Ep 448 - Can You Be Too Critical of a Book?

Summary

Reading Glasses – Ep 448: Can You Be Too Critical of a Book?

Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Date: February 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Reading Glasses, Brea and Mallory tackle the question: "Can you be too critical of a book?" They explore how readers' critical lenses affect their enjoyment, whether it's possible to love imperfect books, and discuss personal rating standards. The hosts also address dust jacket dilemmas, field listener questions, and cap off the episode with recommendations for mass market paperbacks featuring strong female leads.

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What the Hosts Are Currently Reading (00:26–03:45)

• Brea: Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

  • Set in Silicon Valley, this moody, anti-capitalist literary fiction explores a young woman's struggles in a toxic corporate world. The protagonist is shadowed by a "black hole" that reflects her mood and becomes a meditation on disillusionment and work culture.
  • "It's exactly what I wanted. Something that's like, it's not cozy, but there’s… not a lot that happens. It’s just like, you know, she’s at this job, she has to write this thing and her boss is mean to her about it. And it’s just… a really easy but, like, tense book to read." — Brea (01:08)

• Mallory: If the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust

  • Southern Gothic with a Native American perspective, the novel follows a family after a 6-year-old girl vanishes. The supernatural element is revealed right from the opening chapter.
  • “The opening chapter is from the point of view of whatever takes the little girl. And it is really good, really interesting and I’m really enjoying it so far.” — Mallory (03:31)

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Listener Feedback & Tips (03:52–08:32)

• Grief and Reading:

  • Listener Kelsey writes in about how reading has helped them through grief.
  • “Sometimes your reading life will have ups and downs just like any other part of your life… You just gotta do whatever you need to do to keep going. Books are always going to be there.” — Mallory (04:27)
  • Kelsey’s tip for focus: Circuit training through different media and tasks to keep things fresh.

• Book Weeding & Little Free Libraries:

  • Listener Jackie (library science student) advises: “Toss it out” if a book is too chewed up for a Little Free Library.
  • “Library shelves are much more functional if everything on them is in good shape and useful. With a Little Free Library, you might not have someone monitoring the books so it could just languish.” — Jackie (07:08, read by Brea)
  • Mal & Brea reflect on learning to throw away books after handling thousands of ARCs and bookstore/library work.

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Main Topic: Can You Be Too Critical of a Book? (12:39–22:58)

Origin of the Discussion

• Listener Bayla asks about loving books that have notable flaws, and whether loving “imperfect” books means having “an overly editorial eye”:
  “There are very few books that I don’t have some opinion on… Is this just me having an overly editorial eye or am I not reading books I truly love?” — Bayla (13:03)

Key Discussion Points

1. Can You Love a Book That Isn’t Perfect?

• Brea: Absolutely.
  • “Most books for me [aren’t perfect]… In the same way people aren’t perfect and you can love them anyway. Nothing has to be, like, 100 percent perfect.” (13:58)
• Mallory: Yes, as a “vibes reader,” the emotional response often matters more than technical perfection.
  • “I would rather read a book or watch a movie that takes a big, weird swing… over something more perfectly technically sound but isn’t as interesting. To me, it’s all about how a book makes me feel.” (14:20)

2. Is It Possible to Be Too Critical?

• Brea:
  • “If you are a big reader… you’re probably pretty critical. Because… you know what you like.” (15:18)
  • Familiarity can lead to comparison, sometimes inhibiting enjoyment.
  • “It can ruin an experience at times.” (15:52)
  • Filmmaking analogy: sometimes overanalyzing structure can harm enjoyment.
• Mallory:
  • “Is your critique infringing on your enjoyment of this activity?” (16:41)
  • Enjoys critiquing art with friends; fine if it’s part of the fun, but warns: “The point of art is not perfect. It’s conveying a feeling…” (17:17)
  • Suggests evaluating books for "success" in their own goals rather than flawlessness:
    “Was this haunted house book successful? Did it entertain me? Did it scare me?” (17:41)

3. Should You Lower Your Standards for Star Ratings?

• Brea:
  • “Don’t lower your standards for anyone. Not books, not men, not the FDA… This is 2026, not our year of lowering standards.” (18:08)
  • Your personal scale is yours: some people consider three stars great, others save five stars for “life changer” books.
• Mallory:
  • “If all the books you’re doing are one star and two star, then it’s time to assess the books you’re picking up. But your scale is for you.” (19:03)
  • Both hosts are liberal with five-star ratings if a book is enjoyable, even if flawed.
  • “If you are saving those five stars for those perfect once-a-year books, it’s okay… There’s so much of you in that rating.” (20:03)
  • On perfectionists: “If you’re so distracted by minor mistakes that you’re no longer enjoying the book… that’s when you have to have a little heart-to-heart.” (21:13)
• Brea:
  • “Art is made by humans and humans are imperfect… It’s sort of like looking into someone’s brain and being like ‘oh, wow, this thing that was so important to you, I get to see how it didn’t feel where I thought this was going, but it’s interesting to see where it went for this artist.’” (21:39)

Notable Quotes

• “There is no perfect human, but I have a lot of people that I love.” — Brea (13:58)
• “The point of art is not perfect. It’s conveying a feeling or telling a story.” — Mallory (17:17)
• “Don’t lower your standards for anyone. Not books, not men, not the FDA.” — Brea (18:08)

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Bookish Problem: What to Do About Dust Jackets? (26:54–29:34)

Listener Christine: Loves books but hates dust jackets, especially for her child’s books. Is she a monster for wanting to throw out the pile?

