Ep 439 - How to Make a Best of List + Meredith from Fangoria!

Summary

Reading Glasses – Episode 439

How to Make a Best of List + Meredith from Fangoria!

Release Date: November 27, 2025
Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Special Guest: Meredith Borders (Fangoria)

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Episode Theme:

This episode explores the art and intention behind making a “Best of” book list—how to choose your top reads of the year, the criteria to consider, and why the process matters for readers. Mallory and Brea share their personal strategies, offer tips for creating an inclusive and reflective list, and chat with Fangoria’s Meredith Borders about her new hardcover horror anthology and the enduring power of magazines. Plus: recommendations for immersive reads.

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Episode Breakdown

1. What Are You Reading? (00:53 – 05:08)

• Brea’s Pick:

  • A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
    • Holiday romance with adult film star accidentally cast in a Hallmark-style movie.
    • “I can highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for like a cozy, cute romance that has smut, has spice, but it's light spice. It's not dominating the whole book. Super loved it. Very cute.” (04:45, Brea)

• Mallory’s Pick:

  • Sharkheart by Emily Habeck
    • Literary magical realism: people morphing into animals; main character’s partner turns into a shark.
    • “Holy—did you love it?”—“It wrecked me… such a beautiful meditation on grief…” (03:23–03:32, Mallory)
    • Short chapters make it a quick yet powerful read.

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2. Listener Feedback and Tips (05:08 – 11:36)

• Libby App Changes:

  • Kyla prefers the new “suspend hold” system, finding it less stressful as a mood reader.
  • “With the new system, I can wait as long as I want before unsuspending the hold and not feel any guilt about how long it's been…” (05:34, Kyla via Brea)

• On Speed Reading:

  • Tessa shares that minimizing subvocalization and using a finger or pointer increases both speed and comprehension.
  • “When I read faster, my comprehension goes up because I'm not spacing out in the middle of a paragraph.” (07:52, Tessa via Brea)
  • Mallory and Brea discuss their own speed reading approaches.

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3. How to Make a Best of Book List (12:25 – 25:16)

Premise: Behind the scenes of best-of list making. Aimed at book lovers and challenge participants, not just professional critics or podcasters.

Main Points and Takeaways:

• Diversity and Representation:

  • Strive for lists that span genres and authors.
  • “I want to make sure it's a really diverse list. Not just diverse authors, but diverse genres.” (14:10, Brea)
  • “It narrows things down. If you're like, all right, I only want to put haunted house books on this list… try to pick the best haunted house book.” (15:05, Mallory)

• Tips for Curation:

  1. Category Making:

     • Break down best-of lists by genre or even subgenre for specificity (“Best enemies-to-lovers,” “Best stressed-out mom thriller”).
     • “You can do best romance, best horror, best memoir, or get really specific…” (15:29, Mallory)

  2. Cultural Significance:

     • Consider why a book resonates now and how it represents the current moment.
     • “I try to find culturally significant books…how in 10, 15 or 100 years we're going to look back and be like…that book was pretty important.” (16:55, Brea)
     • Could be a distinct “Culturally Significant” category.

  3. Book Critic vs Book Recommender:

     • Focus on your personal experience and not just “objective” merit.
     • “These are just the best books of the year for me. They are my favorite books.” (17:54, Mallory)
     • “If you think a book is going to be important and that’s why you want to put it on your list, do it.” (17:54, Mallory)

  4. Revisit Your Ratings:

     • Consider how books live on in your memory and recommendations, not just your initial rating.
     • “There's actually one book… I have brought up to people all the time… but it wasn't rated as highly at the time—I don’t know why. That past Brea was wrong, actually.” (20:28, Brea)

  5. The Three-Factor Test (Mallory):

     • How quickly you read it (engagement)
     • How you felt finishing it (satisfaction)
     • How much you think about it after (lasting impact)
     • “A book I tore through but never thought about again probably won’t make the list…Conversely, a book I have thought about a lot might get bumped up.” (22:34–23:00, Mallory)

  6. Self-Reflection—Why Make a List?

     • “It’s a fun exercise to kind of know, learn more about yourself and what you're reading…it's like a wrap up of your whole reading year.” (23:15, Brea / 23:52, Mallory)
     • “It does feel official to be like, oh, that book was on my best of the year list last year. When you're recommending things to people. Feels very official.” (24:51, Mallory)

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4. Guest Interview: Meredith Borders, Fangoria (28:40 – 45:21)

Highlights:

• What’s Meredith Reading?

  • King Sorrow by Joe Hill
    • “Pretty early on into the book being like, oh, this is an all timer. Like, I'm gonna love this book for the rest of my life…beautiful characters, I cried like 100 different times…” (29:28, Meredith)
  • Weave World by Clive Barker
    • “It's so strange, which we love…He just has such beautiful poetry to his words…” (31:16, Meredith)

• Fangoria Compendium Project:

  • A hardcover, full-color anthology spanning Fangoria’s history, with additional Kickstarter for a fully indexed digital archive.
  • “We're doing a big hardcover, full-color, really beautiful compendium. It's called First and the Fangoria Compendium.” (32:11, Meredith)
  • “The edition on the Kickstarter is not going to be available anywhere else…a special cover, gilded edges, red ribbon bookmark…” (33:33, Meredith)
  • John Carpenter writing the forward; contributors include key horror luminaries.

• Magazines in the Reading Life:

  • Value: Immediacy, serendipity (pick off the newsstand), different perspectives, shorter bites for busier readers.
  • “Magazines are still providing that experience on a literary level…allows you that inner richness in a much more manageable chunk.” (38:24, Meredith)
  • Magazine reading is “a treat,” a “snack” for readers, and enhances literary discovery and self-image (“You look cool with your croissant and a magazine…” 40:27, Meredith)

• Meredith’s Reader Wheelhouse:

  • “The meeting of horror and fantasy…anything King Arthur related…” (41:06, Meredith)
  • Literary cozy mysteries: “I'm gonna be obsessed with that slightly more literary version of that where it's a little bit deeper…” (42:17, Meredith)
  • Tana French and Louise Penny are favorites; currently enjoys Thursday Murder Club.
  • Aspirations: Working on a cozy mystery set in Germany featuring an expat.

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5. Immersive Book Recommendations (46:45 – 50:15)

• Listener Sydney asks: For books with settings that can inspire immersive reading environments—lighting, ambiance, snacks, sensory input.

