Ep 456 - Most Anticipated for March and April!

Summary

Reading Glasses Ep 456 – Most Anticipated for March and April!

Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Date: April 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this special episode, Mallory and Brea dive into their most anticipated book releases for March and April 2026. Each host shares thoughtful picks across genres, highlighting horror, fantasy, historical fiction, romance, and more, with particular attention to titles sure to appeal to bookish listeners ("the Glassers"). The episode also features practical bookish advice, notable listener feedback, memorable banter, and characteristic enthusiasm for the reading community.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

Current Reads ([00:27]–[04:30])

• Brea:
  • Coffin Moon by Keith Rossman
    • Pacific Northwest, 1970s setting
    • Vietnam vet protagonist raising his niece
    • "A vampire walks in and things go wild."
    • Stephen King vibes, character exploration
    • “It’s a great character exploration so far. And yeah, I’m really loving it.” – Brea [02:17]
• Mallory:
  • When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky by Margaret Verbel
    • Cherokee horse diver, Nashville 1920s
    • Historical fiction with ghostly elements
    • “It’s very rich... just so much history and so much. So many facts and like, it really is just a rich book and I’m really, really enjoying it.” – Mallory [04:13]

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Bookish Tips & Listener Feedback ([04:37]–[07:18])

• Libby Tips for Novellas:

  • Use audiobook length filters (less than 4 hours) to find novellas on Libby [06:17]
  • “That’s a really hot tip.” – Mallory [05:02]

• Bookstore Browsing for Small Books:

  • Try poetry, plays, and graphic novels for short reads
  • “If you want to grab a poetry collection, first of all, not many words on the page. You know it’s going to be short.” – Bria [06:00]

• Wheelhouse Example:

  • “Creepy families, bonus points if they live in a creepy house... Found family and queer joy.” – Laura via Brea [06:53]

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Community & Maximum Fun Drive Info ([07:20]–[08:45])

• Brea’s Film Festival Announcements: Details on screenings for her film "Grind"
• Upcoming Maximum Fun Drive:
  • Encouragement to join, support, and send in ‘crazy’ challenge ideas for the annual event
  • “This is the time of the year we beg for your money and we do crazy shit.” – Bria [08:02]
  • Alluding to special livestreams and perks for supporters

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Main Segment: Most Anticipated Books for March ([12:24]–[28:12])

Featuring curated picks, genre diversity, and parade of memorable book blurbs.

Shared Pick

• Wolfworm by T. Kingfisher
  • Historical horror, 1899 North Carolina
  • “She finds out he’s been doing some weird experiments. And all I know is that there’s monstrous maggots and I am so excited.” – Mallory [15:01]

Brea’s Picks

• Trace Elements by Joe Walton & Ada Palmer (Nonfiction Conversations on SFF) [15:51]
• Python’s Kiss by Louise Erdrich (Short stories, fantasy/indigenous themes) [18:10]
• I Love You, Don’t Die by Jade Song (Contemporary, magical realism, death-obsessed protagonist) [20:36]
• Wretch or the Unbecoming of Porcelain Caw by Eric LaRocca (Tech gothic, grief, support groups) [23:31]
• Westward Women by Alice Martin (Women drawn supernaturally to the Pacific Ocean) [25:38]

Mallory’s Picks

• Turn Off the Light by Jackie Walters (Haunted house + beach read, dual timeline) [16:46]
• The Keeper by Tana French (Small town Irish mystery, family feuds) [19:07]
• Ruby Falls by Jen Phillips (1920s Chattanooga, murder in underground waterfall caves) [21:54]
• Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran (Queer, 1920s boarding school, supernatural) [24:22]
• The Geomagician by Jennifer Mendula (Victorian fossil hunter + baby pterodactyl, romantasy) [26:45]

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Most Anticipated Books for April ([29:05]–[43:34])