Advice:

• Brea: “Just put the… take them right now and put them in… While you’re listening to this podcast, go put those in the recycling. You do not need the clutter.” (27:57)
• Mallory: “Once you buy a book, it’s yours. You do whatever you want with it… The book police are not coming for you.” (29:12)
• Both: Give your permission to recycle dust jackets—you are not a monster!

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Recommendation Request: Mass Market Paperback SFF with Strong Female Leads (29:37–33:28)

Listener Laura: Wants sci-fi/fantasy in mass market paperback with strong female leads (not by “the popular male authors”).

Suggestions:

• Brea:
  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
    • “You got competitive school, training environment, you got sci-fi, you got fantasy, you got post apocalypse, like all the things and very strong female character.” (30:14)
• Mallory:
  • Angel’s Blood (Guild Hunter series) by Nalini Singh
    • Urban fantasy/paranormal romance about a vampire hunter hired to track down an archangel gone bad. “This is what [the Rip Bodice] put in my hands. And it’s a mass market paperback. And if you like this, Nalini Singh has a ton of books like this.” (33:09)
• Tips for Finding Mass Market Paperbacks:
  • Fewer books are being released in this format due to the ebook market. Check book-selling sites and filter by format (note: Amazon has this filter).
  • Urban fantasy and romance still regularly publish mass market editions.

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Memorable Moments

• Repeated jokes about how much editing their sound wizard Brett has to do: “Brit, the real MVP of this show.” (12:18)
• Playful banter about “this week” as a running meta-gag for their intro. (11:38)
• “Call Bria and Mallory” — lawyer billboard joke in response to the book police. (29:15)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• What Are You Reading? — 00:26–03:45
• Listener Feedback — 03:52–08:32
• Main Topic: Criticism & Book Ratings — 12:39–22:58
• Dust Jackets Debate — 26:54–29:34
• Mass Market Paperback Recommendations — 29:37–33:28

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Signature Sign-Off:
“Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading.” (34:03)

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This episode is perfect for reflective readers who sometimes wonder if they're "too picky," as well as anyone who needs permission to let go of bookish clutter or wants new recommendations for strong women-led mass market reads. As always, the hosts bring warmth, practical advice, and their trademark cozy, witty banter.

Transcript

[Mallory O']

Foreign.

[Mallory]

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'.

[Mallory O']

Meara.

[Bria Graham]

And I'm Bria Graham, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, we're talking about whether or not you can be too critical with books. We're gonna get into it. Plus, we talk about what to do with dust jackets and recommend books that are out in mass market. Paperback first.

[Mallory]

Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Graham]

I am reading a book that's been on my list for a minute. It came out in 2023. Okay, so not that long. It's Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter. Oh, like a book you would have read or were interested in.

[Mallory]

I got an arc for this and I don't remember. I think the arc expired before I could get to it.

[Bria Graham]

Cover is really beautiful. It has like, pomegranate seeds on it. And she also wrote the Book of X, which is a book I liked a few years back. This one is about a woman who's living in Silicon Valley. I was in San Francisco and so I started reading it because I was in San Francisco. It's set in San Francis, and she is working in this, like, horrible corporate job with, like, long hours. Everyone's mean to her. They're wanting her to do things that are, like, unethical. And also, since she was little, she's always had what seems to be a black hole following her around.

[Mallory O']

Oh.

[Bria Graham]

And it changes sizes and shape depending on her mood, but she's the only person who can see it. And it kind of just follows her around everywhere she goes as, like, her companion. And it's just sort of a. It's a bit of a. I would call it a meditation on her life and, like, what's going on and like, how horrible all these people are. And she calls these people who, like, go in and they believe in the. She calls them the believers. They go in and they're like, into the company and they're like part of the corporate culture. But she's like, I know I'm faking, and every time I have to put on a smile, I'm faking. And every time I have to listen, I'm faking, but I don't know what else to do. So it's very like anti capitalist fun, dark literary fiction. It's very moody. Super moody. Basically, just like what it is like to be a young person trying to have a job in like, one of these, like, fast paced startups where everyone is kind of a Piece of shit. And it's fascinating and I really love it. It's exactly what I wanted. Something that's like, it's not cozy, but there's like, there's not a lot that happens. It's just like, you know, she's at this job, she has to like write this thing and her boss is mean to her about it. And it's just kind of been like a really easy but like, tense book to read. Easy, but tense? Yes, that's what I said. And I am gonna stand by it. What are you reading?