• Brea Recommends:

  • Migrations by Charlotte McConaghey
    • Set on a freezing boat in the Arctic—read with cold air, blue lights, salty snacks.
    • “You could turn the temperature way down…lighting low…sit there in front of like an air conditioning unit blasting cold air in your face…” (47:47, Brea)

• Mallory Recommends:

  • Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
    • Moody, rainy English setting, perfect with tea and scones, rainy day playlist.
    • “Whenever I think about this book, I think about fog and rain and puddles and scones and cups of tea…” (49:39, Mallory)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “These are just the best books of the year for me. They are my favorite books.” (17:54, Mallory)
• “I want to make sure it's a really diverse list. Not just diverse authors, but diverse genres.” (14:10, Brea)
• On recommending culturally significant books: “That is…sort of how I like to view art and culture.” (17:00, Brea)
• “How I felt about it when I was reading it, how I felt about it when I finished it, and how I feel about it now. Months later—a best book of the year is always high marks on all three.” (22:11, Mallory)
• “If you have read 50 books and 10…can't name 10 that are your favorite, you should probably go and think about what you're reading a little bit more.” (23:15, Brea)
• “I love making lists.” (23:48, Mallory)
• Meredith: “Magazines are just… especially when it comes to current events or just something you want to read about…they can be that perfect in between, between like a spontaneous thing you want to know about but without any of the other noise that comes with the Internet.” (38:42, interviewer paraphrasing Meredith)
• “You look cool with your little croissant and your coffee and your magazine—like that's a nice look on you.” (40:27, Meredith)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• What Are You Reading?: 00:53–05:08
• Listener Feedback & Speed Reading: 05:08–11:36
• Best Of List Process & Tips: 12:25–25:16
• Interview: Meredith Borders: 28:40–45:21
• Immersive Reading Recommendations: 46:45–50:15

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Episode Tone & Style

Warm, encouraging, slightly irreverent and self-aware; practical, reader-centric advice with playful asides and personal anecdotes. The show emphasizes personal meaning, diversity, and pleasure in the reading experience over “literary seriousness.”

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Useful For Listeners Who:

• Struggle or stress over making their own annual “Best Of” book lists
• Want concrete tips for list curation and self-reflective reading
• Are curious about the value and place of magazines in the reading life
• Love horror and pop culture history (Fangoria discussion)
• Seek book recommendations tailored to immersive, atmospheric experiences

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Further Information / Links

• For Fangoria Compendium Kickstarter: Visit Fangoria.com or Kickstarter (link in show notes)
• To join Reading Glasses Discord or sign up for the newsletter: see show notes
• Merchandise, contact info, and podcast rating links: see show notes

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Transcript

[Bria Graham]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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

[Bria Graham]

And I'm Bria Graham, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, we're talking about what goes into making a best of book list. Because you're probably reading a lot of best of book lists. You're probably making your own. Checking it twice. Whatever. We're going to talk about what goes into ours. And we interview Meredith Borders from Fangoria about their new book, which we love. Meredith Borders.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes, we do.

[Bria Graham]

And we're recommending immersive books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Graham]

The way I said that sounded like it. It sounded. Was like an E. Like he. Immersive. What I meant was immersive. I don't know what an immersive is. Like, it's like online. Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're immersing your E self.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Immersive books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Graham]

I just finished literally yesterday the book for our other podcast, Reading Smut, that you picked out because you read it a couple years ago, and it's called A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, who we also have read one of Sierra Simone's books, and it is so cute. Mallory, I'm so glad you picked out this book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is a Christmas smut, and it is. It's one of my favorite holiday romance books. It's so much fun. It's so well written. It's so steamy.

[Bria Graham]

It's. It's so well written for, like, I mean, so. Because I just haven't read that many romance books. I don't have that much to compare it to you, but I think I texted you. It reminded me a lot of an Emily Henry book. It's very clever. It's very smart. Kimberly Lemming as well. Like, very clever. Quippy. But it's about the making of, like, a Hallmark type Christmas movie. Yes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And it's funny because I forgot that it's about filmmaking. And I was like, oh, Bria's gonna like this even more.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, I actually really did. I did. And I thought I got a lot of it right. I was very impressed.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And.

[Bria Graham]

But basically, this producer is like, he. He normally makes porn and he's like, getting into, like, the Hallmark world, which actually there is a lot of, like, crossover. Hallmark crossover. So I thought it was interesting that they. That there was this. And they lose their main actress and they accidentally cast an adult film star who does like porn, but also has essentially like an only fans. She's very popular online and they accidentally cast her because her like headshot gets put into like the, the. The list of people they have to cast at the last minute. And then she's cast across from a guy who used to being like a boy man a la NSync. And funnily enough, Bea, who's the woman, has a huge crush on him from when he was in. In the NSync like group. And he happens to know who she is as. Oh, is that in the. Can I say that?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. He's a subscriber to her. This universe of only fans.

[Bria Graham]

So they're fans of each other. I didn't know if that was. That was a spoiler. Yeah, they're fans of each other, which is so cute. And then they like when they see each other, like, oh my God. Um, and then they also have to keep it very PG because it's like a Hallmark esque movie, which is very fun. I can highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for like a cozy, cute romance that has smut, has spice, but it's light spice. It's. It's not, it's not dominating the whole book. Super loved it. Very cute. What are you reading, Mallory? I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's my turn to hop on the Bria book train and I am reading a book you have recommended, or I just finished, really, the other night. A book that you've been talking about on the show quite a bit. Sharkheart by Emily Habeck. I think how you pronounce it. Yeah. This book. Holy.

[Bria Graham]

Did you love it?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It wrecked me. I guess you would call it like a magical realism. It's literary fiction, but it has like a magic.

[Meredith Borders]

Yeah, it's the kind of.

[Mallory O'Meara]

The book version of the movie. The lobster. Like in this world.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

In this. It's like, it's all. It's like it's our world, but different Bria book. And the. The different thing in this world is that sometimes, and this is just an accepted part of this society, people have mutations in their DNA where at some point in their life they could be a baby, they could be an older person. They're just gonna start turning into an animal. And it could be any animal. It could be a bird, it could be a dog. And there's a whole process that you have to go through when they have this facility to help you. And the main character is this woman and she's married to this man and he starts turning into a great white shark. And it's about their lives and their marriage together and it's so sad. It's such a beautiful meditation on grief and something that I think Glassers should know about is that chapters are really short. It's a short chapter book.

[Bria Graham]

Oh, I didn't remember that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Part of the reason why you fly through it is one it's really, really good. It's beautifully written, it's really fascinating. It's a great meld of like character and plot but also short ass chapters. So you are flying through that bad boy. It I loved it so much. Really really enjoyed it. Could not recommend more shark art by.

[Bria Graham]

Emily Habeck and I also highly recommend A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. And if you are interested in that, tune in to reading Smut. Tune in next week or some. It's the next episode that we do a book club on for reading Smut and it is. It is adorable. You hear us talk all about it and we both really liked it foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Kyla wrote in to say wanted to share my thoughts on the Libby changes since I seem to be in the minority of actually liking the change.

[Bria Graham]

Okay, should we remind people what this is? Libby changed you no longer. When you have something on hold, you can't just like boot it. Like like punt it a little bit. You have to say whether or not you want to suspend your hold when it comes up. You have to suspend your hold when or you have to take the book. So it changed the way they do their whole process.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, it's gone from a you can kick it down the road for a week, few months, however long you want basically. And now it's either black and white. Either you're on hold for it or you're not. But Kyla seems to be a fan. Kyla says I've done the deliver in X days, sometimes multiple times. And as a mood reader, the stress of feeling like I have to either read it right now or feel like I'm scheduling what to read when actually made me just cancel some holds altogether just because I felt too guilty and knew I wouldn't read it anytime soon. With the new system, I can wait as long as I want before unsuspending the hold and not feel any guilt about how long it's been as far as forgetting it. Suspended. If I'm wanting to read it, I'll look it up on Libby and then see I have it suspended and unspent. Much simpler in my mind. Just wanted to share in case that perspective is helpful for others who are less happy with the change. Love the chat about epistolary books. I'm a big fan too. I've been reading through Jane Austen and was pleasantly surprised to find her novella Lady Susan is actually epistolary. Also really enjoyed LMNOP and recommend it. And if you haven't read it, thanks for the great show. I've talked about LMNOP on the show before, but it is a really fun epistolary book.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have talked about it before. I was trying to figure out why that's good. I'm glad some people are enjoying the Libby change.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And I will say I've seen a lot of people in the in the Discord channel start to be like, yeah, I actually kind of like this better. So I think we're all just getting used to it. We're all just kidding.

