without tracking, but good God.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah. I think also this is, like, a bigger thing about books more broadly in the culture, because I just really believe that books should be treated like the other aspects of pop culture. But a thing that people can do really well when it comes to movies and TV and music is say, this is what I like, and this is what I don't like. And I think people have a really hard time doing that with books because they don't think about books publicly or talk about books publicly, because it's just not something that we do in the culture at this moment. And so I think if you are writing it down, then you can at least look back and say, this is what I like and this is what I don't like. Even just for the next time you go to the bookstore and you're looking for a book or the library and you can say to the librarian, hey, I really like family dk.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

And you might not necessarily think that's a thing that you like until you look and you're like, I've read all these books about this family.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But also it's interesting too, because I think you can figure out what you don't like. Like if you're like, oh, I have never tried this type of genre. I'm always buying sci fi books. I'm like, I really think it can help. Yeah, you think about yourself as a reader and think about the stuff that, that you love.

[Tracy Thomas]

And also you could track it on your phone. I do have a little running list of books I still need to review on my phone. Just the title and a little check box because the checkbox does a lot for me personally.

[Bria Grant]

I agree.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Checking a check like it's like that meme, like, yeah, sex is good, but have you ever checked something off of a list?

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, baby, it's my whole life that every day I sit down in my yellow notepad and I wrote down my to do list for the day.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, same I with the boxes running. Yeah, with the boxes, with the boxes. If you keep the boxes, why even have a to do list?

[Tracy Thomas]

If I wrote it without out, the box would be just a book. I guess it would just be my first novel.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A novel and to do list would actually. I would read the fuck out of that.

[Tracy Thomas]

I would never write it. But you can read it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you can send your thoughts on book tracking toreading glasses podcastmail.com. now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners. Sarah writes in hello ladies. I love the podcast and I've been listening since the first episode. Oh, wow. Thank you, Sarah. That's a long ass time. I have a conundrum and was hoping for some advice or absolution. There's a little free library where my sons go to soccer class that they like to get books from. On our way out, the library is sponsored by a service club that has a local chapter and all of the books have stickers identifying them as books from that club's little free library system. My Question is, am I obliged to bring these books back to the same little free library to return them, or would it be okay to drop them off at any little free library? I hate having to set them aside to remember to lug them with me to the soccer class, but the big stickers on them have made me feel too guilty to just pop them into a neighborhood library. Are these books the property of this club, or do normal little free library rules apply? Thank you for all you do. I look forward to new episodes every week from Sarah. Of course, all of our listeners have.

[Bria Grant]

A very large percentage of listeners named Sarah.

[Tracy Thomas]

Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We don't know why.

[Bria Grant]

You should make a spreadsheet and see what your listeners names are there. It is interesting. There's something about, like, bookish women of a certain age are all named Sarah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What if they start out with other names and they just become Sarah?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I like that.

[Tracy Thomas]

After you read, like a certain. After you hit 100 books in a.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Year, you're made instant Sarah. Yes. To change your name. All right, Bria, first, what do you. What do you think?

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Okay. There's something I need to clarif. So, okay, this is a little free library, but it's sponsored. What makes it sponsored by a service club?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like, maybe they bought the little free library. They maintain it. Yeah, they put it in. Okay, that's what I imagine.

[Tracy Thomas]

That's how I imagined it.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, okay, okay. And okay. That. That makes way more sense. I think you can drop the books wherever because this is. Okay. I think the little free library system is part of a public free library system, and therefore you can return the books to any system that you want. I understand why you don't want to return them elsewhere, because it does seem like they should go back to that place. But I think it's public and therefore it's part of the little free library system. You can take them anywhere you want. What do you think?

[Tracy Thomas]

1,000%. I'm with you. I. I find the, like, fretting over little free library. So much free library drama so dramatic. I have a little free library library for. For a few years in front of my home and mainly just to get rid of books. So I'm like, if someone put the book they took from me back in the library, I'm like, no, that's yours.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You have a broom. You're like, shoo, shoo, shoo.

[Bria Grant]

Take a book. It is yours.

[Tracy Thomas]

Sometimes people return books, and I'm like, I'm trying to get rid of that. Take it away from me. Get it out of my sight.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You lock the door when they come up.

[Tracy Thomas]

I'm like, there are people who are so crazy about their libraries. There's so many rules where I'm just like, it's a free book. You didn't even want it. That's why you put it in there. Like, why are you mad if someone takes all the books? Okay, There's a lot of drama around these drama. It's like, become like the police state.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm just like, yeah, it's very strange.

[Tracy Thomas]

We need more police at the little free library. But to your. To Sarah. Hi, Sarah. I think you should drop it wherever you want, because I think they probably actually want the books to go different places so people will see those stickers and learn about the service club.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's probably why they put it on there.

[Tracy Thomas]

It's like, as a way to be.

[Bria Grant]

Like, being like, track it, bring it back. It's like, no, here's more about us.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is.

[Tracy Thomas]

This is. I'm sure there's like, their website or whatever on it. And then people could. And it might even say where the library is if they want to go check it out. But I would say that if you're marking your books in that way, you probably want people to know about what you're doing. So I would say, go ahead, take them wherever you want. But also, like, Sarah, you should keep them too, if you want to, you can keep them. If you like them, you can keep them. You know, whatever you want. Enjoy it, Love it. Take a different book back to the library. Just don't. This shouldn't stress you out, girl.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Although I will say for Sarah, I would feel the same way. If I saw that sticker, my little anxiety brain would immediately be like, what do I do with this? What are the rules of this? Because it does seem. I mean that it does seem confusing, right? Like, if you're marking a book specifically, because most little free libraries are, there's nothing on them. But if you're marking a book, I would be like, oh, God, what do I do with this? So I totally understand, Sarah.

