Ep 452 - Escapist Book Rex!

Summary

Reading Glasses — Ep 452: Escapist Book Rex!

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

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Episode Overview

This episode of Reading Glasses focuses on escapist reading—that is, books and genres that help readers take a break from stressful times and immerse themselves in another world. Brea and Mallory offer a nuanced look at what escapism means for different individuals, provide a wealth of recommendations, address listener feedback about journals and dust jackets, and tackle timely book tech dilemmas (especially ethical e-reader use). Their tone balances humor, empathy, and their trademark candidness about both bookish joy and present-day anxieties.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

What Makes a Book "Escapist"?

• Personalized Escapism: Both hosts emphasize that escapist reading is highly personal—what calms one person could stress another. For Brea, escapism means avoiding books about topics currently stressing her out, such as filmmaking. Instead, she prefers massive world-building or other genres far removed from her daily life.
  Quote (16:31, Brea): "I don't want to think about stuff... I want to know nothing about what I'm going through."
• Not Always Cozy: Mallory differentiates between "cozy" and "escapist." She points out that escapism is about immersion and being swept into another reality, even if that world is stressful or scary—so long as it's unfamiliar.
  Quote (17:56, Mallory): "For me, an escapist book can have lots of conflict and stress as long as it's not conflict and stress that reminds me of the conflict and stress I'm going through in my real life."

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Escapist Book Recommendations

Brea's Picks

• Mysteries, especially Japanese Mysteries
  • The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
    Brea loves mysteries because they "give my brain something to work through that isn't what I'm currently thinking about" (18:42). Locked-room mysteries, in particular, let her channel stress into problem-solving far away from her real issues.
• Epic Fantasy
  • Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
    Large world-building and adventure, but not so complicated it becomes hard work; Brea notes, "It's a cool place to escape to that I would like to visit, even though it would be scary" (21:06).
• Space Opera
  • Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
    A tongue-in-cheek intergalactic talent show, perfect for those who want lighthearted fun.
• Cozy Science Fiction
  • A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
    "Just a bunch of robots. They open a noodle shop. It's super cute... it was a nice warm cup of tea, but noodles" (25:54).

Mallory's Picks

• Romantic Fantasy/Monster Smut
  • Cambric Creek Series by ZM Natausta
    Celebrated for its walkable, affordable, cozy setting where "everyone has health insurance." Mallory highlights how, beyond the spicy content, readers crave the low-stakes, idealized community.
    Quote (20:34, Mallory): "This cozy community... is a very low stress, low stakes world."
• Surreal/Literary Fiction
  • Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
    Surreal, puzzle-like immersion: "You will be able to stop thinking about it and puzzling over it. It's so surreal... you won't be panicking about fascism." (22:20)
• Hybrid Mystery/Comedy
  • Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd
    Involves a hoarder and a caretaker in a gothic mansion with strange secrets—satisfying for "those who love weird houses and helping eccentric old men" (25:29).
• Queer High Fantasy YA
  • The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
    "Magic, romance, secret identities... a great world to get lost in" (26:37).

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Notable Moments & Quotes

• On Escapism vs. Real Life:
  Mallory (17:56): "So many cozy things are about running a small business. I'm sure booksellers are reading some of these cozy books just weeping tears of blood."
• On Monster Romance:
  Mallory (20:34): "The monster boning is fun, but I want to live in Cambric Creek."
• Bria’s Escapism Preferences:
  Brea (16:42): "I rarely read books about making movies because movies are stressful and that is what I tend to be doing all of the time... But something with massive world building, going to space and almost dying, like, is very comforting to me."
• Mallory’s Caveat for Epic Fantasy:
  Mallory (26:29): "A lot of the epic fantasy I read mirrors real world struggles... So it's tough because I'm looking for something totally apart from that."

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:03] – Current Reads:

  • Bria: The Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
  • Mallory: Black Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams

• [04:15 – 09:45] – Listener Feedback:

  • Journaling only for favorite reads
  • Cute dust jacket reuse ideas
  • Confidence in advocating for YA romance in libraries

• [10:45 – 12:45] – Hosts' Upcoming Events:

  • Bria’s movie screening at SXSW and Panic Fest

• [16:01] – Main Theme:

  • Why escapist books matter right now

• [16:27] – Escapist Reading Philosophy:

  • Personal definitions of what counts as escapist for each host

• [18:42] – Book Recommendations Begin

  • Each host offers five picks with explanations

• [29:49] – Book Tech Dilemma:

  • Ethical options for e-readers besides Kindle (Kobo, Nook, Boox, iPad, used Kindles), with the conclusion that there is no “halo” option under capitalism

• [34:24] – Bookish Question:

  • Do authors expect readers to read the jacket copy, or can you go in cold?

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Notable Listener Feedback

• Praise for journaling only books that truly resonate (Michelle)
  Quote (05:35, Bria): "You go back through and you're like, these are the ones that made it into the journal."
• Making posters from dust jackets for kids (Rachel)
• Librarian gaining confidence to advocate for YA romance thanks to Reading Glasses (Kristen), leading to discussion of current anti-LGBTQ+ book legislation
  Mallory (08:33): "Pushing back against this in any way possible is absolutely amazing."

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Book Tech: E-Readers Without Amazon [29:49]

• Question: Are there ethical e-reader alternatives to Kindle?
• Conclusion: While Kobo, Nook, and Boox exist, all are owned by large corporations with their own issues. "There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism" (32:34, Mallory). Used devices and library borrowing are as close as most readers can get, but even then, Amazon infrastructure is hard to avoid.