Shared Pick

• The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen
  • Space opera by fan-favorite, coming soon on the show [29:12]
  • “Mike Chen is one of the best ever authors when it comes to writing amazing characters in a sci fi space.” – Mallory [29:44]

Brea’s Picks

• The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva (Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore, family/alien contact) [30:12]
• Ms. Mabel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Divorced housewife, cooking school, mystery) [32:55]
• Mocha by Monica Kim (Korean voyeurism crisis, horror/thriller) [35:50]
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Dual timeline, haunted house, memory/ghosts) [38:11]
• Death Meets Cute (Fantasy, villain protagonist, reanimates orc baker, cozy romance) [40:28]

Mallory’s Picks

• Honor and Heresy by Max Francis (Gothic horror romance, rivals in a haunted library) [31:21]
• The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon (Sentient Roomba’s journey, cozy sci-fi) [34:05]
  • “This is just the Brave Little Toaster.” – Mallory [34:59]
• Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stevens (Romantasy/horror in New Orleans, vampires, werewolves) [37:09]
• Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh (Magical realism, sapphic romance, secret world for affairs) [39:12]
• Big Girl Blitz by Danielle Allen (Sports romance, plus-size heroine, small town return) [41:46]
  • “You know I love a sports romance. So this is a contemporary sports romance about football, has a plus size female main character and it has one of my favorite things, which is coming home to a small town.” – Mallory [41:50]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A vampire walks into a bar and things go wild.” – Brea [02:02]
• “If you love a situation where someone gets hired and they’re like, what happened to my predecessor?” – Mallory [15:01]
• “You know, I love a woman who’s never felt more alive.” – Brea [22:47]
• “This sounds like a total Bria book. Also sounds like something you would pick up too, Mallory.” – Brea on Wretch [23:31]
• “[I’m] the queen of haunted houses.” – Mallory [17:46]
• “I love a little guy. We have a little guy.” – Mallory on The Geomagician [27:03]
• “There’s so many [books] we are scratching the surface here.” – Bria [26:36]

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How to Find Recommendations/List

• Extensive show notes with Mallory’s “bespoke little descriptions” for all discussed and extra books:
  “For the love of all that is good in this world, look at the show notes. There is just a huge list.” – Mallory [13:33]

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Episode Tone

• Warm, supportive, nerdy, high-energy, and playful with characteristic tangents and seamless partnership.
• The hosts display both deep literary knowledge and a knack for accessible, inclusive recommendations.

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Useful Timestamps

• Listener Feedback and Tips: [04:37]–[08:45]
• March Books Segment: [12:24]–[28:12]
• April Books Segment: [29:05]–[43:34]

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For More

• Contact: readingglassespodcastmail.com
• Instagram: @readingglassespodcast
• Full show notes and lists: Look up the episode page on maximumfun.org

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“Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.”

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. Oh, hey. It's one of our most popular episodes. It is our anticipated books for March and April. Look, we know what month it is, okay? Don't come at us. We know what day this is coming out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I wish we were just talking about this. I'm trying. I am handing in my second book of the year so far. I am really. This episode took me nine hours to write. I just told Bria I've been putting it off because March is one of the big book months, and this episode took an extra hour to write. These normally take me eight hours. This took me nine, and I. I missed a whole day of writing just for this. Just for you folk, but it's worth it. There's a lot of good stuff in there. But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[Bria Grant]