[Interviewer/Host]

Coming around.

[Bria Graham]

Change is hard, everyone. Change is hard.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is.

[Bria Graham]

Tess wrote in and said hi Brian Mallory. I love the discussion about reading styles and I've also hunted for the feeling of matching the writing style to my reading. This is isn't where you ended up on the podcast, but part of the question was how to get your reading to match your brain. My reading is best when I stop hearing my voice, read the words. This is called sub vocalization and start reading quickly and start to experience the book. Okay, so Tessa's like not reading. I do the subset vocalization thing. I think. Not everyone does though. I work at a training company that used to train on one of those old school speed speed reading programs by Evelyn Wood, and that program helped me get into the flow in reading by using my finger to move quickly across the words to guide my eyes and align to the speed my brain wants to move. I know speed reading can bring out strong opinions and people and many readers want to really focus on the words. But when I read faster my comprehension goes up because I'm not spacing out in the middle of a paragraph. Thanks for your amazing podcast. It makes me happy. Every week we have talked about speed reading, but it's been a while.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, we did an episode on it a really long time ago.

[Bria Graham]

I'm able to do but you basically speed ready speed read.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, but I speed read kind of just because I I. It's my one superpower is I can I'm very fast reader but I don't do the finger thing. I know a lot of people too. Maybe we should try it out.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, maybe we should try. I think we tried it at one point, but maybe we should revisit it. Do you want to read Tessa's Wheelhouse?

[Mallory O'Meara]

The Wheelhouse is Best Friends in Space, Abandoned amusement parks, mythology and folktale retellings, and stories within stories. Best Friends in Space is so cute.

[Bria Graham]

That's so cute. That's so cute. Very cute.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.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, the link in the show notes, and a quick bookmark to remind you folks if you want to get in that Discord, you can sign up to support us [e-mail] join you go over there, you sign up to support us even at the $5 level and then you email us a screenshot that is a proof of your membership and we'll send you a invite to the Discord. It's popping in there. We love the Discord. We love our little community. And if you want to both help us make the show every week and pay our bills and feed our cats, but also hang out with your fellow glassers in the Discord, that's how you do it. So before we talk about making a Best of book list, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Aura Frames, folks. Nowadays families are all over the place. You got friends, family members all over the country, all over the globe. But how do you keep families connected even when you are really far away? You can use Aura Frames, folks. It's gift giving time a year. It is. It's a tough time. There's always one person in your family, sometimes multiple people that you have no idea what to get them. But Bria, tell us about Oura Frames and why this is a really great gift.

[Bria Graham]

Well, it is a frame. It is a frame and it displays your photos digitally. So you just download the Aura app, you connect it to Wi Fi, and you can upload unlimited photos and videos from anywhere at any time. So that means you can give it to someone, maybe a grandma, maybe a mother, and you can already have photos on that frame. You can put little cute photos of your kids and your pets and yourself for people. And you can upload more at any time. It's a really great gift to give people. And every frame comes in a premium gift box with no price tag. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it. Also, they can put their own photos in there too. If grandma has a lot of photos she wants to put in there you can show her how to use that app and she can get it in there as well. So they there's a lot of ways to use these, but it is a really fun, great gift that is just can be really personalized in a really fun way.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. If you have somebody in your life who, I don't know, maybe they're bad at reading their texts. Maybe they're a person who's not great with technology and you wanna send them photos but you're not sure. You've emailed them, you've texted them and you just don't really know if they've gotten them. You have someone who's not a tech person. Aura frames are truly perfect for that because then the photos are just gonna show up in a picture frame in their house that looks really and is very easy for everyone to use. And then you won't have to worry about trying to attach photos to an email or make sure they go through whatever many group threads that you're in and text. This simplifies all of that and keeps you connected. And for a limited time you can visit Oraframes.com and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames named number one by Wirecutter by using Promo Code Glasses at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code Glasses this exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year. Order it now before it ends. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Glasses.

[Max Fun Announcer]

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[Mallory O'Meara]

This week we're talking about what goes into making a best of book list. How do you decide what the best books are for the year or for the season? Is it literary merit? Is it vibes? Is it fun? We are getting into it. So this is our last box to check off the 2025 Reading Glasses Glasses Glasses glasses challenge make your top 10 books of the year, front or back list. And since we already do our best books of the year episodes, we thought it would be fun to give you a little look behind the bookish curtain on how we choose our book and maybe some tips.

[Bria Graham]

It's just a curtain made of pages. It's a curtain made of pages.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's a big page that is. Yeah, it's just huge. I actually would love a shower curtain that was just a big book page. That would look really cool.

[Bria Graham]

Wait, I'm looking on Etsy right now to see if we can add that to our Etsy wish list. Hold on. That's awesome. A book shower curtain. That has to exist.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That has to exist. Okay. So, yes, we are giving you a look behind the book, a shower curtain on how we choose our books for the best books of the year, but also maybe give you some tips on how to. If you are a little overwhelmed. Picking best books of the year does seem like it comes with a lot of pressure, so maybe we can help you out and take a little bit of the pressure off and show you how to do it. Also, for the rules, you do not read 10 books this year, and you're doing the reading glasses challenge. Adjust accordingly. You can do your top five, three, two, or just your one favorite of.

[Interviewer/Host]

The year is fine.

[Mallory O'Meara]

If you read one book and that's your favorite, boom, and you're done. You don't have.

[Bria Graham]

Probably is your favorite if you only read one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, you're good.

[Bria Graham]

You don't have a lot of options. That's. That's your favorite. You got it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, let's get into it. Bria, what are some things that go into making your list?

[Bria Graham]

Stress. I have a lot of stress over it, but I actually tried to, like, just let it go. And. But I. I think. I think part of it is that, like, I'm like, have I read enough books? Have I read any books? And, like, I start to, like, go into.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No matter how many books I read every. Every year during December, I'm like, why haven't I read 200 more?

[Bria Graham]

Well, speaking of that shark cart book, I remember when I read it, I was like, if I had read this the year it came out, it would have been my best love list.

[Meredith Borders]

Yeah.

[Bria Graham]

Like, so there's books like that that I always am bummed when I read later, but there's so many good books I read every year that it's never hard to find 10. I. I think the first thing I do is I'm trying to pick out books that I liked, but also ones that I'd recommend to other people. And I want to make sure it's a really diverse list. Not just diverse authors, but diverse genres. Because I could pick 10 science fiction books easy and be like, these are my top 10 science fiction books, and that's my top 10 of the year. But, like, and this is specific to me because I am a podcaster, and you're a podcaster, and I am a podcaster.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're a podcaster, too.