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Book Jacket Copy: Should You Read It? [34:24]

• Short answer: Jacket copy is marketing, usually not written by the author, and not necessary for enjoying the book. Most authors hope you’ll dive in any way you like, prepared or not. Mallory (35:44): "It's not really about us. It's about selling the book." Brea (35:51): "Unless it's a book in a series, you don't need any information up front to enjoy a book."

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Final Notes

• A resolutely anti-AI stance:
  Mallory (10:45): "We're not going to do a book tech segment on this stuff... This is an anti AI podcast."
• Recap of their signature humor and camaraderie, especially in off-the-cuff conversations and meta-jokes about their own favorite recommendations (e.g., Mallory retiring her perennial mention of Shady Hollow [26:35])
• Multiple calls to send in escapist recs and questions.

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For More Escapist Book Recommendations

Email: [e-mail]

Newsletter: Sign up via the link in show notes for a monthly book list.

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"These are fun things. These are cool, fun things to do. That's the whole point of this podcast, is to give you the mental tools to know yourself as a reader and to... figure out what you want to read next."
— Mallory O’Meara [11:09]

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Ready to get lost in a book? Dive into one of their empowering and immersive recs—and don’t be afraid to leave the real world on the other side of the page.

Transcript

[Mallory O'Meara]

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

[Bria Grant]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. In this episode, we're giving out Rex for escapist books because we're all stressed. We're all stressed.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Stressed. I'm so stressed. I'm so stressed.

[Bria Grant]

Sorry, I know you're stressed.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't even have to ask.

[Bria Grant]

I'm preparing to go to a film festival. We'll talk about it at the break. But hey, if you're in Austin, come see my movie. Plus, we solved a book tech problem about buying an E reader. And we answer a question about the jacket copy on books. Fascinating.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Jackets. The jacket copy.

[Bria Grant]

That's right, that's right, that's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Summary on the back of a book.

[Bria Grant]

This is the hard hitting news you're here for and we're here to provide it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Listen, nobody does it like Reading glasses, okay? We are the only podcast doing this

[Bria Grant]

hard hitting jacket cover copy and we're going to get deep into it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

You're going to listen. I am reading. Okay. I just told you, I'm on a real Mallory kick. I think both the books I'm reading right now are recommendations from you. So I'm reading right now the Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So fucking good, isn't it?

[Bria Grant]

Which is a. Yeah, I'm only like maybe 20% of the way through.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I dream about you directing this movie, Bria.

[Bria Grant]

It's so good. I mean, you can say too, because I'm only 20% of the way through, but it is about a train. Okay? We're in an apocalyptic sort of situation. So basically there's a wasteland where you have to get the train is going across. And the rule is when you get to the other side of this wasteland, they can't bring anything with them from the wasteland. So no creatures from the wasteland can come inside or be attached to the train. Or else I guess the train is not allowed to enter to the next.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's basically as if Siberia turned into Area X from annihilation.

[Bria Grant]

Right? And we're following like the people on the train. And there's a young woman who was born on the train, has always lived on the train, knows nothing but the train. And it just is really fascinating. Like, I can see why you loved it because it is a little bit like I've Never read Murder on the Orient Express, but this is what I feel like it would be a little

[Mallory O'Meara]

bit like that because it's like a little historical horror. A little sci fi.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. A little steampunk, I guess, if you really. Yeah, because it's got trains. Trains have steam. It is. But it's really great character building. But like the world is great. I love that there's a train and you get on it and like it's dangerous, but then all these people are on it. It's always full of passengers. Like, the world building so far is so fantastic. I'm really excited that you recommend that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I want you to direct this movie. Like you directing this train going through this scary, like. Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Yeah. Call me, call me. Somebody.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Somebody hit up Ms. Fried Grant because

[Bria Grant]

set this one up. What are you reading?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am reading one of our most anticipated books from. Oh, God, I can't remember which. Which one it was last episode, maybe episode before, but it is Black Owned the Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams. Folks, you're listening to this show, so you fucking like books. You're going to love this. It's. I'm doing the audiobook right now. It is so fantastic because it's like history of bookstores, but also black history, but also American history because it goes all the way back to like the Revolutionary War and like the very first people selling books, disseminating information. It's so fantastic. I'm like, I'm learning so much and it's just like everything I love from a history, like, especially a bookish history. It's just perfect. I know that by the time people are listening to this, Black History Month is going to be over. But, like, read this book. It's going to be one of my favorite nonfiction books of the year. You know, I love love histories like this because, like, every chapter is like a different time period following a different bookseller. And it's just. It's the crossroads of so many interesting types of history. It is narrated by Shayna Small. She does a great job and I'm really loving this. So that is Black Owned by Char Adams.

[Bria Grant]

And mine is the Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Michelle wrote in to say hi, Brian Mallory. I'm not sure this tip is slide whistle worthy, but I thought I'd share. We'll tell you that's we are experts and whether or not something is worth the slide whistle. I've been drooling over Your no Pressure Book Journal. Since you published it, it's so pretty. But since I already tracked my reading in three places, goodread Story Graph and a spreadsheet my friend Danny makes every year, I didn't feel like I could justify the purchase. When I thought I probably wouldn't be able to make the time to actually fill it in after each book, then the title gave me an epiphany. There's no pressure to track everything I read in it.