I am listening to a book for my book club. It is Friday. I gotta finish this book by Sunday. It is gonna be a long weekend, baby. I'm reading a book that came out maybe last year, the year before. It's called Coffin Moon by Keith Rossman.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah, Chelsea was telling us about this.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, the narrator's Pete Cross. So my book club, we were. We. We just had Chelsea on to talk about the book club. Talk. Talk about the losers book club. And this was one that. I will say this book has come up a number of times with various authors who are on to talk about. Like, we always ask people what they're reading, would recommend. I remember Paul Tremblay recommended this one and a couple other people did. So we were like, we have to read this book. So it's set in the seventies in the Pacific Northwest, and it is about this guy who just got home from Vietnam and He has his 13 year old niece with him that he's raising now because something happened to her family. And then he runs this bar and basically.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. I did not know this when I started reading the book, but a vampire walks in and things go. Go wild.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That sounds like joke.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. What happened? A vampire walks into a bar and things go wild. It's really great. I would say, like, it's. It's. I love that it's set in the Pacific Northwest. That's been like a really fun location. It has, like a real Stephen King quality to it, which I wonder if that's why I Mean, because we read a lot of Stephen King in the book club and why people keep recommending it to us. But it's just a really great. It's a great character exploration so far. And yeah, I'm really loving it and I have to read it in the next 48 hours, so it will be a long evening tonight. What are you reading, Mallory?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm reading some historical fiction. I am reading When Two Feathers Fell from the sky by Margaret Verbel. And so this is the kind of. This is definitely language forward historical fiction in the way that like the author had to learn a lot of facts for this book and you have too. But I actually really love it if you are down for that kind of historical fiction. Like, it takes place in Nashville in the 1920s. The main character is this Cherokee woman. She's a horse diver. So she works at this. It's not a circus. It's like. It's like a.

[Bria Grant]

It's like Wild Hearts can't be broken.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I've never. I don't know what that is.

[Bria Grant]

It's a movie. It's a movie called Wild Hearts can't. It's. There's a horse diver.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, well, there you go.

[Bria Grant]

The only reason I know about horse divers.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, so that's what she does. She. It's like, again, it's not a circus. I want to say it's like an amusement park and she works there. She's like a regular act. She like does her. Her horse dive, her and her horse every day. And she lives on the premises and like this woman's boarding house. So it's like you're learning all about the history of the area. You're learning about her, her history. But the thing that I love about it and the reason why I held off on reading it for so long is that she grew up on the 101 ranch, just a real ranch, because that's where Helen Gibson, the subject of my last book, Daughter of Daring, grew up. So there's a lot of crossover because that's. Helen Gibson started her Hollywood career in the 1920s. She even mentions Helen Gibson in the book. And I got really excited about it. But. So she's working at this amusement park and at some point halfway through the book, something bad happens and weird stuff starts happening and there a ghost character comes out, which is very exciting for me. But it's really fun, really great. Again, language forward. Historical fiction is written really well. It's like. It's very rich. Chapters are kind of long, but they're like, there's Just so much history and so much. So many facts and like, it really is just a. A rich book and I'm really, really enjoying it. So that's When Two Feathers Fell from the sky by Margaret Verbel.

[Bria Grant]

And mine is Coffin Moon by Keith Russin.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. MacKenzie wrote in to say, hi, Bri and Mallory. I just finished listening to the episode about readathons and I have a recommendation for the listener trying to find more novellas. Libby lets readers filter by audiobook length. Just select the subject you're interested in and then select a shorter audiobook length to find novellas. You can still get the physical or ebook from the library or buy from your local bookstore. If audiobooks aren't for you. Good luck and happy reading. That is a really hot tip.

[Bria Grant]

That's a pretty fucking hot tip. That's a hot, hot tip.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Hold on. Where's my.

[Bria Grant]

Wait, how. I got one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, my God. Are you serious? This is a rare Bria slide whistle.

[Bria Grant]

It actually is sitting next to me all the time, but you just grab yours quicker.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Is it that? Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

What do I do? Is it that or is it that's not that?

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, it's up. It's. We'll try to do it like.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, there you go.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There you go. Beautiful. That is. That's a really hot book tip.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that was great. Roxanne wrote in and said, I travel a lot for work, so I can definitely relate to the searching for tiny spines on the shelf at bookstores because that's the easiest way for me to bring home as many new books as possible. I would like to add that if Ally eventually was looking for more variety, the bookstores often have a dedicated section for plays and poetry collections, which are also novelicized for the most part. I've also found plenty of smaller reads in the graphic novel section. That's a good point that we didn't think about that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I like that.

