Ep 447 - Queernorm Books and How to Schedule Library Holds!

Summary

Reading Glasses, Ep 447: Queernorm Books and How to Schedule Library Holds!

Hosts: Mallory O’Meara & Brea Grant
Release Date: January 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Brea and Mallory launch the 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge by introducing the “Queernorm Book” category. They clarify what defines a “queernorm” book, share strategies for finding them, and offer challenge book selections. The hosts also tackle a common reader problem: how to manage library holds without neglecting purchased books, and close out with a highly anticipated deep dive into recommendations for queer (especially sapphic) hockey romances.

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What We’re Reading

[00:38–03:21]

• Brea:

  • Sick Houses: H. H. Holmes and the Architecture of Dread by Layla Taylor
    • A nonfiction exploration of haunted houses, architecture, and how we view fear and otherness. Highlights include alternative perspectives on classic haunted spaces like the Winchester Mystery House.
    • “I feel like I'm learning so much by reading it.” (Brea, 01:36)

• Mallory:

  • The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy
    • A deeply introspective, often sad collection of short stories focusing on the interior lives of women.
    • “But Bria, this book is so depressing...But it's so beautifully written.” (Mallory, 02:11)

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Listener Feedback

[03:28–07:15]

• Amanda:

  • Shares a whimsical vision of the Void Merch Store purchases feeding the hosts’ cats and discusses listening to Mallory’s audiobook at a higher speed to match her podcast rhythm.
  • On enjoying the Reading Glasses Challenge without pressure:
    • “I don't like the pressure of having to complete a list of tasks for something recreational, but I still love the challenge so much and participate in my own way as it has enriched my reading life so much.”

• Megan:

  • Explains her unique, non-visual, non-subvocalizing reading style and how that impacts her audiobook experience.
    • “It's almost like remembering something that happened a while ago.” (Megan, 05:54)

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Deep Dive: The Queernorm Book Challenge

[10:34–17:41]

What Is a Queernorm Book?

[11:51–13:21]

• Definition:

  • Any genre (romance, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, literary, etc.) where LGBTQIA characters exist as a normal, unremarkable part of the world.
  • No focus on homophobia or marginalization; queerness isn’t treated as a conflict, just a feature.
    • “...queer people, LGBTQIA folks ... have to be normal in this world, not marginalized. ...whatever the conflict of the story is, it doesn't have to do with queerness.” (Brea, 12:11)

• Purpose:

  • A comfort and escape from real-world pressures, without the weight of societal discrimination.
    • “It's okay to temporarily escape to a world where the problems are werewolves or evil aliens, but not bigots.” (Mallory, 13:35)

• Advocacy:

  • Mallory highlights the rising challenge for queer YA and middle grade authors due to book bans, encouraging listeners to buy such books.
    • “Now is a real ... wicked good time [to buy queer middle grade and YA books].” (Mallory, 14:36)

Finding Queernorm Books

[14:40–15:42]

• Search Strategies:

  • Search “queernorm” or “queernormative” on library catalogs, Book Riot, Goodreads, Booktube/BookTok.
  • Book Riot has recent curated lists and the category is increasingly recognized.
    • Tip: Community vetting is key; recommendations often note if a book is “queernorm.”

• Important Distinction:

  • “Just because a book is queer does not mean that it is queer norm.” (Mallory, 15:41)
  • Search specifically for “queernorm,” not just general queer genres.

Hosts’ Challenge Picks

[15:58–16:44]

• Brea:

  • The Library of the Unwritten (recommended via Book Riot’s queernorm lists)

• Mallory:

  • Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher (“Queernorm fantasy, that’s funny, and there’s romance and gods.”)

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BOOK TECH: How To Schedule Library Holds

[18:30–24:13]

Listener Problem:

• With library holds always expiring soon, the listener prioritizes those over purchased books, leading to shelf sitters.

Solutions

• Brea:

  • Limit the number of books checked out to avoid feeling overwhelmed by due dates and leave intentional space for purchased books.
    • “I think what you have to do is get less books from the library...so if I don't have a due date, I don't have to worry about it.” (Brea, 19:39)

• Mallory:

  • Only place holds for books you’re truly excited about; keep a side list (in an app or on paper) for books you’re interested in but not ready to commit.
    • “Only put books that you are wicked pumped about on hold...It's so easy to go buck wild, and then you get overwhelmed.” (Mallory, 23:01)

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RECS: Queer Women’s Hockey Romance Books

[24:48–31:28]

Context

• A listener wants more sapphic hockey romances after reading the Check Please webcomic and finds that “hockey books for women/queer women” are rare; Mallory is instantly thrilled.