[Bria Grant]

Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow. Are we good or are we good, folks?

[Bria Grant]

We're good.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We're good. So I started it this year and I'm planning to fill it in when a really good read inspires me to do so. But. Oh, I love that. I know. I'm really obsessed with this idea. Hold on, let me get out the slide.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. It is going to be slide whistle

[Mallory O'Meara]

worthy, but I won't feel like I need to add an entry for every book I finish. I usually finish between 70 and 100 books per year, so it would be too much to feel like I had to add every single one of them to the journal. So far, I've made two entries for the first two books of Bethany Jacob's Kingdom trilogy, and I bet book three will end up in there too, when I get my hands on it. Highly recommend. If either of you is in the mood for a queer space opera, folks, that's slide whistle worthy. I love keeping a journal of just the books you loved reading.

[Bria Grant]

That's fantastic. I love that. And you go back through and you're like, these are the ones that like, made it into the journal.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I really love that. Because then it's so easy at the end of the year to be like, these are my. These are my best books of the year. These are my books that I'd like to recommend. Not that I need another journal, but I really love this idea.

[Bria Grant]

It's a very cute idea. Rachel wrote in and said, hey, Brian, Mallory, I just listened to another great and timely episode about if I'm too critical of my reads. No surprise to me, but I definitely am. But it is working for me and I still love my reading life. Thank you for permission to be me. In response to the readerly quandary from that episode. I too hate dust jackets and found an interesting solution if she doesn't want to just throw them away. This is the woman who was like collecting these dust jackets or person I can't remember. This was the person who's like, collecting these dust jackets and just keeping them and not knowing what to do with them. I do happily throw mine away and enjoy the beautiful hardcovers they're hiding. But when it's a kid's book, we make them into book posters.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, this is cute.

[Bria Grant]

We cut off the inside flaps with the about the author and book summary and then hang it in their room alongside their other favorite things. Just one more way to idolize reading in our house. That's so. What a cute idea.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That is such a cute idea. I really. Wait, hold on.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. Whoa. We're gonna need double. Double slide whistle. Someone call the press.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I will say I kind of did this recently. Not with a book, but PBR recently did a collaboration with an artist to put, like, Godzilla art on their boxes and their cans. So I had to buy a 30 rag to get the Godzilla cans and the Godzilla art. And I finally finished it the other day, and I cut out the Godzilla art, and I have it up on my display shelf right now.

[Bria Grant]

When you say pbr, you do mean Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[Mallory O'Meara]

My favorite shitty beer. Okay, My shitty beer of choice.

[Bria Grant]

Back when I had. I ate gluten. I did. That was also my favorite shitty beer.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's the best shitty beer. It's clearly the best because it's. It's endorsed by Godzilla himself. My son.

[Bria Grant]

It's Godzilla's favorite beer.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Kristen wrote it to say. Hi, Brian. Mallory. I just got a conference proposal accepted at a statewide library conference. Oh, my God. Presenting. I know. That's. Dude, I want to go to a statewide library conference. It's just, like, a bunch of libraries and me and Bria in the background, like, really excited. I'm gonna be presenting about why romance has such a bad reputation, why that reputation is so problematic, and why it's actually a really good idea to have developmentally appropriate romance in school libraries. I'm writing because if I hadn't started listening to reading glasses, I don't think I would have had the confidence to talk about this, especially at such a major capacity. Your show has helped me broaden my reading horizons, and now I want to do the same for school librarians and their students, which major emphasis on the developmental appropriateness. So, yeah, big excitement. Now I actually need to go create my presentation. I love this for this Glasser. But I also love this because, folks, if you are paying attention to the book world right now, there is a bill going through Congress about basically removing any, quote, sexually inappropriate material from kids books, which also, they have snuck in. Basically, this includes any. Any mention of being trans, any mention of gender dysphoria, any, like, it's an attack on queer books, essentially. And they're do. They're using romance, YA romance, as a way to do that. And it's horrifying. It's dystopian. And pushing back against this in any way possible is a really. It's absolutely amazing. Kristen, thank you so much for doing this. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to call your reps about it because it's fudgeing awful and I'm really grateful to Authors against book Bands for keeping an eye on this stuff. But yeah, why a romance? Kids need it. I wish I had YA romance when I was a kid.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, for sure. And there were some. I mean there's. I mean it feels like they would be getting rid of some really like books that we were all reading there were.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You're gonna come for Judy Blume?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Get a life. These fucking losers. So you can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month, you can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes and a couple of bookmarks. Bria and friends are going to be at south by Southwest very soon.

[Bria Grant]

Yes, next week. We will be there next week. We premiere on the opening night of south by Southwest, a movie I created, I co wrote, I directed, multiple segments of. It's called Grind. We're playing on the 12th, the 15th and the 18th. So the first day, the last day, and then one day in the middle. Please, if you are going to south by Southwest, please come if you are.

[Mallory O'Meara]

If you're a glasser, you're gonna love this. It's. This is in your wheelhouse and it's not too scary.

[Bria Grant]

It's not too scary. It's more funny than scary. Yes, I do think some of the screenings are sold out, but you can definitely go and wait in a standby line is what I hear. Um, but definitely look into that for you. Just show up to see if it's sold out. But if you have a pass, you can just go. So yes, please get excited about that and come, Please come.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Austin Glassers. Well, you know, there's a bunch of

[Bria Grant]

you and if you are in the Kansas City area, we will be playing Panic Fest in April, so mark your calendars for that if that's a festival you like to attend. And I think it might be a little bit easier to get like walk up tickets for that if you're in

[Mallory O'Meara]

the Kansas City area.

