Ep 418 - Best Books of the Year Halftime Show!

Summary

Reading Glasses Podcast Summary: Episode 418 - Best Books of the Year Halftime Show!

Release Date: July 3, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara

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Introduction to the Halftime Show

In Episode 418 of Reading Glasses, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara celebrate the midpoint of 2025 by unveiling their favorite books released in the first half of the year. Titled Best Books of the Year Halftime Show!, this episode is a vibrant exploration of the top literary picks that have captivated the Reading Glasses community so far.

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Current Reads

Brea Grant is eagerly diving into Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. She expresses her enthusiasm for Reid's work, highlighting how each of her novels, including The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising, consistently delivers compelling stories. In Atmosphere, the narrative unfolds in Houston during the 1980s space shuttle program, focusing on a woman aspiring to become an astronaut. The novel intricately weaves themes of ambition, competition, and personal discovery, especially as the protagonist navigates her growing feelings for a fellow female candidate. Brea remarks:

"It's both about space and the competition between all the astronauts, and also about their relationship. It's just really beautifully written. It's so gorgeous." (00:50)

Mallory O’Meara, on the other hand, is immersed in Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon as this month’s smart book. Moving away from Dixon's previous sci-fi series, this book delves into a fantasy realm where magic is tied to ancient artifacts. The story follows a woman from a noble family striving to restore her family's fortunes by becoming an artifact hunter. Mallory is particularly excited about the book's inclusion of romantic elements with a unique twist involving a minotaur character. She shares:

"It's straight up fantasy... there's a minotaur race in this book who... they have a rut where they get really horny, and he's about to go into that." (02:35)

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Listener Feedback

The hosts take a moment to engage with their listeners' feedback, showcasing the community's involvement and appreciation.

• Sarah's Comment:
  Sarah praises the book tracking episode, sharing her experience of managing multiple spreadsheets to keep up with her reading. She states:

  "You knew I had definitely found my book person home with that episode." (05:10)

• Adriana Wroten's Insight:
  Adriana, a Lab Operations Manager at a conservation lab in Philadelphia, discusses the impact of recent funding cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). She emphasizes the threat these cuts pose to the preservation of rare books and cultural artifacts, urging listeners to support libraries through donations. Adriana passionately urges:

  "Without grant support, materials may suffer irreversible damage... consider directly donating to them or to other organizations committed to preserving cultural heritage." (05:36)

Brea acknowledges Adriana's heartfelt message, reinforcing the importance of supporting cultural institutions.

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Best Books of 2025 So Far

Shared Pick: The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Brea and Mallory both laud Annie Hartnett's The Road to Tender Hearts as their joint favorite. This heartwarming yet dark narrative follows an older, troubled man who unexpectedly becomes responsible for two distant relatives. Their subsequent road trip is fraught with emotional depth, including themes of grief and redemption. Despite its light-hearted premise, the book delves into intense subjects such as a murder-suicide and a mystical cat that predicts death. Mallory reflects:

"This book is about grief, magical realism with animals, and somehow it's making me feel better about life." (14:30)

Brea Grant's Individual Picks

1. Daughter of Daring by Mallory O’Meara
   A touching non-fiction piece exploring the resilience of women in Hollywood, focusing on Helen Gibson, America’s first stuntwoman. Brea highlights its timely relevance and inspirational narrative:

   "It gave me a lot of hope... women filmmakers come back like the wolves in Yellowstone." (16:10)

2. Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman
   A gripping horror novel that delves into themes of misinformation and societal addiction to the internet. Brea praises its timely commentary and chilling storyline:

   "This book really scared me... it's about our addiction to the Internet and how people aren't critical of the information they take in." (19:32)

3. Sky Daddy by Kate Falk
   An unconventional and humorous tale about a woman obsessed with marrying her soulmate plane. Brea admires Falk's unique blend of humor and deep character exploration:

   "She believes it's her destiny to marry one of these planes by dying in a plane crash... you convinced me to hope that this woman dies in a plane crash." (26:10)

4. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man by Jesse Sutanto
   A cozy mystery featuring the beloved character Vera Wong, who solves another intriguing case involving a missing influencer. Brea appreciates the comforting and quirky nature of the series:

   "It's a fun little mystery with Vera Wong... she's amazing." (32:04)

5. Strange Case of Jano by Karen Thompson Walker
   A speculative fiction novel exploring dissociative episodes and supernatural elements through the protagonist's fragmented memories. Brea commends its literary depth and emotional complexity:

   "It's a really beautifully written, cool speculative fiction sort of book." (35:54)

Mallory O’Meara's Individual Picks

1. Old Soul by Susan Barker
   A literary horror that intertwines human and monster perspectives, set against a backdrop of cosmic themes. Mallory is captivated by its unique narrative structure and queer representation:

   "You get the protagonists trying to track down the monster, but you also get the point of view of the monster as well." (19:16)

2. Raising Hair by Chloe Dalton (Audiobook)
   A quiet memoir about finding a baby hair and its transformative impact on the protagonist’s hectic life. Mallory praises the audiobook's introspective and life-affirming storytelling:

   "She starts raising it and the hair completely transforms her life... teaches her how to slow down and enjoy life more." (30:12)

3. Blob by Maggie Sue
   A literary fiction piece where a woman discovers a sentient blob, exploring themes of relationships and self-discovery. Mallory is enthralled by its surprising twists and depth:

   "It's one of those books where you're like, sometimes what you think you want is not actually what you want or need." (27:36)

4. A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathall
   The second installment in the Sunken Archive duology, this book delves into an underwater future world with a focus on a blossoming relationship and high-stakes mystery. Mallory highlights its sweet and imaginative narrative:

   "It's so sweet to read because you're just like, oh, yeah, I wish we get to that world where people are baffled by bad behavior." (24:36)

5. Vantage Point by Sarah Sligar
   A tense family drama with supernatural elements, set in Maine. The novel examines complex relationships and mysterious deaths occurring every April. Mallory describes it as a high-powered family saga with tight pacing:

   "It's a very weird, tense family drama that has this almost supernatural element to it because of the April thing." (36:46)

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Conclusion and Community Engagement

As the episode wraps up, Brea and Mallory encourage listeners to share their favorite books of 2025 and engage with the Reading Glasses community through Discord and their newsletter. They express gratitude towards their moderators and highlight ways listeners can support the show, including merchandise and direct ratings.