The Phenomenon: Heated Rivalry

• Heated Rivalry—the standard for queer hockey romance, but it's male/male.
  • “It’s so romantic. And obviously they made a hit show about it that’s on Max right now.” (Brea, 27:10)
  • “Heated Rivalry is the real deal. It is truly—We love the book. We love the show. From a deep, deep hockey nerd—the hockey checks out.” (Mallory, 27:54)

Mallory’s Sapphic Hockey TBR

[28:35–30:51]

1. Wake Up, Nat and Darcy by Kate Cochran

   • Two retired pro hockey rivals turned lovers (and back again), now sports commentators reuniting during the US Winter Games.

2. Like a Power Play by Ellie Sprinkle

   • College sapphic hockey romance: team captain and the new student coach.

3. Love Pucked by Emily Silver

   • Pro hockey: secret romance between a player and a coach.

• All selections were chosen for their queer norm vibes and/or promising hockey content.
  • “I'm really excited for these.” (Mallory, 30:41)

Commentary

• Mallory’s “hockey nerd” approach ensures the on-ice action in recs is plausible.
• The growing popularity of sapphic hockey romance thrills the hosts.
  • “So many people are getting into hockey. So many people are going into hockey games. So many people are checking out hockey romances.” (Mallory, 31:04)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Mallory on Escape in Reading:

  • “You do not have to stand in front of the fire hose of diarrhea that our society, at least here in America is right now.” (13:10)
  • Brea: “That’s the grossest image.”
  • Mallory: “Okay, I will never say it again.” (13:34)

• On Community-Curated Queernorm Books:

  • “Someone has to read it first...We're kind of relying on community, like, hey, there's no homophobia in this one.” (Brea, 15:20)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:38: What We're Reading segment starts
• 10:34: Launch of the 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge—Queernorm books
• 12:11: Defining ‘queernorm’ for the challenge
• 14:40: How to find and search for queernorm books
• 15:58: Hosts share which books they’ll read for the challenge
• 18:30: Library holds reader problem—how to juggle holds with owned books
• 24:48: Queer women’s hockey romance recommendations

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Episode Tone & Style

The hosts maintain their signature witty, irreverent, and encouraging tone, filled with friendly banter, pop culture digressions, and frank talk about the realities of queer book access and escapism.

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Summary

In a packed episode, Mallory and Brea break down what defines a “queernorm” book and why seeking these out is as meaningful as it is refreshing. They help listeners track down suitable books for the challenge, share their own picks, and offer actionable advice for juggling library books and one’s own TBR. The episode closes with a passionate, hockey-nerd–approved rundown of sapphic hockey romance novels—proof positive of Reading Glasses’ pulse on the podcasting and literary zeitgeist.

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Transcript

[A]

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

[B]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. In this episode, we're ticking off the first box on the 2026 reading glasses glasses challenge. Read a Queer Norm book. We're gonna get into what that is, so stay tuned. Plus, we give some advice on scheduling library holds and recommending queer hockey books, which, obviously, this is a popular subject, and Mallory has a lot of opinions.

[A]

The only subject right now. But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[B]

I am reading a book that you recommended, and I, I. I've been reading it for, like, six months, on and off. It's been kind of like my morning, like, nonfiction book that I pick up because do you know my New year's resolution was to not sleep next to my phone?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So because of that, I don't get up and look at my phone first thing, but I do wake up, usually before my alarm, so I'm like, what am I gonna do? And then I. So I've been reading this nonfiction book in the morning. I'm reading Sick Houses. Ha. Holmes and the Architecture of Dread by Layla Taylor. Yes. It is so good. It's so good that I recommended one of my writing partners. We're working on a horror movie, and I was like, you have to read this book. Like, it's very, like. It has a lot to do with, like, what we're writing, but it's. So she goes into. I mean, Mallory talked about on the show, so I won't get into it too much, but basically, it's a. It's a nonfiction book about haunted houses and architecture and the way we view fear and otherness and all sorts of things through architecture. I Like, the part that I. That really stood out for me is she talked about the Winchester Mystery House.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And how we view that as like, a. Oh, it's a woman who was trying to communicate with the dead and blah, blah, blah, and then. But really, yeah. The real story behind that is that she was actually a woman just really interested in architecture. You may have told the same story on the show, so stuff like that. But then also going into, like, films and, like, you know, the, like, like, haunted houses in films and what makes them scary versus, like, ones and, like, what people do within the films to kind of play on our cultural understandings of fear. It's just a really fascinating book. And I'm. I, I love It. I feel like I'm learning so much by reading it. Anyways, Fantastic. I am really enjoying it. What are you reading?

