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Reading Glasses
Ep 441 - Best Books of the Year 2025!
00:56:38
Brea and Mallory pick their best books of the year!
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- [00:00]
Mallory O'Meara
Foreign.
- [00:07]
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.
- [00:15]
Bria Grant
And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. Hey, guess what, Mallory. Guess what.
- [00:20]
Mallory O'Meara
What, Bria?
- [00:22]
Bria Grant
It is one of our most popular episodes of the year. It's our best books episode. Here it is. We've been training for it all year. Plus, we're going to do the top books that the glassers picked as well. It's a big episode for us, so we will just dive right in.
- [00:36]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, we. And don't worry, folks. We have the return of the most popular member of the reading glasses team. I finally found it. The slide whistle is, of course, back in time for our biggest episode of the year. But before we get into the best books. Bria, what are you reading?
- [00:50]
Bria Grant
Well, okay, so I told myself. I said, I'm going to cut myself off. I'm cutting it off. I'm not going to read any more 20, 25 books, and then there's no way I'm going to find one that's up there with the ones that I have read. And then, motherfucker, I started reading the new RF Kwan.
- [01:08]
And I'm not finished with it. And it's really good. Are we saying Katabasis or Catabasis?
- [01:14]
Mallory O'Meara
I think it's Catabasis, but I am. I am basing that off nothing.
- [01:18]
Bria Grant
I. For some reason, it said dark academia fantasy. I thought, I don't know. And then I opened it up, and it was like, 13 hours to read. I was like, I'm not going to like this book. This is. And so I kept skipping it. Kept skipping it. I bought it. And then at some point the other night, I couldn't sleep, and I was like, well, let me just open this thing up.
- [01:35]
Mallory O'Meara
Cut to 15 hours later.
- [01:36]
Bria Grant
So good. It's so good. And if I had finished it, it would be on my top of the year. And I'm so bummed. I still have, like, 12 hours left. It's so many. There's. It's such a long. It is a. This is a thick boy. It is almost 600 pages.
- [01:51]
Mallory O'Meara
Oh, man. A honker.
- [01:52]
Bria Grant
I'll tell you how it starts because it's incredible. This woman is, like, drawing a pentagram, and she's like, I'm gonna go to hell to go get this professor that I need in order to write me some. A letter of recommendation in order for me to finish my graduate degree.
- [02:05]
Mallory O'Meara
Very relatable.
- [02:06]
Bria Grant
And she's she? Of course. And she's building and it's kind of just about like how dumb academia is. And she's like, ah, you know, I have to do this because it's like, if I. Otherwise I'm not. It's gonna be all this useless work for this degree. And then this guy who she's like, really irritates her shows up and he's like, oh, you're going to get the professor. I'll come with you. And what you find out pretty quickly is that in order to go to hell, you have to give up half of your remaining life. And she's like, well, you know, what am I? I'm. But I'll be a wildly successful, like, academic, so it's like, worth it. And then they go to hell together, these two. And then you find out stuff about like, that she may have been involved in what happened to him and how he ended up in hell. But also she seems like extraordinarily selfish. It's one of those RF Kuang book that, you know, the main character's like, kind of not likable. And I. So I'm love. I'm loving it. Bummer that I made this decision to start reading it two days before our best.
- [02:58]
Mallory O'Meara
It happens.
- [02:58]
Bria Grant
But here we are. It happens. What are you reading?
- [03:01]
Mallory O'Meara
I'm also reading a big buzzy book by a big buzzy author that su. Okay, this is what happened to me. So a bunch of my favorite authors all release books in the fall, but I only read horror books for October, so and we. We recording this episode at the beginning of December. So I really only had a month to get a bunch of. To read a bunch of books by some of my favorites. So I am unfortunately still reading Will There Ever Be Another your by Patricia Lockwood? You know, I am maybe the captain of the Patricia Lockwood cheerleading squad. And this book is so. It's. It's fascinating. It's very much like her last book where it's like, it's auto fiction, like it's a novel, but it is. It's also kind of a memoir. It's like what really happened to her in real life. Patricia Lockwood got long Covid and got a lot of like strange long Covid symptoms. It like really her life up for a long time. And that's exactly kind of what this book is. It's about a writer who gets long Covid and kind of starts losing her mind. And so there's not a lot of plot in it. It's a Patricia Lockwood book. So it's like very poetic. It's also very funny. And if you know her life and you know about. If you've read any of her other books and you know about her, her husband and her family. I mean, because it's, it's autofiction, it very much feels like a sequel to no one is Talking about this. But it's, it's just very. It's a very surreal, strange book about a woman losing her mind because of this strange illness and no one really knows what to do about it. I mean, and that's a very real thing for a lot of people with long Covid right now because the symptoms are so strange and no one really know knows what to do about it. But it's amazing and funny and it's, it's fucking Patricia Lockwood. So. And it's got a cat on the COVID So maybe this, maybe this would have been on my favorite covers of the year too. But so I'm reading It's.
- [04:46]
Bria Grant
It's on my wish I Wish I had read section. I think when we get to that.
- [04:50]
Mallory O'Meara
It'S really, it's great. So I am reading Will There Ever Be Another your by Patricia Lockwood.
- [04:55]
Bria Grant
And I'm reading Katabasis by R.F.
- [04:58]
Mallory O'Meara
Kuang.
- [05:03]
So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. The most important listener feedback of the year. This is the top Glasser books of the year. So we took votes from the Discord channel. Some people did email in things, but if you are someone who wants to join the Discord and be part of this community, go to maximumfun.org join to sign up. Email a screenshot of your membership to reading glasses podcastmail.com and then you can hang out in our cool Discord and be part of this. It was very fun seeing people vote. What's interesting. And Bria, before we announced these books, something that I thought was very interesting and seems kind of indicative of a larger. The larger reading world is normally there's like one or two books that are way ahead of the pack, like Automatic Picks for the Glassers. And these books, they were all kind of grouped together. There was not one clear best book of the year for Glossary, which I thought was really interesting. It feels like just like social media people are getting kind of scattered. And at least this year there was not like one clear book of the year. That seem right to you?
- [06:01]
Bria Grant
That that checks out for me. Like, I feel like there's usually like one book that you also just like generally like literary fiction wise. I feel like this is the case as well, where there's not just like the, like, James, you know, like that book, everyone, you know, it's going to be on New York Times, it's going to be on Barnes. And no, you know, it's going to be all these places. So, like, that doesn't surprise me because I feel like there's not. I don't really know what that book is this year.
- [06:24]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, it just feels like just very interesting to see. I mean, there's no surprises on this list. But what was surprising to me was that they all kind of got the same amount of votes within one or two of each other. All right, so this year I'm doing it a little different. I'm breaking them up between fiction and nonfiction. Bria, you want to read the top glasser fiction books of the year?
- [06:45]
Bria Grant
I do. I really do. Okay. None of these are surprising. Okay, One is surprising to me.
- [06:51]
Mallory O'Meara
I know which one it is.
- [06:52]
Bria Grant
Yeah. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Of course. The Buffalo Hunter. Hunter. We knew that. Catabasis. Thank you. So y' all should have told me sooner. I wish you had told me. The river has Roots. Sunrise on the Reaping. Automatic Noodle. The Incandescent. I don't know what that's about.