[Mallory]

So I am reading a book that came out last year again. I'm getting all of my holds that I tried to put in last year that are finally coming in. It's called if the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust. And this is this very Mallory book. This is about the six year old. She vanishes completely without a trace. And her family is, you know, kind of struggling to navigate the situation. There's a lot of unanswered questions from go. The first chapter, I will tell you, you're immediately like, is this supernatural? What is something weird happening? And one of the sisters of the girl who disappeared, she starts experiencing these nightmares that are kind of. She can't tell if they're real or not. And she becomes convinced that this little girl's disappearance is actually connected to other disappearances in the family. And. And her and some of the other family members kind of set out to uncover whether these family secrets are the key to finding. Finding this little sister. And you know, I love ghosts and. Oh, I should say so this is. It's not just Southern Gothic. This is Native American Southern Gothic.

[Bria Graham]

Oh, cool.

[Mallory O']

So.

[Mallory]

Which is very cool and just very my shit. It's again, the. I don't want to spoil anything, but just the opening chapter. You're immediately like, since it's the opening chapter, I could say it. It's. The opening chapter is from the point of view of whatever takes the little girl. And it is really good, really interesting and I'm really enjoying it so far. I wish I had gotten it last year. That's if the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust.

[Bria Graham]

And I'm reading Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter.

[Mallory]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Kelsey wrote in to say hello. I was just listening to the latest episode on how to focus on reading and I wanted to send a quick note first. Thank you both for this wonderful show. Particularly. Hearing Mallory share about her grief journey has been really helpful for me as I move through my own grief over losing my dad, I found reading to be super cathartic at times, but other times, I can't do anything but just sit or lay in bed. And it's wonderful to have the reading glasses community affirm that sometimes your reading life will have ups and downs just like any other part of your life. Kelsey, I'm there. We're here. We got you. And yeah, sometimes you're reading light when you're grieving. Remember the month after Scott died, I just read the same book three times. That was all I read the whole month. It just. It's tough, and you just gotta do whatever you need to do to keep going. Re books are always going to be there. And look at me now, Ma.

[Mallory O']

Look at me go.

[Mallory]

This whole year, I have been truly. Since last May, I have been reading so much. I'm back. It's gonna come back for you someday. You got to do what you need to do. And Kelsey says for my focusing tip, I practice almost a personal circuit. I switch between different media types so I don't do anything for too long. But I do get to do a variety of things. Read a chapter of my current book while listening to a record. Listen to a podcast episode while chipping away at my to do list, Watching a show while having a snack, or walking on my walking pad, playing a mission or a chunk of whatever video game I'm currently playing. Still chipping away. Baldur's Gate 3. I like this. I like this personal hobby circuit. That's fun. I do love. I also have a walking pad. Love to. Love to do a little bit. Yeah. Well, I. I have it for when it's, like, raining or if it's like, I want to go for a walk and it's night time. And because I'm a woman in a big city, I don't want to get murdered. But sometimes you want to go for a little walk.

[Mallory O']

I love it.

[Mallory]

I love this. I love the idea of. Of hobby circuit training.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah. But can I ask another question about the walking pad? It doesn't have handles, right?

[Mallory]

No. You can get them with handles, though. Mine doesn't.

[Bria Graham]

But you feel like you're not gonna fall.

[Mallory]

I mean, you're. You're not running. It's a walking pad, so it's. It only. I think mine only goes up to 3.8 miles an hour, so you're not going fast. But it's. It's really nice if you live in a place like I. I bought it when I lived in Idlewild, because in Idlewild, they don't have sidewalks. So it's not a great place to walk if you're not doing it at a park. And I wanted to do make sure I was like getting cardio in. So I. I really like it. You can get them for like a hundred bu. If you don't want to do audiobook walks but you live in a place that doesn't have sidewalks or the only time you have to do it is at night, I highly recommend these. Honestly, I can. You can come over here and you can try it out. We could test it out for the show.

[Bria Graham]

Okay. We could. I would love it.

[Mallory O']

Let's do that.

[Mallory]

Okay.

[Bria Graham]

Jackie wrote in and said, hey Brianne, Mallory, I love your show. I'm a library student and just learned about book weeding in one of my classes, so I want to give you advice to the letter writer who wasn't sure whether to put a chewed up book in a little free library. That's from episode three 4:30. I'm a little behind. Sorry if someone else already wrote in about this. They didn't. So exciting. My almost professional opinion is toss it out. You can think of a library like your closet. If you don't get rid of the stuff that's too worn out, uncomfortable, it doesn't fit anymore, you'll feel like you have nothing to wear even if you have lots of clothes you love because you don't have to shove everything else around them. Similarly, library shelves are much more functional if everything on them is in good shape and useful. With a little free library, you might not have someone monitoring the books and throwing things away so the book could just languish worse. Putting a book in that should be trash might encourage others to leave things that are in grosser condition or actual trash. And so actually great point. Basically, the book isn't in good enough shape for a user to want it, throw it away and get a new copy or ask a friend with a dog to replace it. Once you know how libraries maintain their shelves, the actual book objects are much less precious. Unless they are rare editions, personalized, or something that's out of print and really hard to find used. While I'm here, I'll say I love how much you two share your love of reading. We don't always have the same taste, but I enjoy hearing about what books you are excited about. I think that's great advice. This is really good perspective and a good point. Don't junk up.