[A]

I am reading a short story collection. So a couple of years ago there was. One of my best books of the year was a book called Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. And I am reading her short story collection. It's called the End of the World as a Cul de Sac. And it is so great. But Bria, this book is so depressing. It's one of those. I've been reading one story a day, and I will say, it is such a language book. It's like 15 different stories of, like, the interior lives of women. Well, there's a couple about men, but, like, very, like, it's very literary. Very, like, interior lives of people. But it's sad as it's just, like, very. It's very, very sad. But it's so beautifully written. So if you are a language reader and you like very, like, introspect stories of. It's a lot of, like, people who have made the wrong choices in life and are kind of reflecting on that. And it's, again, not a happy subject. But it's so well written, which is why I have not been blowing through it. I'm like, all right, one story a night. So it's worth reading, but you have to kind of space it out. And I'm really enjoying it, which is a weird thing to say about such a sad book. So that is the End of the World as a Cul de sac by Louise Kennedy.

[B]

And I'm reading Sick Houses by Layla Taylor. Foreign.

[A]

Take a moment to share some listener feedback. Amanda wrote in to say hi. Brian, Mallory, as always, thanks for the wonderful podcast. It brings me great joy and companionship. I had a few things I wanted to share every time. Mallory closes the show with the bit about purchases in the Void Merch Store helping to feed our hungry cats. I imagine a giant magic dispenser in your respective homes, upon which a huge lever is cranked by an unseen forest. Dropping a scoop of cat food into the bowls every time a purchase is made from the Void Merch Store. It's so stupid, but it springs to mind every time. I. I think maybe we do need to rig this up. I think Sailor and Lulu would really love that.

[B]

I think the cats would really enjoy that. Yeah, sounds like a great way to feed cats.

[A]

Honestly, this is a new invention.

[B]

I'm literally. I'm drinking out of my Void Merch. We're doing video today, but this is. I'm Drinking out of my book. Slut. Nice mug. Yeah.

[A]

Amanda continues to say, I bought girly drinks on audiobook. Thank you. And was enjoying it but felt something was off. I love Mallory's voice but couldn't figure out why I couldn't get into a zone listening. Then I solved it. I needed to increase the speed to 1.2 so it sounded more like Mallory from the podcast. That's the thing. I've talked about this on the show before. When you do an audiobook, they have you speak very slowly and enunciate every single thing so it doesn't read. That's why whenever I listen to an author reading their own book, I increase the speed to make it sound more more like them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Amanda says, I love the reading glasses challenges Every year. While I have yet to actually complete one, it still helps me try new things and read things I would not have otherwise tried. I don't like the pressure of having to complete a list of tasks for something recreational, but I still love the challenge so much and participate in my own way as it has enriched my reading life so much. Thanks again for all the joy you bring to the bookish world, Amanda. Thank you so much. And I can't remember if we already announced this on the show, but we the winners were chosen for the 2025 glasses glasses glasses challenge. We're having the Zoom meeting with them soon. I'm very excited about it and thank you to everyone who participated, even if you didn't finish. Thanks for playing along.

[B]

Yeah, Megan wrote in and said, hi Bri. Mallory, I was recently listening to your discussion about visualizing when you're reading, and it's always amazing for me to hear people talk about how they see books like movies in their heads when they read, because I am the exact opposite. I can tell you how an author describes a character. It's not like I've forgotten, but in order to see it in my mind, I have to try really hard and usually just end up imagining an actor or someone who mostly matches the description. Reading a book for me is almost like remembering something that happened a while ago. It's like it's there already in my brain and I know it rather than see it. Okay, that makes sense.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

I also don't sub vocalize, which I suspect is connected. I don't hear the words in my brain when I read, and if I force it, I have a much harder time understanding following the plot and remembering very much. My partner and I have a lot of discussions about this. He's also a big reader and it's our go to conversation starter for parties. We suspect that part of the reason might be in the way that we learn. Slash learned how to read. I didn't learn phonetically and he did. And he visualizes when he reads. I read in large chunks of text, almost like skimming, not exactly in words. Incidentally, this makes listening to audiobooks a totally different experience than reading words on a page. It took a lot of work to train my brain to log or understand audiobooks as books and not lump them with other audio media like podcast radio. Mallory, I know you asked what it's like for those of us who don't see things, and I hope this helped.

[A]

It did.

[B]

Maybe it. Or maybe it made it more confusing. Who knows? It's hard to explain your brain when it's yours.

[A]

No, this makes sense.

[B]

Joining in the it does make sense actually. And I think I. I like hearing this out loud. I kind of sometimes do the same thing. Like I don't know if I have a specific picture of what a lot of people look like in my head. Like I have a general sense, but it's not like I know like specifically what. Like you know, Katniss. Katniss looks like, you know, I. Well, I do because the movie. But. But yeah, it's interesting. I don't know if I would make it up on my own.

