Ep 404 - The Best and Worst Reading Snacks

Summary

Episode Summary: Ep 404 - The Best and Worst Reading Snacks

Introduction

In Episode 404 of Reading Glasses, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara dive into a unique and practical topic: determining the best and worst snacks for readers. Aimed at enhancing the reading experience, the episode combines humor with scientific testing as the hosts evaluate various snacks based on the residue they leave on fingers and book pages. This detailed exploration not only entertains but also provides valuable insights for book lovers looking to optimize their reading sessions.

Savory Snacks Evaluation

The episode kicks off with the hosts testing a selection of savory snacks to assess their suitability for reading without leaving unwanted marks on books.

1. Cheez-Its ([14:46] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Cheez-Its received a mixed review. While enjoyable, they pose a moderate risk of leaving grease and residue on pages.
   • Quote: "A lot of residue on that book. You can't see it too much." – Mallory ([15:14])

2. Voodoo Potato Chips ([15:37] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: These chips were deemed problematic due to their high grease content, earning a score of five out of ten.
   • Quote: "Heavy grease." – Brea ([16:17])

3. Lay’s Classic Potato Chips ([16:49] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Scored three out of ten, these chips leave noticeable grease but are less severe compared to others.
   • Quote: "I would give these a three, actually." – Mallory ([17:01])

4. Flamin' Hot Lay’s Potato Chips ([17:14] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: Identified as a major offender, these chips received an eight to nine out of ten due to intense residue and staining.
   • Quote: "This is wicked bad. This looks like a lipstick mark down the page." – Mallory ([17:58])

5. Corn Nuts Smoked Barbecue ([18:25] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: Surprisingly, Corn Nuts scored only two out of ten, making them one of the least problematic savory snacks tested.
   • Quote: "There is stuff on my fingers, but it didn't make any mark on the book." – Brea ([19:00])

6. Funyuns ([19:11] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Funyuns received a five out of ten due to moderate grease and residue.
   • Quote: "I would give this a five." – Mallory ([19:27])

7. Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn ([19:42] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: With an eight out of ten, this popcorn left substantial white cheddar residue on pages.
   • Quote: "I would give this an 8." – Mallory ([20:15])

8. Chex Mix Bold Party Blend ([20:48] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Similar to Corn Nuts, Chex Mix was a minimal offender, aligning closely with Corn Nuts' low residue.
   • Quote: "Corn nuts and Chex mix are gonna be your best bet here." – Brea ([20:58])

Sweet Snacks Evaluation

Transitioning to sweet snacks, the hosts continued their investigation with a focus on minimizing residue and maintaining book integrity.

1. Fine & Raw Chocolate Bar ([25:21] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: Scoring an excellent one out of ten, this high-quality chocolate bar left negligible residue, making it an ideal reading snack.
   • Quote: "This is a one. This is a great Fine and Raw." – Brea ([25:21])

2. Oreos ([25:38] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Oreos were found to be less suitable, earning a seven out of ten due to noticeable greasiness and staining.
   • Quote: "Pretty bad. I would give this a seven." – Mallory ([26:07])

3. Alter Eco Quinoa Crunch ([26:29] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: Like the Fine & Raw bar, this snack scored a one out of ten, with minimal to no residue.
   • Quote: "I'm gonna give it a one." – Brea ([26:43])

4. M&M’s ([27:16] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: M&M’s were deemed highly problematic, receiving an eight out of ten for their tendency to leave cocoa dye stains.
   • Quote: "I would give this a seven." – Mallory ([26:09])

5. Dark Peanut Chocolate Peanut Gems ([27:37] Brea Grant):

   • Evaluation: These gourmet treats were favorable, scoring a one out of ten for leaving no residue.
   • Quote: "It's a one. All right." – Brea ([27:35])

6. Gummy Bears ([27:40] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Gummy bears performed exceptionally well, earning a near-zero score as they left virtually no residue.
   • Quote: "Not a single thing." – Mallory ([27:47])

7. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar ([27:48] Mallory O’Meara):

   • Evaluation: Despite minimal melting, this classic bar left negligible marks under cooler conditions, making it a viable option.
   • Quote: "There's a mark on the page." – Brea ([28:18])

Key Insights and Conclusions

• Best Savory Snacks: Corn Nuts and Chex Mix emerged as top choices for savory options due to their low residue levels.

• Worst Savory Snack: Flamin' Hot Cheetos were identified as the least suitable, leaving significant marks and stains.

• Best Sweet Snacks: High-quality chocolate bars like Fine & Raw and Alter Eco Quinoa Crunch, along with uncoated gummy bears, were found to be the most reading-friendly.

• Worst Sweet Snacks: M&M’s and Oreos were tops on the least favorable list, primarily due to their propensity to leave greasiness and dye residue.

Personal Anecdotes and Further Discussions

The hosts shared personal stories highlighting the practical implications of their findings. Mallory recounted conflicts arising from her food allergies related to certain snacks, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right options to protect beloved books. These narratives added a relatable and engaging layer to the episode, underscoring the real-world impact of snack selection on the reading experience.

Maximum Fun Drive and Community Engagement

Throughout the episode, Brea and Mallory promoted their ongoing Maximum Fun Drive, encouraging listeners to support the podcast. They highlighted various rewards and community benefits, including personalized book recommendations and exclusive Discord access. Listener feedback was also featured, showcasing the strong community bond and active participation among the show's audience.

Notable Quotes

• Mallory O’Meara ([15:14]): "A lot of residue on that book. You can't see it too much."