[Bria Grant]

If you want to. If you want to grab a poetry collection, first of all, not many words on the page. You know it's going to be short. And usually they are small. They're. They're small. And a lot of graphic novels are small, too. Not all of them. I started a huge one. But there are definitely a lot of tinier graphic novels. If you're looking for something short, love it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And then Laura, also a few people wrote in with the same tip about Libby searching audiobooks on Libby and Laura says wanted to share a book tip for the glasser who's trying to find a way to browse novellas. I've had the same dilemma. Here's what helps me and Laura says search for books that are less than four hours long. Anything that short is going to be a novella, so that's the cutoff. Good to know. Laura also says I can add filters for genre as well to narrow it down. Then stock up my TBR and storygraph and use the mood filters to really nerd out on choosing my next read. Hope that helps. Also, want to second the excellent advice to check out Tor. Those guys are awesome. Thanks for all the work you do. Appreciate you too, Bria. You want to read Laura's wheelhouse Creepy

[Bria Grant]

Families Bonus points if they live in a creepy house.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I just love that.

[Bria Grant]

Family first. Family first.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you're walking down the street, you're like, oh, that's the creepy house. The creepy family lives there.

[Bria Grant]

Or it's like the Texas Chainsaw family, but they live in like a really nice house. They live in like a super modern cool house. The gang gets back together and shit goes sideways. Is it magic or is it something else? One last big job before they're out of the game forever. Found family and and Queer Joy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Love that. And it's a couple bookmarks from Bria.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah if you are in Wow. I got a couple things if you are in I I have a movie playing festival so I'm just going to tell you the places that are coming up. If you are in Kansas City, we're playing at panic Fest on the 11th. If you were in New Orleans, we're playing at Overlook Film Festival. The movie's called Grind. You can find it. We're playing an Overlook Film festival on the 9th and 10th and I'll be at both of those. If you're in Calgary, Canada, we're playing on the 19th of April so we have a lot of places coming up. I won't be in calorie but my co creative will be there so look that up. Also coming up end of April, mark your calendars, set your engines to go. It is the maximum fun drive, which is something we do every year. This is how a lot of you probably came.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Why?

[Bria Grant]

You're probably giving us money every month. Maybe you're not giving us money every month. Well guess what, this is the time of the year we beg for your money and we do crazy shit. We do crazy really wild that we're

[Mallory O'Meara]

doing this year that you're going to get to watch on live stream that I'm pretty excited about.

[Bria Grant]

But if there is some Crazy shit. You would like to see Mallory and I do. This is the time. Shoot us a little email. Call us the Maximum Call the Maximum fun drive.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

Give us ideas. We've been doing this for nine. This will be our ninth or tenth maximum fund drive. We're always looking for fun stuff. And if you're thinking about joining, keep thinking about it because this is also a great time to join because you can get special prizes, special perks, things

[Mallory O'Meara]

from us, our love for the rest of your life.

[Bria Grant]