[A]

So interesting.

[B]

She finishes by saying joining in the choir over all Good work you do. It always makes me happy when Reading Glasses comes up in my queue. Do you want to read Megan's Wheelhouse?

[A]

Yes. Horror by Latina authors, niche histories on architecture and or urban planning. While you should read Bria's book this week, Listen. Yeah, very good fantasy that goes hard with the infrastructure of a world like politics and religion and feminist art critique. Thank you so much Megan. You can email us@reading glassespodcastmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. And before we talk about finding queer norm books, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is brought to you in part this week by Green Chef. Green Chef, who offers over 40 customizable weekly recipes designed to designed to give you peace of mind. Bria, tell us all about Green Chef Peace of mind?

[B]

More like piece of cake. It's a food box. Every Green Chef box delivers organic produce and responsibly source proteins and seafood. That means that they avoid ultra processed Fillers. We don't like those. Those are not good for you.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

And you let them do the research. They do the meal planning. They do the grocery shopping. It's low prep. It's low mess for every lifestyle, y'. All, Even Mallory can do it.

[A]

Yeah, if I can do it, you can do it.

[B]

And they're cutting food waste by 20% versus grocery shopping, and they offset 100% of their delivery emissions, which is huge.

[A]

If you're a divorced dad like me. Green Chef is basically like a magical cloud floating down from the heavens. And on it is not just the meal plan and the recipe, but also all the groceries you need. It might as well just come on. A couple of wings fluttering down from the sky is truly. Again, Bria was joking, and we are kind of joking, but I'm also kind of not joking. I am really, really bad with food. I'm really bad with meal planning. I'm really bad with cooking. It really stresses me out. And Green Chef cuts out all of that stress. It makes it so easy. The food is so good. And if you're at the start of the year, you're trying to get some good habits together, you really can't do better than Green Chef. So right now you can go to greenchef.com glassesgraza and use code glassesgraza to get started with 50% off Green Chef plus free Grazo olive oil set in your second and third boxes. Folks, Graza olive oil is real good, and so this 50 offer is only available for a limited time, so don't wait. That's code glasses Graza at greenchef.com GlassesGraza glasses glasses Graza. Sleep is important, but it's difficult sometimes. I'm John Moe on Sleeping With Celebrities. Famous people help conk you out by talking in soothing voices about unimportant things. Maria Bamford on parking.

[B]

I parked in a bus stop. That's just not right. I am not a bus.

[A]

Roxane Gay on airports. My favorite airport is Indianapolis. It has a really smart layout. Alan Tudyk on yardsticks. You hand somebody a yardstick, yardsticks become part of the family. Granted, it's a weird idea, but it's lots of fun and it works. Listen, wherever you get podcasts. This week, we're ticking off the first box. The very first. We're breaking ground on the 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge.

[B]

Mallory has a way of saying this week that is.

[A]

You know what? People have written in and commented about it, and I never.

[B]

This week, it's also the Loudest thing you. It's like you're those two words. I don't know why you're screaming them at me.

[A]

People I never knew realized that I did it until someone wrote in. And now I can't ever unhear it when I'm listening to the show back. It's. I don't know what it is. It's just. I gotta start out. I gotta start out strong with things.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's. It's like you're really gearing up for.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

You're doing this for eight years, and you're still coming in with a lot of. A lot of, like, energy, you know?

[A]

Nine years.

[B]

Okay. Don't tell me that that's too long. That's too long of my adult life. That's your whole adult life. That's as long as you've been an adult. Like, basically, we're doing this podcast your whole adult life.

[A]

I. I guess it's. It's. I've been doing reading glasses for almost a third of my life. Yeah, that's. That what?

[B]

Yeah, that's wild. And it's a fourth. It's like, almost a fourth of mine, so.

[A]

Oh, my Lord.

[B]

Yeah. Wild. Okay, so how do you complete this.

[A]

Part of the show so that the. We're breaking new ground by reading a queer norm book. How do you complete this part of the challenge? Which books are we choosing? And most importantly, how can this improve your reading life, especially if this is one third of your life that you've been talking about books? So, Bria, kick us off with the rules, okay?

[B]

We know you love rules because we've been talking to you for nine years. This is. It is queer norm book. Okay, so it doesn't matter the genre, but it's a book in the. In the world of the book that we're talking about. Queer people, LGBTQIA folks in general, they have to be normal in this world, not marginalized. So it doesn't have to be cozy, but it means that whatever the conflict of the story is, it doesn't have to do with queerness. So homophobia is not a big key point in the book. It's just being queer is a part of the society in the novel.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's where it is. So that's. That's what. That's how we define queer norm, which is a new sort of category. We just. We did an episode on it last year, and it's cool to see this category pop up, and I think a lot of our listeners are really responding to it.