• Brea Grant ([16:17]): "Heavy grease."

• Mallory O’Meara ([17:58]): "This looks like a lipstick mark down the page."

• Brea Grant ([25:21]): "This is a one. This is a great Fine and Raw."

• Mallory O’Meara ([26:07]): "Pretty bad. I would give this a seven."

Conclusion

Episode 404 of Reading Glasses offers an entertaining yet informative exploration into the synergy between snacking and reading. By methodically testing and rating various snacks, Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara provide invaluable guidance for readers aiming to enjoy their books without the hassle of residue and stains. Coupled with engaging discussions and community interactions, this episode stands out as a must-listen for book enthusiasts seeking to enhance their reading rituals.

Transcript

[Mallory Omera]

Bria.

[Bria Grant]

Holy. It's Max OneDrive. But it's almost over.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah, that means you don't have that.

Much time to join.

In fact, you have till tomorrow.

Yeah, this is it.

[Mallory Omera]

But wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Bria Grant]

Bria, what the hell is Maximum Fun Drive?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Well, it's the best time to sign up to become a member of our network, Maximum Fun. If you don't know what Maximum Fun is, Maximum Fun is. It's kind of like Patreon. It's kind of like an NPR station. It is a co op, not a corporation.

[Bria Grant]

Pretty cool.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All the money you give goes directly to us and to those who run that station.

[Mallory Omera]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

And to thank our wonderful members who do. So when you sign up, you get access to all kinds of stuff. You get so many bonus episodes. Eight years worth of reading glasses. Bonus episodes. I have literally lost track of how many bonus episodes. We have an invitation to our discord. You get access to our members only events. We're going to do a glasser voted book club this year. The only way you can get in is by joining.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You want to vote and make us read something we don't want to read or have us read your favorite book.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. So stay tuned to hear about the goals that we've already hit and the ones we still want to unlock. But right now, right now, just pause.

[Mallory Omera]

The show real quick.

[Bria Grant]

Go to maximumfun.org join to join or upgrade or even boost if you already have a Maximum Fun membership. That's maximumfun.org join.

[Mallory Omera]

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 Omera.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader in this episode. It's our second Mex Fun Drive episode. And we're gonna do some scientific research here today, and we're gonna find the best and worst reading snacks. We're going to be consuming these things on the show. Wiping our hands on a. On a book. Sorry, Book. And book is working.

[Mallory Omera]

Sacrifice.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A book is being sacrificed today.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah. This is the sort of boots on the ground high intensity scientific research that reading glasses is known for. But before we get into that, Bria, what are you reading?

[Unnamed Speaker]

I am reading a book. Or I just listened to a book called Everybody Lies, Big Data, New Data and what the Internet Can Tell Us about who We Really Are by Seth Stevens Davowitz. And it is read by Timothy Andres Pabone.

[Mallory Omera]

Sounds like a Bria book.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yes, it's. It's basically this Guy was like, we, we haven't had access to this large amount of data. You know, used to when you do a study, it was like, okay, I'm going to interview 100 people about, like, how they have sex or whatever. And you hope they don't lie to you. And now we know what people are googling, we know what they're searching for. Speaking of that, on pornhub, we know way, way more and we're able to predict way, way more. Like, for example, we also know, like, you may tell a pollster, like, I'm gonna vote, but then Google knows direction. You're not gonna vote because you haven't googled where you're gonna vote or how to vote or who to vote for until that point. So scary Internet actually knows kind of more about you. And in some ways it's helpful to people, like doing this kind of research. In some ways, there's obviously ways that companies can take advantage of that, which we know. And so he kind of covers both sides of things. He gets into some dark, dark stuff. So be aware before you pick it up. There's a lot about racism in this book. There's a lot about just violence in this book. What are people Googling? They're Googling things that like, they wouldn't say out loud. And that's very, it's very dark. But I enjoyed it. Not, not an easy read, but there's things I really liked learning in it and yeah, and I, I, I think there's like some stuff to take away from it that, that was pretty interesting. Yeah. What are you reading?

[Mallory Omera]

Well, we mentioned it last episode in our bookish trivia. Episode is Nordic noir and I'm reading some right now.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh, what are you reading?

[Mallory Omera]

It is a book by past guest of the show. It's called the Undesired by Irsa Segurada Dottir and it is a translated book from Icelandic. She is probably my favorite Nordic noir writer. I've read a bunch of her books again, we had her on the show a really long time ago. And this book, it's like another, it's what she does best. It's like kind of spooky thrillers. So it's a twin timeline book where in the 70s there was this woman, she's working at this juvenile detention center in rural Iceland and she see something really up. And soon afterwards, two of the boys at that center are dead. And then decades later in like in the modern timeline, there's a single father and he works at this government agency and he's looking into abuse at this center following these deaths. Actually, the colleague that he had that was working on this, this case died unexpectedly because it's like the government is trying to figure out whether the people who went to the center deserve compensation for their time there, if there was like abuse there or not. So he's investigating it and as he looks into it, he realizes that the weird deaths of these boys is kind the same way that his ex wife died, strangely, a couple years before then. So it's like, I love, I was just telling somebody this. I love a book where something creepy happens. And then it gets creepier because you realize the same thing happened decades before. And it's so good. It's so literally. I was reading this book last night with if you listen to my GoFact Yourself episode, you know, my I have a hot werewolf boyfriend. And I was, thanks, Sherry O'Connell, but I've been calling him HWB. And I was, me and HWB were in bed and I literally yelled out loud. And he was like, what? And I was like, this is a.