[Mallory O']

Don't jump up.

[Bria Graham]

Junk up your little free library. That's probably good advice. I should. I didn't think about that.

[Mallory]

But I mean, it's good perspective. You know, there's, it's good to hear both sides because we did have someone talking about how, you know, you could still read it.

[Mallory O']

Sure.

[Mallory]

But also, I think it's people who have never worked in a library or a bookstore and had to toss out books have never, if you've never had that experience, it's very easy to get wrapped up on, like in the preciousness of the object of a book. But when I think if after you've worked in the book world for a while, it's, you know, after we have received, honestly, thousands of arcs. And now I'm at the point where it's very easy for me to throw it and throw it in the, in the recycling bin if I need to. So good perspective.

[Bria Graham]

Do you want to read Jackie's Wheelhouse?

[Mallory]

Yes. Which is time travel, alternate slash, parallel selves, dysfunctional family relationships, sticking it to shitty systems. Love that. And Batman ass women in their 30s or older love that too.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, great.

[Mallory]

Great wheelhouse. 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. This link in the show notes. And before we talk about being too critical of books, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by zocdoc. Folks, it's the start of the year.

[Mallory O']

You've probably been putting off something like a dental cleaning, an annual checkup. Honestly, really, any kind of doctor's appointment. When you're a kid, you really don't look forward to going to the doctor. And then the problem is it doesn't get any better because when you're an adult, you don't miss school. You're just, you have to drive yourself. No one gives you a lollipop. Very annoying. Trust me, we get it. I go through the same thing. I put them off for way too long because it's such a pain. But this year you can do things differently. You can find a doctor you love and book your appointments with zocdoc.

[Mallory]

Zocdoc is a free app and website.

[Mallory O']

That helps you find and book high quality in network doctors so you can find someone you love. Doesn't matter what you're looking for, you're looking for a dentist, a dermatologist, primary care, eye care, one of the other 200 plus specialties offered on Zocdoc. It is wild that we need so Many specialty doctors for all the different.

[Mallory]

Parts of our body.

[Mallory O']

It can be really stressful. And ZocDoc removes all that stress. You can easily search by specialty or symptom to build the care team that is right for you. And when you're ready, you can see their real time availability. Real time availability. That is so amazing. And you can click to book instantly. There's no phone tag. You're not leaving messages on an ancient voice message machine from 1997. You're not waiting around and then panicking because you left your phone and do not disturb mode and you missed the call and you have to call them back again and leave another message.

[Mallory]

None of that.

[Mallory O']

ZocDoc cuts through all of that. No stress, no irritation, just booking instantly. It's so great. Both Bri and I have used this. Could not recommend more. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com glasses to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's Zocdoc.com Glasses Zocdoc.com Glasses Thanks, Sockdoc, for sponsoring this message.

[Mallory]

Glasses.

[Flophouse Host]

The Flophouse is a podcast where we watch a bad movie and then we talk about it.

[Mallory]

Guys, how does E.T.

[Mallory O']

Poop?

[Flophouse Host]

Uh, well, he's not that regular, but as he's gotten older, he has two cloacas, one under each arm. No, I was just looking forward to you going through the other ways in which Wild Wild west is historically inaccurate. Do you know how much movies cost nowadays? When you add in your popcorn and your bagel bites and your cheese fritters.

[Mallory]

You can't go wrong with a Henry Cavill mustache. Henry Cattle mustaches. The only supplier. The flop house. New episodes every Saturday. Find [e-mail].

[Bria Graham]

This week, this week, this week. This fucking megaphone standing at the back of the room. This week. This year, more like it. Okay, sorry, go ahead. If you didn't listen to the last episode, this joke is going to be lost on you.

[Mallory]

This is like someone who's coming out for a concert. Hello, Los Angeles. This week. Oh, my Lord.

[Bria Graham]

This week.

[Mallory]

You'Re gonna find a new.

[Mallory O']

A new intro.

[Mallory]

No, I can't. Okay, this week we're. Okay.

[Mallory O']

Okay, I'm gonna do it.

[Mallory]

I'm gonna do it. Brit. Leave this all in. Leave this all in. Also, folks, just a shout out to our awesome sound wizard editor, Brett, who has to deal with all of this constantly. Brit, the real MVP of this show. You think you're.

[Bria Graham]

We're bad, right?

[Mallory]

We are.

[Bria Graham]

We're making things you have to cut out all the time. We're giggling. We're doing all sorts of dumb over here.

[Mallory]

Truly shout out. This week we're talking about being overly critical of books. Can you be too critical? Can you love a book that is not a five star read? Should we all be raising or lowering our standards for reviews and recommendations? We are getting into it. Today's episode was inspired by Bayla. Bria, you want to read this? This question Bayless sent in.

[Mallory O']

Okay.