[Bria Graham]

Everyone's a podcaster. I think, like, I want to take that job seriously, that people, you know, they're looking at this list, and I want to make sure it's inclusive of all types of books and all types of people. Um, so that is the one thing I do try to pay attention to, while the one thing that when I'm trying to pick is that I'm not just like, here are seven science fiction books and three other books that are also probably science fiction.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We all know that if I made a list, it would be here's 15 haunted house books that Mallory O' Meara read this year. I do the same thing. I do try to hit multiple genres. And I think even though we are talking as podcasters, this can be really helpful for everyone making a list, because it can narrow things down. If you're like, all right, I only want to put haunted house books on this list. Try to pick the best haunted house.

[Interviewer/Host]

Book.

[Bria Graham]

And just pick one. Which is always hard.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is very hard. But that's. I mean, I do like hitting multiple genres because then, I mean, it's good for us as book recommenders, but it's good for me myself, because I already know that I like haunted house books. I want to make sure that I'm picking the best of all the types of books that I read that year. I mean, that's why we like to make so many categories. And I do. Yeah, I recommend this method. If you're having a difficult time picking books, you know, you can pick the best genres. You can do best romance, best horror, best memoir, you know, or get really specific. If you read a lot of haunted house books, get. Get granular about it, or if you read a lot, say you read a lot of romance, you could do best enemies to Lovers, best Second chance romance. If you read a lot of horror, best historical, best vampire book, best werewolf book. If you read a lot of thrillers, best stressed out mom of the year. Like, for me, it helps me, especially if I'm looking back on, like, my best of list. I Think it's a little bit more indicative of like, what I was, what my reading was that year. So if you're having a hard time with. With reading a lot of one type of book, make a genre list or make a really granular specific get. Get as silly as you want, you.

[Bria Graham]

Know, get like mine are always very silly where I get very like my best sci fi that is almost not sci fi. Like I get so silly. But. But then at least I'm like trying to branch out within. Within each category. Yes, I guess.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, what's. What's your next hot tip?

[Bria Graham]

I also try to find like, culturally significant books, but also ones they have to resonate with me obviously first. But I think I like to think about why someone wrote something and where it's like sitting now in culture and how in 10 to 15 or 100 years we're going to look back and be like, you know, that Sarah J. Moss book, and it had a lot to say about women at the time or whatever. Like, you know, why were people obsessing over fairies? You know, like, whatever that book is, that is. I do try to think about, like, what it's saying about us right now. That kind of thing is really interesting to me in general. So it makes a difference in my list making because there are books that I'm like, you know, this book. I just think we're going to keep coming back to it. I think we're going to come back to it in 10 years and be like, that book was pretty important and that I want to include on my, on my list, especially if it resonated with me. And if there's like two books that are kind of the same for me, but one I think is a little bit more like, oh, I can see why this book was written at this time. I'm probably going to go with that one above the other book. But that is me. And also like, sort of how I like to view art and culture.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What about you? You know, it's funny, the thing that I was about to say I thought was going to be the opposite of this, but I actually think it kind of goes together because I was going to say that it's important to remember that we are not book critics, that we are book recommenders. And that's a very different thing. I think you should rem that what you think is culturally important is valid just because you are not a serious book critic who works for major publication if you think that a book is going to be important and that's why you want to put it on your list, do it. You know, for me, it takes a lot of pressure off of me because again, we're not book critics. We are not making a list that is going in the New York Times or the LA Times or something. These. I don't have to defend my choices. These are just the best books of the year for me. They are my favorite books. And if you are making a list of your favorites and you think they're important or culturally significant, that's fucking awesome. I don't do it because I don't know, for me, it's one of those, like, choose your own adventure things where thinking like that puts pressure on me. But if I think you could do it in a way that has no pressure.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, I don't feel the pressure. I don't feel pressure to do it. For me, it's more like, oh, I think it's a little both. Is that it resonated with me because I am alive right now, you know, like, so there is like, I'm an expert on this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Because I'm alive is such a great way to go.

[Bria Graham]

Like, it's like, oh, this is a cool sci fi book that has a technology that I'm interested in. Or like there. Last year I read so many AI Robot lady books and I was like, I know why these are being written right now. You know, and it made sense to me. And it's also something I'm interested because AI is such a, you know, hot topic. Right?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I remember.

[Meredith Borders]

I'm trying to think.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Annie bought last year was one of the big Glasser books. Best pick of the year, I think for them.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah. Anybody? I don't know. I think I read three lady robot books last year and I can't remember what they were, but I remember thinking, like, I can't believe how many of these I'm reading. And like, it makes sense. They were all written.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Maybe we should put that as a category in our best books of the year Is like most culturally robot. No, most culturally significant of the year. Like, what book do you think reflects the current times? The best.

[Bria Graham]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Fun category.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, I mean, I think that. Yeah, I think that's fun. I like that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you could. What we're saying is you can do it two ways. You can do it. Like I do it. I'm like, don't look at me. I'm not a serious book critic. I'm picking my favorites. Or you can if you need some help. And you're like, I, you know, I'm Having a hard time being subjective about it. Be a little objective and be like, all right, well, what books do you think are gonna. Are gonna matter five years from now or gonna be classics someday?

[Bria Graham]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, what's your last tip?

[Bria Graham]

Well, the last tip is I go kind of the opposite way, which is that I go through the cop aisle. I go through my list, and I'm like, okay, these are the ones I rated the top. And there's actually one book in particular I'm thinking about right now that I have brought up to people all the time. I bring it up all the time to people. I'm like, you should read this book. This book came out this year. It's amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You didn't read it?

[Bria Graham]

Well, when I look, I know it's rated high, but it's not rated. I have some books that are 10 out of 10 that are 5 out of 5. Like, 100% this book. It wasn't quite that at the time, and I don't know why. Who knows what that Bria was thinking at that moment, but that Bria doing. It's the one that. That past Bria was wrong, actually, that past Bria was a little bit wrong. Which. I know you take longer to rate your stuff, and I rate my Stu Stuff, like, right away, but I. I have to start. Like, I have to do a little bit of waiting. Weighing. Weighing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What is it?

[Bria Graham]

I'm putting some weight on it. Wait, you know what I mean? Like, putting. Yeah, yeah. Like, I need to weigh it a little bit more because, wow, this book just keeps coming up in conversation, and it has had a lasting effect on me, and I. It's like. It's a little bit more, like, of a gut feeling that, like, this is just a book that stuck with me. Whereas, like, there is one book on my cop pile that is rated like, a 10 out of 10, and I cannot remember what it's about. And I'm like, that can't be one of my favorite books of the year because I can't remember what the book is about. Like, but this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But.

