Ep 453 - Permission to Read - Why We Love Readathons

Summary

Reading Glasses Ep 453 – “Permission to Read – Why We Love Readathons” (March 12, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara focus on the concept of readathons—setting aside significant chunks of time for reading, often in the company of others (virtually or physically). They tick off the “Participate in a Readathon” box in their 2026 Reading Glasses Challenge, discuss why readathons improve your reading life, and share their personal experiences. The episode also features practical advice for hosting your own readathon, listener feedback, and tailored book recommendations, including romance novels featuring protagonists who use wheelchairs.

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What We're Reading

[00:28–04:43]

• Brea: Reinventing Love by Mona Chollet

  • Explores how the patriarchy can sabotage heterosexual relationships, examining power imbalances and broader social structures.
  • “Can you have a successful heterosexual relationship when you’re living in a patriarchy and there’s going to be a power imbalance?” [01:07]
  • Not prescriptive, but reflective—covers dynamics in pop culture, literature, and even extreme cases like women marrying men in prison. Brea highlights the book’s non-judgmental, thought-provoking tone.

• Mallory: Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz

  • A collection of humorous essays from the 1970s, read by Lebowitz herself in the audiobook.
  • “She’s just so funny. I had to stop listening … while I was driving because she’s just so funny.” [04:02]
  • Praises Lebowitz's voice, wit, and ability to turn mundane observations into sharp, memorable commentary.

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Listener Feedback & Community

[04:43–09:05]

• A follow-up from the “anonymous book sinner,” who confessed to logging unfinished books as “read” on Goodreads for closure. They clarify they rarely do it, never leave reviews, and feel “absolved” by Mallory and Brea.

  • “I feel absolved enough of my sins to continue on with my devilish ways.” [06:28]

• Chantal from Australia shares that she discovered Reading Glasses by first buying their reading journal and is now hooked on both the show and reading more. Chantal also shares her “wheelhouse” of bookish preferences, which the hosts delight in.

  Chantal’s Wheelhouse Includes:

  • Small town with a secret, female MC on a journey, “science that feels real” in sci-fi, inheritances with strings attached, storylines involving elephants, magical bookstores, and ragtag found families. [08:39]

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Main Topic: Why We Love Readathons

Defining a Readathon

[11:34–13:03]

• Must be a period significantly longer than one’s usual reading time—if you usually read for 10 minutes, do an hour; if you do an hour, aim for several hours or a whole day.
• Can be done solo or with a community; may involve reading at unusual times.

Mallory:

“It has to be doing nothing but reading for a portion of time that is significantly longer than your regular reading time.” [12:08]

Brea:

“Setting aside a specific time… I loved the idea: read for a few hours, you check off a box, something cool you did!” [12:31]

Why Put Readathons in the Challenge?

[13:03–13:49]

• Many need “permission” to indulge in something so luxurious.
• Readathons create community, motivation, and celebration of reading.
• “We're here to give you permission to sit in your jammies and read for five hours.” [13:42]

How Readathons Improve Your Reading Life

[13:54–14:41]

• Accelerated TBR reduction—great for sampling and finishing books.
• Deep, immersive experience helps retention and connection to books.
• Sparks momentum: “It really gives your habits a little Mario Kart star.” [14:41]

How to Prepare for a Readathon

[15:41–17:54]

• Preparation is part of the fun: plan your reading, snacks, drinks, and cozy setting.
• “Charge your e-reader!” [16:53] – a practical tip for the digital reader.
• Don’t forget cozy clothes and background music if preferred.
• You could even start your readathon in a bath: “This is like the bookish equivalent of overpreparing a bathtub.” [17:08]

Personal Readathon Experiences

[18:02–18:51]

• Mallory and Brea often host readathons together, sometimes in unconventional places (hot tubs, pools).

• They stress that a readathon can be any length and tailored to personal schedules.

• Community elements: Instagram Lives, sharing progress, Discord snack channel, and mutual encouragement.

  Memorable Moment:

  • On completing a four-hour readathon: “You can set aside a little chunk of a day and it’s still a readathon and it still counts.” [19:19]

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Bookish Problem: How to Find Novellas

Listener Question from Ally [20:23–24:32]

• Ally seeks advice on finding shorter, physically small books (novellas) during travel, beyond random bookstore browsing.