[Bria Graham]

Hi you2. I am listening to the episode about making a best of list and a question occurred to me. I sometimes feel weird saying I loved a book and would recommend it if there is something concrete I don't like about it. Maybe it's a four star book, say. But like Bria said, those books might be the ones that I keep thinking about or bringing up in conversation. There are very few books that I don't have some opinion on that I leave exactly as is. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy them. It's just that I'm not having a whoa, this exploded my brain a little bit feeling. Is this just me having an overly editorial eye or am I not reading books I truly love? Maybe this connects to an earlier conversation about three star books being capable of five star ness in the right setting. Anyway, that was probably confusing, but if you have thoughts, I'd appreciate it. Thank you for continuing to make the most cozy podcast ever.

[Mallory]

All right, this is a really interesting set of questions and I think very relevant to a lot of readers and a really good thing to think about. All right, Bria, let's get into it. First question, can you love a book that is not perfect? What do you think?

[Bria Graham]

Yes, of course. I mean I, I think that would be most books for me. I don't know how many perfect books there are out there. In the same way that like people aren't perfect and you can love them anyway. Nothing has to be like 100 perfect. I would actually say there's no perfect human, but I have a lot of people that I love. What about you? Do you think, you think the book has to be perfect? Can you love a book that's not perfect?

[Mallory]

Absolutely, you can love a book that's not perfect. So I want everyone listening to take what I'm saying in this episode with a grain of salt because the thing you have to know about me, and you probably know about me from listening to the show is that I'm a big vibes reader. That's how I am with really all art. I would Rather read a book or watch a movie that takes a big, weird swing, that doesn't totally land over something that is more perfectly technically sound and structured, but isn't as interesting. To me, it's all about how a book makes me feel. A book can have mistakes, but leave me feeling really satisfied or cozy or excited or happy at the end. And to me, that's a book I love, even if it's got some problems with it. So, question. Do we think it is possible to be too critical of a book? What do you think?

[Bria Graham]

I mean, I think we can all know too much. This is kind of.

[Mallory]

I think we all know too much.

[Bria Graham]

God, let's go back.

[Mallory]

Let's run it back.

[Bria Graham]

Take. Take some of this knowledge out of my head. If you are a big reader, you're probably pretty critical. Like, you know, because you know. You know, you know what you like, you know, if you're big, you know, you know what is important to you. Like, if you're a big language person, you're like, language is important to me. If. But if you're not a big language person, but you understand what good writing is, you may be more forgiving. Like, that's me. I like language stuff, but, like, I'm more forgiving. So I think I can understand that. Like, yeah, for a language reader, this may not be the best book in the world, but for me it's fine. But that is pretty critical for me to be like, this is kind of poorly written, but I love it. Yeah, that is still like, a form of criticism. I think when you've read as much as a lot of people have, you know, especially people listen to the show, but not everyone, but a lot of you, you're gonna be like, well, this book did it better. Or this book has this thing that's better, or whatever. You have a lot to compare it to for sure. You have a lot of knowledge there. And I think that that can be. It can ruin an experience at times. I know, like, with filmmaking, you often find that where you're like, wait a second. But the midpoint didn't make any sense of that great movie. And if it's kind of important, sometimes you're able to let some of that knowledge go and do what you do, which I think is great, where you're just like, yeah, I don't know. This made me feel so. Like, that's all that matters is, like, the feeling that it left with me, which is actually. I think you're right. The best way to judge good art.

[Mallory]

Yeah.

[Bria Graham]

If you're going to judge art, which is tough to do. What do you think?

[Mallory]

I think this depends. Is, is your critique infringing on your enjoyment of this activity?

[Bria Graham]

Because for me, maybe you love critiquing.

[Mallory]

That's the thing. I think it is so fun to look at things critically, especially when it's with my friends. If I'm talking about a book with you, if I'm, you know, we're watching a movie, whatever it is, one of my favorite things in the world is talking about art with friends and digesting it, dissecting it. You and I recommend stuff each other all the time with caveats. It is so fun to be like, yeah, this book was really fun, but it's a little long. You know, this book, the ending of this is amazing. The middle of it's a little, little saggy. It's really fun to dissect art. I like that is a, a activity I enjoy. If you find that you cannot enjoy a book if everything is not perfect, I do think you might have to have a little heart to heart with yourself. Like, the point of art is not perfect. It's conveying a feeling or tell. And so maybe tip for, for some glasses out there. For the past, like, year or so, I have started thinking about books in terms of success. As in, was this story successful? Did this haunted house book achieve its goals? Did it entertain me? Did it scare me? Did it compel me to fear for the protagonist? Then for me, it's a success, even if there were some bumps along the way. And that's, that's a book that I'm into.

[Bria Graham]

I love that. I like, that's a great way of looking at things.

[Mallory]

So Bayla had a really good question. It's like, if you feel like you're not reading a lot of five star reads, should you lower your standards? What do you think?

[Bria Graham]

I. I mean, I don't think so. I think, like, you just have a different scale than other people. And I know many people who are like, three stars, great book. I loved it. Three gave it three stars. That's me. If I. If three stars is a fail. But don't lower your standards for anyone. No, not books, not men, not the, not the fda. You know, like, we're not lowering standards over here. This is 2026 is not our year of lowering standards. So don't feel like you have to lower your standards. These are your standards for books and you just have a different scale, you know, like, so let's like stick with your scale. This is a, it's A personal thing. You don't have to like go with the wild scale that I literally had someone text me the other day and they were like, hey, notice everything you give on Goodreads is 5 stars. And I was like, yes, because I don't want to like deal with the, you know, aftermath of I read it. It's getting five stars, you know, because I don't really finish books I don't really like. So yeah, I. Yes. So your scale is your scale and you can do whatever you want. What do you think you giving things three stars?