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Notable Quotes Highlights:

• Bria on Atmosphere:
  "It's both about space and the competition between all the astronauts, and also about their relationship." (00:50)

• Mallory on Bull Moon Rising:
  "It's straight up fantasy... there's a minotaur race in this book who... they have a rut where they get really horny." (02:35)

• Adriana Wroten on Libraries:
  "Without grant support, materials may suffer irreversible damage... consider directly donating to them or to other organizations committed to preserving cultural heritage." (05:36)

• Bria on The Road to Tender Hearts:
  "This book is about grief, magical realism with animals, and somehow it's making me feel better about life." (14:30)

• Mallory on Old Soul:
  "You get the protagonists trying to track down the monster, but you also get the point of view of the monster as well." (19:16)

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For more insights and updates, listeners can join the Reading Glasses Discord community or subscribe to their newsletter through the show’s website.

Transcript

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're listening to Reading Glasses 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. Andy Reader. And this episode. Cue that slide whistle. It's. It's our 2025 best books of the year halftime show. What we've read this year so far, so exciting. We were concerned because we were like, have we read enough books? I had way too many books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

This happens every single time. I read a good book this year. I've read all the books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. And then you look at your list and you're like, oh, no. But first off, Bria, what are you reading right now?

[Bria Grant]

I'm reading a book that I have been looking forward to reading all year. It needs no introduction by me. It is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Exciting.

[Bria Grant]

Written a ton of books that people love. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, a book that I recommend constantly. Daisy Jonas and the Sixers, Malibu Rising. There's so many. I love all of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books. Everyone has been a banger. This is set in Houston against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program. And it is about mostly from the point of view of this young, of this woman who loves stars, loves space, has wanted to be an astronaut for as long as she can remember. And then she gets accepted into the program and the space shuttle program. And along the way, she meets another candidate who is also a woman, and she starts to realize that, you know, maybe the reason that when she was in high school and she'd go on dates with these boys or. Or. Or whatever, it wasn't working for her, was because she actually likes women today, astronauts. So it's called. So it's called Atmosphere. A Love Story. And so it's both about space, and it's about the competition between all of these astronauts because only a couple of them can go to space, and they're all competing with each other. Right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And.

[Bria Grant]

But then also about their relationship. It's just really beautifully written. It's so gorgeous.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Great.

[Bria Grant]

I love it also because it's set in Texas in the 80s, which I appreciate. And. And it also is going back and forth between two timelines, basically, when a group of astronauts are actually in space and an incident happens, and then back to where they're all preparing and going through the program together. So you get to see these two different timelines. It's incredible. Obviously, I don't. I mean, we know what to expect at this point from Taylor Jenkins Reid. But I am not disappointed. Disappointed.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Beautiful.

[Bria Grant]

What are you reading?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am reading this month, this week, right now, this month's smart book, which we're for sure for our other show.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Reading smut. It is Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon, which I'm really excited about. So I've read her other book series, Ice Planet Barbarians, but I haven't read her because this is her fantasy series. It's romantasy, but it is smutty.

[Bria Grant]

Wait, I'm sorry, is Ice Planet Barbarians not fantasy?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's like sci fi. It's like space and aliens. I mean, you could kind of. You can argue that there's fantasy elements, but like it's spacey. But this is, this is straight up fantasy. This is another minotaur book which people will be very excited to hear. Brie and I giving more hot minotaur opinions. But it's about this woman and she comes from a noble family that has kind of. That's fallen on hard times. They don't have a lot of money, but they're keeping that quite secret. And she realizes that the way to get her family back to glory and to in renew their fortune is she has to go out and there's this, the magic system in this world and is based off of these artifacts that are like from the old world and they have to be excavated. So it's like magical archaeology. And the more of these magical artifacts your family has, the better standing they are. But her father has gambled away all of family's artifacts, so she's like, well, what if I go join the artifact guild and, and become an artifact hunter and then I'll find some and bring them back to my family. Easy peasy. Not so easy peasy. Her and her maid and her very cute cat get to the city where the guild is and she realizes that they, even though there's no city explicit rules that say that girls can't be in there, they kind of don't want her to be in there. So she needs a chaperone. And she meets up with this minotaur because there's a minotaur race in this book who, because minotaurs once a year have a. I forget what it's called, but it's like a rut where they get real horny. And he's about to go into that and it's like a month long ordeal and he's like, well, I. I can't work unless I have someone to bang. So they have this like marriage of convenience where she's like, well, I will marry you and I will bang you all you want, but you have to be my chaperone and let me into this program. So they agree. And so like against the backdrop of like her trying to become an archaeologist and learn about these magical artifacts, she's also learning about the ways of Minotaur Love. It's I cannot wait to talk about this book for the show. So so that is Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon and I am reading.

[Bria Grant]

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Sarah wrote in to say hi Brian Mallory, new listener but I've been going through the backlog and yes, you've gained another Sarah. We soon will have all the Sarahs.

