Reading Glasses: Episode 429 – Aging Up Your Book Taste + Becky Spratford! Release date: September 18, 2025 Hosts: Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara Special Guest: Becky Spratford
Episode Overview
This episode of Reading Glasses explores how readers can “age up” their book taste—specifically, how to transition from reading Young Adult (YA) to adult fiction, or whether you even need to. Hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O'Meara share advice, personal experiences, and actionable tips for readers navigating this shift. They also address listener feedback and reading dilemmas, recommend fantasy books with “no spice,” and interview horror expert Becky Spratford about her new book Why I Love Horror, wheelhouses, trends in the genre, and more.
What Are the Hosts Reading?
[00:59–06:05]
Brea
- Current Read: Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell (a Heracles retelling)
- Brea admits to not knowing much about Greek mythology, finds the dual perspective (Hera and Heracles) humorous and accessible.
- “It's written in this very funny, very modern, sort of inaccurate [voice]… It's really charming and I'm learning a lot about Greek gods. Fantastic book.” — Brea [03:15]
Mallory
- Current Read: A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan
- Historical fantasy set in WWII about a British witch fighting Nazis and political resistance within her own magical council.
- “You pick it up and you're like, wait, I just read 20% of it—oh god! It's excellent, it's really pulse pounding.” — Mallory [05:26]
- Touches on the comfort (and anxiety) of reading about witches fighting fascism.
Listener Feedback & Community
[06:05–17:16]
- BookCon is back! [06:05–06:46]
- Meredith shares the return of BookCon, April 2026, NYC.
- Mallory: “This is big news for readers.”
- Book Gift Horror Story: [06:46–08:42]
- Shelley in Minnesota received a book about laundry from her father-in-law—a family joke and an example of the worst book gift.
- “Laundry. Period. Laundry period.” — Shelley (read aloud by Brea) [07:09]
- International Moving Advice Sought: [08:46–09:54]
- Adria is moving from CA to Norway and wonders how to move her sizable physical library. Brea and Mallory invite listeners to share tips.
- Book Wheelhouse Shares: [09:54–10:10]
- Adria: “Low to medium stakes fantasy and mystery, cozy feel-good reads… cookbooks, gardening books, and random ass micro histories.”
- Etsy Registry Announcement: [10:10–12:47]
- The hosts replace their Amazon wishlist with an Etsy registry, favoring indie sellers and privacy.
- “I'm marrying Book Buddy, you're marrying your Kindle Paperwhite.” — Mallory [12:13]
- Book Club Update: [12:47–13:48]
- Book club on October 5th discussing The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; will be recorded for members as a bonus episode.
- On Host Bullying and Listener Behavior: [13:48–17:16]
- Mallory and Brea publicly address negative emails, especially those targeting Mallory’s musical preferences.
- “There’s two people on this podcast. One can like musicals and one cannot. That’s what the world is!” — Brea [14:48]
- “Just do it—don’t tell us. If me not liking something you like is going to change… Don’t tell me about it.” — Mallory [15:58]
Main Topic: Aging Up Your Book Taste
[21:01–35:53]
Inspiration Email from Avery [21:01–21:55]
Avery asks: How do I move from YA/middle grade to books that fit my evolving taste as I head into college, without sacrificing the elements I love?
Hosts’ Personal Experience
- YA wasn’t a defined category “back then”
- Mallory: “It’s a common story for precocious readers my age, we all just started reading adult books because that’s all there was.” [24:13]
- Brea: Only started reading more YA due to the podcast; key transitions for her happened via exposure in college classes.
- The generational shift: More niche age-targeted categories now exist, making transitions less “accidental” for today’s readers.
Tips for “Aging Up”:
- Don’t Force It! [25:39]
- “You don’t need to ‘age up’ your taste. But growth is good! You can outgrow books.” — Brea
- Embrace New Adult Books: [28:25]
- These serve as a bridge between YA and adult fiction (ages 18–23). Try read-alikes for favorite YA titles.
- Follow Your Wheelhouse by Genre, Not Age: [29:50]
- If you liked middle grade mysteries, try adult mysteries. Same with sci-fi, fantasy, etc.
- “Look for those same wheelhouse elements in more adult books—keep the stuff you love.” — Brea [30:59]
- Explore New Genres Entirely: [31:50]
- Mallory and Brea both shifted hard into new-to-them genres (Mallory → horror, Brea → sci-fi) as a form of “aging up.”
- Sample Adult Books by YA Authors: [31:31]
- Many authors write across age brackets (e.g., Lev Rosen).
- Let Class Assignments Inspire You [27:05]
- Take cues from college reading, professors, and new friends.