[Bria Grant]

Really scary thing happened.

[Mallory Omera]

And then I leaned the book over to him and he read the page. He was like, oh, that's really scary. Oh, like, made me yell. It was so scary. Like, it's so, so good. So that's the undesired by IRSA Segura.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Here and mine is Everybody Lies. Big Data, New Data, and what the Internet Can Tell Us about who We Really Are By Seth Stevens. David Ow.

[Mallory Omera]

We want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Paula wrote in to say hi. Brianne Mallory, I love listening to your show and I wanted to share a bookish tradition that my husband and I have. At the beginning of each new year, we create personalized reading challenges for one another. I love this.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Very cute.

[Mallory Omera]

Since we're very familiar with each other's reading habits and wheelhouses, we come up with a list of five challenges to encourage each other to broaden our reading lives. This has helped us pick up books that we would never have read otherwise and introduced us to new authors, cultures and genres. Here are the challenges that we created for each other this year. For him, a historical fiction book set before the 20th century, a physical book that has been on our shelves for more than one year, a romance book featuring disabled characters, a graphic novel, non manga, and a multi generational family saga. For me, he picked a book that takes place in Orange County, California, an author with my same initials, a non mystery cozy book, a queer norm fantasy book, and one of his five star Reads from last year.

[Unnamed Speaker]

This is so cute.

[Bria Grant]

I love this.

[Unnamed Speaker]

What a great. What great couple behavior.

[Mallory Omera]

This is so fucking cute.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Very adorable. Love this. Amy Roden said. Hi Brian Mallory, I'm a high school librarian and longtime fan of your show. I love tuning in every week. I want to share a couple of hot library tips. I'm not sure if you featured these before, but here goes. Tip number one A lot of libraries add books to their online catalog when the books are ordered. Once the books are cataloged, library patrons can place hold on them online or in person. That way you can often get your reserve book on, on, or very close to the release day. This is a great way to get ahead of lengthy hold lines. Just remember that if other patrons are on the books hold list, you likely cannot renew it, so start reading right away.

[Mallory Omera]

I do this last year when I was doing our anticipated books episodes, I was getting some holds in pretty early.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That was exciting.

[Mallory Omera]

Good shit, let me tell you.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Tip number two Libby has a deep search feature. This is what I do.

[Mallory Omera]

So good.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Which is yeah, but it is hard to do. So you do need to. It does need to be explained. Libby is a deep search feature. You can search for ebooks and audiobooks that are not in your library's digital collection and tag them with a Notify me tag. Libby will send you an alert when the title is added. The app will even let you know when other books by the author or same book in another format are added. I have Mallory's Daughter of Daring Audiobook tagged right now. Thanks for everything you do for books and readers. This is the way I use deep search to pre order stuff to like. I let them I say notify me and then when they do it come. I get it.

[Mallory Omera]

Fantastic early. Yeah, these are hot tips.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

Brandon wrote in to say hi Bri and Mallory, I started listening to your podcast on a whim during a flight from Prince Edward Island, Canada to Atlanta, Georgia in October 2022 and now I'm 100 episodes deep. I've been wanting to reach out since I hit episode 100, but life is busy so here I am. Your show brings me so much joy. You two have such great perspectives and I love seeing which guests you have joining you. I'm hoping to be in a financial position to donate during the Maximum fund drive this year.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's time.

[Mallory Omera]

It's right now. And Bria, you want to read Brandon's wheelhouse?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Sure. Found family, cozy settings, gentle characters, intricate magic systems with well defined rules, strong world building. So I can feel like the World is a real place and strong character growth is a must.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, that's fun. 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 the best and the worst reading snacks, we're going to take a quick break.

[Bria Grant]

It is the 2025 Maximum Fun Drive in Bria. It's almost over.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Sure is, Mallory. Let's talk about the amazing stuff our new supporters have already unlocked.

Wow, there's a lot of stuff.

[Bria Grant]

What is a Max Fund supporter? What is Max Fun?

[Unnamed Speaker]

What is Max Fun? Max Fun is like Patreon, but it is our podcast network. You sign up to support us every month. And that money goes to help make Reading glasses. It goes to our network, which is actually a co op, which means every scent supports pure people making the podcasts. You love every one of those people. That money goes directly to their pockets. It doesn't go to some corporation or an evil billionaire. It is literally owned by the people who run it, which is amazing.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. So, folks, Reading Glasses comes out every single week. We pour so much time and effort into the show. And thanks to our Max Fund members, which again, is like our version of Patreon patrons, we are able to pay our bills and keep those hot book wrecks coming. It is listeners like you that make it possible for us to do Reading Glasses. And what have those listeners unlocked so far, Bria?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh, okay, great.

We have opened a discord.

Very exciting.

[Mallory Omera]

It's already bumping in there.

[Bria Grant]

Let me tell you.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We're gonna do another readathon this year.

[Bria Grant]

Yes, we are.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Very soon we are doing a glass revoted book club, which we've done in the past, and we had a really good time, but we've got more to unlock and the big one we want to do is we're going to bring back anticipated book episodes.

[Bria Grant]

We know you love them.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah.

It's where we go through and we say, hey, this is what's coming out in the next few months. These are our picks.

[Bria Grant]

And it takes literally like weeks to do this episode. It is so much work to be a high goal.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So that's 700 people. And right now, as of looking at this, at 6pm the night before we are posting this, we're at 6, 602 people. So we need 100 more people to join Upgrade or boost. Help us get to that number.