Tips:

• Shout-out to Tor.com, which publishes a renowned novella line spanning genres, especially speculative fiction. [21:47]
• “They really cornered the market for a long while on the novella.” [22:48]
• Search for “novellas” in quotes along with your genre of interest, as many websites and libraries do roundup lists.
• Physical browsing tip: scan shelves for tiny spines!

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Romance Recs: Wheelchair-Using Protagonists

Request from Max [24:32–26:39]

• Max seeks romance novels with protagonists who use wheelchairs, ideally by disabled authors.

Recommendations:

1. Not My Type by Evie Mitchell

   • Wheelchair-using sexologist falls for a carpenter/BDSM rope rigger.
   • Mallory: “I started hitting myself on the head with a mallet when I heard about this book … so sexy, I’m very pumped.” [26:01]

2. The Year We Fell Down by Sabrina Bowen

   • College romance; main character uses a wheelchair after a leg injury. Includes hockey players (Mallory’s wheelhouse).

3. Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens (ed. Marie K. Nightcamp)

   • YA anthology with a sapphic romance featuring a protagonist who uses a wheelchair. “Seems like glasser-nip in general.” [26:39]

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Notable Quotes

• Mallory: “We’re here to give you permission to sit in your jammies and read for five hours.” [13:42]
• Brea: “Preparing is part of the fun. That’s what they say about vacations… figuring it out is part of the fun.” [15:41]
• Mallory: “This is like the bookish equivalent of overpreparing your bathtub.” [17:08]
• Mail-in Listener: “I feel absolved enough of my sins to continue on with my devilish ways.” [06:28]

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Episode Highlights by Timestamp

• [00:28–04:43] – What We’re Reading
• [04:43–09:05] – Listener Feedback & Wheelhouses
• [11:34–19:19] – Readathon Deep Dive: Definitions, Benefits, and Personal Stories
• [20:23–24:32] – Bookish Problem: Finding Novellas
• [24:32–26:39] – Romance Recommendations: Wheelchair-Using Protagonists
• [13:42, 15:41, 17:08, 26:01] – Notable Quotes

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Tone & Style:
Conversational, humorous, inclusive, and supportive—reflecting the warm, witty, community-oriented spirit Reading Glasses is known for.

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For further info, book lists, and community events (including future readathons), sign up for the Reading Glasses newsletter or join their Discord server.

Transcript

[Bria Grant]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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

[Bria Grant]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and E reader. This episode, we're ticking off another box in the 2026 reading glasses glasses challenge. Participate in a readathon. Plus, we give tips on finding novellas, and we recommend romance with protagonists that use wheelchairs.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

I am listening to a book that I believe you recommended. I think it's called Reinventing Love. How the Patriarchy Sabotages Heterosexual Relationships. Did you recommend this book to me? This feels like a new book. I feel like when you were going through your, like, singledom, you were reading. You were. Mona Chollet, Cholet C. No, I read the Bell L E T. I read

[Mallory O'Meara]

the bell hooks book. I read the Sean Fay book. I read a bunch of sad single lady books, but I did not read this one. Please tell me more.

[Bria Grant]

She also wrote In Defense of Witches, which I did not read. But basically, it takes feminists.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I did read that, but I haven't read it.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. It takes feminist principles, and it's like, okay, we live in this. Obviously, we live in a patriarchy. Can you have a successful heterosexual relationship when you're living in a patriarchy and there's going to be a power imbalance and, like, you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But you get really strong so no one can take you?

[Bria Grant]

I think there's still a power imbalance, Mallory. I'm sorry. You can be the strongest woman in the world, and they still will tell you that you can't direct a movie.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's true. That's true.

[Bria Grant]

Or they'll.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They'll explain to you how to direct a movie while you're directing it.

[Bria Grant]

That's right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

While you're directing a movie.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. It's like she's drawing on everything from, like, pop culture to literature to theorists. There's actually a lot of bell hooks in. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. There's a lot of bell hooks in this book. I think you'd really like it. It's not prescriptive. It's. It's just sort of like. Sort of like, here's kind of where we've been and even goes into, like, there's this part right now that's about relationships with men in prison who have, like, murdered their wives and then how they end up getting married to other women while they're still in prison and like. Like, things like that. And like, what leads women to like, make those decisions? And like the question of, like, you

[Mallory O'Meara]

know, just things that we talk about right now. This sounds great.