- [07:07]
Mallory O'Meara
By Emily Tesh. We have not read it, but obviously a lot of glasses are loving it and we've got to put it on our list.
- [07:13]
Bria Grant
That's my surprise one Death of an Author. And atmosphere, of course. Atmosphere. That makes total sense to me. Do you want to tell us the nonfiction ones?
- [07:19]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, especially because I'm on here. Thank you, Glassers. I was actually very honored because this was almost a perfect three way tie between Everything is Tuberculosis. One day everyone will have always been against this. And then Daughter of Daring. So thank you folks. That made me feel very fancy to be up among these two other big authors. So those are the. Those are the nonfiction ones. And then, Bri, you want to read the honorable mentions.
- [07:42]
Bria Grant
And these are. There's some great ones on this too. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Old Soul, the Everlasting, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping. Hemlock and Silver, the Bewitching, the Road to Tender Hearts and Sky Daddy. That sounds like exactly what I would.
- [07:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Have thought was on that list. Not a ton of surprises. 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 and special I wish I had some Jingle Bells Special holiday bookmark from us folks. We're taking Christmas week off. We finally got our together. Normally what happens is we're like, oh, we should take Christmas off. And then it's almost Christmas and we go, oh no, we have not planned for this. But this year we got our shit together. So this is the first time we've taken Christmas off in what, two or three years? So we didn't do last year or the year before.
- [08:28]
Bria Grant
Yeah, we always forget. We always were like, oh, we have too many episodes this month. Yeah, it's been a while.
- [08:33]
Mallory O'Meara
So we're taking Christmas off this year. But if you are Christmas morning you're wishing you had some reading glasses. There's tons of bonus episodes for members to tide you over until the new year. If you go to maximumfun.org join to sign up and you get almost a decade of bonus episodes from us. There's so many Maximum Fun included one of ours in their Advent calendar. It's our book confessional episode where we confess all our bookish secrets that we don't want on a main feed episode. So if you're interested in something like that, go sign up. Even for just five bucks a month, you get all of those bonus episodes, you get access to the Discord and you give Bria and I a very appreciated Christmas gift. If you're like, wow, these two ladies have been on the nice list all year long, give us a present and go to maximumfun.org join to sign up and support us. So before we reveal our favorite books of 2025, we're going to take a quick break.
- [09:33]
Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by zocdoc. Folks, got to tell you, we're getting to the end of the year and I'm sure that there is some sort of health appointment that you've been meaning to make literally this entire year that you've been putting off. Whether it's the doctor, dentist, the dermatologist. Why not book it right now? And you know what's going to make it really easy for you is Octoc. Bria, what is Octoc?
- [09:57]
Bria Grant
ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in network doctors and click to instantly book an appointment with Sockdoc. You can book in network appointments with more than a hundred thousand doctors across every specialty from mental health to dental health, primary care to urgent care and more. And appointments made through Zocdoc also happen fast, typically within 24 to 72 hours of booking. And more often than not, you can even get same day appointments.
- [10:22]
Mallory O'Meara
Folks, we're in the holiday season. Things are real frantic. You know, there's everybody else who who's been putting off appointments is trying to make them this time of year, which makes it tough to get in to see a doctor. You don't want to make an appointment and have them be like, all right, well, time to see you. We'll see you next March. ZocDoc can get you a same day appointment. It is so fast. It is so easy.
- [10:42]
Bria Grant
You know what I do every year, y'?
- [10:44]
Mallory O'Meara
All?
- [10:44]
Bria Grant
At the end of the year, I always try to go to the doctor because I forget the rest of the year. This is my time of year to go to the doctor. I literally have an eye appointment next week. I got to get in there before the end of the year. My eye doctor knows this about me. And if I needed something like this, if I was looking for an eye doctor, this is exactly what I would use. I would use something like Zoc Doc. I would go in there, I'd say, give me an optometrist. I need more contact lenses. And maybe we'll pair of glasses, maybe. Who know what you got sunglasses anyway, Zoc Doc, they can get all this for you.
- [11:12]
Mallory O'Meara
So folks, the year is almost over. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com glasses to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That Zoc doc.com glasses zocdoc.com glasses glasses.
- [11:32]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
Hello, this is Alden Ford and Mujanzo Fagari, two of the creators of Mission to Zyx, your favorite improvised, obsessively sound designed sci fi sitcom here on the Max Fun Network. And the news is we're back with.
- [11:44]
Bria Grant
An all new mini series set in the Zix universe. The young old Derf Chronicles. Yeah, Will Derf find his own killer before it's too late to find out how that question could possibly make sense? Well, you just have to tune in.
- [11:56]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
Yeah, we're so excited that episode one is out right now in the Mission to Zix feed. So if you are looking for a little break from your own galaxy, we would love for you to check it out.
- [12:05]
Bria Grant
That's the Youngle Derf Chronicles search mission to ZYX. ZYX in your podcast app or on.
- [12:10]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
Maximumfun.Org keep it fresh.
- [12:27]
Mallory O'Meara
This week. It is the most exciting episode that we do. It takes an entire year to put it together. A year of research, reading, dumping, tracking. And here it is. It is time to reveal our top books of 2025.
- [12:42]
Bria Grant
Wow.
- [12:42]
Mallory O'Meara
We're here. We made it. Bria and I are falling apart, but we made it to December. We're really excited. I feel like this is a good crop this year. Check out the show notes for links to all that the books were mentioning a lot of. We got a lot of new listeners for this episode, so if you've never heard reading glasses, welcome. We put all of these books in the show notes so don't worry if you're driving. You don't have to park on the side of the road. There is a convenient list in the show notes for you to find all of these. But before we dive in, Bria, do you have any thoughts on 2025 books in general?
- [13:09]
Bria Grant
I felt pretty satisfied with my year end list. I felt there are a lot of books I didn't get to like the one I'm currently reading. But I read a lot of great books in the first half of the year. I was like really surprised by how many of my books were in our halftime episode as well. I was actually like scared to add more. Maybe why I'm just now reading some of those books. Mine is really heavy fiction and sci fi. I will say like normally I feel like I have more nonfiction that I'm thinking about. I just like, I don't know what was going on with me. I was escaping, I was, I knew where I was, I wanted to leave. So it's like very, very sci fi heavy, very different. And a lot of authors. Almost all the authors are people I've read from before.
- [13:48]
Mallory O'Meara
Wow. Comfort.
- [13:49]
Bria Grant
She's going Safety.
- [13:50]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. Comfort year.
- [13:51]
Bria Grant
Pure safety. Yeah. What about you?
- [13:53]
Mallory O'Meara
Mine's pretty surprising. I had the opposite. I had a lot of new to me authors on my list and a few authors that I thought would be on there are not so very a shocking list for me. For example, I would not expect a YA sci fi thriller to be on my list, nor an actor memoir. But hey, one book I thought I would love. But are you me?
- [14:14]
Bria Grant
That sounds like dude.
- [14:16]
Mallory O'Meara
One book I thought was going to be a slam dunk that I started and immediately was like nope. Even though it was very surprising. This was my best reading year for a while. Last year was such a bad year for me reading wise that I'm just so happy to have so many books to choose from. Looking over my books, it feels like the big theme for me this year was books that felt unique. Like books. A lot of the books that I'm about to talk about are books that I'm like, oh, it's not, not like anything I've ever read before. So I don't know what that says about my year in general, but love it. All right, let's get to our favorite books of 2025. We have a lot of shared picks this year. Bria.