[Bria Grant]

Is that you could that be you? The the hero America needs.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So just for five bucks a month you can help us reach these goals. Or you can boost. You can boost for a dollar. You can upgrade for.

[Bria Grant]

You can't get anything for that now.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That's right.

That's right. So go to maximum fun.org join maximum fun.org join and folks, if you're a.

[Bria Grant]

New member, we are giving you, you, the person listening, a personalized book recommendation. If you are new and you sign [e-mail] join send your receipt to reading glasses podcast gmail.com along with whatever recommendation request you want. Whether it's for you, your grandma, your boyfriend, your husband, your wife. We got you. We will answer it live tomorrow night. It is Friday, March 28, 5pm Pacific Live on Instagram. We're also going to be doing the Max Fun finale show but we are doing our own stuff because we are so extra. At 5pm Pacific go on Instagram we are going to give out live book recommendations.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And by the way, this is the only time of year we didn't even do this last year.

[Bria Grant]

We did not.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We didn't do personalized book recommendations.

[Bria Grant]

It's cuz it's so much work.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It was just, it's hard work. And so. But we decided we aren't going to.

Do it last year. But then we brought it back.

[Mallory Omera]

This year we brought it back.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You are like I've always wanted a book recommendation from Brienne Mallory.

[Bria Grant]

Hey, this is the time.

[Unnamed Speaker]

This is your moment.

[Bria Grant]

And you really. It's not just a book recommendation. You're getting book racks from both Bria and I and because we cannot help ourselves, you're probably going to get like eight book recommendations.

[Mallory Omera]

Really?

[Bria Grant]

You get so many.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Definitely at least six.

[Bria Grant]

So many.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And then sometimes up to eight. So we are grateful to our supporters. Y'all mean so much to us. Obviously we think you are the best bookish community in the entire universe.

[Bria Grant]

We're a little biased, but I think it's true.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I think it's true too. And what would make you even better is if you go to maximumfun.org join put a little bit of money where your mouth is. You love this show. We love you. We want to keep doing the show. This is how we maximon.org to join.

[Bria Grant]

This is how we stay independent. If you like weird, weird things like this episode, hard hitting scientific investigations like what's the worst Cheeto to eat with, to read with.

[Mallory Omera]

That's all.

[Bria Grant]

Because we are on maximum fun and we can stay independent again. We appreciate you all so, so much.

[Mallory Omera]

Truly.

[Bria Grant]

The only reason we're able to put so much work into the show is because of our Maximum Fun supporters. And we would love to, if you joined that group.

[Unnamed Speaker]

They're.

[Bria Grant]

They're the best. So go to maximumfun.org join to sign up and support us. That's maximumfun.org join.

[Mallory Omera]

This week, it's our second Max Fun Drive episode. If you listen to the show for a while, you know we save our most exciting episodes for the drive. So today we're doing important scientific research into the best and worst snacks for reading. So we've talked about this on the show before a long time ago, but we never did live testing.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That's right.

[Mallory Omera]

To figure out which snacks leave the most residue on your fingers and consequently the page or your e reader. We have live snacks. And I'm very impressed, cuz Bri and I both bought a shitload of snacks and we did not buy the same ones.

[Unnamed Speaker]

No. But we did both buy different flaming hot kinds.

[Mallory Omera]

Different flaming hot dust is going to be a big offender here. But so today we are putting boots on the ground, fingers to the bags, fingers to the page. We're deciding once and for all which snacks are the best and the worst for reading. So these, they're going to be judged by how much residue they leave on your fingers. And then we're going to wipe them on the page and see how much residue they leave on the page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yes.

[Mallory Omera]

And so which book is getting sacrificed for this? It is my. One of them is my copy of Priest by Sierra Simone. Sorry.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Sorry, Sierra Simone. But we've already read it.

[Mallory Omera]

We've already. Well, we've already read it and I thought it would be really funny to get some residue on that book.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That's great. And we have so, so many snacks. So we're going to do a live snack moment on Instagram as well. And we're gonna post on Instagram all the snacks that we got. But we each picked five snacks.

[Mallory Omera]

We're gonna divvy this up into savory and sweet. The first. We're savory first. And all the ones that we didn't get to do today, we are gonna do live on Instagram. Last week we did a live version of this and it was all the snacks that we didn't do for this episode. So here's some more we're gonna. I think we picked some good categories. We've got a pretty good array here.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If you have sound sensitivities, this is your time. To log off.

[Mallory Omera]

We're not going to be eating them on camera. We're not going to be eating them on my.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm going to eat a few, but I'll move away from the mic, but I am going to eat a couple.

[Mallory Omera]

I said. I sent. I told Bria what I was going to get, and I was like, oh, it's going to kind of funny because you and I have a lot of food allergies, so a lot of this food we can't get. And Bria was like, oh, no, I'm buying snacks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm buying stuff that I can eat. All right, Mallory, what are we starting with? Savory or sweet?

[Mallory Omera]

Savory. We're starting with savory.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Savory.

[Mallory Omera]

First one I want to start with is a classic snack, one of my personal favorites that I also really can't eat anymore. It's a. It's a cheez it.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A cheez it. Okay, so you're not doing cheez its anymore.

[Mallory Omera]

I have all kinds of weird.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's fair. It's not.

[Mallory Omera]

It's not just the gluten. It's the food dye.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh, are there actually cheese? Is there cheese and cheez Its milk.

[Mallory Omera]

White cheddar cheese.