[Bria Grant]

And things we talk about all the time. Like, you know, if you praise the man in the relationship, if he does some of the cooking, whereas the woman is like expected to do the cook. And like, what. And if that power imbalance is always going to be there, what does that mean for the relationship as a whole? It's not anti heterosexual relationships. Obviously you and I are both in heterosexual relationships, but it is sort of like how there are things that just automatically sabotage those relationships and make those relationships inherently difficult in a lot of ways.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. This sounds. As someone who I found my future husband, this seems like a perfect thing. This seems like a kind of perfect book to read. Right. When you get into a new relationship, but also when you've been in a relationship for a really long time.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. And it's about, like, how to continue creating like a healthy relationship as you like to think about these broader things because I think a lot of times we think it's about us, but really it's like we're dealing with these much broader systems we've all been raised in. And like, how.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And reinforcing without knowing.

[Bria Grant]

We absolutely do. We like, without fail, we end up reinforcing them.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Fascinating. I just finished. Speaking of future wives, one of the loves of my life just finished the audiobook of Metropolitan Life by Fran Leibowitz. I. I love her so much. Oh, my Lord. She's just so amazing. She's so funny. And Metropolitan Life is her collection of essays that came out in the 70s. And she reads the audiobook again. She's so funny. I love her voice. She's like, I had to stop listening to this while I was driving because she's just so funny. But it's just her, like, social observations. It's not a. It wasn't a long audiobook. I think it was like four or five hours. And yeah, it's just about everything from, from kids to marriage to science to plants. It's just these in each. I mean, each essay is only between like 4 and 10 minutes long. So if you love a short chapter, if you love a manageable chunk, which we really love on this show.

[Bria Grant]

We do. We love it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This book is so great and it's, it's just so, such an enjoyable read. So funny. Sort of the opposite of yours. Not a super deep, life changing book, but just. I love her. I think she's so amazing. I think we're like how lucky that I got to live in the time where she's writing and speaking and being alive. And she's just. I adore her so much. And yeah, so that's Metropolitan Life by Fran Leibowitz.

[Bria Grant]

And mine is Reinventing Love by Mona Chollet.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. We got some follow up from our anonymous book Sinner. So we did a whole episode about lying in your book journal. And this is.

[Bria Grant]

And the sinner wrote us back.

[Mallory O'Meara]

They wrote us. No.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, thank you. Oh, excited?

[Mallory O'Meara]

This. Love this.

[Bria Grant]

This is the person who was marking stuff in Goodreads that they hadn't read. Correct?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. Okay. Yes. So Bri and I are now in our robes. We have those like collar things on. I have a rosary, but on the end of it is a little tiny book. So this listener says, thank you guys so much for discussing my book Sin and mostly absolving me of my book Guilt. I loved your discussion. It brought me many laughs and so much joy. This is definitely one of my new favorite episodes. I wanted to clarify a few things and share what I'm doing moving forward. 1. It is super rare that I do this for context. I usually read between 100, 150 books a year and I probably do this with about two books a year normally. I'm pretty good at identifying early on if I'm not vibing with the book. And I have no hang ups about dumping a book if I haven't read that much of it. I only do the whole Google a plot summary and mark the book as read. If I am definitely a good chunk into the book and then realize it's not for me, it's definitely about the sunken page fallacy. It's so hard for me to feel like I wasted that reading. 2. Fair. In the cases where I have done this, I did not rate a review of the book. Well, then there you go. Three, because I don't write the book and because I feel like I sinned, I don't ever get confused about if I actually read it.

[Bria Grant]

You have a lot of surrounding that book.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, that was my concern was that they were. This person was going to set them up for like looking at their journal in five years and being like, I did I read this? Did I not read this? A Gandalf moment of I have no memory of this place. 4. I have never run across a situation where someone specifically asked me about one of the books I falsely marked as read. But if I did, I probably would just say something like, oh, I don't remember it well, but I don't think I liked it that much. But you didn't. Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

See this?