Avery’s Custom Recommendations [33:59]
Wheelhouse themes: friends-to-lovers, soft characters & anxiety rep, magical fantasy, boarding schools, underdog women with powers, quirky fairy tales, secret worlds, and nonfiction about tech/pop culture.
- Bria’s Pick: Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
- Magical dark academia, secretive school with persuasion skills as magic, underdog female lead.
- Mallory’s Pick: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
- New adult dark academia set at Yale; underdog woman, secret magic, hidden societies.
Interview: Becky Spratford, Author of Why I Love Horror
[39:00–64:35]
What’s Becky Reading? [39:24]
- Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- Multi-timeline family curse; “It lives up to all the hype. Generations of cursed daughters, three timelines, perfectly done.” — Becky [40:16]
- Long Low Whistle by Laurel Hightower (Killer VHS series) —“They're all books where movie monsters come to life and old VHS tapes summon long-buried evils… marketed as Goosebumps for adults.” — Becky [41:54]
Why I Love Horror — About the Book [42:26]
- An anthology of personal essays by 18 leading horror authors (e.g., Stephen Graham Jones, Tananarive Due, Clay McLeod Chapman, Rachel Harrison, Paul Tremblay, Hailey Piper) explaining their love of horror and how it shapes their work.
- “For years, I ran a series on my blog called Why I Love Horror… I wanted to talk directly to readers, because horror is so popular.” — Becky [44:15]
- Each essay is paired with introductory context, recommendations, and “readalikes”—“36 authors you can try, if you like one, you’ll find another!” [47:49]
Notable Discussion Points
- The “H Word” and the Literary Divide: [53:18]
- Becky refuses to use “literary horror”—all horror is worthy of being called literature.
- “All books are literary. Every book has intrinsic value.” — Becky [53:38]
- She observes a current horror renaissance due to diversification of voices and publishers finally using “horror” as a selling point.
- Monsters as Comfort: [57:08]
- Shared from Jennifer McMahon’s essay: “The monsters she saw on TV, in movies—she felt a connection to them that she could not feel to anything else. And it brought her so much happiness and comfort.” — Becky [57:08]
- Wheelhouse as a Horror Reader: [58:29]
- Becky craves books that are “slightly askew,” feel atmospheric, and where all details matter.
- “I want it to feel like I'm in the place, but things are just not the way they are… if I need to put the book down and go outside for a breath, that’s a great book.” — Becky [59:05]
Upcoming Events [60:57–63:05]
- Becky will be at Parnassus Books (Nashville, with Alma Katsu & Rachel Harrison), Anderson’s Books (Naperville), New York Public Library (October 7 with Clay McLeod Chapman, Victor LaValle, Grady Hendrix), Story Fest, and a virtual event with R.L. Stine.
Recommendations: Fantasy Books with “No Spice”
[64:42–67:43]
Listener request: Hannah seeks non-YA fantasy with minimal romance or “spice,” tired of over-hyped or hyper-romantic BookTok picks.
- Bria’s Pick: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett
- Cozy, clever, off-page romance, features an adult protagonist, great fairies. “We may have to retire this book, but it's as good as those Sarah J. Maas and Fourth Wing books.” — Bria [65:53]
- Mallory’s Pick: The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Perry
- Historical fantasy, isolated island, secret magic, coming-of-age with no romance subplot.
- “No romance in this book and it’s really great—definitely an underrated book.” — Mallory [67:28]
Notable Quotes & Moments
- “All you need is a little spooky flavor and we’re good.” — Mallory [41:06], about picking October reads
- “You don’t have to love the things you loved 10 years ago… We should always be growing.” — Brea [25:38]
- “Look, there’s two people on this podcast. One can like musicals, and one cannot. That’s what the world is.” — Brea [14:48]
- “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” (mildly gruesome etymology digression) — both hosts [29:50–30:26]
- “Goosebumps for adults is really what my brain needs right now.” — Mallory [42:12]
Episode Timestamps At-a-Glance
- [00:42] – Episode theme & guest intro
- [00:59–06:05] – What Are You Reading?
- [06:05–17:16] – Listener Feedback, community, host notes
- [21:01–35:53] – Main Discussion: Aging Up Book Taste, Tips & Recs
- [39:00–64:35] – Interview: Becky Spratford (“Why I Love Horror”)
- [64:42–67:43] – Fantasy with No Romance/Spice Recs
Further Resources
- Reading Glasses Discord: Active community for book discussions, book moves, and more.
- Etsy Wishlist Registry: Linked in show notes for gifting hosts non-Amazon book goodies.
- Upcoming Book Club: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Oct 5 (members only).
Summary prepared for listeners by an expert podcast summarizer. This episode delivers empathetic, practical book advice while celebrating personal reading growth and horror’s resurgence.