[Unnamed Speaker]

White cheddar cheese.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay, I am dipping my fingers in the bag.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh, yeah. She's doing a solid dip. It's on her fingers.

[Mallory Omera]

A lot of residue here.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Okay. And how's it looking on the book?

[Mallory Omera]

A lot of residue on that book. You can't see it too much.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Well, because it's a white cheddar. No, it's a white cheddar on a white page.

[Mallory Omera]

This is the. This is both. It's the sharp cheddar and the parmesan. But there's. There's a lot of crusty on that page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A lot of crusty. Can you dust it off?

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, but there's a little bit of grease.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right, so on a scale of 1 to 10, how. How much of a 1 being bad.

[Mallory Omera]

1 being best, 10 being worst, being.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Like, the worst offender?

[Mallory Omera]

I would say this is a four or five.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right, I'm gonna start with one I really enjoy. It's zaps. Potato chips, Voodoo. Do you know these voodoo flavored chips? Do you know about them? They're delicious.

[Mallory Omera]

Bria's just snacking on them. She's not testing them on the bake.

[Unnamed Speaker]

They're kind of like salt and vinegar. They're.

[Bria Grant]

If you look inside, I'm pretty assessing.

[Mallory Omera]

Them for how good they are.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If you look inside, they're not particularly. It's like there's a dust on them, but it's not colored dust, you know, which is a problem. All right, I'm going to do my finger test. I'm going to swipe it down this poor book and definitely grease the gre. Heavy grease.

[Mallory Omera]

Heavy grease.

[Unnamed Speaker]

What'd you give Cheez Its?

[Mallory Omera]

I gave it a four.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A four.

[Mallory Omera]

One being good, ten being awful.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm going to say this is. The grease level is high. Do you see the grease?

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, I can see the grease.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So I'm going to say this is a five. I'm going to say sorry to Zap's voodoo New Orleans kettle style Voodoo chips. Delicious, but definitely a five. All right, guys, the grease level is high.

[Mallory Omera]

The next one I'm pulling out is the classic lay's potato chip. Let's see. Let's see a non flavored potato chip. I guess I can have one chip. This is. This is how this starts.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And that's right. That's my ASMR for you, Mallory. Mallory. Eating on the. Eating on the go.

[Mallory Omera]

Very shiny fingers.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Shiny fingers. I'm looking at them right now. Kind of not as bad as the Cheez itself.

[Mallory Omera]

Not as bad as the Cheez its. I will give these a three, actually. I mean, you can still see the grease, though. So I would say potato chips, not a good. Not a good reading snack.

[Unnamed Speaker]

But it's a three, which is not the worst offender.

[Mallory Omera]

Not the worst.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm gonna go to a high offender that we know about. Ooh.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay.

[Unnamed Speaker]

This is a Flamin hot flavored lay's potato chip. Now, I didn't even know these existed. And then I was in Walgreens this morning and thought, wow, flamin hot. That seems like something. I almost got the Cheetos, but. You got the Cheetos. Thank God.

[Mallory Omera]

You know, I was gonna get those Cheetos.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You look into these. Let's say the color. I'm gonna say the brightest red that's ever existed does not exist in nature.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, yeah, this is Flamin hot. Red is a very specific type of red.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It is a very specific type of. Okay. It does contain milk ingredients. I should not eat it. I'm gonna have a little bite.

[Mallory Omera]

Bria and I are gonna get rashes from this episode.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right. Oh, this is a bad offender.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Now, I do want to compare because you just opened.

[Mallory Omera]

I just opened the Flamin hot Cheetos.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right. And I'm gonna bring my book over to your book, and we're gonna take A look at them side by side.

Cheetos.

Flaming hot Cheetos versus Flaming Hot Lace.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay. Oh, this is wicked bad. This is. This is way worse. This looks like a lipstick mark down the page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I mean, what are you number. Are you giving that?

[Mallory Omera]

I'm giving this a nine.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A nine.

[Mallory Omera]

Wicked bad.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm going eight, eight on this because it's.

[Mallory Omera]

I want.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's not as bad, but this is ruined.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, yeah. I mean, these books are. These books are truly being sacrificed.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah. Flamin Hot Cheetos. Terrible.

[Bria Grant]

Terrible.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I have one more savory. Do you have more Savory?

[Mallory Omera]

I have two more savories.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Two more savories. All right, I'm gonna do. I'm doing Corn Nuts barbecue flavor.

[Mallory Omera]

Corn Nuts. A classic.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I love a corn nut. Oh, it reminds me of road trips. All right. Getting digging my fingers down into these Corn Nuts smoked barbecue. Now, these are technically love corn. They're not the actual flavor of corn Nuts. Because I went to the healthy store today. Little crunch. Oh, you know what? Corn Nuts. Almost. No offense.

[Mallory Omera]

Hey. Okay.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We didn't know it's not greasy. And then the. It's not very. There's no dye. Really? It looks like on there. Or. The dye is very.

[Mallory Omera]

A dark horse in the rays.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm gonna say Corn Nuts is.

Is a two.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I mean, it's a little. There's stuff on my fingers, but it didn't make any mark on the book.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So. Wow. So right now, Corn Nuts, Best, worst, Flamin Hot Cheetos. Yeah, of course. We knew that.

[Mallory Omera]

Next one I'm doing is Funyuns.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Funyuns. I used to love Funyuns as a kid. That was my favorite. But not very spilling from a Funyun.