[Mallory O'Meara]

There you go. You're fine. So after listening to your thoughts, here's my plan. I'm going to keep doing it. That's a big hell yeah, brother. I feel absolved enough of my sins to continue on with my devilish ways. That said, I do think I'm gonna start tracking my early DNFs on Storygraph, which may eventually make me feel free to mark those half read books as DNFs. As for Goodreads, which did Goodreads is starting people being able to mark books as DNFs, which is very exciting for a lot of folks. As for Goodreads, I might make an exclusive shelf or I might just keep marking them as red. Who knows? But I feel free and empowered to keep tricking my brain in a way that's improving my reading life. Thank you. I'm doing the the hand. You are absolved of your books in your. Your priests, Mallory and Bria have absolved you. You are. Continue. Continue as you were.

[Bria Grant]

Chantal wrote in and said hello from Australia. I am a relatively new listener, but I but safe to say I'm totally hooked. I went about finding you a little backwards. With a goal of increasing my reading in 2026 and consciously reducing my phone slash doom scrolling time. I was looking for a reading journal that would help me record and reflect on the books I was reading. I came across your journal and thought it was perfect for me. Wow, that's great. So I bought it not having listened to a single. Of course once I got it, I looked up the podcast and really loved it. I drive a lot for work and have been working my way through your backlog of episodes. I just want to say thank you for creating such a wonderful bookish podcast and community. Your podcast has been such a help with a goal to read more and figuring out my wheelhouse doorways and checking out a lot of your recommendations has helped me to devour 25 books this year so far. Oh my God. There's so many. That's a lot of books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh my God.

[Bria Grant]

Most exciting though is doing all this reading and particularly being more conscious of what I am reading and why I am enjoying it has given me the boost of motivation I needed to finally work out my long held goal of writing my my very own novel. Love that. I don't know if I will ever see the light of day publicly, but I am enjoying working on it. And you never know what the future might bring. Oh, this is such a nice email. This is fantastic. And I love. Someone found the book journal before they found the podcast. That's pretty new.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Also, I really love that because I'm about to read Chantal's wheelhouse. And when you hear this wheelhouse, you're going to be like, oh, this person is a born glasser. This person's with us. Okay, get ready for this.

[Bria Grant]

Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Small, small town with a secret.

[Bria Grant]

Yes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Female. Main character goes on a journey. Love that. Okay. Important space sci fi books with science. That feels like it could be real today. Main character gets an inheritance with strings attached. Anything with elephants. Story set in depression era traveling circus, magical bookstores and a ragtag group of misfits. Finding family and belonging. Chantel, you were amazing. Welcome, welcome.

[Bria Grant]

You found your people.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You truly have found your people. We absolutely love it and we hope to read your book some. You could email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com. if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month, you can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. And before we talk about readathons, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Ingram Spark, which is an award winning publishing platform providing everything you need to successfully self publish a book. You can focus on what you do best, which is writing, and they make it possible to share it with the world. Folks, Bri and I are both authors and we know that the writing of the thing is actually not the hardest part of being an author. We know that sounds nuts, but it is true. There's so much involved with getting your book to the world, getting it to readers, getting it into a format that is, that is able to go up on all these platforms. Rhea, tell us a little bit more about what's great about ingramspark.

[Bria Grant]

Well, first of all, it's free to publish.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Free.

[Bria Grant]

Free to edit your book as needed. When you self publish with IngramSpark, you were plugged into one of the publishing industry's largest global book distribution networks, including access to over 45,000 retailers, including independent bookstores, which we love, and libraries, which we love more. You know, it is very hard, as Mallory said, like we both are published authors. It's hard to get your book out there. We know there's a lot of people out there who are writing and want to get your stuff out there. Ingramspark is a great way to do that. It takes Some of the burden off of you. You don't have to call 45,000 retailers. Do you want to call 45,000 retailers? That's too many.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you can get 15% off your first order of 15 or more books using code GLASSES15. This offer expires at the end of the year. Check out IngramSpark glasses.