[Bria Grant]

That's the goal.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I just wanted to write in about the book tracking episode and tell you you now have me dragging my reading across three three different spreadsheets. I started the year with one, but then I got sucked into Try Compile and then the Stacks sheet. So this year is a pilot year to decide which one I like best. I knew I had definitely found my book person home with that episode. Well Sarah, welcome. You're with your people, you're with your fellow Sarahs. We're happy to have you.

[Bria Grant]

Adriana Wroten and said hi Bri and Mallory, I just finished listening to your recent episode how to Protect Libraries from Fascism and oh boy, things are grim indeed. I'm so grateful you chose to spotlight this topic as cuts to the IMLs have been a major source of stress lately and wanted to share how deeply they're impacting other aspects of libraries and other cultural institutions nationwide. I work at a book, paper and photo conservation lab in Philadelphia as the Lab Operations Manager. Our nonprofit lab frequently treats and digitizes rare books and archives for libraries and historic sites, and many of our projects heavily rely on the imls, NEH and SAT Grant funding. The recent funding cuts have jeopardized the care and survival of countless rare books and artifacts, as well as the ability to digitize and share their content. The recent funding cuts have jeopardized the care and survival of countless rare books and artifacts, as well as the ability to digitize and share the content. Without grant support, materials may suffer irreversible damage, and the stories they hold, especially those relating to gay rights activism, Native American history, and black history, could be lost forever. With these grants cuts, this administration is actively trying to wipe out the true story of American history that our libraries so briefly safeguard from for all of us. I encourage everyone not only to check out books from their local libraries and join in the amazing world of library offered content. Because I agree libraries are the freaking best. But to also consider directly donating to them or to other organizations committed to preserving cultural heritage. Direct donations will go a long way to keeping these specialized projects funded and keeping staff employed. That's very important.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Bria Grant]

And we like that direct donation. Make your dollars count. That is really great, Adriana. We appreciate that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And then Adriana wrote in with a wheelhouse, which is stories with weird sl. Converging timelines, spooky mushroom silent environmental killers. Ooh, that's Love that. That's fun. Humorous dark romances and found families. Especially if it's in outer space. So you can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month, you can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. So before we talk about our favorite books of the year so far, we're going to take a quick break.

[Bria Grant]

Reading Glasses is brought to you in part this week by Tea Experience. Tea lovers, listen up. If you have not tried Tea Experience yet, wow, you are missing out. They're dedicated to premium loose leaf teas that'll have you sipping in style. Whether you're just starting your tea journey or you've been brewing for years, there's a perfect blend waiting for you, y' all. I love this tea. I'm actually, now that I'm reading this ad, I'm like, I'm going to go downstairs and make myself a little cup right after this. Look, they have all sorts of great teas. They're handpicked. They're loose leaf blends. And loose leaf, that gives you the best quality, that gives you the best taste. Look, that's not just the ad speaking. That is just facts, okay? They're expertly crafted, balanced flavors and aromas and health benefits in every sip. And there is something for everyone. From energizing blends to calming teas, there's a blend for every mood. And as some of you know, I don't drink a lot of caffeine. So I've really been enjoying their chamomile tea. And I've been making an iced chamomile tea. Listen, you don't have to take it from me. I loved it so much I put it in the newsletter and they didn't pay me to do that. I just really love this tea. I love a great, well crafted, high quality tea. And that is what you're Getting from Teasp. So are you ready to experience premium tea like never before? Head over to teasperience.com and use code classes to get 15% off off your first order glasses.

[C]

Are you a five star baddie? If you answered yes, then Black People Love Paramore is the podcast for you. Contrary to the title, we are not a podcast about the band Paramore. Black People Love Paramore is a pop culture show about the common and uncommon interests of black people. In order to help us feel a little bit more seen, we are your co hosts, Sequoia Holmes, Jewel Wicker and Ryan Graham. And in each episode we dissect one pop culture topic that mainstream media doesn't associate with the black people, but we know that we like.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We get into topics like ginger ale, the Golden Girls, Black romance, Uno, and so much more.

[C]

Tune in every other Thursday to the podcast that's dedicated to helping black people feel more seen. Find Black People love paramore on maximumfun.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This week. Break out the slide whistles, baby. It's the best books of the year halftime show where we name our favorite books released this year so far. So that means that is books published from January to June. In 2025, hit the confetti cannons, do your choreography, do a backflip, you know, whatever you need to do. All right, so first off, going to take a look at which books the Glassers picked as their favorites. So I pulled the Discord and the Slack. And so if you want, remember you want to be a part of it. If you are already a member, just send your receipt to reading glasses podcastmail.com and we'll give you an invite to the Discord. But if you want to be part of that community, go to maximumfun.org join Sign up to sport Reading Glasses. We would love to have you. It really means a lot to us. All right, Bria, what are the glasser's favorite books of the year so far?

[Bria Grant]

The River Has Roots by Amel Elmatar.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's at the top because that was. I feel like there's always, every single year, there's always a book that that's hugely popular with the Glassers that we haven't got to yet. And the River Hats Roots is that book.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Other books on here, everything is Tuberculosis, a book we both loved. Okay, I forgot Witchcraft for Wayward Girls came out this year because I read it last year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yep.

[Bria Grant]

So it's not on my list, Mallory, but it would have been that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I have to be careful now. Because if sometimes I read arcs at the end of the year for the next year. So I actually stopped doing that now, unless I have to blurb something, I arc. I. I don't read arcs until at least January 1st because I. That's happened a couple of times to me.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Damn. Okay, that'll probably be on my end of year, but it didn't make it on this list just because I screwed up.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, I'm sure. Great. I'm sure Grady knows that we love him.