[Mallory Omera]

So not. Oh, no, there is some grease.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah. The grease is what's going to be the problem there.

[Mallory Omera]

But there's also a lot of residue on the page. I would give this. I would give this a five.

[Unnamed Speaker]

A five. Okay. Yeah. So ranking wise, we're at Corn Nuts being the least offensive. Even the barbecue flavor we have.

[Mallory Omera]

Why don't you grab one? Grab those. Grab one of the chexes.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Bold.

[Mallory Omera]

Bold checks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Mix bold checks. What are you doing?

[Mallory Omera]

You're doing smart food. Smart food is one of my smart food.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's a. Oh, it's a white cheddar popcorn.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, smart food is white cheddar popcorn, which is one of my favorite snacks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I don't like that. It's called smart food. Like, we know it's food that seems.

A little Tell us.

It's popcorn. It's popcorn, right?

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, it's white cheddar popcorn. One of my favorite.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I wouldn't know that unless I saw the picture. I don't like that advertising.

[Mallory Omera]

But there is. You can see there's a lot of chunks on that page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow, that's a high offender.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah. I would give this an 8. This is pretty bad. There's no staining, but there's a lot of white cheddar on. This is a weight. This is a white cheddar book now.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And what's the. What do you think? The.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, I would. I would give it an 8.

[Unnamed Speaker]

An 8. You think it's as high as the.

[Mallory Omera]

Because it's not this. It's. It. There is not as much color, but there is a lot of white cheddar on this page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right, I'm doing for the last one in the savory Chex mix bold party blend. Looks like it's got some onions and some garlic. It is a snack mix. It's got all sorts of things. It's got those little flat things and pretzels. We don't even know what those flat things are called, do we?

[Mallory Omera]

No, and I don't think I want to know.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wafers, chips.

[Mallory Omera]

I think that's. That's none of my business.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm gonna say this is also not a high offender. It's almost level of corn Nuts.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Now it's on my fingers, but it's not really that bad. I'm gonna say Corn nuts and Chex mix are gonna be your best bet here.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah. I would say of all the ones that I tried, the best ones is definitely the lay's potato chips.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Okay. And then the worst offender, Flamin Hot Cheetos.

[Bria Grant]

No question.

[Mallory Omera]

Which is sad because Flamin Hot Chinos are my favorites.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And lay's Flamin Hot right up there. Not quite as bad as the Cheeto. I don't think. These are pretty bad, though.

[Mallory Omera]

These are pretty bad.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah. Okay. This book is not that ruined, though. Yours is pretty ruined.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

The.

[Mallory Omera]

I mean, these women. Hot Cheeto again. It looks like a lipstick stain.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah, it's really intense. In my high school, they outlawed them. Outlawed them. You know why? Because of that. Because people would, like, leave stains on their desks and.

[Mallory Omera]

Wow, a flaming hot epidemic.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And can you imagine, though, being in a school and there's like, you sit down and someone else's flaming hot Cheetos stains are on your desk.

[Mallory Omera]

Disgusting. But, yeah, unfortunately, I do love Flamin Hot Cheetos so much. They are my favorite snack, but I am allergic to the food dye in them.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow. Okay. The things we've learned about Mallory.

[Mallory Omera]

Me and my. My beloved friend Sl ex Jeremy. We got in a fight once because he knew that I was allergic to them and was and kept buying them and hiding them in his desk. And like I knew that he was eating them and I was like, you can't bring them into the house.

[Unnamed Speaker]

All right, I think it's time to open a new page. And do do. Sweet. But first we should take a break.

[Mallory Omera]

Yes, we should.

[Bria Grant]

Hey Glassers. Have you been listening to the show for a while? Have we helped your reading life? Maybe given you lots of book recommendations? Have you been listening to the show for free? Well, now is the best time to show your love for us because you besides making our hearts warm, you get stuff right now you can unlock even more. Reading glasses. So much reading glasses for just five bucks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Books. Yep.

For only five dollars a month. Not only do you get to help us make this show, which we really appreciate, but you also get Discord Access, our brand new Discord member only events.

Boko.

This year we did a personal. Personal ama which we don't do very often.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If you want to know more about Matt's love life.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, you want to know about my love life? The only way you can find out is by listening to this episode.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We also have old bonus episodes and.

We did one about fourth wing.

Yeah.

One about our favorite book focused TV shows from the 90s. The best and worst book adaptations, our favorite comfort reads. Not to mention a whole year's worth of anticipated book episodes and tons of specific recommendation episodes.

[Bria Grant]

So for just five bucks you get so much extra reading glasses. Oh my goodness. Just go to maximumfun.org join that's maximumfun.org join. And folks, again, the drive is almost over. It's almost over. Tomorrow there's only one day left. And if we've helped your reading life, we're going to ask for some help from you. We really want to reach our goals this year and keep the show going. Folks, reading glasses comes out every week, which means it is a full time job for us. We write the episodes, record them, produce them, edit them, promote them. All of ourselves with our wonderful audio wizard, Brit.

[Mallory Omera]

It is a lot of work and.

[Bria Grant]

Our maximum fun supporters make it possible. So for just five bucks, you help keep the book recs flowing and get so much extra bookishness. Just go to maximumfun.org join that's maximumfun. Dot org join hey, and don't forget.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If you're a new member, we're doing personalized book recommendations tomorrow. Doing it tomorrow.