[Sierra Cotto]

Wonderful is a podcast where we talk about things we like that's hard to sell in a promo like this. So we've enlisted the help of piano rock superstar Billy Joel to tell you about some of the topics we've covered. Take It Away, Real Billy Joel, Teddy

[Mike Cavalon]

Rock Spin on Lake Syne Worlds and Shire, Circle Time, Sega Drink Has Caesar Salad, Tower of Annoyed, Keep Me Up, Big Time Capsules, Wayne's World, Cheese Pulls, Wallace Stevens, Donkey Kong, Fun Size Almond. They didn't start the podcast. Except that's not true. They did in 22. They didn't start the podcast. No, they actually did. That was, in fact, a fib.

[Sierra Cotto]

Listen to Wonderful Every Wednesday on MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks, Real Billy Joel.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No problem, Griffin. This week, we're ticking off another box on the 2026 reading glasses. Glasses. Glasses. Challenge. Participate in a readathon. Why did we put this on the challenge? How did we complete it? And most importantly, how can this improve your reading life? First off, the rules, of course. Bria, how do we want to define a readathon? I was thinking that it has to do. It's like, has to be doing nothing but reading for a portion of time that is significantly longer than your regular reading time. So if you read for, like, 10 minutes a day, that's reading for an hour. If you read for an hour a day, that's reading for a few hours or like a whole day. Does that. Does that sound right?

[Bria Grant]

That feels right. Also, like, maybe reading at a time you wouldn't normally read or something. You know what I mean?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Like, or, like, setting aside special time to read.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, like a special. Like, if you're normally reading for three hours on a Saturday, it's not necessarily a readathon, you know, even though this is a lot of reading. But if you, like, never do that on a, you know, a Tuesday night, like, I feel like that could also count. Yeah, like setting aside a specific time also. Yeah. So, I mean, the idea of a readathon was really new to me when we started reading glasses. Like, I. It's just. I loved the idea. Read for a few hours, you check off a box. Something cool you did. I think it's like, it's very cool. I like that we decided to put it on this year's challenge. Why do you think we did that?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we find that a lot of people are waiting for permission. We are all very stressed out. We're all very busy in setting a aside. A whole day or even a chunk of a day for reading can seem really indulgent, quite luxurious. But you know what, baby? You deserve it. You deserve that luxury. It can be so special and fun and also an excellent thing to do with friends. It's a great introvert party. Sometimes you just need an excuse to do it, and we are here to give you that. Also, we love the community aspect of it. So some people might feel like, oh, it's too indulgent of me to do a readathon on my own. But, like, all the other glasses are doing it today. Mallory and Bri are doing it today. Like, I'm participating in something. There's a community spirit. It's fun to, like, feel like you're doing something with a bunch of people. We're here to give you permission to sit in your jammies and. And read for five hours. Oh, yeah. Thinking about it right now.

[Bria Grant]

Light candle, get some nice. Get some nice. Get some snacks, something nice to eat or drink.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, Bria, so most importantly, how do we think readathons can improve your reading life?

[Bria Grant]

Well, I mean, if you're doing nothing but reading for a day or whatever, it can help you get through some books. You can try out books, which is really nice if you have a long tbr. Also, like, I think it. There is something about reading a book for, like, a long period of time instead of, like, for 10, 15 minutes every night, that you really get to know that book a little bit better, and you're going to have a different reading experience. I find that if I think of that, the books that I read during a readathon, I remember better than almost any of the other books that I've read because I'm just, like, devouring them at once. And it really helps to, like, stay with. Stay in that book instead of, like, okay, what was happening? Like, I just was reading this yesterday, but now I can't remember, like, where were we? On the train? Or whatever. What else do you think? How else can it improve people's reading life?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I just remember because, like, you know, every year for my birthday, I like to go swimming, I like to eat a vegan cheeseburger, and I like to read a book. And, like, sometimes I'm like, was this book that amazing, or did I just get to read it in one go on my birthday? For sure, it can improve a book. And for me, it's also like a TBR cleanse. Like, you can. You can really get through a bunch of books, and if you're not liking something, you can just dump it and really speed. Speed run through. Through the. The immediate TBR to find something you really like. And then when you do that, you get a bunch of reading done. I find that it kind of supercharges your reading momentum and sets you up for reading over the next few weeks. What's that? That is it Mario Kart, where you, like, get a star and you go really fast? Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like that because then you're like. You feel like you have momentum, and you're like, damn, I read three books today. Well, tomorrow I want to read some more. Like, it really gives your habits a little Mario Kart star. I don't really play Mario Kart, so. I don't. There's someone who loves Mario Kart out there that is bleeding from their eyes right now. But I'm doing my best here, folks. All right, Bria, so how do you prepare for a reading read a thon?