[Bria Graham]

But. So, like, that is, like, going through and just having that gut feeling of, like, wow. I sure have recommended this book over and over again this year, and I've never even talked about this other one, which I think that has. That's my, like, last. Like, that's the culling. You know, the final culling for the list ends up being. That's where the bloodshed happens, where, you know, I'm like, It's the gut feeling. The gut feeling at the end, what is your last tip for everyone? Right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

For me it comes down to three factors. One, how quickly I read it, how much I thought about it while I was reading it. Like, was I clamoring to get back to this book because I was so hooked on it. Two, how I felt at the end. Like when I finished it, even if it was like a sad book, was I satisfied by it? You know, Sharkheart's a great example. It's not a feel good book. But like I was very satisfied when I finished it.

[Bria Graham]

Beautiful. And then beautiful ending.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And then three, like you just said how much I thought about it since like sometimes a book is very satisfying and I put it down and never think about it again. A book I tore through but never thought about again probably won't make the list. And like you said, conversely, a book I have thought about a lot might get bumped up. So I boil it down to how I felt about it when I was reading it, how I felt about it when I finished it, and how I feel about it now. Months since a best book of the year is always like high marks on all three and it's harder. It's pretty hard to do that.

[Bria Graham]

It's the Goldilocks of.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's.

[Bria Graham]

It's not too hot, not too cold. It's just right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Just right.

[Bria Graham]

The just right book. Yeah, it's tough.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Final question that's not in our, not in our list. But I thought it was interesting to ask. Why do you think it's important to make a best of the year list as readers? Your favorite books of the year?

[Bria Graham]

I mean, I don't think it's necessary for people. I think it's a fun exercise to kind of know, learn more about yourself and what you're reading. If you can't make a, if you've read 50 books and 10 or you can't name 10 that are your favorite, you should probably like go and think about what you're reading a little bit more. So I think like it's, it's more to just get to know what you should be picking up next year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Graham]

You know what you should keep. Think what you should be adding to your list and what you're reading but isn't a book that's sticking with you or for whatever reason.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Graham]

Why do you think people should do it?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Because I love making lists.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, making lists is very fun.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I love making a list. But I agree, I think it's, it's almost like a really good assessment. Yeah, it's like a wrap up of your whole reading year. And like, it can. I think that's, that's something that I.

[Bria Graham]

Well, you and I both love an end of year, like, thing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We love.

[Bria Graham]

Like, we both are like, we love assessing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Assessment.

[Bria Graham]

I can, I love an assessment, a self assessment.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, Brie and I are first in line to assess ourselves. We love learning about ourselves here on reading glasses. And I think it can really help you. Like we talked about, we did an episode about our wheelhouses recently. Something that I, you know, I realize is I'm like, oh, I have this thing in my wheelhouse. But none of these books are ever making my best of the year, you know, and if I, if there's a type of book that is regularly the past few years making a best of the year, I have to be like, do I love this? Should I put this in my wheelhouse? Like, is this something I should seek more of? So I think it's really important at the end of the year to, like, look over all the things that you really loved and look at. Maybe look at the things that aren't on there and then assess and adjust your reading life accordingly. Again, it's also.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

On the make a list. And then. And it does feel official to be like, oh, that book was on my best of the year list last year. When you're recommending things to people. Feels very official.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, that does feel very nice. Like it was one of my top books of the year. Yeah, that. Then it seems like. Like for what? For my own. For my own journaling.

[Mallory O'Meara]

In. In the Journal of Mallory. In the. In a accredited Journal of Mallory o'. Meara. Very important stuff.

[Bria Graham]

That's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you can send your thoughts on making a best of list ofreading glasses podcastmail.com before we talk to Meredith Borders from Fangoria. Very fun interview. We're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored this week by our old pals over at Storyworth. Folks, you know we love Storyworth. And it's the Christmas season. If you are looking for an incredibly thoughtful, easy gift, you cannot do better than Storyworth. But, Bria, how does Storyworth work?

[Bria Graham]

So Storyworth, what it does is it emails a loved one a question prompt every week. Every week. Right. And they write a story, like an answer, or they can record it over the phone and Storyworth will transcribe it if they don't do email. And after a year, Storyworth compiles your loved one's stories and photos, if you have photos, into a beautiful keepsake hardcover book. And this year, they've added a whole bunch of new features to make the storytelling even easier with personalized questions and a magic editor. Meanwhile, their magic layout and new book designs and vibrant color printing make finished books look even more beautiful. And they've printed over a million books and preserved 35 million family stories since their founding 13 years ago. They also have over 48,000 five star reviews on Trustpilot. Listen, we both use this, right, Mallory?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's so easy to use. It's so nice. And it's one of those things where you get to ask questions to a family member that you would not think to ask over the course of normal life. Like, you're not sitting with your. With one of your parents and being like, what was your first date like over breakfast? Like, it's. These are questions. These are like deep, thoughtful questions that you just might not be thinking to ask regularly.

[Bria Graham]

If you had your parent or grandparent or loved one on a podcast and you got to ask them questions about their life, this is the next best thing, is you get to ask these questions, they get to think about them, write them down. Because, look, it's hard to ask people these questions and you get to actually hear about their life. Someone that you really love. I have one from my mom that I really love. She got them for all of her relatives, her sisters and her brother.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's what's nice is you can get multiple copies of the same one, which is really cool.

[Bria Graham]

That's right, you can. It's a really fun gift to give someone and a gift for you as well.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you can give your loved ones a unique keepsake that you'll all cherish for years. Storyworth Memoirs. Right now, you can save $10 or more during their holiday sale. When you go to storyworth.com glasses that's storyworth.com glasses to save $10 or more on your order. Glasses.

[Bria Graham]

Glasses.

[Mark and Hal Promo Speaker]

Ready?

[Max Fun Announcer]

Go.

[Mark and Hal Promo Speaker]

Knock, knock.

[Bria Graham]

Who's there?

[Mark and Hal Promo Speaker]

We got this with Mark and Hal. Doc, you knew this one. We can't put that out as an ad. We just did new episodes every week on MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcast now. It's Hewn in rock. Hewn in Rock.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Mark and Hal Promo Speaker]

How do you hue something in rock? With a chisel. There's only one hue in rock, and it's Huey Lewis. And the news is we got this with Mark and how is available Every week on MaximumFun.org I walked right into that.

[Interviewer/Host]

So here we are. We got friend of the show, senior editor at Fangoria, and author Meredith Borders on the show today for with a very exciting, timely announcement. Merida, thank you so much for coming on the show.

[Meredith Borders]

Mallory, thank you so much for having me. And it's also so exciting to hear the word author attached to my name that is brand new for me. So I'm very, very excited.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It was.

[Meredith Borders]

I had a little thrill in my heart just now. Oh, yay.

[Interviewer/Host]

Well, you are. And, but well, before we talk about your, your big project, big announcement before we get into that, what are you reading? And I'm very excited because I know you're a big reader. I've been excited to talk to you about your reading for quite a while.

[Meredith Borders]

I, I love to read. I'm always reading multiple books. I just finished oh my God. King Sorrow by Joe Hill.

[Interviewer/Host]

I have a few friends that are reading this and they all love was.

[Meredith Borders]

Such a rare experience of like pretty early on into the book being like, oh, this is an all timer. Like I'm going to love this book for the rest of my life. Oh my God. It's just so good. It's so exciting and it's like classical but urgent and really, really funny. Really suspenseful, beautiful characters. I cried like 100 different times while reading it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh my gosh.