[Bria Grant]

Sunrise on the reaping, which honestly would have been on my list, but I felt like it was already getting enough shout outs. Buffalo Hunter, Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Wild Dark Shore, about to hear about that. Daughter of Daring. About to hear about that. Starving saints by Caitlyn Starling, Emily Wilds, Compendium of lost tales by Heather Fawcett, when the moon hits your eye by John Scalzi, which weirdly, I haven't read yet. And Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor. Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

These glasser books.

[Bria Grant]

These books are. These are.

[Mallory O'Meara]

None of these surprised me.

[Bria Grant]

You know, what good taste, these glassers. Such good.

[Mallory O'Meara]

None of these. And I gotta say, I was very chuffed to see the glasses voting for daughter of daring. So thank you all so much for that.

[Bria Grant]

It's very nice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, before we get into our picks, Bria, do you have any thoughts on 2025 books so far?

[Bria Grant]

I. It's. I'm really happy. Okay. Yes. Great books this year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A lot of my favorite authors are authors.

[Bria Grant]

A lot of my authors are putting out books this year. And I appreciate. I have not been disappointed. I think we're getting a lot of really great genre books this year and we're getting a lot of authors. We talked about this last episode, but who don't necessarily always write speculative fiction. Who are writing speculative fiction.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Everyone wants to escape right now because the world is on fire.

[Bria Grant]

I love that we're getting some big romance authors. A lot of romance. I appreciate that. We're also getting a lot of books set in college, grad school, a lot of academics.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. And it's because everyone wants to be a kid again because being adult is awful.

[Bria Grant]

And a lot of competitions. Yep. We're back to the like Sunrise and the Reaping, I think came out at the exact right time because we're back to like a very dystopian.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Dystopian competitions, for sure.

[Bria Grant]

Competition game. But yeah. What do you think? What? How's 2025 going for you?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we talked about this during the Max fun drive. But unhinged women are still the hot trend.

[Bria Grant]

2025 women. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. Everyone feels insane, so they want to read protagonists that are also insane. But yeah, genre and romance, huge. And I'm seeing a lot of blended genre stuff which I think is really cool. Like romanticy, romanticize, like mixing romance into things, mixing sci fi and fantasy into things, mixing horror into things. I was kind of shocked at the lack of true cozy books. And I saw some glasswares complaining about this. Where there's books coming out that are labeled as cozy that aren't quite cozy. It feels like, I mean, we got Emily Weil, which is great. But I, I, maybe the cozy books are going to come in hot for autumn, but I feel like autumn is.

[Bria Grant]

A much cozier time in winter.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. And another thing, fairies and fae continue to be hugely popular.

[Bria Grant]

But I, I think we're seeing a rise again of witches, which I feel like we saw a few years ago.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

It, and now we're seeing it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Resisting patriarchy, Resisting fascism.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So, I mean, we both love witches, so I'm happy to see that. All right, so let's get into our choices. Of course, we always have at least one shared pick. And I knew this was probably going to be our shared pick. Did I put this in here?

[Bria Grant]

You put this in here. But it is a book that we both fucking love.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. We love Annie Harnett. It's the Road to Tender hearts.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Annie Hartnett finds a way to take a genre where, okay, this is essentially a road trip book about a man.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Who, an older man.

[Bria Grant]

An older man who is maybe like not doing so great in his life. He's divorced. He has a child who doesn't really like him that much.

[Mallory O'Meara]

He's a really bad alcoholic.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And he ends up with these two kids who are distantly related. Distantly related to him. And they have to move in with him and then he takes them on a road trip that he shouldn't be going on.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And, but that's something I think a lot of people like is like the Mandalorian thing where it's like grumpy father figure gets children foisted upon him.

[Bria Grant]

You're right. That is nice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like the gunkle, I think is like that.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is, if you like books like that, this is great for you.

[Bria Grant]

But it's, it's like when I describe that to you, you're like, this sounds pretty light hearted. This is a dark ass.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I, I kept texting you while I was reading it. I Was like, this book is read the content warnings. Because I was shocked at how dark this book was.

[Bria Grant]

It starts with a murder suicide.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. There's a lot of death. There's a.

[Bria Grant]

There's a cat that predicts death, which is a major part of the book as well. And. But it's also, like, heartwarming. And I don't know how she does that. It's a magic trick that Annie Hartnett pulls every time. So where she's writing a book about this thing that you're like, wow, that's really dark. But somehow it's making me feel better about life.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. Annie Harnett. This is. This is the ingredients. You get slightly magical realism with animals, grief, somebody looking back on their life, but also somehow life affirming at the same time.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Beautiful. Loved this book. This is a book I could recommend to literally any person.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, Bria, what is your first individual pick?

[Bria Grant]

Oh, well, obviously, first pick out of the gate. Daughter of Daring by Mallory o' Meara.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Thank you.

[Bria Grant]

It's actually the only nonfiction I have on list.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

Which is shocking for me because I do read or listen to a lot of nonfiction. This book, Mallory, you wrote it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Tell me about it.

[Bria Grant]

You mean telling you what it's about? Well, what I loved about this book and I've talked about on the show a few times, but I'll just bring it up. I'll say it again. Is that not only is it about the history, obviously, of this. This woman, but it's also the history.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Of la in la and Hollywood, women.

[Bria Grant]

Women working. I like that you're filling it in as before, I say of women working. Of what? Of women pioneers. A backlash to women working. But living in L. A and reading this, I read it during the fires, and to me, it was so. It was just this thing where I was like, oh, yeah, we are a resilient place full of resilient people in a resilient industry. And people know our industry is not doing great right now, particularly not in California. A lot of people are struggling, and it gave me a lot of hope to read this book. So for me, this just. This book kind of not only did you do a great, beautiful job of it, it also fell at a really great time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, perfect. I mean, that's the. That, like, nothing hits like the right book at the right time.