[Mallory]

Well, you know, I'm not, but we, you and I are aligned to that. Again, it depends. You might not be reading the right books. If all the books you're doing are one star and two star, then you, then, then it's time to assess the books that you're picking up. But your scale is for you. Like you just said, there's a lot of people who like a three star book is, is great for them. Like as long as your scale is serving you and your book tracking means and you feel like you're good with your, your reading life. Like, I know a lot of folks save their five star ratings for perfect books. Like new favorite books. Like books that you're like, oh, this is like, this is going to be the best. This is the best book I read in this year. This book is like a life changer. And that's fine. You know, obviously you and I are much more liberal with those stars. But it's again, it's what you're using the ratings for. Yes, I actually there's a few books out there that I think are perfect books. It's me in that scene from Love actually standing in front of the bookstore with holding the little place cards. You know, there's, I think what book we talk about on the show all the time. Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, which has been now retired, is hanging.

[Mallory O']

There's a.

[Mallory]

The COVID of Head Full of Ghosts by Paul is hanging in the rafters of reading glasses. To me, that is a perfect book and I come across maybe one of those a year. Last year my perfect book was Old Soul by Suzanne Barker. That's a perfect book for me. But it also, the thing about it is that it has to so much to do with the person you are at the time of reading. There's so much of you in that rating. And I obviously, I really remember those books, but I'm really happy giving books that aren't quite perfect five stars because to me they still are. If I love the ride, I thought about it after months later, that's a five star read to me. Even if it was a little clunky in parts or too long or whatever. If you are saving those five stars for those perfect once a year books, it's okay. I think it really comes down to, for me, your enjoyment while you're reading. If I'm thinking of the people who are like, and I'm calling some of these people out, the people who are like taken out. Remember someone that wrote in and was like, I get taken out of a book if I see a typo. I think you gotta calm down. Like art is made by humans. And if you just have really high standards for a five star book, but you still generally enjoy most of the books you read, I think you're doing great. If you are the kind of person that you're like, I spotted two typos. This is, this, this book has, is, is marred beyond recognition. This book.

[Mallory O']

There was one, there was one chapter.

[Mallory]

I didn't like, not perfect and like. So what I'm trying to get at is if you're so distracted by these minor mistakes that you're no longer enjoying the book and it is infringing upon your ability to lose yourself and have fun with reading, that's when you have to be like, yeah, a little heart to heart. But I think if, if you're a person who saves high ratings, that's fine. It's your scale. This is, this stuff serves you, you know.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah. And I think like what you're saying is right. Art is made by humans and humans are imperfect. And there is something really interesting to me about when you're reading something or watching something and it takes a turn and you're like, I don't know if we even needed that part or something. But like, obviously the artist, the writer, the filmmaker or whatever thought that like, oh, I needed to do a full detour into this one thing that like makes no sense structurally and like doesn't fit with the vibe or whatever. But like, to me it's sort of like looking into someone's brain and being like, oh, wow, like this thing that was so important to you, I get to like see how it didn't feel where I isn't. It's not where I thought this was going, but it's interesting to see where it, where it went for this artist. Especially like, I mean you as a person who likes like David lynch, who loves a left turn where you're like.

[Mallory]

David lynch is happening right now. But left turns, baby.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah. And so. And I'm often like, wow, I can't believe he just put that in this movie, you know? And like, I think me as a person who does love a very strict, like, film structure, it's hard sometimes because I'm like, you can't just do that in a movie. You can't do that.

[Mallory]

Who do you think you are?

[Bria Graham]

But, and you know, who you think you are is David lynch, who made a, you know, a living, greatest director, nice career doing Wild. That doesn't make sense and isn't Hollywood and isn't maybe doesn't fit with someone's very specific idea of what a structure of something looks like. Anyway, that was a tangent, but I think you're totally right.

[Mallory]

Yeah, well, I, I am very interested to see what people think about this. And also final thoughts to Baela again. If you're still enjoying your reading life and you're picking up books you like and you're having fun reading, don't change a goddamn thing. You're doing great. You don't have to give out five star ratings all the time just because your old pals Brie and Mallory do. Like, if you are, if you are enjoying yourself, you're doing great. So you can send your thoughts to reading glasses podcastmail.com before we talk about dust jackets, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Apron Notebooks.

[Mallory O']

Folks, this podcast is hosted by a.

[Mallory]

Couple of notebook heads.

[Mallory O']

Priya and I are certified notebook fiends. I keep so many different notebooks. I love them. We're both juggling a lot of different things. We're trying to keep track of things.

[Mallory]

We're both very irritated with having to.

[Mallory O']

Use our phones all the time. A notebook can be the answer to all of those problems. And you got to check out the Apron notebook.