[Bria Grant]

Well, I think preparing is part of the fun. You know, that's what they say about vacations is that, like, preparing is part of the fun. You know, figuring it out, what you're going to do is part of the fun. I do have planning.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I have not a trip, but my boyfriend. Boyfriend reveal on reading glasses. Wow. It's coming to visit me next month for. For a week. And, like, the amount of lists that I am and planning that I'm making, it is so exciting to me. Like, this is the same for a readathon. Like, I love. Oh, you know, I love organizing something. Making a little spreadsheet. Oh, baby.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. So picking out what you're gonna read ahead of time, getting some nice snacks, some nice drinks. Maybe you normally wouldn't make a hot chocolate or you wouldn't, you know, make this, like, nice iced tea or whatever time of year it is. And, like, so making that preparation is. Is really fun. Also, like, get in a cozy area. Go find, like, your comfy blankets, get your comfy clothes, make sure you have good lighting. Like, Mallory will find some really good background music to play. I'm less interested in. But I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But you are interested in nice pajamas. I know you are.

[Bria Grant]

I love. I love a nice pajama. Listen, you can. You can't. Some cool pajama will Pajama company please.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, my God, somebody please sponsor us. Give us nice pajamas. We will talk about them for years. We love nice pajamas.

[Bria Grant]

And don't forget to charge your E reader. You gotta do that because that would be very sad if in the middle.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Can you read your E reader while it's plugged in?

[Bria Grant]

Yes, you can. But it wouldn't. Then you didn't need a really long.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Then you're like crouched over the. Crouched over. Yeah. For an hour. Not very fun.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. God, you'll feel so luxurious and nice pajamas with a beautiful bowl of snacks sitting in your. In your nicest blanket. Oh, baby, that sounds. Oh, this is like for me, this is. You know those videos online of people like way over preparing their bathtubs. They're like putting rose petals in there and, and lighting candles and like setting up all kinds of stuff. This is like the bookish equivalent of that. Honestly, you could do a readathon in a tub.

[Bria Grant]

You could. Well, that'd be okay. Well, how long is this? You don't need to be in the tub that long. Don't be in the tub that long. That's too much.

[Mallory O'Meara]

By the end of it, you look like a little fish. You're so wrinkly.

[Bria Grant]

It's like freezing in there. You're just like shivering. Yeah, but you could start it. You could start it in the tub

[Mallory O'Meara]

or start it in the tub. Yeah. Oh, that actually sounds kind of nice. All right. So how did we complete this, Bria? We completed this together. We just had a reason.

[Bria Grant]

We did in a tub.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We just had a gigantic Me and Briar actually read a thought in a pool does sound.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. One day, Mallory and I did spend like most of a day in a hot tub. In a large hot tub.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And it was actually really fun.

[Bria Grant]

I spent a lot of time in a hot tub this week and I was just like, this is the best. This is the way I should be living my life. We just did one. We did a mini one. We did a four hour one because we have been doing these eight hour ones, which can be hard to plan, especially when we're really busy. So doing a four hour one, which I. We have not done it yet when we're recording the show, but I assume it went great and we loved it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I've already planned out what I'm going to eat. I planned. I'm picking out my stacks. I'm ready to rug.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, not me. I haven't done any planning at all. But I'm excited to do it. And it's fun to see what people are reading. That's been really fun. We go and do our Instagram lives and people talk about what they're going to be reading and how much they've read. And it's just, it's a really fun time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. If you've never done one with us before, we are going to be doing another one in the spring. This was our winter one. So if you're, if you're a new classer and you're like, oh, no, I missed out, we are going to be doing another one. It's really fun to see what everyone's reading in the discord. People post their stacks, what they're reading. They're. They're kind of cozy zone. We, I love seeing what people. We have a special snack channel in the discord. Love seeing what people are stacking on. And it's. I think it's important to we. It was fun to do a mini one. To be like, you can do a readathon. You don't have to do it for 10 hours. You can set aside a little chunk of a day and it's still a readathon and it still counts. And honestly, you can still get all of the same benefits.