[Bria Grant]

And it really, like, to me, just like, it touched on a lot of things that I think I've been thinking about a lot when it comes to being a female filmmaker and a woman in the Film industry and how there is room for all of us. Yes. And even when the industry is suffering, I do think we are going to keep making stuff and we always go through growing pains.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. I, and it's interesting to go through times like this for me as a, as a historian, as a history writer, because it, I actually find a lot of comfort to be like, oh yeah, things were awful back then, but women filmmakers came back. Like, they're like the wolves in Yellowstone. You cannot bring us, keep us down forever. And also like. And all through the lens of Helen Gibson, who is America's first stunt woman. And you know, she started at the very beginning of Hollywood and ended right when the studio system ended. So it's like the perfect, her life is the perfect lens through which to look through all of this. And yeah, I. Weirdly comforting book to write for me because I was like, oh yeah, we got. Women got completely pushed out of Hollywood and we still came back.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I could see that. I could totally see that. What is your first one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Old Soul by Susan Barker.

[Bria Grant]

I gotta read it. I haven't read it, but it does seem like one I would like.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think you would absolutely love this. I knew as I was reading it that this was going to be one of my best books of the year. It is so amazing. I, I talked about it on the show, but it's about these two people. They're in Japan, they've both missed the same flight, so they're kind like commiserating together and they end up going to get dinner because they're like, well, we have to wait. The next flight is until the next morning. So they're like, well, it, we'll get dinner. And they realize that they both have lost someone recently. The woman has lost her brother and the man has lost his best friend. And they realize that those people that they lost encountered the exact same woman before they died. So the male character goes on this journey all around the world, just track down all of the people who interacted with this woman and then died. And, but then you also get the POV chapters from the woman. And, and it is like, it's really strange, like very literary. It's not super scary, but it's like very strange literary horror that like becomes very cosmic. It's also very queer. And it's just like I loved, I've never read a book like it. I loved it so much. I, I, it's very rare. I feel like I haven't in a while gotten a book where you get the protagonists who are trying to track down the monster. But you also get the point of view of the monster as well.

[Bria Grant]

I love that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So good.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. I gotta read this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What is your last one before the break?

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Horror people, if you have not read this book, I looked at my call pile tens across tens all the way across. It's wake up and open your eyes by our buddy, Clay McLeod Chapman.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We love Clay.

[Bria Grant]

I. This book hit me like a ton of bricks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Horror people, Another book at the perfect time.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. If you have not read this book, you need to pick it up. I texted Clay and you know, I don't just put books on our lists because they're friends of the show. No, I might. We are very. We. We try to.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We have a lot of. To write books.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. And he is a pal of the show. But this book, y' all, there's a.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Reason why they talked about it. The New York Times did a piece on this book.

[Bria Grant]

I texted Clay and I said, who's going to adapt this book? And he said, no one in their right mind would adopt this book. And I was like, someone, I want to do it. You're the hero the world needs. But I don't know who would let me. Okay, just to briefly tell you what it's about. It is about. So this guy hasn't heard from his parents in a few days and he drives home and it's New York to Virginia, right? I believe so. And it opens with this where he's driving home and he arrives at his parents house. And they are basically like some sort of possessed slash like demon, demon, zombie sort of things that are violent. And it turns out that anyone who has been watching a particular news channel.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which is based off of a news channel you can probably guess has been.

[Bria Grant]

Like infected with this sort of like, like virusy kind of thing. But it's not just that news channel. It's also if you're watching these certain wellness influencers, if you're listening to this certain baby shark song that's being played for kids. Like there's all these things that have virally been implanted with this. This virus sort of thing that infects people and makes them super violent. And it is a dark ass book. But it really scared me. And also I thought was just so.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Timely, it's so topical.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And it's certain POVs and it just. It's about misinformation. It is about our addiction to the Internet and it is about how and.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like media literacy and like how people are just not critical of the information that they Take in.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And on all sides. I mean, obviously it is talking about Fox News. We'll just say that. But why am I saying quietly? Like, I'm not saying it on a podcast?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Obviously, if you say quieter, less people will hear you.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, yeah, but. But it also is, like, critical of, like, you know, the false wellness stuff. It's also critical of, like, oh, you need to live this certain lifestyle, this yoga. Look, I like yoga, but, you know, this sort of certain lifestyle or else toxic positivity. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You got to be positive. You got to do this. And you.

[Bria Grant]

If you don't drink a green juice for every meal, you're doing things right. Like, we are living in a place where we are being bossed around from all sides. And I just really thought he captured that in a really great way.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This book, Listen, we love Clay.

[Bria Grant]

Blew My Face off.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Clay is one of the best horror writers working right now. Front of the show.

[Bria Grant]