[Bria Grant]

Tomorrow.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Sign [e-mail] join send your receipt to reading glasses podcastmail.com along with your recommendation requests. And we will answer it live Tomorrow night at 5pm Pacific on Instagram, but we also will email it to you. So if you can't make it, you'll still get it. And that's the only way to get a recommendation from us. No, hard to get a recommendation because.

[Bria Grant]

We get so many. Our backlog is literally probably a decade long.

[Unnamed Speaker]

So thank you, thank you, thank you. We know you could spend that five bucks on books.

[Bria Grant]

Yep.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You know, that's a worthy cause, honestly. But we would appreciate it if you took a minute to support us.

$5. That's it.

[Mallory Omera]

Yep.

[Bria Grant]

Go to maximumfun.org join.

[Mallory Omera]

New pages opened and we're back. It's time to test out the second half of the snack. So they are going to be the sweet snacks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm starting with. I brought three, two chocolate bars and one bag of sort of M and M related things. I'm starting with the chocolate bar I love. This is a fancy chocolate bar. It's called Fine and Raw. It is the 67%. So it's not super high. And that is a concern because that means it's probably gonna get on your fingers. Now the thing about chocolate bar. Is it about chocolate bar? The thing about chocolate bars is that when you hold them is that it's kind of like how long are you holding it? Cause it melts in your. At your skin.

[Mallory Omera]

You gotta eat it fast.

[Unnamed Speaker]

But you know what? I'm holding it right now. I've been holding it for a second. I'm gonn touch the thing. There's actually no residue. This is zero. This is a. This is a one. This is a great Fine and raw. You made a great one. And it's a great company. I love this company. What is your first? Oh, Mallory's already eating it. What's your first one that you've already taken a bite of?

[Mallory Omera]

Oreos. I love Oreos. They're vegan.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Correct. Okay, so we know what they're doing to your teeth. What are they doing to your hands?

[Mallory Omera]

Sorry, guys, I'm chewing.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We haven't had lunch. Mallory literally hasn't had her lunch yet. It's sitting right in front of her. How those Oreos?

[Mallory Omera]

Pretty bad.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Let me see where? Oh, God. Oh, they're kind of greasy. I don't like that.

[Mallory Omera]

Not a good reading snack. I mean, delicious.

[Unnamed Speaker]

What are you writing it?

[Mallory Omera]

I would. I would give this a seven.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow.

[Mallory Omera]

Pretty bad. I mean, it's a dark. A dark mark.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm moving over to the Quinoa Crunch. Alter Eco. I love this bar. It's only 60 cacao, which, you know, I've moved into like 95 to 100. But I didn't bring any of those because those are basically just little bricks so they don't really melt. I'm touching it. It's also kind of a one. It's not doing much unless you're in a hot climate, which, you know, happens to me all the time. But if you're just in a normal room. We're at normal room temp right now. This one's all right. Maybe don't eat on. I can't get rid of it. So don't eat on it. Don't eat on it. You gotta eat away from the. From the mic.

[Mallory Omera]

Because we can't.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Because we're on the same track anyway. All right, so I'm gonna. I'm gonna say this. Alter Eco. Quinoa Crunch. I'm gonna give it a one. Also doing pretty good on the chocolate bars.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

What are you trying?

[Mallory Omera]

So I think what we're saying so far is the fancier the chocolate, the better it is as a reading snack.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Well, I don't know. We haven't tried. Okay. Yeah, you're right. Because Oreos. All right, what are you trying?

[Mallory Omera]

I'm doing M and M, which did leave a little bit of dye. Yeah, I think it's better than. It's better than like a regular chocolate bar, I would say. But if you're eating a lot of MMs, you're gonna get some of that dye on this book.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

I would also give this a. Give this an eight.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow.

[Mallory Omera]

I'm sorry, I'm one and one.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I got the corn nuts and the fancy chocolate bars. I'm. All right. All right. I'm opening an unreal bag of Dark Peanut Chocolate Peanut Gems, one of my faves. It is basically a fancy M M. I'm holding it in my hand. It's also a zero. It's a one.

[Mallory Omera]

Wow.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's a one. All right. What are you trying now?

[Mallory Omera]

These are just a regular old gummy bear. These are seven eleven brand gummy bears. Nothing.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Nothing.

[Mallory Omera]

Not a single thing.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Nothing on the fingers.

[Mallory Omera]

No grease.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Now the problem. Look, obviously if you spill a bag of gummy bears and it melts on your book, this is a problem. If you spill a chocolate bar, that's a problem. But we're just doing a finger test and that did. All right. Okay. All right. I'm gonna do the milk chocolate Hershey's bar. Because we want to do a little bit of a cheaper bar. Cause I only did the expensive bars. But it's not really melting.

[Mallory Omera]

Really?

[Unnamed Speaker]

No, Try it. It's kind of solid. I mean, it's a little bit cold in this room.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, it's melting a little for me. You just.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You maybe run warmer than me.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah. Look at. There's a mark on the page.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh, I have zero marks. Wow. So maybe it depends on how warm your little skin is.

[Mallory Omera]

You know what? I will say something that is a big factor for me is I got clammy ass hands.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Not me. I have dry, dry skin. My skin is basically cracking at all times.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, no. I am a little clammy swamp swamp creature at all times.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Okay. So this is all dependent on that. So, okay, as far as the suite goes, what was the highest offender?

[Bria Grant]

The hot.

[Mallory Omera]

The worst was, I think, actually the M M's.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow. And then the least were the fancy.

[Mallory Omera]

Chocolate bars and the gummy bears.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And the gummy bears, which we talked.