[A]

Yes, People. People are looking for escape. So, speaking of, we put this on the challenge because everything is bad. Queer folks, especially trans people, are under attack in many parts of the world right now. And while reading can be about expanding your understanding, widening your empathy and learning, which we all love, it can also be a comfort and escape, which is great. And this is a reminder that you do not have to stand in front of the fire hose of diarrhea that our society, at least here in America is right now.

[B]

Don't. Oh, that's the grossest image.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

What?

[A]

What in the.

[B]

A fire hose of diarrhea.

[A]

How else could you explain the news right now?

[B]

Please never say that again.

[A]

Okay, I will never say it again. I will retire. The first and only time I will use this metaphor. But we will. We want you to know that it's. Oh, you don't have to marinate in it. It's okay to temporarily escape to a world where the problems are werewolves or evil aliens, but not bigots. And I just, I want to. This is not in our outline, but I wanted to include a little missive from Authors Against Book Bands. Some. A little concerning piece of news is that there's something that's going on right now where queer authors, especially queer YA and middle grade authors, are actually having a hard time selling their books right now because there's so many book bans, there's so many challenges against queer books that editors are afraid to buy to. To buy queer novels for young adults and kids because they're afraid that it's going to get challenged and they won't be able to sell. Sell them in. In stores in schools. So now is a real. If you were thinking good. If you're thinking about buying some queer middle grade. And why books, now is a wicked good time.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

So how do we, how do we find queer norm books?

[B]

Well, it's. This has become a category over the last. We found that there's more and more people using this as a term. So it's something you can actually just search for on library websites on sites like Book Riot, Goodreads, booktube, Book Talk. Anywhere you go that you get your recs, you can actually find a lot of queer norm titles. I even went Book Riot. This was on their Read Harder Challenge.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Last year or the year before, they just had. So they have a bunch of recommendations and there's a lot. You can do romance, you can do sci fi, horror fantasy ministry, you can do literary fiction. I mean, like, there is. It's. You're gonna Find Queer Norm in all of the categories that you would normally read. And what's interesting for me about this category of book is that someone has to read it first. Like, it's. I mean, I think it's becoming an advertised thing more, but it is still. We're kind of relying on community, like, hey, there's no homophobia in this one. So I feel like that that's kind of an interesting thing, too, where the book has been vetted, which is sort of nice. Yes, that it's like, it's a community decision, which. Which I. I appreciate, truly.

[A]

And remember, just because a book is queer does not mean that it is queer, Norm.

[B]

It's a lot.

[A]

As you know, if you listen to the show, there's a lot of queer books out there, but it does not mean that it is queer Norm. So you can't search for queer romance, queer fantasy, queer sci fi. It's got to be queer Norm. They're two very different things. All right, what are we doing for this part of the challenge? Bria, what are you reading?

[B]

Okay, well, I was like, I'm just gonna happen across a book like this. I'm just gonna accidentally.

[A]

I'll be wandering in a field, and one day.

[B]

Right? That it's like, oh, and this character also is bi or whatever. I'm like, okay, great. But they're also fighting aliens. So, like, that kind of comes into my life. It seeps into my life regardless. But then I was like, that's not how to do a challenge. I have to go out of my way to, like, find a book. So I actually. I think I used the book riot recommendations. I think that's what I used. But I saw that the library of the Unwritten is on a few lists, and I've been looking at it for a while, so I thought maybe this is what I need to actually read it. It's been my. On my tbr.

[A]

Beautiful. That's the beauty of a reading challenge.

[B]

Yeah, that is the beauty it makes. It encouraged me to read it. What are you doing?

[A]

I'm gonna read finally. Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher. You know, we love her horror so much on this show, but I think I've only read one of her fantasy books, so this kind of feels overdue. And I know this is a Queer Norm fantasy book. That's funny. And there's romance and there's gods, and I can't wait. This is a very highly. When I was doing some research on this, like, just. People just love this fudgeing. Book. So I'm really excited about it. And again, things are so grim right now. I'm excited to escape into a little queer norm fantasy book with a bumbling paladin who falls in love with somebody. Sounds fucking great. So you can send your thoughts to reading glasses podcastmail.com Tell us what you're reading for this challenge. We'd love to hear what queer norm books people are checking out. And before we give out some book tech advice on scheduling library holds, we're going to take a quick break.