- [14:47]
Bria Grant
Yeah. Mallory actually does this thing because she knows me so well where she's like, I think this is our shared picks. And like, I'm like, yes, they're usually 100% correct. But then I was going through the list and she had more pick. It's also on my list. This is also on my list. So we, we ended up with more shared picks than I think we've ever had.
- [15:03]
Mallory O'Meara
This is the most. I think it's what we got.
- [15:05]
Bria Grant
4. Because you're reading sci fi. That's why. It's because you've started reading. You're reading a lot of sci fi.
- [15:09]
Mallory O'Meara
Yes. Yeah, I read more sci fi this year than I think maybe I ever have.
- [15:12]
Bria Grant
Did you look at your call pile? Is your call pile say that it's heavy sci fi?
- [15:17]
Mallory O'Meara
I don't track my genre in cawpile.
- [15:19]
Bria Grant
Oh, you know.
- [15:19]
Mallory O'Meara
Oh, no. Yes, that's part of the chart. Well, you know what, we're going to be going over our cawpiles in January, so we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll. We were doing a whole book tracking episode in January, so we'll go over. I'll say, say save this hot cawpile reveal for, for next month. But the first book have is not a sci fi book. It is a horror book. That should not be a surprise. Our first shared pick is Fiend by Almakatsu.
- [15:43]
Bria Grant
Incredible. Loved this book. I gave it a five out of five stars across the board. I had a great time reading it. Contemporary horror I like, but, like, sometimes it's harder for me. And like this definitely my favorite contemporary horror book of the year. Like, fantastic book. She came on the show, would have liked it regardless, even if she hadn't come on the show.
- [16:02]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, I mean, this is, this is not a surprise because we love Alma, but it is a surprise considering this is her first ever contemporary horror and it's a completely new way of writing for her and she fucking nailed it. Like, this book got me out of such a slump. I flew through it. It's so compelling, it's so unsettling. It's so satisfying at the end. It also feels kind of timely, but not in a way that makes you want to walk into the street it's timely in a way that feels like you're like, oh, I wish this would happen. You know, I wish something awful would happen to rich people.
- [16:37]
Bria Grant
Yes.
- [16:38]
Mallory O'Meara
I just loved it.
- [16:39]
Bria Grant
These are bad people. They're bad rich people and a demon comes after them. Great.
- [16:43]
Mallory O'Meara
Love it. All right, what's our. What's our next shared pick?
- [16:46]
Bria Grant
The next one was one that you read and then you were like, you have to read this. And then I did, and I loved it. It's Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel, who we. We. We're real apple heads on this show.
- [16:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Real Oppelheimers over here.
- [17:00]
Bria Grant
I'm so glad you made me read this book. I would read this book again. I loved this book so much.
- [17:04]
Mallory O'Meara
Like, it's funny if a few years ago, if you told me us that I would be making you read a YA sci fi thriller, we would have laughed at you. But.
- [17:13]
Bria Grant
And I will say it doesn't strike me like, every time you say ya, I'm like, I guess it is ya. But like, it doesn't strike me very YA for some reason. I mean, even though the main character is a young adult and we're seeing it from his perspective, the book is very. Dealing with like a lot of big adult issues which. Yeah, very adult. It's a very adult book in a lot of ways.
- [17:34]
Mallory O'Meara
Yes. And honestly, this is not my type of a book at all. But I loved it. It's. I think this is maybe my most recommended book of the year. Like, this is a book that after I finished it, I would be at parties and be like, you know what you got to read, like, cornering people. You have to read this book. I just have not. I've not stopped thinking about it. Like, if you are listening, if you're a glasser, you're listening to this and you're like, I'm not really into sci fi. I'm not really into YA books. You've been holding off because you think it's not your kind of thing. Try it. Like, this book is. Yeah, it's so good.
- [18:02]
Bria Grant
Yeah, it's like, it's. It's slightly scary. It's very unnerving. But then also, like, has a proper ending, so you are not let down at all.
- [18:10]
Mallory O'Meara
Like, it just, it really. Books like these, I think have a hard time sticking the landing. And Kenneth Oppel, like, did his little, like, triple flip and landed on his little feet and held his hands up in the air like, perfect 10, perfect landing. Yeah. This book, I'm thinking about this book for a Long time.
- [18:24]
Bria Grant
Me too. Me too. What's the next one that we are sharing, which is honestly one out of both of our wheelhouses, except that we both love the song.
- [18:31]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. It's the Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Harnett. Is this reading glasses or. It's the annual meeting of the Annie Harnett Fan club. I feel like we just love her so much.
- [18:41]
So she has this, like, blend of quirky literary fiction, like, family drama of, like. But, like, messy family drama with, like, characters trying to get their lives together and, like, a touch of magic and supernatural. And there's always, like, some animal element that is just the perfect mix for you. And I. Like, this is really where our wheelhouses kind of cross over.
- [19:02]
Bria Grant
It's. It's also, like, something we haven't, like, totally figured out what to call because it's, like, a very specific type of literary fiction. Her books, without fail, make me cry. And they always have, like, an elderly older man character who's, like, kind of out of sorts, which always, like, tugs at my heartstrings in, like, a real way. And I just find her writing to be so compelling. And I remember reading the plot to the. Like, the synopsis, and I was like.
- [19:25]
Mallory O'Meara
I'm not going to same books.
- [19:26]
Bria Grant
Like, a people on a road trip. Like, I don't really care about any of that.
- [19:29]
Mallory O'Meara
Sobbing over this.
- [19:31]
Bria Grant
Yeah. You're just like, it's so good. And it's a really dark book. Like, the COVID is very light, and you're like, oh, fun little, like, light fiction. No, it starts with the suicide. It's very dark. Very.
- [19:41]
Mallory O'Meara
You have to read Rabbit Cake. You got to read her first.
- [19:44]
Bria Grant
I know. Yeah, I guess I should. I'm gonna get it right now.
- [19:47]
Mallory O'Meara
Get it from.
- [19:47]
Bria Grant
I'm literally gonna get it.
- [19:48]
Mallory O'Meara
Get on Libby right now.
- [19:49]
Bria Grant
Hold on. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I just cleared my Libby hold list.
- [19:53]
Mallory O'Meara
Oh.
- [19:54]
Bria Grant
So I like to do that at the end of the year.
- [19:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Oh.
- [19:56]
Bria Grant
Place a hold. I will read it in four weeks.
- [19:58]
Mallory O'Meara
Beautiful. What's our last shared pick?
- [20:00]
Bria Grant
The last shared pick is one we read for the Glasser Book Club. And it's so funny. I didn't know if you would put this on there or not, but it's the Bewitching by Sylvia Moreno Garcia. I loved this book. We both loved this book. I think my enjoyment of it was increased by doing the book.
- [20:14]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. So it was so fun to talk about it with everybody.
- [20:16]
Bria Grant
It really was. And, like. And I. And I both read and listened to this book. So it kind of like. It kind of, like, scratched a lot of it just for me, like, and it was scary, but also had, like, all these cool timelines. I feel like I was learning stuff. Like, I. I thought this was just such a great. It was totally classic Sylvia Moreno Garcia to me, where it's just like, she did everything we want out of a witching type.