What is your next one for the break?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, of course, of course, of course. You all know, I don't even have to tell you, you know, it's A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathall. You all know that I'm obsessed with these books. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it delivered. It is the second book in the Sunken Archive duology that's like Romantic Eye. And I'm. I don't want to give too much away because the first book ends a cliffhanger, but it is these. It's in. In this, like, far, far, far, far future world where most people on earth live underwater. And so, like, ocean studies are a huge part of the world. And one of the main characters. And you find out really in this book. So if you are looking for great asexual representation, this book delivers. One of the main characters is this woman. She has a lot of mental health issues that make it so she doesn't like leaving the house, I think. I. And I, I. It's not really on. It's not like says on the page. But you can kind of assume that she's like, somewhere on the autism spectrum. Like, she has a lot of sensory issues, and so she has a hard time leaving the house. But she is very, very passionate about marine biology. Marine science. And she ends up writing to her hero, who is. He writes these incredible, like, books about ocean creatures. And to her surprise, he writes her back and they start up this really adorable friendship that blossoms into something more. And eventually the two of them disappear. And a year later, you are getting the correspondence. It's all epistolary and you're getting the correspondence between his brother and her sister who are working together to try to find them. And the second book is all about where they are and their brother and sister and their team trying to, trying to rescue them. And it's set up a little bit differently, like, epistolary wise from the first book. But it is so, it's so weird and so sweet and like their blossoming relationship is so lovely. And it really, it like very, this book very, very much goes into like, their, both of their neurodivergence and like them trying to find a place that is comfortable for them. And like, it's so, so lovely. And it feels a little less cozy because there are kind of high stakes. But there's no violence in this book. And it's just very one thing that I love about it's a far, far future world where, like, people are very surprised by, like, meanness. They're like, well, why would you do that? That's inefficient. Why would you be mean? Like, it's, it's very sweet to read because you're just like, oh, yeah, I wish. I can't wait till we get to that world where they're just like, they're very baffled by, like, bad behavior because it's just kind of been phased out.

[Bria Grant]

Bring that back.

[Mallory O'Meara]

God, I love it so much.

[Bria Grant]

Get me there.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You can send your thoughts on the first half of our best books of the year. Before we reveal the rest of our picks, we're going to take a quick break.

[D]

One thing we all have in common, we all have a mind.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It makes me so scared because I'm like, when is the bad thing going to happen?

[D]

And minds can be kind of unpredictable and eccentric.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Everybody wants to hear that they're not alone. Everybody wants to hear that someone else has those same thoughts.

[D]

Depress Mode with John Moe is about how interesting minds intersect with the lives and work of the people who have them. Comedians, authors, experts, all sorts of folks trying to make sense of their world.

[Bria Grant]

It's not admitting something bad if you say this is scary Depression Mode with.

[D]

John Moe every [e-mail] or wherever you get podcasts.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, we're back. Let's announce the rest of our best books of 2025 so far. Bria, what's your first pick?

[Bria Grant]

I have to recommend a book I've been talking nonstop about, which is Sky Daddy by Kate Falk. This is one of my favorite books of the year. It is. How to describe this Book. I've talked about it quite a bit, but it's basically about a woman who is sexually obsessed with planes. And she wants.

[Mallory O'Meara]

She watched the rehearsal by Nathan Field. She started feeling some feelings.

[Bria Grant]

She believes it's her destiny to marry one of these planes by dying in a plane crash, therefore uniting her with her soulmate plane for eternity. And she spins the book trying to do that, but also trying to, like, live a sort of quote unquote, normal life. She saves up her money and takes as many plane trips as she can. Obviously because she's trying to meet as many of her dreams or she. Actually, there's one she is trying to find again from her childhood that started all of this. And she's, you know, not living a life that we all really understand. Understand. But by the end, you're like, yeah, I do hope you die in a plane crash.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

And that is a feat of writing to me. To me, that. Where I'm like, wow, you convinced me to hope that this woman dies in a plane crash so she can reach her ultimate goal, which is to marry a plane. The way she describes a plane is both hilarious, but also very sexual. It is just an amazing book. I can't believe someone wrote this book. And Kate Folk, I think, is just doing. Kate Folk wrote a book of short stories called Out There that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I just really love that book.

[Bria Grant]

It was one of my favorites of the year. That year came out. I. I just am. I think she's has one of the most interesting minds out there right now. Can't recommend this book enough. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Speaking of another weird sexual book.

[Bria Grant]

Yep.

[Mallory O'Meara]

These books definitely are. Are good partners. It's Blob by Maggie Sue.

[Bria Grant]

And I wrote a note to you where I was like, I also want this book. But then I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do Sky Daddy. So I won't.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But they are very similar. I'll do Blob. You do Sky Daddy. We love this book. It is about a woman who is really kind of a mess. Her life is really not. Not, not where she wants it to be. And one day she finds a blob on the side of the road. Just a little blob. Just a little blob. And she kind of realizes that the blob is alive and maybe sentient. And she brings it home and it starts growing and she starts, like, kind of shaping it into her dream, man. And what happens with that? And it's so. It's so surprising. I love a book where I have no idea. Like, every time the blob changed, it was not what I thought it was going to be. Y and it's just, it really explores, like, relationships and expectations of relationships. And like, I love it because it's, it's one of those books where you're like, oh, sometimes what you think that you want is not actually what you want or not what you need. And it's, it's so. And like, I love a weird literary fiction that explores something serious, like normal through a weird fucking way to do it. And this book is fantastic. Which. Oh, obviously this next. I knew this was going to be on here.

[Bria Grant]

My next one is Wild Dark shore by Charlotte McConaughey. I. This is. I just love her books. Again, I've talked about it on the show quite a bit, but just to recap it, it's about a family who's living on this island in sort of the middle of nowhere, freezing cold. And we're in a sort of. We're in like a clifi scenario where things are not going well with the climate of the world. And there's a seed bank here that they're protecting. And then suddenly this woman shipwrecks, there's. And she's there looking for her husband who had been on the island as a scientist. And they know some information and she knows some information. And there's mysteries going both ways. They're all experiencing grief in some way. There's always so much grief in Charlotte McConaughey's books, but in a way that they all sort of end up coming to some sort of conclusion. Yeah, it's remote, it's beautiful, it's cold. But like, you can read this. Listen, I know this is summertime. You can read it right now. It's gonna, it's gonna take you away to a cold, dark island where there's. There's waves and hitting your face and, and the cold sea breeze. It's just beautifully written. I love this book so much. We'll read a million books by her, whatever comes out. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My next one is my first non fiction book. I have, I have. I feel like I have been reading more non fiction, but there weren't as. As many on this list as I thought there were going to be. But this, because this book is one of the, one of the ones that trumped them all. It's Raising Hair by Chloe Dalton and read by Claire Danes. The audiobook.