[C]

Hey, it's sue the Subway Train. Hey, guess what Sue. I just inherited a game show and I have to continue it because there are people out there who like to curl up into a ball and listen to it. Yeah, it's a podcast where listeners submit game show ideas for others to play on air. Well, it is in fact, the dumber the better, right? Right. It's called Dr. Game Show. Some curled up balls consider it a tradition, while others call it a train wreck. No, not you, Sue. It's Dr. Game Show. If you're the sort that likes to listen to people competing for refrigerator magnets, then curl up into a ball and listen to Dr. Game show every other Wednesday. MaximumFun.org.

[A]

Foreign. Problem from one of our listeners. Hello Mallory and Bria. Thank you so much for our great podcast. I have learned so much by listening and really honed my wheelhouse resulting in even more books read per year than even my book hungry elementary school self could boast. My question is this. I usually use my library or Libby to consume books I am interested in or are on my TBR list. But on a rare occasion that I am really excited for a book because of reviews or wrecks and it seems to check all of my wheelhouse boxes or I have a gift card I will buy a print copy but because my library books have due dates, this is going to be very relevant for Bria Grant. I end up almost always reading slash listening to library books first in order to return them on time and then while I'm returning them pick up more than I had on hold, thus repeating the cycle. This leaves a lot of very anticipated books still closed on my shelves because I know I will have them forever. Do you have any advice on how to better schedule my reads so that I stay on top of my library books but I'm still able to own books that are likely to become favorites without them becoming shelf sitters? Thank you Triage reader in Connecticut. Bria, what do you think this glasser should do?

[B]

This is a Problem. It's a problem for me. It's a problem for the glasses.

[A]

It's a common problem.

[B]

I like a schedule. I like a due date. A due date is really keeps me motivated. And for the longest time, I took turns between a library book and what I owned. But at some point I was like, I'm just gonna do the library books first, because I would get so many. And, like, it's just. It got hard. So I. I do understand this. This is a big problem for me too. I think what you have to do is get less books from the library. That's what has helped me. And, like, space them out. So if I don't have a due date, I don't have to worry about it. And I can be like, oh, I have a book from the library, but it's not due for, like, 20 days or 15 days or even, like a week. And I'm like, okay, I can hold off on this and read something else. It is hard because they are free and it's right there, there. So it's easy to just get a whole bunch and hoard them and, like, get.

[A]

It does feel like supermarke when you're on Libby.

[B]

Yeah. But if you. I've noticed that if I have less on my account, like, instead of 15, I have, like, you know, five from the library, then the pressure doesn't feel as great to be to read those, and I can go back to the ones that I have purchased. That sort of has been my solution to this, because I hear you. I. I rely on those.

[A]

That's.

[B]

The due date is the only thing that motivates me. What do you. What do you. What do you have for this person?

[A]

Well, first off, I want to say triage reader. I like Bria, have been there. I also want to say how much I love when people write in with little titles like this instead of names. It makes it seem, like, so cute. It makes it seems like we're fancy advice columnists.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very.

[A]

Dear.

[B]

What's her name? Abby. What's her name?

[A]

Dear Abby.

[B]

Ellen. Okay.

[A]

Dear Abby. Or I was gonna say it makes me feel like we're Sex in the City. Like we're. Isn't there.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Isn't Sarah Jessica Parker a writer in that? I've never seen sex. Never seen sex.

[B]

You've never seen it?

[A]

Do I seem like somebody who would watch Sex in the City?

[B]

You know what? You'd be surprised. You watched the show in 90s. There was nothing to watch. Okay, so we all it was Twin Peaks.

[A]

That's what the show that I've been watching over and over for 15 years.

[B]

The same show, Sex and City came on before the L Word. So my friends and I in college, we would watch Sex and City and then the L Word together, like back and back to back. And were either of them good? Some of them were good sometimes, but they had a lot of great clothes, so we were into that.

[A]

You know, I'm bad at TV though, and I just like the only 90s show I can really think that. I just watched Twin Peaks over and over again.

[B]

Well, you're into Golden Girls now?

[A]

No, I've never seen Golden Girl. Oh, Designing Women.

[B]

Oh, oh, oh, right.

[A]

But that's from the 80s.

[B]

I gotta tell you, Golden Girls is really good. Just so you know. It's way better than you think it's gonna be. It's really.

[A]

I actually that I think Golden Girls is probably really good. But I've been watching yeah, Designing ever since my breakup. My dear friend, Diana Biller, friend of the show, we've been doing Designing Women days, which has been amazing. And I bought some shoulder pads because of this show. But that's from the 80s. Okay, well, if I like Designing Women, will I like Sex in the City?

[B]

No, not necessarily. But I do think you would, like, be intrigued. I don't know if you'd like Sex in the City. Actually, I. I think you'd be like, can't wait.