[Bria Grant]

Yep.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And then a second bookmark. Folks, we want you to stop writing in to ask us to talk about AI We've been getting. And this is. This is Uncle Mallory coming down. And I'm saying this with love because a lot of these emails are like, hey, I know AI is bad, but I've been using it to. To do this. I've been using this to. To. To organize my tbr. I've been using this to figure out my next read. I've been using it to figure out my wheelhouse. You should talk about it on the show. And the answer is no, we're not going to do that, because fuck AI and fuck ChatGPT. I. Use your brains, folks. Use your journals, use your friends, use your librarians, use your booksellers. The joy of being alive is using your brain and outsourcing it to this extremely disruptive, shitty piece of technology that is robbing Brian Eyes industries of jobs and sucking the water out of this planet and generally contributing to the hellscape that we're living in right now. Not great. Not great. We don't want to talk about it on the show. We don't. We don't want to, like, talk about it and then give caveats. We don't even want to. We don't even want to do a segment on it just to be like, hey, don't do this. And again, I don't want to. I don't want to shame you. I don't. I know your heart is in the right place. I know that again, because almost all of the these emails are like, well, I know it's bad, but I'm using it for this one thing, folks. You only have one. One precious life. Your one wild, precious life. Do you really like thinking about books and picking your next read? These are fun things. These are cool, fun things to do. That's the whole point of this podcast, is to give you the mental tools to know yourself as a reader and to. And to fill up your TBR and to figure out what you want to read next. And you want to outsource that to. To an AI. Why don't you outsource eating a delicious piece of toast or feeling the sunshine on your face like, what are you doing? And we know, we know that you can get overwhelmed sometimes by making a list or figuring things out, but it's not worth asking a. Asking a fucking evil robot to do it. Like, so, again, we know your heart comes from the right place, but please stop writing in. We're not going to do a book Tech segment on this stuff. We're not going to give it any more air. We don't want to recommend it. We don't want to give it any more space. Like, this is an anti AI podcast. We are not interested in integrating AI into our reading lives. And that's going to be the final word on that. Okay, so before we give out escapist book recs, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Zoc Doc. Folks, we all have a lot to do. We have our careers, we have our hobbies, we have our friendships, some of us have relationships, we have our finances, we have our pets, we have our chores to do. We have laundry. And you also have health care. Your whole body, there's always something to do. Your eyes, your teeth, your, your, your blood, your joints. There's so much going on. It's a lot. But finding care for these things should not be the trickiest piece to fit into everything else you've got going on. ZocDoc makes it easy to find and book an appointment with a doctor you'll love. Bria, what is Zoc Doc?

[Bria Grant]

Zoc Doc is a free app and that helps you find and book high quality in network doctors so you can find someone you love. Dermatology, dentistry, primary care, eye care, all these different things. Over 200 plus specialties are offered on Zocdoc. You can easily search by specialty or symptom to help to build the care team that is right for you. And when you're ready, this is very important. You can see real time availability and click to book instantly. No phone tag, no waiting around. That is very. That is amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Listen folks, I've told the story on this podcast before about how I tried to book a gynecologist once that was dead. And when I couldn't figure out why the appointment wasn't going through, I finally called them and they're like, oh, she died. I was like, cool. That might be, might have been an important thing to include on your website. Zoc Doc cuts through all of that and makes it so easy. If you are someone who gets really stressed out by doctor stuff. I am, I hate. I am. I'm just, I'm stressed out by everything in life and having to figure out appointments and scheduling. It's just, it's a lot going on. Sock talk takes a lot of that stress out, makes it really, really easy. So stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.comglasses to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's C O C-O C.comglasses Zocdoc.comglasses thanks Zocdoc for sponsoring this message. Glasses.

[Bria Grant]

Howdy there. So sorry to interrupt whatever amazing show you were listening to, but it's time for an ad. I'll be so quick and get you back to your show. Don't worry. I'm host Austin one half of a podcast called Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries that I with my good friend Brenda. We talk about the pop culture stuff you like, like Thundercats and Yu Gi oh. Did you know that the Thundercats are cousins with Farrah Fawcett? Or that Yu Gi oh once caused a riot? You probably want to know more. You can find us at Maximum Fun or wherever you get podcasts every single Tuesday.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This week, everything is bad. We have had a bunch of classers write in asking for escapist book recommendations to keep their brains off of the real world. So right now we are giving out our favorite titles to help you not think about the impending fascist dystopian doom state that we are all rapidly descending into. First off, Bria, before we get into these book recommendations, what does escapist mean to you when it is applied to books?

[Bria Grant]

Well, first of all, it's my preferred type of reading. I would like to.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't want to think.

[Bria Grant]

I don't want to think about stuff. People are like, I gotta think about this thing I'm going through. Like, no, I want to know nothing about what I'm going through.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Opens up her Kindle, puts on a little diving cap and goes right into it.