[Bria Grant]

So it's the audiobook.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Incredible. But it is a. It's like a very quiet Short memoir about this woman who finds a baby hair. And she lives in England. She is a political consultant. She lives a really hectic, high octane lifestyle and she finds this baby hair and everybody tells her that it's not going to survive that it's really hard to. To rehabilitate a baby hair. But the hair, I mean, no spoiler, it doesn't. She starts raising it and the hair completely like transforms her life. It like, it teaches her a lot about herself and teaches her how to like slow down and enjoy life more. Which I think something that we've all been trying to do a little bit more is like Miyazaki your life of like, you know, really enjoy making it, making tea and like just slowing down a little bit and just like enjoying the little things in life. And this book is just all about that, you know, like she really starts to enjoy her own house because she's staying there more because she doesn't want to leave because it's hard to get a hair sitter, you know, so she. And she just like enjoys.

[Bria Grant]

I've sitted a hair before.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

Well, a rabbit.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, well, because that's the, that's something that she talks about a lot in the book is like, it's like hair science of hairs because they are different, a different species than rabbits.

[Bria Grant]

I used to babysit a rabbit and.

[Mallory O'Meara]

She should have called you.

[Bria Grant]

It was honestly, what you don't realize about rabbits is that that rabbit would miss me when I was gone and I felt bad when I would be gone. Yeah, it was. I used to go and stop by when my friend was out of town and I'd feel bad leaving this rabbit because it had such a personality that I didn't expect.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, well, she writes a lot about that. About how, I mean, this little hair just like has so much personality and makes all these noises and she does all this research and looks through hairs and like literature and it's just. So this is definitely one of those books where I was like, I could walk around the block one more time. I. It's. I really loved it. What's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

My next one is a sequel or two in the series. It's Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead man by Jesse.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We're big Sutanto heads over here.

[Bria Grant]

Big Sutanto heads. A big Vero Wong fans. I, Vera Wong. So funny. Greatest character ever created.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You love it. You love a sassy older woman.

[Bria Grant]

I love it. I love it. This is about a woman. She owns this tea house and in the first book she solved a murder that happened in her tea house. And she's by the time we. She makes all these friends, a lot of like found family. And when we meet her again in this book she's like kind of bored and she's like, gosh, I wish someone would die in my tea house again. And then instead she meets this woman who shows up who is needing some help because she's looking for a missing friend. And she realizes that this missing friend is a guy who has died. They find his body like in the bay. And then there's all this stuff about him. He's an influencer in this weird way. But the girl's like, that's so weird because I just don't think that that's who he was. And so she of course snoops around, snoops around with the police when she shouldn't be doing stuff where she shouldn't be. This is Veer Wong and you know, helps solve this case. So it's a fun little mystery. It's cozy, it's a little bit of a thriller. But it's mostly just like a fun mystery with Veer Wong. I just love these books. I find them so lovely. Very comforting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Definitely Bria Catnip for sure, really is.

[Bria Grant]

And also you know, there's a tea house invol. She's always making good teas and she's constantly making food for people and bringing it to them. Like she's like here, I made you a little bit of food and It'll be like 20 to go. Boxes of like the most delicious food they've ever had. And they're like what? And then they can't like she goes to this influencer house and she brings all this food and they're like well what? And then they start eating it and they can't like say no to her because she's brought all this delicious food. She's amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I love it.

[Bria Grant]

It's such a funny character. I, I will read these books forever. What is your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My next one is my other non fiction book. It's Sick Houses by Layla Taylor should not surprise anybody.

[Bria Grant]

It's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's just like a. And look into our culture's relationship with haunted houses. And I'm.

[Bria Grant]

Read this. I'm ready up.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You know me, I'm a haunted house. And this was so fun because she, it's not just like haunted. I, I thought it was just going to be like haunted houses and horror movies and books. But it's also just like, like she, like she has A chapter on the Unabomber's cabin and like doll houses and that like famous woman who like created dollhouse recreations of murders to like help people solve crimes. And it's just like, like any kind of darkness in a house. She has a whole chapter on that. I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head, but it was like an experiment where they made this like high rise. It's the experiment that the movie High Rise was based on where they like made this gigantic apartment building that was supposed to be a self sustaining community. And it like they, but they didn't take care of it well enough so it devolved into chaos and anarchy and like became a really scary place. And it's, it's really. As someone who takes in a lot of haunted house stuff, I was surprised it like, like how many new interesting ideas about haunted houses and haunted structures that it brought to my brain. I mean I love Layla Taylor. She's like one of my favorite like dark non fiction writers and I, I adored this and it made me want to. It just made me want to read more haunted house books. What is your last pick?

[Bria Grant]

This was tough. There's a lot of really good books, but I'm going with the Strange Case of Jano by Karen Thompson Walker, who wrote a book a few years ago that I really loved called the Age of Miracles. I think she's just such an amazing writer. This, this book is so amazing. It is about a woman who. She's just had a baby and she starts experiencing these dissociative episodes where all. Where she's in a fugue state, she's behaving strangely and then she kind of wakes up and doesn't remember them. And then she has amnesia about the episodes and she's meeting with a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist trying to figure out what's going on with her. And then at some point she even reveals where she's like, not only is it weird that she doesn't remember these episodes, she's a person who actually remembers every single day. Like she's one of those kind of memories where she can tell you where she was on June 3, 1990 or whatever. And so that makes it even weirder. She's also having visions of this man who she knew 20 years ago. She's having these sort of like what's. Sort of premonitions. Oh, she. And she's like, I swear I saw this guy who I knew 20 years ago, but he died 20 years ago. And I saw him and I had a Full conversation with him. And the psychiatrist is like, yeah, well, that's impossible. He's dead. And they look him up and he is dead. Right. Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So all these weird things are happening on my list.