Our love. Our love for sure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But stay tuned. That's coming down the pipeline. So before we name the most anticipated books for March and April, we're going to take a quick break. Reading Glasses is sponsored in part this week by Green Chef. Green Chef. It's springtime. Things are delicious again. We're coming out of the cold sadness of winter, where you're mostly eating cans of beans. Maybe that's just me and you're. And things are fresh. Things are growing again. But Bria, what is Green Chef? How can they deliver nice, delicious spring flavors to you?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, they make eating easy. There's no fads, no trends, just healthy habits. Every week you're gonna get 40 recipes made with organic produce, responsibly sourced proteins, and nothing you can't pronounce. And you get to pick from those 40 recipes. You can pick what matters to you. Do you like Mediterranean? Do you like high protein? They have a new longevity line built around brain and gut health. Wow. We know there's like a big connection between brain and gut, right? That's the whole thing we're all talking about all the time. And the meals come pre portioned and ready to eat in minutes. If you want guidance beyond the plate, they also include a free, unlimited one on one nutrition coaching that helps you stay on track. That's new and sounds very cool. That's really rad.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. Especially when you're a divorced dad like Uncle Mallory, who is terrible at planning food. Terrible at everything. And the thing that is tough is I'm not just Uncle Mallory, I'm Uncle Mallory with food restrictions. Both Bria and I have all types of things we can't eat. We don't eat, but we also. I'm always trying to have high protein, even though I don't eat meat. There's a lot of things I'm allergic to. And you would think that having a really specific diet like that would make it so. A food delivery box is not for you. Green Chef has got you covered. Doesn't matter what thing you're looking for. Maybe you need gluten free, meat free, high protein. There's so many different ways that you can customize this and it's delivered right to your door. You don't even have to put pants on. Although you might want to put pants on to cook.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, well, you don't have to. I don't. You don't. You wear butt without pants.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But what about if like an oil splashes?

[Bria Grant]

Well, I do have a maximum fun apron actually.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So you're pants with an apron?

[Bria Grant]

No, no, no.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But Bria's got the million outfit on while she's cooking.

[Bria Grant]

Well, leave that in there.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So if you do want to look like Alexander Skarsgard while you're cooking and cook something healthy, quick and easy that will keep you on your on your health goals, you head to greenchef.com 50glasses and use code 50glasses to get 50 off your first month. Then 20% off for two months. That's code [e-mail] 50glasses glasses, glasses.

[John Hodgman and Jan Nafarney]

This is John Hodgman and Jan Nafarney coming to you from the flight deck. Please be comfortable. We have now reached our cruising altitude.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, that's correct. You are now free to listen to the latest season of e Pluribus motto. As always, this season we'll discuss the official models of U. S States and territories for your enjoyment.

[John Hodgman and Jan Nafarney]

Look out the window. You'll see local iconography and creatures of all sorts. It'll be discussed this season, including California quails, Puerto Rican Florida frogs, North Dakota

[Mallory O'Meara]

horses, spiders of New Hampshire and all

[John Hodgman and Jan Nafarney]

manner of official and unofficial state cryptids. I've now turned on the enjoyment sign, so please start enjoying new episodes of eat Pluribus motto every other week on maximum fun. And wherever you get your podcasts, sit

[Bria Grant]

back, relax and enjoy your listen.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This week we're talking about our most anticipated books for March and April. Open up your library apps. Get your bookstore on speed dial. Because we've picked out the books we are most excited about and most importantly, that we think the Glassers will be excited about across all genres for the start of spring. A couple of things. One, again, we know this is late. I'm on deadline. I'm on super deadline. And this episode takes nine hours to do this one in particular. And so we want to thank the incredible and generous Max fund members who make it possible for us to do this. We literally would not do these types of episodes if it wasn't for our Max fund members. They take too long. They would just like I literally lost an entire day of writing just to do this episode. I would not be able to do that if it wasn't for our wonderful members who keep the lights on here at Reading Glasses. And you can become one of those lovely bookish angels by going to maximum fun.org join and signing up to support the show. That's also how you get access to the Discord. You just got to email us a screenshot of your membership. Proof. We love our members so much. Truly, you are the reason why this is happening. And remember, maybe you're like, wow, it's just a regular episode. Mallory, why did it take nine hours to do? Au contraire. This episode is 23 pages long. There is a gigantic curated list of with genres and wheelhouse items in the show Notes, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, look at the show notes. There is just a huge list. If you need. If you're some. I think some. Depending on what podcast app you use, sometimes it gets cut off. Go to the episode webpageximumfun. There's a. There's a webpage for every single episode that we do. And there's. The show notes are there. There's a massive, massive, massive list. I curate it, I write, and I don't just copy it out. I write a bespoke little description for every single book curated for you. The Glassers. Okay, let's dive into March.