[Bria Grant]

I don't want to. I don't want to think about it. For me, it's like, it has to be compelling enough to keep me interested or entertained. But I think for a lot of people, this is going to be a very personal thing. Right? So, like, it has to be the things that's not currently bothering me. I rarely read books about making movies because movies are stressful and that is what I tend to be doing all of the time. So that is not escapist for me. But something like with massive world building, going to space and almost dying, like, is very comforting to me. Very escapist. But probably not if you were a person who worked at NASA. So like, I think like, this is

[Mallory O'Meara]

like NASA person is just reading a book like that, just sweating.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that person reads books about like filmmakers accidentally, like, like having an accident on set or something. I don't know. It's like the stuff that like keeps me up at night. So I think that it's a personal thing, but for me, it's about, like, something that I can definitely, like, dive into and, like, I can think about something else for a while. My brain can solve other. Some other kind of puzzle for you. Are you into escapist?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, but it's. I've seen some people start to conflate escapist and cozy, and I don't think they're the same thing, especially because I

[Bria Grant]

think they can be. I think they can be escapist, but I don't think escapist is always cozy 100.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Because so many cozy things are about running a small business. I'm sure booksellers are reading some of these cozy books. I just weeping tears of blood. For me, an escapist book can have lots of conflict and stress. As long as it's not conflict and stress that reminds me of the conflict and stress I'm going through in my real life. So for me, that means horror can be escapist, and it can be, honestly, really escapist. For me, it's. It's really all about the immersion, about being swept into a world that is not ours. And no one has any book deadlines, and no one has as stuff that I'm going through in it, even if it's a scary haunted house. Honestly, sometimes being absolutely terrified, like, not being able to think about anything else. Besides, this book is the most escapist shit of all. All right, what are some of our break glass in case of emergency escapist reads? What's your first one, Bria?

[Bria Grant]

Okay, so I would say, like, mysteries across the board are really helpful for me for escapist reads because it gives my brain something to work through. That isn't what I'm currently thinking about. So I'm worried about this one thing. The mystery is like, no, why don't you worry about who did this murdering or whatever? Who stole this thing? Like, that is the. And I'm like, great. I would like to think about that instead. So I love Japanese mystery books, so I'm gonna go with Milhouse murders, which it all takes place in one giant house. A reclusive man is there, and then a murder happens, A painting is stolen, and no one knows how or why. The doors are all locked. How could this possibly happen? And you have to figure it out. And things like books like that. I think I can recommend, like, sort of mystery books if there's. Especially if it's, like, locations that are cool like that or just things that I like. If there's something you're interested in like that you, you like, you find sort of comforting or interesting any mysteries out there. But I. Milhouse Murders will be like. One of my top recommendations is really a great Japanese mystery book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

A mystery is a really great wreck for this.

[Bria Grant]

What is your first recommendation?

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, this is going to seem a little silly and I. But I think you're going to cosign on this one. It's the Canberra Creek series. So these are from Fantasy Smut books. We've done two of these books. We did one as a live event for reading glasses. We did one as a episode for our other show, Reading Smut. And this world is like top tier escapists. And we hear this constantly from smutties, from glassers who read these books. And like, yeah, the spicy stuff is fun, but they're like, ooh. But this, this cozy community that is walkable and affordable and everyone has health insurance like this. It's a very low stress, low stakes world. It's this like little lovely small town where like everyone has a job that makes them happy and pays them well. And it's just, it's so fantastic to escape into. And I, when we started reading the second book, I was like, oh yeah, I love this world. Like, yeah, the monster boning is fun, but like I want to live in Cambridge Creek.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And honestly, romance in general, I think that's part of the reason why romance has been having such a moment over the past few years is that we're all looking for increasingly escapist reads. It's a reason it's such a popular genre. But. Morning Glory, Milking Farm. But honestly, if you are really looking for something to bring your blood pressure down, the Cambric Creek series by ZM Nagasta kind of can't go wrong. And we both, we love them. What is your next one, Bria?

[Bria Grant]

I'm gonna go with a big epic. Big epic.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, you haven't recommended.

[Bria Grant]

I know. I'm bringing it back.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Bringing it back.

[Bria Grant]

I'm doing Senlina Sends. There's like several books in the series. It's by Josiah Bancroft. It's. It's like complicated, but it's not that complicated. Which I like because that works for me for Escapist because it's like, okay, it's a world I can identify. So in this one, it's like a Tower of Babel like world where each level is a different city. So obviously each level is going to be surprise for you. But you understand cities and towers. It's not Like, I had to, like, learn a whole new, like, language to understand the world. So the world building's cool. And then it's just like a guy named Senlin who's kind of unprepared to go. He's only learned about it like, through. Through, like, books. And he goes. He immediately loses his wife and he spends all the books trying to find her. And it's great adventure book. I haven't gotten to recommend it in a while, but it just. For me, I loved it and it just made me. It's such a cool. Again minor all like. It's a cool place to escape to that I would like to visit, even though it would be scary. That is also helpful to me. Like, immerse myself in a world that I'm not currently living in. Like, if, like going to reading a book about a Craftsman house in Echo park is not that interesting to me because I live there. So I think, like, finding a book that is, you know, something. Something outside of myself, but I sort of still understand it. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My next pick is one of my favorite authors. It's Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi. So this book is weird, but that's what makes it so escapist for me. And this is you like a weird setting? I like something wicked weird. You are sucked into this strange, surreal love story. It's about this writer and he has this muse, this fictional character he writes about. And she comes to life and she challenges him to be a better man and a better writer and a better husband. And it kind of breaks his life open. And I just. I fucking love this book. You will be able to stop thinking about it and stop puzzling over it. It's so surreal. But that the level of surrealism is what makes it escapist because you have to conjure it in your brain. You have to, like, puzzle through it. You have to. It really requires brain power. This is not. This is not for me, like a book that you can read. Brainless at the end of the day, this is not a five minutes before bed, like, but because you're thinking about it so, so deeply, you won't be panicking about fascism. So that's why I love. It is like, I love. That's the. That's the level of immersion that I crave, is something that really sucks me in in that way. And it feels very escapist. And it just. She's such a great writer. She's such an amazing writer. Just on the sentence level, like Helen Oyeyemi. Is definitely partly a language writer. And you'll just be so swept up in this, like, strange, beautiful story. And I couldn't put this down, and I felt very, very swept away by this. What's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