[Meredith Borders]

And I didn't want to finish it. I mean it's pretty long. It's like 800 plus.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh yeah. And there's that weird feeling that you're.

[Interviewer/Host]

Like, I don't want to be other places than this book.

[Meredith Borders]

Exactly. Oh God. And yeah, I was, I loved every single minute of it. It was a really special experience. I'm. I'm going to be thinking about for so long and just like waiting until enough time has passed for me to reread it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But.

[Meredith Borders]

And I'm currently reading Weave World by Clive Barbger, which is also really, really cool.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh yeah. Weave World is wild.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's wild, right?

[Bria Graham]

Yeah.

[Meredith Borders]

It is not. It's not like anything else he's ever written that I have read. I've mostly read his horror stuff. Right. And Weave World obviously has plenty of horror to it.

[Interviewer/Host]

Clive Parker's fantasy stuff gets bonkers.

[Meredith Borders]

It's bonkers already. And I'm only, I don't know, maybe 100 pages or so into it. And yeah, I mean even just the concept, right. That it's like this entire, you know, entire universe exists within the of a carpet. It's like that right there. Just the synopsis is already like nothing else.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yes, it's. I've read a bunch of Clive Barker's fantasy stuff, including his YA Fantasy stuff, which is really fun, but it is.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You should get into that.

[Interviewer/Host]

Abarat is great, but it's. It's like, it's so strange, which we love.

[Bria Graham]

That's.

[Interviewer/Host]

That's why we love him.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But it is. It's.

[Interviewer/Host]

It's. It definitely sounds like stuff that started out as, like, high deas. Like, it's just so bizarre. But I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There's.

[Interviewer/Host]

Nobody else writes like him.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Exactly.

[Meredith Borders]

And he just has such beautiful poetry to his words that. I mean, honestly, the subject matter could be about anything, and I would enjoy it, but I also really enjoy the subject matter.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, fantastic. Well, okay. Big, big thing to talk about today that is very, very timely because today is the last day people can order it. For right now, please tell us about your new book, Meredith.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Thank you.

[Meredith Borders]

So I work for Fangoria. I've been there since the relaunch in 2018. We decided. We kind of put our heads together and realized that there hasn't been yet a sort of history of Fangoria that goes back to the very beginning. The magazine was launched originally in 1979. There's so much history to it. I mean, there. There was a time that Martin Scorsese contributed. I mean, there were times, like, in early issues that, like, Frank Darabont and other writers were writing into the, like, postal zone, the letters to the editor.

[Interviewer/Host]

It was so magical.

[Meredith Borders]

Young filmmakers now. I mean, there's so much interesting history within these pages that a lot of it, I mean, it's not lost. You can find the issues on ebay and stuff, but they're. They're not easy to find. So we're doing a big hardcover, full color, really beautiful compendium. It's called first and the Fangoria Compendium. And we have a Kickstarter. The book is not really for the Kickstarter. I mean, you can pre order the book on the Kickstarter. The Kickstarter is more for this other really exciting element that backers can help us build this really robust, like, indexed, searchable digital archive of the magazine's original run, which is. I mean, that's like such an important preservation project because some of these issues have some truly brilliant scholarship in them. I mean, they were doing such for real journalism back then, and a lot of it is not anywhere online, which is cool, you know, and so I think the Kickstarter is so great because we're asking fans to actually help us build this, like, really important preservation project. And so we're all sort of kind of creating this art archive together. So, yeah, I'm really, really excited to be a part of it.

[Interviewer/Host]

So eventually this book will be in bookstores, but if fans want to pre order it now and get it through the Kickstarter, besides this amazing digital archive, like what are the perks of going on the Kickstarter right now, today, which is the last day, and contributing.

[Meredith Borders]

The edition on the Kickstarter is not going to be available anywhere else in terms of they'll have a special cover, it's going to have gilded edges. So fantastic red ribbon bookmark. Yeah, like all the pretty things that we book nerds love, you're not be able to get in bookstores. You can only get here. There's lots of different tiers where you can get signed copies. Not just by me, but we have a lot of other contributors. John Carpenter's writing the forward. I can't promise he'll sign any copies.

[Interviewer/Host]

But him writing the forward is really cool.

[Meredith Borders]

Really, really cool. And then we have a ton of huge names involved. And then we also have a lot of some of my favorite horror writers working today, like Brian Collins, BJ Colangelo, Richard Newby, Michael Ginkold and Tony Tempone and Phil no Bill, who are all the editors? Chris Alexander of Fango that are still living are all contributing. And so there are lots of different tiers where you can get contributor signed copies. You can get Fangoria trading cards and posters and bookmarks. We're throwing a lot of stuff at this because we're so excited about it and any of these perks we're never going to make available anywhere else. So we wanted to make that really special for the people who are helping us build this archive right now.

[Interviewer/Host]

So awesome. So cool. Okay, so I know you're a big reader and I'm very curious to see how do magazines fit into your personal reading life?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I love Faygo.

[Interviewer/Host]

It is, I mean, it's the best horror magazine there is. And I. I'm always interested to see how people who read a lot of like print books and ebooks fit magazines into their sort of personal reading rotation.

[Meredith Borders]

That's such a good question. And I definitely got this from my dad, who is a writer and an editor and the biggest reader I know. And so he is always has multiple books going and multiple magazines and newspapers going. He's a newspaper man, career newspaperman. And so just growing up, magazines have been a huge part of my household. I was always just like, oh, this is what you do? You subscribe. And I always did. I now live in Germany and so it's like a much more Expensive endeavor. So what I do instead is support my favorite magazines with digital subscriptions. I still have subscriptions to the New Yorker and Mother Jones and some of my favorite magazines that I used to physically subscribe to when I lived in America. And then I love, love buying a magazine and a newsstand. It feels so classic.

[Interviewer/Host]

You feel like you're in Sex and the City, you know.

[Meredith Borders]

Exactly. And I just, I love the spontaneity of it. I love. Oh, I didn't think about, you know, reading about the subject today. But you know what I'm going to.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm going to learn.

[Meredith Borders]

And another really exciting Fango development we have is that we just announced a new single issue publications division that I'm heading up. I'm so excited. And so we're making these sort of one shot issues that are all about one. So the first one that we just released was all about Frankenstein, not just the new movie, but Mary Shelley, Universal, Hammer, like all of it. And they're available in newsstands and grocery stores and airports and places that our traditional magazine has not been available. I am so excited to see one in the wild. And also I'm hoping it'll drive some subscriptions because there are a lot of old Fangoria fans that don't realize that we're back because they're not online or in bookstores. And that's kind of the only way you can find out these days. And so everyone goes to the grocery store. Right. So I'm hoping some, some people who used to subscribe back in 70s and 80s see, you know, our Frankenstein issue and are like Fango. And then they realize that we actually have a, you know, a magazine you can subscribe to also, which would be pretty cool.

[Interviewer/Host]

That's so magical.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, so cool.

[Interviewer/Host]

So for people who, for readers who might not have magazines sort of as part of their, their book diet, how do you think adding magazines can improve someone's general reading life?