[Bria Grant]

And you. You kind of see it from both perspectives, and gradually it unfolds what's happening. And it's all about her mind. I don't want to give away too much because it goes to places that you kind of don't expect it to go. And it's just a really beautifully written, cool speculative fiction sort of book. What's your last one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Sorry. Bria's cat just put her paw up very casually on my laptop. Hello. She's so cute. My last one is Vantage Point by Sarah Sligar. Gonna have a Sarah book on here.

[Bria Grant]

I know I want to read this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So I keep describing it to people as if. If Shirley Jackson wrote Succession, it is so. It's so great. It's so my. Also takes place in Maine. Love a New England book. And it's about this very up family. It's a brother and a sister, and the sister's best friend is the brother's wife. So, like, they're in this, like, very weird little triangle. And they all live in the family home called Vantage Point in Maine. This family, like, comes from a lot of money. They have a lot of generational wealth, and the brother is trying to get into politics. Then it bops around between all three of their POVs. But the sister, like, her life is kind. She's the one who's kind of a mess. Mess. She's always kind of a mess. The. Her brother is kind of frustrated because he's always like, you know, taking care of her and. And, you know, keeping her on track. And one of the big important plot points of this book is that they get. This whole family always dreads April because not every April. It's not like every April isn't bad, but every time it's bad, it's April, like the fam. This family, everybody in this family dies in a strange way. And it's always in April. It's so they get really nervous about April. Their parents died in a really strange way, and the sisters witnessed it happen. And April is coming up. And what happens is these videos come out of the sister that are really bad videos, but because she check the content warnings. But there's various reasons why she can't remember certain things. So she's like, well, like, she doesn't remember these videos happening, but she's like, well, I guess they did. You know, there are times in my life where I was like drinking really heavily. Like maybe these videos are real and they're trying to figure out if these videos are real or not and if they're not, who is making them and why are they making them? Because they're affecting the brother's political campaign. And it's just like this very weird, tense family drama that has this almost supernatural element to it because of the April thing. It's just really fascinating. It's very tight. It's like, it does feel like succession in that way of like, it's like a very high powered family and they're very quippy and it's very like very well paced and I just really loved it. And I've thought about it a bunch of. All right, so those are our picks. But Bria, are there any books that you think might have been on this list if you had gotten the chance to read them?

[Bria Grant]

Well, I'm reading Atmosphere right now and that could definitely be end up being on there. It is a book. I am really loving it. It's fantastic. I just have to say, like I said in the beginning, Sunrise and the Reaping did rank so high, but we generally had so many spots and I was like, well, it's getting a lot of love already.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't, I. Suzanne Collins doesn't need help.

[Bria Grant]

Susan Collins does not care. She's not, she's not like, oh, what about reading glasses? She's not thinking about that. But there's a lot of books I didn't get get a chance to read some of the books that are on your list. And then I forgot about Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. So sorry. But that will be on my final. That will be on my list at the end of the year for sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm pumped.

[Bria Grant]

Well, that's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's on my list. I was just talking to HWB this morning because I have a stack of all my 2025 books and I was just like, I really want to get to these because it is like a, it's a stacked stack. Like, because I haven't read Buffalo Hunter Hunter yet. I haven't read Witchcraft or Wayward Girls. I haven't read the new Melissa Fabos, the Dry Season. I haven't read the new Emily Wild. I haven't read the new Kristen Arnett. So I have this like incredible. It looks like, you know when you have like really amazing leftovers in the fridge and you just have this amazing box full of delicious leftovers and you can't wait to get to them. That's how I'm looking at this stack. But I will say I, within the past month, like, finally got back to reading. Like, if I feel like myself again, I am flying through I Am Mallory the Book Devourer again. Like, it took me a full year of like being sad and like grieving and all sorts of stuff. And all of a sudden one day I woke up and I was just like, like, I read 11 books this month. You know, I'm just like, wow, I'm, I'm, I'm back to myself. So I am. I, I do not think it's going to take me too long to get to these books. But yeah, a lot of these I can expect they're going to be. I mean, the new Grady is always. New Grady is always on our list. New Stephen Graham Jones is always on our list. So a lot of really great year for books. And in the second half. God. New Megan Abbott, New Patricia Lockwood. New Helen Oyemi. I'm like, I'm so, so psyched. Very, very fantastic year for books. So folks, let us know what your favorites are. We'd love to know what your favorite book of the year so far is. It's got to be 2025 book, but let us. We would love to know. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com. and as always, we want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Facebook group and our Discord server. Lovely, lovely mods. Our Discord mods are so, they're just on it. They're very like, I don't even, I don't even have to. By the time I know someone has asked for something, it's already been done by the mods. Just let you know we appreciate you. And if you want to be involved, if you want to get in that Discord server, go to maximumfun.org join to sign up to support the show. Even at the five dollar a month level, you will get our eternal love and access to our Discord server and access to all our BoCo, all our bonus content. So that five bucks a month gets you a lot. You basically get nothing. For five bucks a month you can get like a drink.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You can get a drink. That or our eternal love and access to the Discord server and all of our bonus episodes. So that's maximumfun.org join you want to sign up to support us. And remember, there's all kinds of cool totes and shirts and stickers and fun stuff in our void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes for that. And if you like the show and want to do nice for us totally for free, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It's so great for the show and really helps us reach more readers. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading. Maximum Fun. A worker owned network of artist owned shows supported directly by you.