I want to do a big space one, so I went with Space Opera by Katherine M. Valente. It's not a space opera like a space opera as we know it, but it's about an intergalactic talent show. And it's fun and it's silly, and if you like lipstick and singing and like, all sorts of fun stuff, this is, like, escapist, but fun. It's, like, fun. And I think the space ones, particularly for me, again, I'm talking about location. Wow. I cannot not talk about location.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Listen, that's what's escapist. You. That's what you like.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And I'm sure there's a lot of feel the same way.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, there's a lot of big, like, space intergalactic science fiction things that I find, like, super escapist and really easy to read. And it's the kind of thing where I'm really stressed. That is what I reach for. What is your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My Next pick is Mr. Flood's last resort by Just Kidd. So this book is. This is my mystery one. So it's like, part mystery, but part comedy, part literary fiction. It's about this caretaker, and she's tasked with helping this elderly man who lives in this huge, strange gothic mansion. And the problem is that he is a hoarder. And he's also a fucking menace. He's really grumpy. He's really mean. He's scared off his last caretaker. But his problem is that if he can't get his house in order and cleaned up, he's gonna have to move into an assisted care facility. So he kind of reluctantly is like, I scared the last woman out. I have to tolerate this one so I can stay in my house. And the problem is the house has some pretty unsettling secrets to uncover while they're going through all of the. All of the hoard. So it's, like, delightful, but also, like, really deeply compelling. And you wanna. You wanna. You get sucked into the mystery of him and his family. And I don't know, there's something about

[Bria Grant]

this sounds like something I would like.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think you would really like it. I. Well, Bria, you love a book about helping an old man.

[Bria Grant]

It's true.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You really do. And this, you know, this is like a perfect me and you book because you love helping an old man. And I love a weird house. So this book just has such a specific and unique flavor and it's really fun to escape into. And you'll love these characters. What's your last one, Bria?

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Because I do think cozy can be escapist. I wanted to give an example of that. I'm recommending one that is cozy but not epic. Automatic Noodle by Annalenewicz.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It is.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, yeah, just a bunch of robots. They open a noodle shop. It's super cute. Unless you are a robot or you are thinking of opening a new noodle shop. I think it will feel escapist for most people because it's just like, here's these cute little sweet robots and they just want to open a noodle shop. That's all they want to do. And so they. And they do it and they work together. And when I read this, I just found it so easy. It was like easy going down, you know? Like, it just felt like it was like it was a nice warm cup of tea, but noodles. Noodles. Nice hot cup of noodles, not. And you know what? It really was a nice hot cup of noodles. What's your last one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

First off, I just want to say that I would like a medal for not recommending Shady Hollow for the millionth time. And this is my.

[Bria Grant]

Honestly, I'll give it. I'll give you the medal.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I think I officially am retiring Shady Hollow. I can. I'm not recommending that series anymore. I've talked about it so much on the show, so I was. I wanted to recommend a big, sweeping epic fantasy book. But it's tough because a lot of the epic fantasy I read mirrors real world struggles. Like a lot of the ones I was looking into. I was like, oh, this is about police corruption. This is about institutional racism. Oh, shit. So I finally landed on the Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Takuda hall, friend of the show. This is a queer YA high fantasy with a very sweet romance. So we got magic on the high seas, baby. And we are fighting imperialism. It is a very fun. I mean, what more fun place to escape to than on a pirate ship? Like, it is a pirate ship with magic and romance and secret identities and a magical mermaid. And this is just a great world to get lost into. There is a sequel and I. I love this. I actually, I used to recommend this a lot. We both bringing a couple books out of the. Out of the vault for this one. So, folks, send your escapist Rex to reading glasses podcast gmail.com before we take A look at a book tech Dilemma. We're going to take a quick break. Foreign. Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Green Chef. Green Chef is dedicated to cutting through the noise by delivering real farm sourced ingredients. But Bria, what is Green Chef?

[Bria Grant]

Okay, y' all know about food boxes. You know about food boxes. They arrive at your house, they have all the ingredients you need. You just pull the ingredients out, you make them. It's fantastic.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Even Mallory can do it.