[Mallory Omera]

About that when we. When we did this episode a long time ago. We figured out that gummies are the best. And now when we put fingers to the page, gummy bears. But they're these. I will say these are regular gummy bears. These are not sour gummy bears.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Now we do. Yeah, because we do have. Wait, since we have them, we do have sour gummy worms. Sour gummy worms. Let me do a little test here. Although, look, I think we need to try your clammy hands though.

[Mallory Omera]

Okay.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Come on, clammy.

[Bria Grant]

Get over here, clammy.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Get over here, clammy. Okay. Yeah, these do leave a little bit, but it's more of a dusting.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, look at. My page is straight up shiny.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Okay. See, I'm not having the same problem. What we've learned here is that it is. It's really about the reader. You know, the reader and the picture of your hands.

[Mallory Omera]

Do you have an anxiety disorder?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Because these are bad but not horrible for me. So the best, best reading. Sweet snacks. An expensive chocolate bar.

[Mallory Omera]

Or gummies.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Or gummies.

[Mallory Omera]

Uncoated gummies.

[Unnamed Speaker]

And the worst.

[Mallory Omera]

Any cheap chocolate?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah, M M's or things with like that candy coating.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, candy coating, cheap chocolate. Yeah, because it just starts to melt right away.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I distinctly remember when I was a kid putting some candy coated M M's in my Pocket and then it turning my pocket color. Yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

I will say sometimes like I have a few books that I've had since I was a kid. My Golden Compass series in particular. There's some. If I go back and read, there's some page marks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow.

[Mallory Omera]

From, from snacks. You don't know what coated Snyder's pretzel chunks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow. Okay.

[Mallory Omera]

I love those big, those pretzel pieces that Snyder's have. Like the buffalo ones, the honey mustard ones.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh yeah, those are good actually.

[Mallory Omera]

Great reading snack because they're delicious. Not good reading snack because my copies of his dark materials are marked forever. His. His honey mustard materials.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Well, we'll put some pictures of this on our Instagram.

[Mallory Omera]

Yes.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Thank you for joining us in this test. This is a very important work we do here and if you want to.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If you want to support this, support us during the maximum fund drive.

[Mallory Omera]

You want to support our.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Whatever this is, this that we're doing.

[Mallory Omera]

Our important scientific investigations. I mean again, if you were. I think this would also apply to E readers. I mean really, any, any type. The only way, the only way to truly not mark a book is listen to an audiobook.

[Unnamed Speaker]

That's right. That's true. That's true. Or I mean I had some that were kind of zeros. So a non melted chocolate bar, you got to eat it fast.

[Mallory Omera]

Because the problem is too is if you have like a wet paper towel with you, you're going to get the pages wet.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah, that's true.

[Mallory Omera]

It's tough to, it's tough to read and eat.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I never do the wet paper towel with me though.

[Mallory Omera]

Oh, I always have a wet paper towel with me.

[Unnamed Speaker]

You have one right now.

[Mallory Omera]

I mean at home. At home. If I'm eating at home, I have a. I like my. Maybe it's because I have clammy hands, but my hands are always. I'm like a raccoon.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Bigger problem for me is I put lotion on my hands and then I touch things and I like.

[Mallory Omera]

And you're.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Oh.

[Mallory Omera]

And then you're trapped forever in a room because you can't turn the ye.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah. Or I've like ruined clothes because I put like an oil on my hands to, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

Well again we're, we're doing really important work here. This is, this is the, this is the sort of hard hitting journalism that reading glasses is known for. So. Yeah. Get, get nice chocolate uncoated gummy bears, potato chips and Chex Mix.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

Or put it. Remember some readers were using the snack cup.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah. The Snack cup.

[Mallory Omera]

Yeah, I still do my chopsticks.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Yeah.

[Mallory Omera]

Or just do what I do and just drink bourbon instead.

[Unnamed Speaker]

There you go.

[Mallory Omera]

And you can go on our Instagram. The recording of the live finger finger snack testing is still available if you want to watch that.

[Bria Grant]

Bria. Oh, my God. Can you believe the Maximum Fun Drive is over tomorrow?

[Unnamed Speaker]

Wow.

We've already done so much fun stuff. We've given out so many personalized book recommendations, and we still have more to do.

We do. Wow.

As of this recording, we're at 604 people. While we went up, while we were recording these, which is very exciting. 100 more people. We need 96 more people to join in the next 24 hours to get those anticipated books episodes.

[Mallory Omera]

Yep.

[Bria Grant]

So go to maximumfun.org join to support reading glasses for as little as $5 a month. That's like one blueberry.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Now, if we've helped improve your reading life, which a lot of people write in and tell us that we do, this is the best way to show your appreciation and support. It means the world to us and it makes all the work we pour into the show every single week worth it. By the way, we love reading your emails. We love hearing about how much you love the show.

[Bria Grant]

That's why I get up in the morning.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's very worth it. And we want to keep making the show.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, you can help. I mean, that's the only reason we're able to do this show as much as we do is because of our members. It's listeners like you that make reading glasses possible. So go right now. Go to maximumfun.org join to join. Sign up to support reading glasses for all this stuff. Send your receipt to reading glasses podcastmail.com youm'll get the Discord. You can send your recommendation request. And we can't thank you enough. We know that life is hell right now. We know that everything is so expensive.

[Mallory Omera]

So for people who are able to.

[Bria Grant]

And care enough about the show to support us, it really means a lot. So thank you. Go to maximumfun. Org Join, join, join.