[Bria Grant]

Definitely.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You can send your thoughts to reading glassespodcast gmail.com before we solve a bookish problem about novellas, we're going to take a quick break.

[Sierra Cotto]

Hey, it's TV Chef Fantasy League. You know the podcast where we watch cooking competition shows and we treat them like fantasy sports?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Right now, we're getting ready for Top Chef Carolinas.

[Bria Grant]

We spend all year covering these competitions, but now it's time for the main event.

[Sierra Cotto]

The apex predator of competitive cooking television shows. Tune in, draft a team and play

[Mallory O'Meara]

along with your hosts, Sierra Cotto, Mike

[Sierra Cotto]

Cavalon, and Ify Wadiway.

[Bria Grant]

New episodes every [e-mail] or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners. Ally writes in to say, hi, Brian, Mallory, My mom told me I should quit listening to your podcast because we both know my TBR list long enough for 10 lifetimes. But I just can't stop. Mom. Excuse me. We're not even recommending. We haven't even recommended any book. Well, I guess the top of the show counts. It's funny, people always say that. I don't think of us as that much of a book recommending show, but we really are. We do talk about books a lot.

[Bria Grant]

We talk. That's the main. We just Talk about books. That's the main thing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, we talk. It's like books and reading though is.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that's true. That's true.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's so funny.

[Bria Grant]

Fast forward through the book part.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Love listening to you guys talk about all things books and sometimes I just re listen to old episodes because it feels like two friends just chatting in my ears. Was wondering if you have any tips on finding novellas or as I like to call them, tiny books. I started collecting books that are physically small, preferably without microscopic text size a few years ago when I went on an international trip and wanted to have a couple physical books with me. That time I literally just browsed a used bookstore for tiny spines and found a couple gems. But I haven't come across a novella section at the bookstore or library that I can use to browse the specific format of books. Is there any way to search for these that I just don't know about? Thanks for everything you do Bria. Would you like to read Ali's Wheelhouse?

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Multi generational family stories horror where real life is already hard and scary but then some supernatural starts happening on top of it. And gothic thrillers.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well Bria, you have a whole publisher to shout out.

[Bria Grant]

Well, I love novellas because it's you

[Mallory O'Meara]

can get through them.

[Bria Grant]

I also the same I bring my e reader everywhere I go when I'm traveling, but I also usually throw in a novel and a comic book because I'm always worried. Or a graphic novel. I'm always worried I'm not going to have anything to like the rereader is going to die which actually has happened to me once. So it's good to always have like these as a backup and they're light so I am in the same boat here. But I'm going to shout out a publisher friend of the show Tor.com who does a ton of novellas and they will fall into your wheelhouse. There's a bunch of great genre novellas, everything from series like Wayward Children to like just really good one offs and they have a huge back catalog of them and they've been doing them for years and years and there's so many good ones and it's a great way to find new authors that maybe you haven't read or ones that you've read and they just happen to also have done a cool novella and they're great. They're short. Definitely check that out. If you like these that genre I'm

[Mallory O'Meara]

double checking right now, I feel like they're the only I can't think of another publisher that like, does so many specific, like specifically novellas.

[Bria Grant]

It is interesting because, yeah, it feels like they really cornered the market for a long while on the novella. I mean, there's definitely other. When you go, when you look at like book awards and stuff, and there are. There's a novella section, they are like dominating that category.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know there's A publisher called 813 Stories that Does Romance, but I can't remember if they're novellas or not. And they all. They have like, the same type of COVID I do think these are romance novellas. I'll put a link in the show notes. But yeah, finding a publisher that does them specifically is great. But see, the problem with novellas is they're not. They're a format, they're not a genre. So it's going to be pretty. Unless a bookstore is like doing a special, like we're highlighting novellas display. You're not going to find a novella section, which is a bummer because we love novellas. So your best bet is if you are not like in a bookstore and ask have a bookseller. To ask is just search online for whatever genre you're looking for. Plus novellas. Put novellas in quotes because that's the way to. To force Google to look for it. Because Google is held together with bubblegum right now. So a lot of books, even though book stores don't have novella sections, a lot of book sites like Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Book Riot will do novella recommendation roundups. I specifically looked for horror novellas and I found a bunch of recommendation lists from these book sites from libraries. There's a bunch of libraries that will do like, novella roundups. Also. Again, you can ask booksellers, librarians, as always, but knowing how to look for them, I think is the way. And you got to put novellas in quotes. You got to make Google do what you want it to do.