[Bria Grant]

Yep. The thing about Green Chef is that it's organic, it's responsibly sourced, and it has tons of options. So it's a food box. But it's not like they're going to just send you something random. You get to choose. Do you want Mediterranean, do you want high protein, do you want high fiber or plant based? You have so many options there. And it also. They cut food waste by 20% versus grocery shopping and offset 100% of their delivery emissions.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Folks, Bri and I have weird diets. Both of us, we are the things that we can't eat. There are things we're trying to eat. I have all kinds of food allergies. I don't eat meat, but I'm a power lifter. So I'm just looking for a lot of protein that you would think that that would mean it would be really difficult for us to find a good food box for us. But Green Chef takes care of that. Doesn't matter what you're looking for. It doesn't matter what kind of substitutions you're nervous to ask the waiter at the restaurant. Green Chef has got you covered. So right now you can head to greenchef.com 50glasses and use code 50glasses to get 50 off your first month. Then 20 off for two months with free shipping. That's code [e-mail] 50glasses glasses. Hi there.

[Bria Grant]

Sorry to interrupt your podcast listening time. I know you're doing the dishes right now. That's okay that I don't. Don't worry about it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You might not know me, but I'm

[Bria Grant]

Brenda and I'm here to tell you about the podcast I host with my good friend Austin.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's called Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries

[Bria Grant]

and we cover all kinds of podcasts, culture topics, like did you know that

[Mallory O'Meara]

there was a real life replica of

[Bria Grant]

the Simpsons house in Las Vegas, Nevada? Or that Flint, Michigan was once home

[Mallory O'Meara]

to an indoor amusement park themed around the automobile? If those things sound interesting, you should definitely check us out every Tuesday on Maximum Fun or wherever you get podcasts Goodbye.

[Bria Grant]

You can get back to your dishes now.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's fine. Foreign. Technology Today we are solving a book tech dilemma from Maureen, who says hello. I'm a huge fan of the show current events, including recent changes at the Washington Post, making me really want to focus on stepping away from Amazon. Can you recommend an alternative to the Kindle? I know I would probably lose what's in my library, but I mostly read on it using books that I check out from the library via Libby. Any advice you have is appreciated. Thank you so much for being out there with your podcast. It's been such a help to me personally to have a positive distraction while our country burns. Rhea, what do you think?

[Bria Grant]

Okay, I'm sorry, I'm still on my Kindle. I just. I still have a Kindle and I. It is. It is in part because they get you with the library, with the stuff you have in there. I do want to step away from it at some point, so I'm going to listen to what Mallory says right now.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But okay, so here's the thing. I do have a Kobo, but it's not like. So Kobo's owned by Richuken Ratchukin. I don't know how to pronounce it, but it's not like Richukin is an independent small business. Same with Barnes and Noble in the nook. And books. B O X is owned by Onyx International, which is a very big company in China. At this point, I just assume every corporation is doing something straight up evil. Guilty until proven innocent as far as I'm concerned. So unfortunately, to live on the grid and be a part of the mainstream world, we're all using products and services made by evil ghouls. It's either that or go live in the woods. Which honestly is sounding better by the day.

[Bria Grant]

Hopefully bookshop.org makes their own E reader at some point.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That would be great. But people are mad at Bookshop right now because they partnered with Spotify. So it's like there's no. No one. There's no one single company besides like an independent bookstore. And their independent bookstores aren't putting out their own E readers. Like, there's no local handmade E reader. There's not like someone at the farmer's market who's made an E reader out of a piece of wood that. That you can buy.

[Bria Grant]

That'd be cool to know.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That would be sick. I would use that. But it's just like when we're talking about E readers. Like, yes, Kindle is not great, but it's not like the other options are amazing. So this is kind of the problem with buying an E reader. You could buy a used one, which a lot of people do. And that's probably the best you're going to get, E reader wise. And then get your ebooks through the library, which, Bria, you mostly get them for through the library.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, but they use Amazon as a platform. Yeah, so I get them from the library, but then it goes through Amazon. I don't really totally understand why. I think we looked into it at one point, but like, you click it, it takes you to Amazon and then send it to your Kindle. So either way, you're still using Amazon. It's not like you're going, I don't read them through the Libby app. Like, and there's no Libby app on Kindle. That's not possible.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, because I don't, I wouldn't want that. But what I'm saying is don't beat yourself up.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like you. Again, you could get a. You used Kindle. But it's not like, I mean, who knows? Before this episode comes out, it could be like richuken is you make their E readers by grinding up kitten bones and, and you know, and small children. Like, it's just none of these corporations are doing good things. Amazon obviously is particularly evil, but they're all, they're all evil in some way. So you're kind of just picking. Picking the lesser of you're. We're all just doing our best here. So. Yeah, by UZ reader they have. What was that website, Bria? It was like something about people's luggage or something.

[Bria Grant]

Oh yeah, we covered that. Whereas like a luggage. The ones that get left behind in people's luggage. But you can also buy used E readers. There's a lot of spots where you can buy them. But yeah, either way you're definitely going to have a little bit of trouble. I mean, if you don't want to use Amazon at all. I, I mean, you know, getting an iPad, which now you're supporting Apple, but you do have the Libby app. You know, when it comes to technology,