- [20:37]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. I mean, it's. This is catnip for me. You got triple timelines. It's in New England. It's witches. But the thing that I think is her signature style is her. It's. You can tell it's a Sylvia Moreno Garcia book. When the main characters are women that I like, I guess you would call them unlikable, but we are rooting for them. They're, like, really badass women who have, like, very strong opinions and are. They're not wallflowers, you know? And I. I like. I feel like I. Even if I. You, like. You ripped the COVID off. And I just started reading a book, and I started. And I started reading this. A female protagonist like this, I'd be like, this is Silvia Moreno Garcia. Like, there's just something about her characters that even if they are, I guess, quote, like, unlikable, I just love that. Like, I. And it's such a hallmark of all of my favorite books of hers. Mexican Gothic, Silver Nitrate is these women who just take no shit, and they're in some sort of spooky historical, paranormal, bad situation, and they're. They're in the middle of it, and they're taking no shit with it. And it's just. I love her. I was so excited to see that she was doing a witch book and. Yeah. Oh, amazing. Are you ready for our individual picks?
- [21:44]
Bria Grant
I'm so ready.
- [21:45]
Mallory O'Meara
What's your first one?
- [21:46]
Bria Grant
Born Ready. My first one is a little book called Daughter of Daring by Mallory o'. Mara. I loved this book. Listen, if y' all haven't picked up Mallory's book, you need to pick up this book. It is. I would have loved it even if you hadn't. It's got a lot of good. If you.
- [22:00]
Mallory O'Meara
It's got a lot of Bria Knip in it, so.
- [22:02]
Bria Grant
It does. But it also has a lot of Malloryisms in it that I really love. Like, it had. It's funny, it's clever, but also has, like, women's history. It has lots of. Lots of Los Angeles history. So it's a lot of stuff that, like, I would read regardless. But because you wrote it, it's funny and, like, a Clever book. So I don't have many nonfiction books on my top picks this year, but I. But, yes, yours is definitely one of my.
- [22:26]
Mallory O'Meara
Thank you very much.
- [22:26]
Bria Grant
What's your first individual pick?
- [22:28]
Mallory O'Meara
I think if I had to pick one favorite book of the year, it's going to be Old Soul by Susan Parker.
- [22:31]
Bria Grant
I know. I know you were. I knew you were going to do. I have been going to be, like, your top one.
- [22:35]
Mallory O'Meara
I've been banging this drum all year. Like, truly. This is one of those books where I. I started reading this book, and I just kind of knew. I was like, oh, this is gonna be, if not my top of the year, one of my favorites of the year. I've just. I just knew it right away. It's so compelling. It's so strange. It's also. This is one of those books I have on my list that's just completely unique. It's this amalgamation of, like, an international thriller and literary fiction and a monster story and also horror. A little bit of, like, a queer love story in the weirdest way possible. It's got multiple POVs. It's got multiple timelines. It's just such a swirl of so many things. It's so special, and I'm just so excited to read what Susan Barker does next. I love it. I like. I. When people ask me what my favorite horror of the year, I'm always like, you have to read Old Soul. Like, this book is just. It's so special. What's your next solo pick? Oh, yeah, this is the other one. I was like, oh, I know. Bria's picking this.
- [23:28]
Bria Grant
The rest of this list, y' all are going to be like, yeah, we know. You've already talked about this book 30,000 times, and you've shoved it down our throats, and you keep handing copies of these books to people, and you're going.
- [23:38]
Mallory O'Meara
To hear about it.
- [23:38]
Bria Grant
Again, sorry. For the rest of the list, here they are. My next one is Wild Dark shore by Charlotte McConaughey. I actually wrote something. We both wrote something for Bus magazine about our favorite books of the year.
- [23:48]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, I picked Old Soul.
- [23:52]
Bria Grant
Great. Wonderful. And this was my choice, which. This is just, like. I guess I was looking for heart string tugs this year. Just some tugs. And this is one the old turned around this year. I didn't see. I wanted my heart ripped out of my chest. And she's really good at that. This book just, like, surprised me in every way, and I just. I was. I could not put it down. I was really moved by it. Can't say enough good things about her. And I hope you like crying if you read this one. What's your next one? This is also a like, yeah, of course.
- [24:22]
Mallory O'Meara
It's a Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathral. This duology is, again, just so special, so unique. It's so beautiful. Like, the sequel was really interesting to me because it was just so much stranger than I thought. This, the first book, Letter to the Luminous Deep Ends on a Cliffhanger. And you're like, where could this possibly go? And the sequel just goes, is so unexpected. It's so much weirder than you think it's going to be. It ended up being this, like, really tender exploration of neurodiversity and different types of love in a world that's just like. I've never really read a sci fi fantasy world like this. And the second book definitely becomes less cozy and more cosmic, but I just really love how they fit together. And I can't wait to see what she does next. I just think this was one of the most special, unique sci fi books I've ever read. But also that's, you know, been released recently. What's your next one? Oh, yeah. Maybe the most timely book of the year.
- [25:21]
Bria Grant
Timely, scary. The scariest book I read this year is Wake up and Open youn eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman. It was so good. I loved this book. This book, like, I half read physically and then half listened to this book while I was doing, like, I had to do a bunch of long drives. And I just was so shocked by this book. It is shocking. Clay is our friend.
- [25:39]
Mallory O'Meara
We love.
- [25:40]
Bria Grant
Clay has a sick mind.
- [25:42]
Mallory O'Meara
And I loved it and complimentary.
- [25:45]
Bria Grant
I love your mind.
- [25:46]
Mallory O'Meara
We love Clay.
- [25:47]
Bria Grant
Yeah, complimentary. Complimentary. We love Clay. This book was just. It was extremely timely, extremely scary, but also, like, had something to say and also, like, it took on, like, politics in the way that they are now, which is very complicated, I think, and that's a tough thing to do.
- [26:02]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. This book is not. Is not what you even what you think it. If you read the back of this book, it's not what you think it is.
- [26:07]
Bria Grant
Yeah. You think this is a book that's like an attack on Fox News. And it's not. It's something else. And it's totally worth reading. I just thought it was. It just blew me away. What else you got?
- [26:17]
Mallory O'Meara
My Smut of the year got a. I think people will not be surprised. We read a lot of smut this year. Bria and I read a ton of smut. I did a lot of extracurricular smut outside of our show, and this was one of them. And I've been thinking about it every single day ever since. It's what Fury Brings by Tricia levenseller. This is the beefy warrior babe book of my dreams. It is so steamy, it's so sexy, and it's sexy. The sex in this book is like, I just feel like you rarely see it in this genre. It's very surprising and unexpected. And alongside that, the reason why I really loved it is that, like, it was this perfect balance of romantasy where like, the sex is amazing, the romance is amazing, but the world is really interesting. And it did all of that without being like a thousand pages long. It's just a fascinating examination of gender in society. And also there's a penis guillotine for rapists.
- [27:09]
Bria Grant
I just saw that in the notes. What is it? Is that positive?
- [27:13]
Mallory O'Meara
Very positive. Because it's a, it's a matriarchal society. So if a man assist man because they're. Even though it's a matriarchal society and it's a flip of gender, like there's, there's non binary characters, there's trans characters, but if you are a CIS man, you are purse a CIS man with a penis and you rape someone, you're going to the penis guillotine. I literally, while I was reading, I was chanting, penis, guillotine, penis.