[A]

I. I can feel. What's that, Bria? That's the sound of 2, 000 emails flying towards us about Sex in the City. Folks, I'm not shit talking Sex in the City. I've never seen it. I just, you know, I'm really bad with tv and mostly I just like weird, weird TV shows. But I'm open to it. Please do not get mad at me. I've never seen Sex in the City. I'm Sex in the City neutral. Anyway, triage reader. This happens to me all the time. You got to break this. I go like Bria said. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you some, some advice on managing that holds list. You gotta pump the brakes. This is what I do and hopefully this helps. You only put books that you are wicked pumped about on hold? Because I used to just any book I was even passingly curious about, I would put on hold. Yeah, can't do that anymore. What you do is you put them on a Libby or a library list and then you have a list of books that you're interested in. But don't put them on hold. It's just like. Or you can even write them down. Write them on a little piece of paper. Write them. Keep a note. Notes app in your phone, whatever it is. Put them somewhere so you don't forget them, but don't put them on hold. It's so easy to go buck wild, and then you get overwhelmed and it really disrupts your bookish balance. We get. I see all the time in the discord. People are like, oh, my God, ten of my holds just came in. I don't know what to do. You gotta just put the. Only the stuff. Because when. If you do that one, like Bria said, there will not be as many coming in and you will feel less pressure. But the ones that come in, you will remember and be really excited to read and you will get to. And then you can have a little bit. A little bit more balance. So if you have tips on how to manage this, if you have thoughts, if you have a pitch for me to watch Sex and the City, please, you can send them to Reading Glass or you have a send your top.

[B]

Sex in the City episode to Mallory.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

I think I could recommend one or two that I'd be like, this is kind of worth watching.

[A]

Well, doesn't Samantha write? Samantha Irby writes it now.

[B]

Well, that got canceled. That show got canceled. And that was in just like that, which is a different iteration of the show that people kind of hate watched. But honestly, I liked it too. I liked. I liked it.

[A]

No, we love Samantha.

[B]

Come at me with that. People didn't like it, but I thought it was great. And Samantha Arby's. There was some funny on that show.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I'm not apologizing. I'm gonna like what I like.

[A]

I cannot wait to get the email. I'm canceling my Max Fund subscription because I love Sam.

[B]

One of you likes it and one of you hasn't seen it.

[A]

People. I'm not. I'm not even exaggerating. We get emails like that. But if you have a reader problem or if you have a Sex in the City episode you want me to check out, you can send it to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. Now let's answer a recommendation request from Helen who says I was recommending the check please webcomic to a colleague I just learned is a hockey player. And she said, I want more hockey romances where women are the hockey players. And followed with queer hockey romances, too. To which I thought, I've never heard a more Mallory question in my Entire life. And I burst through the wall like the fucking Kool Aid, man. Head to toe in. In hockey merch. So Helen says. So sending it in. I did tell her it might be a while. You are all super popular. Thanks for a great pod and all the wrecks. Bria, you want to read Helen's wheelhouse even though it does not have to do with this. This question.

[B]

Absolutely, yes. Young adult fantasy. That is a secret in this world. Anti capitalist speculative fiction, queer coming of age, funny memoirs about dark topics, celebrity memoirs about people I don't know anything about.

[A]

Honestly. Great wheelhouse. All right, Bria, this we have to talk about. It's not the elephant in the. In the room. It's the air in the room. It's the only thing anybody's talking about.

[B]

It's the only thing we're breathing. I mean, when did this come in?

[A]

Recently? Yeah, a few months ago, I think. I mean, it's within the last few months. That's recent for us. We get.

[B]

Folks, yes.

[A]

People don't realize.

[B]

Is it before or after the heated rivalry phenomenon? That's the question.

[A]

Before. And I. I appreciate this. This Glasser being like this might take a while, but we tried to get to this one in a timely fashion because, I mean, the thing about heated rivalry is that, yes, it is the only thing anyone cares about anymore. And it's for good reason. It's like.

[B]

I understand. Rivalry is our suggestion for that. For my suggestion.

[A]

It's your first. It's your first. Yeah, it's your first suggestion.

[B]

It's my first suggestion. It's my only hockey book. It's my only hockey book.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

If you don't know what. Okay, well, we're talking around it. I don't know why we decided what is. We have an entire episode discussion on it on our other show called Reading Smut. It's about two hockey players on different teams, and they're the two, like, best top players, and they secretly fall in love. And it's not two women. Obviously, this person is interested in more to him, but this is. It is queer. And they have to keep it a secret because they're on. They don't want to come out because it's.

[A]

The hockey world is deeply homophobic within the hockey world.