[Mallory O'Meara]

there really isn't like, there's no ethical consumption under capitalism. You know, that any, any tech you're gonna get. And honestly, even, even a book, you're cutting down a tree. Like, there's just consuming media. Ha. Like, unless you, you have found a poet in the woods and they hand you a scroll that they've made from recycled paper. Like, oh, it's just. Which sounds either creepy or cool. No, it's just we're all doing our best folks. So be kind to yourselves. Try to make the best choices you can. You could send your book tech dilemmas toreading glasses podcastmail.com and I do want to say, Maureen, let us know what you end up going with right in tell us. Now let's answer a bookish question from one of our listeners. Amanda writes in Dear Bri and Mallory, first of all, love you and what you create in the world. You're making it a better place. Second, I have a question about books. Sometimes I pick up a book based on a recommendation and I start reading it without reading the jacket slash back of the book description. I feel like I remember you saying that those are not written by the authors. They are written by the publishers Potion group. Sometimes. Always. And so this is my question. Does the author intend for you to pick up their book without any prior knowledge? Sometimes the jacket description will introduce characters or a basic premise. That's helpful information as you get into the book. But also, I have more than once been turned off to a book because of the description on the jacket, only to return to it later and find out that I loved it. The jacket description was just not hitting the points I cared about for context. Based on Mallory's description of Queenie in episode 188, I grabbed it at the library and have started it without looking at the jacket description. Thanks for all your help and for making my bookish life better. All right, so as an author, I just want to say, first off, remember, the entire purpose of the jacket copy, slash plot description on the back is to get you to buy it. It's not necessarily to prep you for the experience of reading the book is to convince you to buy it. The jacket is the book's wrapper. It the the COVID is meant to entice you. The jacket copy is meant to make you want to spend money on it. It is a marketing tool. That is it. Sometimes, as Amanda said, the author's not even the one to write it. I have. I have. There's been books I put out that I've written the copy. I. There's been books that I've put out that the publisher gave me a version and I edited it with our no Pressure Book Journal Bria. They basically wrote the jacket copy themselves. We did not touch them.

[Bria Grant]

We didn't touch it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So it's again, it's it's not really. It's not really about us. It's about selling the book.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Second thing you should know, unless it's

[Mallory O'Meara]

A book in a series.

[Bria Grant]

You don't need any information up front to enjoy a book, right, Mallory? I mean, some books, movies, video games, they might be enhanced if you know more information. Like, oh, this is set during this very specific, specific time during World War II when we ran out of coconuts. Or, I don't know, you know, like, I don't. Just like something, right?

[Mallory O'Meara]

You know, coconut shortage of 1822.

[Bria Grant]

Something you need to know. Well, you know, I watched that movie the other day, Secret Agent. I think it was called Secret Agent.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Are there coconuts in that? No, no.

[Bria Grant]

It has nothing to do with what I just said, but I realized there was some background information about that time in history that I didn't know that much about. Anyway, that's not important. But most stories are random and you can just pick them up wherever and hopefully in theory, you will be able to understand them without even knowing this background information. By the way, Secret Agent, great movie. You don't have to know any background information. I just thought it'd be helpful if I knew more about, like, what was going on in the government at that time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, it'd be like, Bria, you could. Anyone could pick up a copy, a DVD copy of 12 Hour Shift and just watch it without any prior knowledge.

[Bria Grant]

Even if you are not alive in the 90s when it is set in 1999, it does not matter. Even if you don't remember that because you were doing too many drugs or whatever you were doing at that time, if you don't remember that, it doesn't matter. If you've never been to a hospital, it doesn't matter. You'll be able to figure it out from context clues.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, that's kind of the whole point of most art. So, Priya, do you ever read the book without reading what it's about? You're the opposite of me.

[Bria Grant]

If I like the author, I might try it. But no, like, really, I. I like. I like spoilers. And that's like knowing that what the book is about is going to get me to read it. The more info, the better. I just read for our book club. I read thinner. The Stephen King book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never read that thin.

[Bria Grant]

It's a skip.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I would say hot take, hot take.

[Bria Grant]

I would. I started it and then I was like, ah, I don't know if I care about this. And then someone at book club was like, you don't have to read it. Because they were like, you get it, you get what it is. But then someone told me the End. And I was like, I'm gonna finish this book. Cause I wanna know how they get to the end.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Ooh, there you go.

[Bria Grant]

So I like, I would say like some. It is something that like encourages me to read. The jacket copy does help me. Like I wanna know what world I'm jumping into before I jump in. That is part of it. But you're not like that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, my favorite experiences are when I know absolutely jack shit. I. Well also with the caveat that most books that I read I have some base knowledge of because I do this show. I watch movies without trailers. I almost never read the jacket copy on books. I. I love a pristine spoiler free experience. I prefer it like this. I really honestly cannot think of a time when I read a book and I wish that I had read the jacket copy first. Maybe if I accidentally like pick up a book in the middle of a series. But even then, if you look at the book it normally says book two of whatever book three of of whatever. Like authors. Unless series aside, authors. Just everything is in the book. I don't know. I don't know what else to say. Like, even if you do need some prior knowledge, like if, if it's like a sci fi or fantasy book, normally there will be a family tree, a map, a Star wars esque in a galaxy far away. Here's like a little prologue with shit you need to know. Like, authors are going to give you everything you need to to to enjoy and understand a story. Like there's. I can't think of a world where an author would be like, well, this book is great, but you do have to, you do have to do the homework first. That's not what authors want. And I can't. I. I'm sure there's some example somewhere, but I really can't think of one. So dive right in. And if you want us to answer your question, you can send it to reading glassespodcastmail.com as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember folks, all kinds of cute stuff over on our Void merch store. There's totes and shirts and stickers. All kinds of fun stuff. There's journals, sweatshirts. There's our famous library user sweatshirt. You want a really cute sweatshirt, comes in a lot of different colors, shows people that you support the public library. Check it out, link in the show notes and if you like the show, please write and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It is so great for us 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 Grant]

Thanks for reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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