[Mallory]

The Apron notebook is a super flexible.

[Mallory O']

System for tackling your to do list, maybe multiple to do lists. Okay. The thing about Apron notebooks that I really like, which is what puts me.

[Mallory]

Off buying some other notebooks, is I don't like a notebook that is dated.

[Mallory O']

Because what if I need three pages for one day instead of just one? It really stresses me out.

[Mallory]

I don't like it.

[Mallory O']

Apron is super flexible. You can skip days, you can skip weeks, you can skip months without wasting any space. It is so annoying when you buy a really fancy dated notebook and then you forget about it for a month and you're like, well, that's 30 pages that I guess are just going to rotate not and not be used. You don't have that with Apron. You use only the features that you want. And each journal comes with a handy little ruler and is designed to be recycled when you're done with it, which is great for the environment.

[Mallory]

We love that you can check out.

[Mallory O']

Their Instagram at Apron notebooks if you want to look at some cute Instagram posts. I will say I do love looking at social media pictures of people stationary. Love looking at a bullet journal. Love looking at a notebook. Go, go check that out. But truly, if you are, if you maybe you've never been a notebook person and you're like this seems, seems like.

[Mallory]

It would be good for me because.

[Mallory O']

I hate keeping track of things on my phone, which is the stress machine. Apron is a really great way to start again.

[Mallory]

I love it.

[Mallory O']

I've been using it to track my, my writing progress, my words for each day and week. It's so great again, especially because you can skip a day and just not worry about it. It's like it is the low stress option while still being extremely cute. And also this isn't even mentioned in the ad, but it is really affordable. Some of these notebooks are wicked expensive. Apron notebooks are low stress and compared.

[Mallory]

To a lot of other notebooks out.

[Mallory O']

There, not super expensive. I love it. So get your to do list under control today. Go to apronnotebooks.com and use the code glasses for 10% off your first order. That's apronnotebooks.com and enter code glasses to save 10% on your first order glasses.

[Kirk Hamilton]

Say you like video games and who doesn't?

[Mallory]

I mean, some people probably don't, okay?

[Kirk Hamilton]

But a lot of people do. So say you're one of those people and you feel like you don't really have anyone to talk to about the games that you like. Well, you should get some better friends. Yes, you could get some better friends, but you could also listen to Triple Click, a weekly podcast about video games hosted by me, Kirk Hamilton, me, Maddy Myers, and me, Jason Schreier. We talk about new releases, old classics, industry news and whatever really.

[Mallory]

We'll show you new things to love about games and maybe even help you find new friends to talk to about them.

[Kirk Hamilton]

Tripleclick. It's kind of like we're your friends. Find [e-mail] or wherever you get your podcast.

[Mallory]

Now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners. Christine writes in to say, dear Bri and Mallory, I love books, but I hate dust jackets. That sounds like what's that show that everybody likes where people have, like, their. Their catchphrase.

[Bria Graham]

Like a Real Housewives.

[Mallory]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never seen it, but I know that, like, people have, like, catchphrases that. I love books, but I hate dust jackets.

[Bria Graham]

Yeah, like, yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's this person's Real Housewives.

[Mallory]

Christine says I always take them off, read the book, put the dust jacket back on, and send them on their merry way. But with my kids books, it's gotten out of control. I've kept every dust jacket for every book in her current bookshelf rotation with the noble intent of one day reuniting each jacket with its book before passing it on or storing it. But honestly, I'm tired of the maintenance. The pile of jackets is growing, and I'm in a get rid of stuff phase. So can I recycle them? Does anyone actually care about dust jackets? I'm not trying to make money from these. I always pass books on to the next kiddo, but I don't want to violate some book lover code. Tell me your thoughts. Am I a monster or am I just freeing myself from unnecessary paper clutter? Priya, what do you think?

[Bria Graham]

Oh, my God. Just put the. Take the. Take them right now and put them in. While you're listening to this podcast, go put those in the recycling. You do not need the clutter. I also read some meme recently. Yes, I'm quoting a meme. I'm quoting a meme on the podcast, but it was like, women are more sensitive to clutter than men, which is 100 true.

[Mallory]

Oh, yeah.

[Bria Graham]

Like. Like, you need to. I haven't redone my office yet, and I changed my backdrop to a Waffle House, as you can see, but I haven't redone.

[Mallory]

Bria is coming to us live from the Waffle House.

[Bria Graham]

I wish, but yes. Yeah. Do not raise your blood pressure because of some dust jackets. Throw those in the garbage or recycle them or whatever. But yeah, you don't need to hold on to those anymore. We forgive you.

[Mallory]

We forgive you. Get rid of. What's that? Me and Bria are singing, doing a coordinated dance to. To freedom right now. It is. Oh, my God. You are not a monster, Christine. I'm also. I'm a clutter. Like, I've been. This week has been a distracted week, and I had. I. Like, today I was like, if I don't sit down and put away all the clutter in vacuum and like. Like, I can feel it in my always call it predator vision. Like, I can. It's like a blinking thing, and it drives me nuts. So you're not a monster. And also, once you buy a book, it's yours. You do whatever you want with it. The COVID artist. The thing is, the COVID artist has achieved their goals. You bought the book. Everything else is gravy.