- [27:39]
It. I mean, what else, like what other two words do you need to read a book? So it's just like, yeah, I love the romantic, I loved the antecy part of it. I loved the world, but also the, the, the romance is so, so unique. The sex is so unique. And I, I think this is the start of a series. I will be waiting at the bookstore 3:00am when this next book comes out. All right, we have more best books of the year, but we are going to take a quick break. You can send your favorite books of the year to reading glasses podcastmail.com.
- [28:15]
Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Green Chef, who offers over 40 customizable weekly recipes designed to give you peace of mind. Over 40 choices every week. It is the most busy time of year. We're buying stuff, we're shopping, we're wrapping, we're cleaning, we're decorating. There's so much going on. If you need to make your meals a little bit easier, Green Chef has got you covered. But Bria, what. Tell me, tell me more about Green Chef.
- [28:40]
Bria Grant
Well, it's a box. It's delivered to your house, it has food in it. And that is very, I mean, what.
- [28:44]
Mallory O'Meara
Better pitch could you get that is a box arrives at your house with food in it. Is sounds amazing.
- [28:51]
Bria Grant
You don't gotta go to the store, it comes right to you. It has organic produce, it's responsibly sourced, it has seafood, it has proteins, it avoids ultra processed fillers. And they do the research, they do the meal planning, they do the grocery shopping. You just have low prep, low mess meals for every lifestyle. And Green Chef cuts food waste by 20% versus grocery shopping and offsets 100% of delivery emissions. That's pretty cool.
- [29:13]
Mallory O'Meara
And also I do this thing every year where people like to start good habits in January. I don't do that because I know that I need a little more run up time. I like to start good habits in December. And then by the time January comes around, I'm like, oh, I've already been doing this. Look at me. If you want to get in the habit of cooking more, eating less, like I usually do, which is like a divorced dad and you want to make more food, the things that are that are fresh, that are not ultra processed, start now. Start with Green Chef right now. You can go to greenchef.com glassesgraza and use code glassesgraza to get started with 50% off Green Chef plus free Graza olive oil set in your second and third boxes. Folks, I gotta tell you, I really like that olive oil. It is nice olive oil. And I've been kind of getting into olive oil lately because I've just been putting it on bread and tomatoes and cheese because I don't like cooking things. And this olive oil's really nice. So this 50% off offer is only available for a limited time. Don't wait. That's code GlassesGraza@GreenChef.com GlassesGraza Glasses.
- [30:23]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
Hello, Internet. I'm your husband, host Travis McElroy.
- [30:26]
Mallory O'Meara
And I'm your wife, host Teresa McElroy.
- [30:28]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
And this is a promo for Schmanners.
- [30:30]
Bria Grant
It's Extraordinary Etiquette for ordinary occasions.
- [30:33]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
Every week we're going to tell you about a bit of culture, a bit of history, how etiquette still applies in the modern day, all that stuff.
- [30:41]
Mallory O'Meara
We also love to do biographies and histories of and, you know, general procedurals, how to do etiquette in today's society.
- [30:50]
Podcast Guests / Promo Hosts
So come check it out every Friday on MaximumFun.org or wherever you find your podcast.
- [30:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Manners. Manners. Get it.
- [31:09]
Okay, we are back. Bria, what is your next pick for best Books of the year.
- [31:14]
Bria Grant
I cannot believe that A World War I pick is one of my.
- [31:17]
Mallory O'Meara
We're getting old. We're getting old.
- [31:19]
Bria Grant
I don't know what's happening. Did I turn in? Am I your dad? Am I your dad? Guys, It's angel down by Daniel Crow Krause was hands down one of the best books I read this year. Could not put it down. I talked about it to everyone. It's beautifully written. The prose is incredible. The plot is wild. You really feel for it. It's all one continuous sentence, but broken up into chapters. Don't worry, there's no. There's chapters and paragraphs. I think Daniel Kraus is one of the most interesting horror writers we have going right now. He takes big swings. He makes big choices. And this was, like, a total payoff for me. Like, this was like, yeah, you've been.
- [31:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Talking about this book a lot ever since you read it.
- [31:58]
Bria Grant
I. I recommend it constantly. When people are like, horror. I'm like, try. Read this book. It will, like, you will not be able to put it down, and your heart is going to be in your throat the entire time. Incredible book. Like, have me on the edge of my seat. What's your next one?
- [32:10]
Mallory O'Meara
It's time for some nonfiction. For me, I think it was one of my New Year's resolutions to read more nonfiction this year. I can't remember, but I read a lot of nonfiction, and this was one of my most anticipated. And I was right. We need to come up with a word. Right. Maybe rightly anticipated, I don't know, but this book kicked my ass. It's the Dry Season by Melissa Febos. So this is her memoir about becoming celibate for a year. And I have seen people make little comments about how it's not a big deal to be celibate for a year. But, no, this is a memoir about overcoming a sex and relationship addiction. Like, and she even makes fun. Like, there's parts of the book where she makes fun of the fact, like, her friends are like, oh, you think it's a big deal to be celibate for a year? Whoopty do. But it's all about her breaking out of this. This, like, serial monogamy cycle and overcoming her addiction to sex. And she's one of my favorite authors, and, man, this is one of her best. It might be my new favorite of hers. It just blew me away. Like, this is the. This is a book about celibacy. But sometimes I would read a sentence in this book and be like, I need a cigarette. After that, like just her writing is so why, like, just she is writing at a level that I can't even comprehend. Everything about this book is just a stone cold fucking stunner and I. I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. What is your next pick?
- [33:27]
Bria Grant
This is no surprise because every glasser loved this. I did not get to this one. Bury Our Bones. Yeah. Barrier Bones in the Midnight Soil by V E Schwab. It is way more actually of a you book than me book. It's a vampire book, takes place over many, many years. But it was like, just really beautiful. I feel like it probably like if you were like an Anne Rice fan. Like if you're looking something to like, like, if you're like, this is. Here's a. If you're. If you're a goth, this is why you'd like this. This is like, this is a very like goth book. But I loved it. I. I was really taken by it. I loved the writing, I love the plot. It's super accessible but also was really interesting and not like something I've read in a long time. But yeah, there's a reason everyone's talking about this book. It's like, great. What's your next one?
- [34:10]
Mallory O'Meara
Gotta say. Actress of a Certain Age by Jeff Hiller.
- [34:13]
Bria Grant
I, Yeah, I saw him in the Valley. Did I tell you something?
- [34:16]
Mallory O'Meara
You should have been like, my coat. My co host is obsessed with your book. I'm just like, actor memoirs are not normally. This is more of a you thing than a me thing. But like, I fucking loved this book. He's just so absolutely hilarious, but also very vulnerable and relatable at the same time. Like, this book is a really amazing balancing act between all of those three. Like you're laughing, but you're like, oh God, that is so real. But also I, yeah, I get you. But it's just like the perfect book to read if you're struggling in life and trying to make your dreams happen. And I think it's so beautiful that he wrote this book about how hard it was for him to make it. And he finally is making it his late 40s and then after the book came out, he won a fucking Emmy. So it's just like, I'm like, there's my close personal friend Jeff Hiller up there winning an Emmy. Like, he's just, he's. I did the audiobook. He's such a good narrator. Like, this is a laugh out loud book. I just. Absolutely fantastic. What is your last regular best book of the year? We have special categories coming up.