[B]

And also they're major rivals. And it takes place. It takes place over the course of many years, and it's so romantic. And obviously they made a hit show about it that's on Max right now. And literally, my friends from college just texted me last night, and someone was like, okay, I don't know why I haven't watched. He did Rivalry just now, but now I watched the whole thing in like a night. And now I'm reading the book and everyone's like, oh yeah, of course you got to watch it. And this is a, you know, a group of people who have all, you know, queer, straight. We. It's like a full spectrum there. And so I think even if you're looking to, if you're looking for any kind of hockey content, I actually think this is a great, this is a great romance to read.

[A]

Yes, I loved it again.

[B]

Loved every minute of it.

[A]

Sometimes things get really popular and it's fun to hate, like to be contrarian about them and to be suspicious of something that is so popular. Heated rivalry is the real deal. It is truly. We love the book. We love the show from a like deep, deep hockey nerd. The hockey checks out as we talk about it on the show. Go listen to our episode. But yeah, recommend this to, to your co worker and then I am going to read out my, my gay hockey tbr. So. So I have not read any of these books, but I'm going to. Me and your co worker are going to go on a journey together. And these are all Sapphic hockey romances. And I have three of them.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

So. And again, if you listen to the show, you know, I am the hockey is talking nerd. I have dumped hockey romances because the hockey is not that good.

[B]

She literally has pucks for eyes right now, folks.

[A]

Truly pucks fries for eyes. It's like Coraline, but just like, honestly would love it. And I, we. They were, I was getting booed during the heated rivalry episode because there are some moments in heated rivalry where I'm like, okay, yeah, they're fucking, but who won the game? What was the score like? The hockey really matters to me. So that's something that I'll be be looking for in these books. And the first one is Wake Up Nat and Darcy by Kate Cochran. And this is two ex hockey players. They are. They are both retired and they were rivals, turned lovers, turned enemies, turned lovers again. And they are these two retired hockey players hosting the US Winter Games coverage, trying to not to fall back in love again. And this just sounds so fun. I love. I've, I don't think I've ever read a book that was rivals, lovers, enemies lovers.

[B]

And yeah, that's impressive.

[A]

Yeah, I am, I'm, I'm, I'm very excited for this and us Winter Games are. I, I love Olympic hockey As well. So I'm excited to.

[B]

Oh, that's Olympic. Olympic is the u. S. Winter games.

[A]

So I'm. I'm excited for some, like, non pwhl NHL hockey. My second one is like a power play by Ellie sprinkle, which I am assuming is a pseudonym. Otherwise, Ellie Sprinkle, why are you not owning a bakery? Why are you writing books?

[B]

Do you think it's l or ellie?

[A]

L? Well, Miss. Ms. Sprinkle. So this is a sapphic college hockey romance. So it's the captain of the team and the new student coach with secrets. So we love that. And then the third one is love pucked by Emily silver, which is sapphic pro hockey players. It is a coach and a player who are definitely not allowed to date each other, which always goes exactly according to plan. So I'll put these in the show notes. It's wake up, Nat and Darcy. Like a power play in love pucked. I'm really excited for these.

[B]

They just kiss just to make sure they don't want to date. Maybe that will work.

[A]

It's fine if you just kiss a little bit. That never turns into anything.

[B]

Just to make sure that it's not gonna work. And they just get it out of their systems. Just do a little kiss.

[A]

The let's get him out of our systems trope, honestly, is so fun to me, but yeah, I honestly. I'm over the fudgeing moon. So many people are getting into hockey. So many people are going into hockey games. So many people are checking out hockey romances.

[B]

Like, that's how it's not got me to go to one yet, though. I have still not.

[A]

We tried to. We tried to. But you were busy that night. But I'm going to get you to a game that's. Folks, a lot of people are getting into hockey right now, and they're discovering that the hockey world is very homophobic. This is how we fight it, by getting into it. Don't let it scare you off. We have to love it even harder. And squeeze it until all the bigots get out. That's how. That's how it works, right?

[B]

Squeeze the bigots out.

[A]

Squeeze. Squeeze them out. That's. I guess that's what this whole episode is about, really. So you can send your recommendation request toreading glasses podcastmail.com. as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our discord server and our Facebook group. Remember, you can buy reading glasses, tote bags, and shirts and stickers in our void Merch store. Sailor right is right next to me waiting for his his the lever to crank and a bunch of food to tinkle down into his bowl. There's a link in the show notes for that and if you like the show please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. Doesn't matter what you you're on Apple Podcasts, you're on Pocket Cast. There's so many podcast apps I don't know what you're using but if whatever you're using I would love if you gave us a five star review. Nice little just even a rating doesn't have to be a review but if you want to write a nice little something we'd love it. It's great for us, it's great for our hearts but it's truly great for the show. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[B]

Thanks for reading.

[A]

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