[Bria Grant]

Also, I do want to say I want to shout out this was a really good way to look for novellas is just to go to the bookstore and look for little tiny spines. Like, that's actually not a bad idea. It's really like, that's a smart way to find it. Like, great, you figured it out. You cracked the system.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Honestly, I do just kind of want to do that because it sounds like a fun time. You can send your bookish question to reading classes podcast gmail.com. Time to answer a recommendation request from Max, who says, hi. I've recently discovered the joy of romance novels. And after inhaling a bunch of the big buzzy authors, I was looking for something a little closer to home. I have cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair and would love to see my experience or close to it on the page if possible. Ideally, the author would also be disabled because representation matters and all that. I know it's super niche, but any guidance beyond looking at lists on Goodreads would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Bria. You want to read Max's Wheelhouse Library

[Bria Grant]

slash bookstore based novels, non fiction about social issues like Matthew Desmond, sff space opera, vampires, and anything LGBTQIA romance.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, we have three recommendations for wheelchair user romance novels. We could not find one with a protagonist that has cerebral palsy. But yeah, hopefully someone either is writing one or there is one out there. We couldn't find it. If you have a recommendation for this, please write in. Let us know. All right, the first one, I actually immediately put this on my tbr. I have this on my Kobo right now and I'm pumped. It's called Not My Type, not with a K by Evie Mitchell. Okay, get ready. Gird your loins, folks. This is a wheelchair using sexologist, and she falls in love with a carpenter who is a BDSM rope rigger. And this obviously is a steamy book. I started hitting myself on the head with a mallet when I. When I heard about this book, immediately put it on my. My Kobo. I'm really excited about it.

[Bria Grant]

I don't.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I haven't read it. It's. It's. It is on my Cobalt, but I haven't opened it yet. I don't know if he. If they use the chair in the rigging or. I don't. I don't know what's gonna happen, but this just sounds so sexy. I'm very pumped. Bria, what's the next one?

[Bria Grant]

Well, the next one also seems like one you would really like, which is the Year We Fell down by Sabrina Bowen, which is a hockey romance where one of the main characters uses a wheelchair and has a leg injury. And it's hockey players, which, you know,

[Mallory O'Meara]

hockey player for hockey right now.

[Bria Grant]

So maybe.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I swear to God, I did not write both of these books. I just found them really exciting for me. And what.

[Bria Grant]

What's the last one you want to work on?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, so the last one is an anthology. It's called Unbroken. It's third. This is a Y anthology. It's not all romance, but it's unbroken 13 stories starring disabled teens by Marie K. Nightcamp. They're the editor, and there's a story in this that is a Sapphic romance. We got queer romance where one of the protagonists uses a wheelchair. So that just seems like glass or nip in general, but it seems like Max would really love this story and probably would really love this collection. So we got two adult straight romances and one YA anthology with a queer romance. We'll put links to all of these in the show notes. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read about this BDSM rope rigger carpenter man. I will not. I will be retiring to my chambers. I will not be disturbed. Thank you so much. If you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it to reading glasses podcastmail.com as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Folks, our communities are so amazing online and we really really appreciate the work that you put into them. We're. We're not on Facebook anymore. We haven't been on Facebook in a long time. But we know the Facebook group is still going and it really means a lot to the folks there and on the Discord Care enough about being a glasser and maintaining these communities to put that work in. So thank you, thank you, thank you for that. Remember, there's all kinds of fun merch and our Void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes. You should check it out. Look cute bookish and help us feed our cats. My cat Sailor did not want to eat his fancy food last night. I was really mad at him. I'm going to have him talk directly to you all. You can work it out between the two of you. And if you like the show, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It's really great for us and helps us reach more readers. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[Bria Grant]

Thanks for reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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