[Meredith Borders]

I think the immediacy of it is really important because obviously a lot of time that goes into writing and getting published a and so there's obviously just a sort of current events element that I think is really cool. But also, I mean, I was just saying this about myself. What I love about it is the spontaneity and this happens with bookstores, but not that many people go to bookstores that often. And it's like the old video store, right. Just being in front of a shelf and being able to scan and be like, oh, that looks good, that looks interesting. That experience is often lost in reading these days because so many people get their books from online or they get them from the library, but it's whenever their library hold comes up. And so you're not really getting a choice at that point. It's like, oh, this is the one that's available.

[Interviewer/Host]

You are being assigned this book for the next however many days.

[Meredith Borders]

Exactly. And so that level of choice of being able to scan a shelf and be like, yeah, okay, that one looks good. I miss so much from video stores. And I think magazines are still providing that experience on a literary level. And also I think for people who aren't actually big book readers, this is true of my husband who, you know, he wants to read, he likes to read, but he's really busy and he gets kind of overwhelmed at the idea of like diving into the multi hundred.

[Interviewer/Host]

Eight hundred page book about a dragon perhaps.

[Meredith Borders]

Exactly. I'm like, oh my God, no, you have to read King Sorrow. He's like, literally, when, when will I have 800 pages? And I think magazines are such a great way to allow yourself that sort of same inner richness that you're getting from reading a book, but in a much more like bite sized and manageable chunk, you know.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah, I feel, I. That's a really great point that I have not even thought about is that magazines are just, especially when it comes to current events or just something you want to read about, you know, it's, you know, if you look at up something online, all of a sudden you're looking at social media and it's like magazines can kind of be that perfect in between, between like a spontaneous thing you want to know about but without any of the other noise that comes with the Internet. And it's like a beautiful, it's like a beautiful in between where you are reading and you're sitting with your little fancy croissant and your coffee and whatever it is, but it almost feels like like a snack of reading, like something like a treat. It really is like a treat.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And that is.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, that's, that's so wonderful. I'm also a big magazine person, so I, I love it.

[Meredith Borders]

And I think too just getting a whole bunch of different perspectives in one publication because editing fango, whenever I edit one of our issues and we're currently in the middle of issue 30, goes to print soon and so I'm in editing mode. It's like, oh my God, I've got, I've got 20 different brilliant writers and different perspectives within this one 100 page publication that I'm currently editing and I'm learning so much just through the editing and fact checking process. But also I always imagine myself as a reader if I was reading Fango, if I didn't work for them. How cool that would be.

[Bria Graham]

Right?

[Meredith Borders]

Like we, and as writers, like we all love writing for magazines because it's this, this chance to go semi long form. But you know, you're getting some of the greatest writers working out there all in one publication. Which you know, obviously is rarely true of a book. Although will be true of the compendium.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yay.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yeah, it's fair. It is very exciting and it's especially if you are looking for new writers to pay attention to.

[Meredith Borders]

I yeah, absolutely.

[Interviewer/Host]

Can't get better than, than that.

[Meredith Borders]

And you look cool. You look cool with your little croissant and your coffee magazine. Like you're gonna look hot at a cafe if you're reading a magazine. Like that's a nice look on you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

Because you know you're. If you're just another person on your phone, whatever. But if you're, you're a person with a magazine. You're so urbane. You're so sophisticated.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Again, look at you.

[Interviewer/Host]

Very, very sex in. You feel very good. And that's. I mean, why eat a croissant in public if you're not going to look fancy about it?

[Meredith Borders]

So true.

[Interviewer/Host]

So something I am dying to know. Meredith, what is your reader wheelhouse? What are all the subjects and tropes that draw you to a book?

[Meredith Borders]

So I mean, this is why it's no surprise that King Sorrow was a favorite of mine. Because two of my big tropes are totally covered in there. One is the meeting of horror and fantasy, which is also why I'm reading Weave World. But I.

[Interviewer/Host]

Everything is coming together now.

[Meredith Borders]

Yes, it really is. So those are definitely like if those two. I love those genres separately, but if there is a book that overlaps them, I'm absolutely going to pick it up like at some point or another. And the other one is anything King Arthur related, which this one is like so barely. The two main characters who are modern day characters are named Arthur and Quinn. And literally that is enough. But obviously there's like a thematic reason that they're named that I'm just like. I really, really. So my other favorite book that I've read this year is Lev Grisman's the Bright Sword.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh no. I actually have never read any Grossman. Even like during the Height of the Magicians, I never read those books.

[Meredith Borders]

So I'm like enormous magicians fan. And I think the Bright Sword blows.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It out of the water.

[Meredith Borders]

Like. And I love, I still love it. I reread the Magician's trilogy after enjoying Bright Sword so much. But anyway, Bright Sword is all very Arthurian. Gwyn and Ard are not in love. The like ya romance that came out a couple years ago. Like any of them, I'm gonna be like, yes, yes, absolutely going.

[Interviewer/Host]

I actually, I have that somewhere around here. But yeah, it's cute.

[Meredith Borders]

I also really love yes, cozy mysteries. But also I'm gonna read like any cozy mystery. But I'm gonna be obsessed with that slightly more literary version of that where it's like, you know, it's yes, still in a cozy setting, but it's a little bit like, goes a little bit deeper, it's a little longer, like. And so I really love like Tana French and Louise Penny.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Tana French is one of my favorite authors ever.

[Meredith Borders]

God, she's so amazing. And she like cannot write them fast enough for me. I've read all of them twice because I'm like just waiting for the next one. I'm like, I guess I'll reread.

[Interviewer/Host]

She's just the Queen.

[Meredith Borders]

She's so brilliant. And I think, I think the. The Keeper. Oh my gosh, what is it called? You know, the Searcher.

[Mallory O'Meara]

The Hunter.

[Meredith Borders]

Yeah, the Searcher and the Hunter. Like I. When she announces sequel to the Searcher, I. I started crying because I was like, it seemed like it was a one off, you know, And I was like, I'm never gonna get to like.

[Interviewer/Host]

There'S a new one coming in March.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know there's gonna be a third one.

[Meredith Borders]

And I like, can't believe it. I'm so, so thrilled. And then I really like the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny as well. And those are. I haven't read those, but they're really, really good. But not quite as good.

[Interviewer/Host]

I mean, who is as good as Tana French, really?

[Meredith Borders]

I know exactly. Like, it's actually not fair to compare truly any living mystery writer to her. And then I'm currently reading. I'm on the third book of Thursday, Murder Club, which is adorable. Really, really good. And the Netflix adaptation of the first one is such a good adaptation. It's one of those movies that like. Cause it's directed by Chris Columbus, very good director. I mean, it looks like he shot the hell out of it. It's so gorgeous. It's one of these movies that if it was the 90s, it would have gone to theaters and made so Much money. And instead of getting lost on Netflix.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That'S such a. Yeah, we live in hell. But we do.

[Interviewer/Host]

But we do live in a great time for mystery writing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes.

[Meredith Borders]

And that's honestly my dream. Like, I really, truly want more than anything and am noodling on a cozy mystery about an American exp who lives in Germany.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, my God.

[Meredith Borders]

Why would you not? I know.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So I've got.