[Bria Graham]

That's right.

[Mallory]

If you find the dust jacket, your.

[Bria Graham]

Kids are, like, drawn in those books anyway. What do you care about the dust jackets?

[Mallory]

Yeah, it's a. It's a kid's book. If you find the dust jackets annoying and you want to take them off, put them back on the shelf, recycle them, whatever you need to do. The book police are not coming for you, okay? And if they are, you call your lawyers, Mallory and Bria. I want to do it. We should do a photo shoot like one of those, like, Billboard highway lawyers. Call Bria and Mallory. But no, you are absolutely not a monster.

[Bria Graham]

You are forgiven. Forgiven. Throw them away.

[Mallory]

So if you want us to solve your reader problem, you can send it to reading glasses podcastmail.com. Time to answer a recommendation request from Laura, who says, do you have any recommendations for books that are mass market paperbacks that are sci fi fantasy featuring a strong female lead? I find many available are epic fantasies by the popular male authors that I am not pumped about reading. Bria, you want to read Laura's wheelhouse, huh?

[Bria Graham]

Post apocalyptic, near future sci fi fantasy books that feature a competitive school slash training environment and World War II historical fiction with a strong female lead.

[Mallory]

We got two great wrecks for you.

[Bria Graham]

We do, but we were worried about this because I literally, we hopped on. I was like, mallory, I don't know how to find a mass market paperback. Like, I had to Google. But then I was like, oh, wait, maybe I'll just find the title of something and then Google, hey, you know what? 4th Wing is available in mass market paperback, which I did not realize. So go fourth wing. You guys got competitive school, training environment, you got sci fi, you got fantasy, you got post apocalypse, like all the things and. And like, very strong female character, everyone. I literally was talking to my friend who's like a dude in his 60s yesterday I was having lunch with and he was like, you know what I just discovered was fourth wing. And I was like, I love that for you. And like, listen, go get this book. This is available in mass market paperback. And Mal, are you gonna talk a little bit about how to find mass market paperbacks? Cause it's interesting.

[Mallory]

Yeah, this is tough because not a lot of books are released in this format any. Because the format of mass market, it was like quick, easy, cheap. And a lot of that market has been sort of absorbed by the ebook world. So we're not seeing as many as many of them. Not many books are released. A book has to get basically really, really popular to get released in mass market paperback because then it will be in grocery stores and Target and places like that. I'm trying to like, obviously Fourth wing is huge. I think one of Paul Tremblay's books. Speaking of Paul Tremblay, earlier in the episode, I want to say maybe, maybe Head Full of Ghosts, one of his really popular titles got released in mass market paperback. And you kind of only see it with genre. You're not seeing a lot of literary fiction and the way that I did. Gotta look at a. On a book selling website. I don't know if you can do this on bookshop. I know you can do it on Amazon, but just don't buy the book. Well, I mean, you know what it. Do whatever you want but like try to. We use bookshop on the show. We recommend bookshop. But if you're looking for a mass market paperback, it is easy to look on Amazon because it, you can filter for it. It. You can filter for format and, and then you can buy from your local bookstore instead. But it is kind of tough to find and it's, it's. We talked about this on the show a long time ago and it's sad because I love a mass market a book that can fit in my back pocket.

[Bria Graham]

Oh, you're a fan.

[Mallory O']

Love it.

[Mallory]

This is still a lot of romance that gets released like this. Our the pick Force reading smut. Our other show this month comes out is out in mass market paperback and I got to read a Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare in mass market paperback. And I was so delighted. Have you already read it?

[Bria Graham]

I haven't read it yet.

[Mallory]

Not at the time that we're reading this, no. But I'm reading it this week, so.

[Bria Graham]

Okay.

[Mallory]

People know how far in advance we record these, but anyway, I'm recommending a fantasy series with a very badass female lead. It's called Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh. So this is urban fantasy slash paranormal romance. So I hope you like some boning. It is about a vampire hunter who's hired by a very sexy angel to track down an archangel who's gone bad. And it's not good to be immortal in the middle of a battle between sexy angels. So I literally went to the rip bodice and I was like I want physically badass, like fighter, warrior lady, female leads. And this is what they put in my hands. And it's a mass market paperback. And if you like this, Nalini Singh has a ton of books like this. A lot of paranormal romance, urban fantasy I think is going to start to come back. There was a big glut of it in the early 2000s and now it's and then it tapered off for a bit. But I think it's going to come back because everything from the early 2000s is coming back and I I think Laura will really like this one. So I'm recommending Angel's Blood by Nalini.

[Bria Graham]

Singh and I'm recommending 4th Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

[Mallory]

So you can send your recommendation request to reading glasses podcastmail.com as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. And remember, you want a nice sweatshirt to keep you warm during these winter months. You can go to our Void merch store. There's all kinds of fun stuff over there. Get a nice library user sweatshirt helps us feed our cats. The 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. And it it's great for our hearts, but it's truly great for the show and helps us reach more readers. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[Bria Graham]

Thanks for reading.

[Mallory O']

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