- [35:13]
Bria Grant
This is so hard. And, like, by the way, there's, like, five to 10 books that are just as good as all these books that I did not name. But this is the book that I've told people the plot to and have recommended over and over and over again. It's Sky Daddy by Kate Falk. To me, it was so weird, so interesting. I got in this woman's head that I have nothing in common with who, you know, wants to marry a plane. And I. And for some reason, I bought it. I was in. And at the end, I was like, God, I hope she gets to marry that plane. So, like, it's a. It's such a. Which means she goes out in a fiery crash. That means that they got married. And, like, for me, I just. Just when people are like, what's a book I should read this year? This is the book I keep saying to people where I'm like, sky Daddy, just try it. Give it a shot. It just. It kind of just was not like anything that's out there.
- [35:59]
Mallory O'Meara
I feel like that's kind of sexy. Sentiment is the same for a lot of these books. Like, we just really liked unique books this year.
- [36:05]
Bria Grant
Yeah, that actually is true. Things that are a little bit, like, not what we've read in the past.
- [36:10]
Mallory O'Meara
Okay.
- [36:11]
Bria Grant
Unique to us or unique to the literary world either. What's your last one?
- [36:14]
Mallory O'Meara
Murder at Gold's Nest by Just Kidd. So Just Kidd is an auto buy author for me. I literally have all of her books, and this is my favorite of hers. Sends things in jars. This is like. It's a. It's like a. One of those co. It's technically a cozy mystery because it follows all the rules of cozy mysteries. But it is not a happy book. But you are rooting for this main character so hard. This is. This is the book where she is a nun turned detective because she is investigating the disappearance of one of her fellow nuns who, like, left the convent and then after a few months, just stop being in contact with them. It takes place during the 1950s, I think. Think. And so she goes to the bed and breakfast. I almost said bread and breakfast, but that's. That's what it would be like if you and I opened one of these things. Delicious. So Gull's Nest is the bed and breakfast that this nun was standing in. So this main character is like, all right, well, I'm gonna go get a room here and. And not tell any of these people that I knew. Knew this woman and see what I can see. If I can investigate and like, find out what happened to her, you usually cannot put it down. You're not gonna outsmart it. You were rooting for her so hard. And I really hope there's another book coming and this becomes a series. It's just such a great premise. Like none turn detective. And I. I love Just Kids so much. And this book, she just knocked this out of the park. All right, Brianne, now we have some special categories. We have some ones from last year, but we also have a few new ones that are pretty fun. What is your best translated?
- [37:37]
Bria Grant
We're surprised.
- [37:38]
Mallory O'Meara
Look at us. Look at us. We're so.
- [37:41]
Bria Grant
Like to change it up.
- [37:42]
Mallory O'Meara
What's your best translated book of the year, Bria?
- [37:44]
Bria Grant
Okay, Mallory, I did not read.
- [37:45]
Mallory O'Meara
I know. Who are we?
- [37:47]
Bria Grant
Who are. And I read. I think four total. Four.
- [37:51]
Mallory O'Meara
God.
- [37:52]
Bria Grant
Which is not like me at all.
- [37:53]
Mallory O'Meara
And we switched places this year. What is happening?
- [37:56]
Bria Grant
It's very weird. It's so weird. But there was one that I that did really stand out, which is Clean By Alia Trabuka Zoran, translated by Sophie Hughes this book just like really stuck with me. It's a literary fiction about a maid who works at this rich person's house who's. This young girl died. This daughter died of this. This couple. And she's telling this whole story from an interrogation room. It was really moving, really interesting. I read it pretty early in the year and I can't even remember. Like, it doesn't seem like a book I would normally pick up, but it was like on some book list and I was like, yeah, I guess I am sort of interested in that. And just the writing style was incredible. Super moving. Loved it. Can recommend it across the board. It's so shocking that this is yours and not mine, but go ahead.
- [38:35]
Mallory O'Meara
Like, what is happening?
- [38:36]
Bria Grant
I didn't read it here.
- [38:37]
Mallory O'Meara
Mine is Strange Houses by Uketsu, translated by Jim Ryan. The Weird House competition book was pretty standard stiff this year, but. And I, you know, I'm trying to. I know, I know I normally put a lot of haunted house books on. On here, but I'm trying to, like, learn more about my reading and like, make, you know, challenge myself to. To read outside of haunted house books because I just know that I'm going to love them. But I did have to put this book on there. It's. This book is completely unique. I've recommended it a ton. I have a friend who's reading it right now and loving it. I don't want to say haunted house, but book because it's just a weird house book and I've never read anything like it. And also just the. I read this in print in the way that the, like, it's almost all dialogue. It almost reads like a film script, but not quite like this. This book is just so unique and I could not. I could not put it down. I could not stop talking about it when I was reading it. And he has another book. I forget what it's called. It's another strange something I have. I have another friend who's reading that one and I'm gonna be picking it up because. Because I loved this. What's our next special guest category?
- [39:42]
Bria Grant
It's favorite audiobook. What do you have for this one? Oh, my God. We both picked non fiction books.
- [39:47]
Mallory O'Meara
Well, that. You know what's funny is that that's. That was another thing for me this year is I wanted to read a lot more audiobooks and I read a ton, so the competition was stiff. But I have to say, somebody is walking on your grave by Mariana Enriquez is Translated by Megan McDowell and it's performed by Annette Amelia Oliveira. I love this book and I loved it even more because of the audiobook performance. It is one of the best narrators I've ever heard in my life, especially because it's somebody doing someone else's memoir, which I think is really tough to do. Well, it just brought so much to the book. I. This is the kind of, you know, when you listen to an audiobook and then you're like, I need to read other books by this narrator. I don't even care what the books are. I just want to hear this narrator do other things. And I don't have that experience very often, but with Annette Amelia Oliveira, I was like, girl, I'll read me anything. Like, she just brings so, so much. It truly felt like a performance and I fucking loved it. It. What was yours?
- [40:39]
Bria Grant
So this book could have been in my top 10 as a non fiction book. It could have been anywhere. But I did listen to it, so I threw it in this category. So sorry to this book, but it's the Brain at Rest by Joseph Chapelli, which is all about. It's a brain book, which, you know, I love. So it's all about how important it is to get proper sleep and meditation and naps and like the. And play for your brain. Like all the things that are really good for your brain. I loved this book. I thought it was like, like both informative but also well written and super well researched.
- [41:08]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, you talked about this after you read it?
- [41:10]
Bria Grant
Yeah. What's the next category?
- [41:12]
Mallory O'Meara
All right, this is a new one this year that I thought was really fun. It's best book outside of our wheelhouses. Because clearly you and I. Something's going on with Bri and Mallory because we are. We are changing. We're reading different types of books. But I thought it would be really fun to pick a book that was just like, so not what we normally like. And what was yours?
- [41:31]
Bria Grant
So I picked it Rhymes with decay by George Takei. Because when I read comic books, it's almost always fiction. I actually, like, can't. I'm sure I've read another nonfiction one, but it's really rare. So this is a really rare comic, and I wanted to include a comic book on my list because I love comic books and graphic novels. This book, I think, like, if it had been a memoir, I would have picked it up and not thought twice about it. But because it's in graphic novel form, that was like, very different for me. But I loved it. I thought it was really moving. I loved. I learned so much about George Takei, who's just such a nice guy, seems like such an amazing man. And I just. Just. I. I really liked it. It was sort of like outside what I would normally pick up.