[Meredith Borders]

I'm working on. I had what I thought was, like, a pretty good mystery device going. And then, honestly, I read the first Thursday Murder Club, and it was so similar to what I was working on. I was like, okay, we have to start over. But at least I knew it was a good idea because I then read a very good book that had a similar idea. So, yes, I'm back to the drawing board.

[Interviewer/Host]

That means you're on the right track, though. You can come back on the show when it comes out.

[Meredith Borders]

Okay, thank you very much. And, you know, the, like, 10,000 hours, you're an expert thing, I'm like, I definitely have 10,000 hours of consuming mystery, so hopefully that means I've asked for.

[Interviewer/Host]

You got this. Okay, so, Meredith, where we will put.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A link in the show.

[Interviewer/Host]

Notes to the Kickstarter. Where can listeners find you? Where can they find Fangoria online? Where is the easiest place for all of these things to converge?

[Meredith Borders]

You can find me on Instagram or blueskyerborders. Both places. And then Fango is Vango pretty much everywhere. And Fangoria.com, we've got a really good website. And also through the website, you can subscribe to the magazine if you don't. And if you want to be one of those urbane people looking cool and classy with your croissant and a Fango, that's where you can do that.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh, fantastic.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Merida, thank you so much for doing this.

[Interviewer/Host]

This is so fun.

[Meredith Borders]

Mallory, I appreciate you so much. This is really, really cool of you. It's like, above and beyond. I sent out my little email asking people to. To support, and you were like, hey, how come you don't, like, come and do an interview about it? Which is like, very nice.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Thank you so much.

[Interviewer/Host]

This was fantastic. We're so happy to have you.

[Meredith Borders]

You're the best.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Now let's answer a recommendation request from Sydney, who says, hi, Brianne. Mallory, I am a new listener to the show. Welcome, Sydney. After losing my reading mojo in High School 10 years ago, I finally got it back thanks to my childhood rule of read the book before you watch the movie. I wanted to watch The Netflix show Ratched. So of course I had to read One Flew over the Cuckoos and asked it.

[Interviewer/Host]

Oh my God.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This book reminded me of why I used to love reading. The show was awful, but I don't even care because I've read 12 books in the two month set. One of those was Congo by Michael Crichton. On a whim, I put on some jungle y drum music and set my lights to a spooky green to match the setting. It was so immersive and I felt like I was right there with them in the jungle. Now I want to recreate that magic with other books where the setting plays a major role. Do you have any recommendations for books that would lend themselves to an immersive reading environment? I'd love to play around with things like lighting, soundtracks, scents, temperature, or themed snacks. I'm still figuring out my wheelhouse, but moody literary fiction seems to be a big one. I gravitate toward character focused stories and endings that leave room for thought. Thanks for everything you guys do. Podcast is now a part of my morning routine and it starts my day on such a lovely note. Bria, what do you think is a good immersive book for Sydney?

[Bria Graham]

I was literally writing. I was answering this yesterday and I was like, I think you like moody genre. And then I saw Mallory. I was like, maybe you like genre because the books you name. There's other books in the email that. So I think Sydney also likes genre. I love that Sydney said temperature. Like, what a fun way to. That inspired me in my recommendation. So I'm going with migrations by Charlotte McConaughey, who obviously I love is my. My new best friend on this show. It all takes place in an extremely cold boat in the Arctic. Some of it takes place in Greenland too. And there's a genre element to it. So it's about a woman who wants to follow these birds on what is probably their last migration. Because in this world, like birds and animals and fish, things are like dying out. So it has like this like slight genre element to it. So she talks her way onto this boat, boat. And it's like a fishing boat. And if you read this, you could turn the temperature way down in your house. You can keep the lighting low like a winter Arctic Circle night. Like kind of a bluish lighting, you know, and like. Or a cold light, like a cold blue maybe, I don't know. And you can just sit there in front of like an air conditioning unit blasting cold air in your face as your hair like whips around your eyes. Are drying out. Like, goggles on. Very immersive.

[Max Fun Announcer]

Yeah.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, very immersive. Like, you could put. Oh, you could drink a bunch of salt water.

[Meredith Borders]

I don't know.

[Bria Graham]

Don't drink salt water. Don't. Don't do that. Saltwater taffy. What's a. What's a salty snack?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Saltwater taffy is not salty, but it is delicious.

[Bria Graham]

You could do like a. Like a. Like some seaweed, rice cracker.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Those. Like, Sydney, this is.

[Bria Graham]

This is up to you to. To curate. But I think this could be a really fun.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You could do some dried fish.

[Bria Graham]

You could do some dried fish. Like, little dried fishies. I think there's some really fun stuff for you to play with here. And it is. It's moody literary fiction, which is what.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I almost went genre. I almost went for a train book because I think listening to, like, train.

[Bria Graham]

Noises and you're not doing genre. I thought you were doing genre.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, I'm doing moody literary fiction. That's kind. I'm doing the same thing as you. So this is moody literary fiction that has, like, a little bit of genre flavor, which is what the author that I'm recommending, Sarah Perry, is best at. She wrote the Essex Serpent, so all of her books are, like, are moody literary, moody character focus literary fiction with, like, a little hint of genre, which is kind of like what Charlotte McConaughey is. But I am recommending Enlightenment, which is a book that Sarah Perry came out with last year. Again, really, any Sarah Perry would work for this. But this book was either one of my favorites of the year or almost made my favorites of the year. Because when I think about this book, I think about the setting just as much as the characters. So basically, this is a triple timeline book where you're following these two friends over the course of many decades about this older man. He works for the local paper and becomes a mentor friend to this little girl who goes to. To the same church he does. And you follow their friendship over several decades, the romantic relationships that break their hearts. It's queer, which is very exciting. And there's like, this sort of mystery about a local astronomer that obsesses them both. It's so good. But it takes place in this, like, foggy, rainy little English town. And, like, whenever I think about this book, I think about, like, fog and rain and, like, puddles and scones and cups of tea. And I just think this one would be such a great book to read with, like, a rainy day YouTube ambiance playlist and, like, some tea and some baked goods and I like I could just see yourself immersing your reading experience in this like little damp town. And it's also, I mean again, if you like Moodie literary fiction, Sarah Perry is truly the best. So I am recommending Enlightenment by Sarah.

[Bria Graham]

Perry and I'm going with Migrations by Charlamaconey.

[Mallory O'Meara]

If you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it to readingclassespodcastmail.com and as always want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember folks, it's real chilly out. It's been so cold in la. It's really nice to have a reading glasses sweatshirt. You can get a nice library user sweatshirt. There's also totes and shirts and stickers and all kinds of fun stuff on a void merch store. There's a link in the show notes for that. And if you like the show, please please please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your Choice. We are 13 reviews away from 2000 on Apple Podcasts. We're so close to we really want to drop that silly AMA episode. It's so great for us. It's not just good for our hearts folks, it's good for the show itself. People look at that and they're like 2,000 reviews. Wow. A lot of people like the show. I should check it out. Really helps us grow. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[Bria Graham]

Thanks for reading.

[Meredith Borders]

Maximum Fun.

[Interviewer/Host]

A worker owned network of artist owned.

[Max Fun Announcer]

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