[Tracy Thomas]

I care about marking the books I put in. But then it seemed like too much work because I was thinking it was like a nice way to be like, oh, people might learn about the podcast.

[Bria Grant]

That's pretty good.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Because then people know where you live.

[Tracy Thomas]

Well, that's exactly why I don't do it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's the other reason. Don't like that. Yeah, but I. Yeah, I totally agree. People need to calm the down with little free libraries too much. It's to me, it's like a take a penny, leave a penny thing.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like, if someone took a bunch of pennies, I wouldn't be like, listen, there's a sign. You're only allowed to take one penny. Like, do whatever you want.

[Tracy Thomas]

If it's a book that you care so much about that you care what happens to it, don't put it in.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A little free library.

[Tracy Thomas]

You know, like, to me, it's like I'm offloading arcs. I'm offloading whatever it is. I have stacks and stacks of books to unhaul, and that's one of the places that I do it. But once I put it in that little free library, I don't care. I've had people come over every single book out, and I've been like, yes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Now that we. We have you here in the studio, I have to ask because this is something we get asked a lot. Do, do. Did you curate it and do you get mad if people put certain types of books in the little free library?

[Tracy Thomas]

I don't care what books people put in. I do get mad when people put newspapers in or like DVDs or something.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, that is weird.

[Tracy Thomas]

I mean, I get mad in the sense that I'm like, this is for books. And then I just throw it in. I don't leave passive aggressive notes like being like, this is a community library.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Please only put these.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, I don't. I. To me, it is just like, this is a fun thing to do in the neighborhood. And the second it becomes anything more than that, for me, it is not worth it. And I will take it down when I. When my library gets. If my library is really full for a long time of books that I didn't put in, I will go to a neighboring little free library and dump those books in that one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Amazing.

[Tracy Thomas]

Mostly because I just get tired of seeing the same books and I'm like, oh, people aren't into these. But recently it's been moving pretty quickly. Actually, that's a lie. This week it has not moved at all because of the fires, which I think makes sense. Not a lot of people outside walking. But since the year started before that, it was moving pretty quickly. Yeah, but I have a bunch of. I offload books in January and February from the year before. So I have a huge stack that I need to start moving. So what I will do is I'll take all of those books to all the different little free libraries in my neighborhood and just drop a bunch of things.

[Bria Grant]

There's. There's several in My neighborhood I can just walk to and, like, shove them in there. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's another argument for. For putting them in different little free libraries because of it's just one little box. If this. If the. This. The service club who owns this little free library expected all of those books with the stickers to come back, like, you wouldn't be able to put new books in it.

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

What would you do if someone put hillbilly elegy in your little free library? This was a question for us.

[Tracy Thomas]

I would. I would take it to one of the other ones, a lesser little free library. So it's amazing. I'll be like, oh, there's a Bill O'Reilly in here. And I'll be like, no, thanks. No, thanks. So I'll do that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Amazing.

[Tracy Thomas]

But, yeah, I mean, again, I won't necessarily do it today. Like, I might just remember, like, oh, if it's still there, I'll. I'll move it.

[Bria Grant]

That's funny.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's amazing. Great. Great. Tracey, you want to tell us about your show and. Yeah, unplug all the stuff you want to talk about.

[Tracy Thomas]

My show's called the Stacks. It's a book podcast. I do interviews with authors and readers, and then once a month, we do a book club. So our book club pick for January is the Ministry of Time by Colleen Bradley.

[Bria Grant]

I loved it.

[Tracy Thomas]

Oh, you did? I hated it.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, really?

[Tracy Thomas]

Yeah, I hated it.

[Bria Grant]

I love using my favorite books. Last year, really?

[Tracy Thomas]

She was just on the podcast this week. She was my guest this week. So for people.

[Bria Grant]

Who did you tell her? She. You?

[Tracy Thomas]

No, no, no. So the way the book club works is that I read the book. The rule is it has to be a person who is not the author who feels comfortable to have an honest opinion about the book. So, like, if you came on, you couldn't do Mallory's book.

[Bria Grant]

I got it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Right.

[Tracy Thomas]

Like, you have to be.

[Bria Grant]

Got it. Got it. Okay.

[Tracy Thomas]

You could pick anything else. Reading the book with Jay Wortham from the New York Times.

[Bria Grant]

Great.

[Tracy Thomas]

And. But I had Kellyanne on to just talk about the book totally spoiler free, which we do sometimes with book club picks when it works out. And the show's every Wednesday. And that's. You can find me on Instagram at the Stacks Pod. We talked about the Patreon. You should join the Patreon.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Get the spreadsheet right now, folks.

[Tracy Thomas]

Spreadsheet, January 31st. Then it is gone until December of 2025. So if you want it, you got to do it now. We also have our, like, mega challenge we do a lot of the same things. I think all of us book podcasts substack tracey thomas.substack.com do bonus episodes over there. I don't know. This is the part of if you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like books, you should follow Tracy on.

[Tracy Thomas]

The Internet Books, come find me. I'm reading books. It sounds like from we all sort of read slightly different things so it won't be the same. But you can get our differing opinions on the Ministry of Time whenever you're ready because they're coming in hot.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So if you want us to solve your reader problem, you can send it to reading glasses podcastmail.com as always want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Facebook group. Remember, there's all kinds of fun cool over in our Reading Glasses void merch store, tote bags and stickers and all kinds of fun stuff. I turned my My Other Car as a TBR list sticker into a bumper sticker. That's very fun. There's a link in the show notes for that and if you like the show, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It's really great for us and helps us reach more readers. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading and thanks for Tracy. Oh thanks for coming in.

[Tracy Thomas]

Thanks for having me. Maximum Fun A worker owned network of.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Artist owned shows supported directly by.