- [42:10]
Mallory O'Meara
I did. I did a movie with him once, and he is a wonderful person. Yeah, really lovely guy.
- [42:14]
Bria Grant
What about yours?
- [42:15]
Mallory O'Meara
So the author of this is not surprising, but the book is very surprising. It's El Dorado drive. Look, folks, only Megan Abbott could get me to read a thriller about mlms and stressed out moms. Stressed out moms have been in my doghouse for so long because I feel so bad for them and I just want to help them. It stresses me out so bad. Like, I didn't watch. If I had legs, I could. I would kick you because I was just like this. This movie is going to make me have to take opium afterwards. Like, it's gonna. I cannot. I cannot watch it. So I've been really, really avoiding those kinds of books. I also don't really read books about mlms or like, these types of thrillers. They just. It's just really not for me. But, man, Megan Embott, baby, you can never outsmart her. All of her books are amazing. She just. I love her because she hooks you instantly and she keeps you guessing. This is one of her books where three quarters of the way through, I was like, I think I know who did the thing in this book. I think I got this figured out. Megan Abbott's like, Guess what? You don't know anything. I just inhaled it. I, I, I love her. And this is the thing. If it wasn't Megan Abbott, I would never have even looked twice at this book. It's just so not for me. And I don't know if I'm gonna pick up more books like this, but, God, I love Megan Abbott. All right, what's our next new category?
- [43:29]
Bria Grant
This was one you wanted to add to the list. You wanna talk?
- [43:32]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. So I thought it would be really fun to.
- [43:36]
You know, we're, Our tastes clearly are changing a little bit. I thought it'd be fun to do best new to us author, because last year we did best debut author. But I thought it would be cool to do best author that we're. That's. Even if, even if they're not coming out this year. That was just new to us, that we loved and might change our reading taste a little bit. Who was yours?
- [43:53]
Bria Grant
So this is very eye opening for me because almost and everyone should do this. Go look at your top books of the year. Because almost all my top list, even the ones that, like, y' all didn't hear about that, just, like, I didn't have a space to put them in. They all were authors I had read before, minus one. Mallory. I'm talking, like, out of 20 books. I had 20 books about on my top and, like, maybe, like, you know, five. I'm not gonna get to talk about one I had never read from before, and that was Barbara Truelove, who wrote Monsters and Mainframes.
- [44:19]
Mallory O'Meara
Wow.
- [44:20]
Bria Grant
So I loved this book. I thought it was, like, it was somehow both cozy and violent and also, like, about a spaceship and, like, who was sentient. And, like, it was. And then there was also, like, vampires and werewolves and stuff.
- [44:32]
Mallory O'Meara
Stuff.
- [44:32]
Bria Grant
So it was just like, everything in this book was, was wild. It kind of blew my mind. It's a very Bria book, but I just had never. She hasn't written. I think she's only written one other book. This was a good category because it made me really think about what I've been reading that I'm only picking up, like, oh, there's a new Grady Hendrix. Oh, there's a new. You know, like, it's very easy to.
- [44:48]
Mallory O'Meara
Fall into that groove, especially when you read a lot and you have a lot of favorite authors. It's very easy to just kind of stick in your lane, especially because you're not going to get let down. But I do think it's good to be like, hey, new to me author. I'M going to try something out.
- [45:00]
Bria Grant
Yeah, I think we should keep this on the list. And this was a good idea.
- [45:03]
Mallory O'Meara
Who's your Sarah Sligar? She wrote Vantage Point, which I absolutely loved. I got to be on a panel with her back when Daughter of Daring came out and I was very excited to be like, hey, I loved your book. That is like one of the coolest things as an author to like meet other authors and just like gush about their books to them. That's so I keep describing this book as Vantage Point is like if Shirley Jackson wrote Succession, which if that's not enough to get you in the door, I don't really know what it is. This book was so unpredictable in a fascinating, compelling way to me. It's just so rare to see like this combination of like old Strange House in New England and grief and you kind of know the shape of those kinds of stories. But. And she builds this kind of unique digital political mystery that's mixed in with it. I've just never. Those are two flavors you don't see together very often. This is like when, like the first time somebody put salt on a chocolate chip cookie and you're like, wait a minute, what's. Hey, someone's cooking here. Like, she's just a new one. This is going to be a new auto buy author for me. Like, I can't wait to see what she does next. And I'm excited to have another weird lady fiction writer to add to my, to my, to my stable of other beloved weird lady fiction writers. What is our next category?
- [46:21]
Bria Grant
What do we always do is book that should have gotten more but because we feel like there's a lot of authors that people are talking about and there's books that are just like not quite making it. What. What do you have for that?
- [46:29]
Mallory O'Meara
I think we're both, we're both taking the glassers to task on ours because why are, why, why is everybody not reading this book? Mine's the original by Nell Stevens. And this was a little tough for me because I have been off social media since June. So I'm my, I'm basing my buzz off of like reading articles the old fashioned way. The, the reading glasses communities online. I'm not, I'm not like, like, you know, I'm not on Twitter anymore. Like, I'm not privy to like social media in the way that I, that I used to be. So this is just based off of my limited scope. But why the are people not talking about the original by Nell Stevens? And I had to Put an art history book on here because apparently this is my new wheelhouse thing. This book. It is a historical fiction book. It's like a historical mystery. It's wicked queer. It's unlike anything else I've read this year. And I just. I feel like I haven't seen almost any. I think it got. This book got maybe one vote note in the top classer books of the year. Just haven't seen anybody talking about it or reading it. It's got fewer than 900 reviews on Goodreads. It was so good and so interesting and has a twist in this book that you are not gonna see coming. Is so surprising. It's like, if you're into queer historical fiction, people get on this book like, I just loved it. And what is yours?
- [47:42]
Bria Grant
Mine is this Is My Body by Lindsay King Miller. And the horror folks should be jumping up and down for this book. Book. And it has less than a thousand reviews on Goodreads. Like, y', all, this was such a good book. It was.
- [47:54]
Mallory O'Meara
That's what it has to this document, by the way. It just says y'.
- [47:56]
Bria Grant
All. I wrote y', all, exclamation point. So it was more like, y', all. It's queer. It's like it deals with religious upbringing. It deals with abuse. It deals with trauma. It was such a good book. It was such a great read. I was. I. This was such a. Such a wonderful horror book. And the horror folks are sleeping on this book and I do not know why. So pick up this book. This is an amazing book. I loved it. I like her writing a lot, but this book. Yeah, it was fantastic. And I feel like I read in, like, two sittings because it was so good.
- [48:28]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. Your Aunt Bria and your Uncle Mallory are here to give you a talking to and get you to read these two books. All right, so our next category is another one that we do every year that's really fun. Is book that we want to see adapted. And yours is not surprising. But you should tell everybody what it is.
- [48:43]
Bria Grant
It's not surprising at all. But it's called Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man. It's a Jesse Cusa tanto book series. Would be. Series is the second in the series. Why is no. Someone must be making this series because it's about options.
- [48:55]
Mallory O'Meara
There's no way it hasn't been.
- [48:57]
Bria Grant
Yeah, someone is making this. She's. Someone wants to see her solve murders. It's a murder mystery series about a woman who owns a cute little tea shop. It's somehow cozy and has a lot of cute food and tea. But also is a great murder mystery series and I love these books. Please make this series. I would watch it so quickly. It would be number one watch right after heated, right?
- [49:17]
Mallory O'Meara
Oh yeah. That's what man he did rivalry. Oh boy.
- [49:21]
Bria Grant
We're boy hockey romance fans are eating good right now.
- [49:26]
Mallory O'Meara
Let me tell you.
- [49:30]
Bria Grant
What do you want to see?
- [49:30]
Mallory O'Meara
Adapted the salvage by Embarrassalam her last book was. Was on my favorite of the year. This is a new like auto buy author for me. She does these. These like scary historical, scary female centric historical fiction books which is deeply my shit. And this book did not let me down. It was one of my most anticipated. I was. It was very rightly anticipated. So this is like imagine how fucking amazing a haunted shipwreck movie would be. Like, there's just so much going on in this book. On top of that, it's like there's a haunted hotel. It's like a historical Scotland, isolated island, a possibly supernatural blizzard. There's a very sexy, sexy queer love affair. Like I just think this would make such a great limited series. There's so many cool things, like visual things going on. Like there's so many scenes where she goes down into this haunted shipwreck and like scary is happening down there. And I just think it would. Oh it would look so cool on a big or little screen. I love this author and I love this book. And this is another one. This could have gone in my books that should have gotten more buzz, but God, I just wanna, I wanna see this adapted into something like oh man, diving, creepy old hotel, hot lesbian love affair. Like this is so good. All right, what's our last category? Bria?
- [50:45]
Bria Grant
We always like to do a favorite non 2025 read and we almost picked the same book.
- [50:49]
Mallory O'Meara
I know this is. You were right about this book though. It's so good.
- [50:55]
Bria Grant
It's Sharkheart. Shark Heart for me, when it was like written for me. It's so beautiful. It's gorgeous. It is also like magical realism where people are like turning into animals and then their family is like, now what do I do that my husband's a shark. And like, you know, we all feel that way sometimes. So I somehow I related to this book more than I've related to any book a long time. I just loved it. It was incredible. Mallory almost picked it. But you're gonna pick.
- [51:21]
Mallory O'Meara
I do want to say I mentioned this on the show when I read it, but Shark Card has wicked short chapters. It feels like it's going by so fast. It's just like, wonderful reading experience. So in order to not pick exactly the same book, I am going to say I'm picking a short story collection because I've been wanting to read more short story collections. So my favorite of the year is here's yous Hat, Whatcha Hurry? By Elizabeth McCracken. I adore her as an author. This was her first short story collection, and I will say, so the short stories in this can be a little long. I'd say this is a medium story collection. But they're so special and they're beautiful and they're haunting and they're funny, and I think. Have thought. I think a. One of the best marks of a short story collection is that I have thought about almost all of the stories in the collection since, like, there's no. It's all chiller, no filler. Like, there's no. There was no story in there that I haven't thought about. She's just like. She's a. She's a literary fiction writer, and. And she writes about really strange people and these really interesting situations. She's also from New England, so there's a lot of, like, Massachusetts. Yeah. Flavor to it that I love. I just adore her. I have all of her books. I've had this book for a while, and I was really happy to finally read it, and it was fucking awesome. All right, Bria, we. Those are all our best books of the year. Are there any books that we wish we could have got to?
- [52:35]
Bria Grant
I mean, this happens to us every year. We're like, yes. Like, I'm literally reading one right now that I wish I had gotten to earlier. Yeah. But my sad library holds list, which I've mostly gotten rid of a lot of stuff that was on hold. But the few things I've left on there, because I do want to read them. The new Yumi Kitasi, that Patricia Lockwood book that you're reading. Olga Takarzuk. The new Kosoko Jackson, which is an.
- [52:56]
Mallory O'Meara
Art history book that neither of us got to.
- [52:59]
Bria Grant
I know. I'm trying to buy less books and get more from the library. So the library hold has really been dictating what I'm reading. And so I think there's a few of those books that I probably should have just purchased, but. Or I should have just gotten too sooner. But you know what? I'm really happy with my list. I'm happy with. Okay. What did you not get to, though?
- [53:20]
Mallory O'Meara
Okay. I'm kind of grumpy. About this one because it's the. It's the last Edinburgh Nights book. You know, I'm obsessed with TL Huchoos series. This is like one of my favorite series. The series. One of the series that got me back into series. We love Tendai. I just love his book so much. These books are so special to me and it came out this week. My. My pre order is somewhere in the United States Postal service system on its way to me and I'm grumpy that they would like. I get it but book schedules are whatever. But like I just wish that it wasn't released the first week of December. I will I this. There's a high probability that this book would have been on my list. It's called Secrets of the First School. It's the fifth book in the series. It's the last book. I'm. I have been anticipating it all year. I'm excited to see and also nervous to see what happens to my girl Ropamoyo, one of my favorite protagonists. So I'm real grumpy about it coming out on December 2nd. There's also. There's a few horror books that I'm still waiting on from the library. Same. And okay, this is a book that I really should have read. It's called A Physical Education. It's the Female Weightlifting memoir. I have been on hold for it for what feels like half of the year from the library. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this book, but it was like really popular. But it's like it's such a Mallory. It's a. It's a book about weightlifting, like being a woman and like how weightlifting changes your life. And I been chomping at the bit to get it but you know, library, it's. You know what? It's the price you pay for supporting your library and getting free books. And that's okay by me.
- [54:52]
Bria Grant
What can you say?
- [54:52]
Mallory O'Meara
That's. I. We truly cannot complain. And also I'm that mean I'm happy. That means that a lot of people are reading this book. I'm happy for that author. And maybe it'll be. Maybe a Physical Education will be my best non 2026 book for next year. Wow. Bria, we did it. We did it.
- [55:07]
Bria Grant
We did it. We finally did it.
- [55:08]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah. Oh my God. So as. As always want to thank the wonderful mods you in our Discord server in our Facebook group. Remember, if you want to support us and get into that Discord group, go to backsumfun.org join sign up to support Reading glasses for any level, even $5 a month gets you a lot of good stuff. And you send a screenshot of your membership to reading glasses podcast gmail.com and that it's a great, great little gift for us. Great gift for you. What kind of gift can you give? Get that you're going to get stuff and the person that you are giving it to also gets stuff. That's, that's Christmas magic. That's the holiday spirit right there. And folks, we are happy to say we finally hit 2000 reviews on Apple Podcasts. Thank you all the folks who've been rating and reviewing us on all the podcast listening apps of your choice but also on Apple podcasts so that that special silly AMA is coming very soon, I think even your way.
- [55:58]
Bria Grant
We're about to record it.
- [55:59]
Mallory O'Meara
Yeah, we're about to record it. So get ready. Thank you all. Thank you with this is our biggest, biggest episode of the year. Thanks for supporting us and thanks for voting. Thanks for reading fun books with us because some of these books we get from you. So we love to see what the glasses are reading and thank you for being a part of our reading life all year. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.
- [56:21]
Bria Grant
Thanks for reading.
- [56:31]
Mallory O'Meara
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