[Bria Grant]

I have to say, though, I just. I will second this in that, like, sometimes I'm like, oh, I don't have any books. Like, and I go look at it. Even beyond the books we chose, there's so many books that I end up adding to my TBR because Mallory's already done the research to know what they're going to be and what books I might want to read. This is very helpful.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's for you. That's a gift from your uncle Mallory. Bria, there's so many for March. March is such a big month, and the great thing about it coming out late is that they're already available for you to get from the library.

[Bria Grant]

There's so many books coming out this month. It was so I had so much trouble picking. So, like, we'll talk about these, but there's so many more that I could have picked.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And we do have one shared pick from a shared author that we love. The first one is Wolfworm by T. Kingfisher. Bria, I'm so excited about this book.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, tell me more about it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So it's a horror book because, you know, Kingfisher does fantasy, but she also does horror. And this one is a historical horror. Takes place in 1899 in North Carolina woods. And I was just describing it to one of my friends the other day. It's about a scientific illustrator who's looking for work. And she gets hired by this weird guy who lives in a manor house in the woods in North Carolina. And she finds out he's been doing some weird experiments. And all I know is that there's monstrous maggots. And I am so excited. This is also if you love a situation where someone gets hired and they're like, what happened to my predecessor? That's what happens to the scientific illustrator. She's like, what happened to the lady who was working here before me?

[Bria Grant]

That's such a specific trope that I feel like a lot of people really like. I love it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm so, so, so ready. I'm really pumped for this. What's your first solo pick?

[Bria Grant]

Okay, this is one I actually have had my eye on for a little while because I love the writers. It is a nonfiction book called Trace Elements. It is Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Joe Walton and Ada Palmer, two authors I really like. And it's a non fiction book where they are talking about writing science fiction. So. And I do love books about these. And it's just basically like them just talking with each other. Everything from talking about Ursula K. Le Guin, talking about understanding comics. They get into like all of the different sort of like science fiction and genre elements. And this just sounded like something I would really like to read. In the description, it says everything from Shakespeare to anime, to the role of complicity in reading, to needing to expand our sphere of empathy. I think these are just two really smart authors and I am stoked to see what they have to say about the world of science fiction.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That sounds awesome.

[Bria Grant]

What's your first solo pick?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, it's my first haunted house pick, baby. I am. I feel like I haven't got really.

[Bria Grant]

Of the year. Of the year, maybe.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I feel like I haven't got really pumped about a haunted house book in a while. So I'm really excited, excited for this one because someone said there's. One of the reviewers said this was like a mix between a haunted house book and a beach read. And I was like, excuse me. It's Turn off the Light by Jackie Walters. So this has so many tropes that I'm really into. So it's parallel timelines. It's two women in different timelines in the same House dealing with the same creepy thing, which I really love. And then the woman in the earlier timeline. So this all takes place in Virginia. The woman. It doesn't say what time period, but she's a. She's a healer, and she's afraid that she has done something that has opened her home to the devil. And then many, I think, decades later, this woman, she's returning, turning home to take care of her dying father. You know, we love a returning home trope, and we love it. And something's creepy. While she's trying to take care of her dad, she's trying to figure out if the house is haunted. And, oh, they're separated by 400 years. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Ooh, very exciting. So they're. Yeah, in the same house, trying to fight the same evil. I am really excited about this again. You know, I'm. I am the. I'm the queen of haunted houses. And I'm waiting for this from the library. I'm so pumped. Ooh, what's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

Well, close your ears because there's a snake involved. My next one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Not my eyes.

[Bria Grant]

Python's Kiss by Luis Erdrich. This is an author that I really love, and she's putting out a short story collection. And so that was a brie. I saw that. I was like, oh, I got it. I got. She read a book called the Sentence that I really liked. My favorite book by her is Future Home of the Living God. I think she's just such a smart writer. So this is fantasy stories, indigenous stories. It seems like it's. There's a wide variety. The description says if you're touched by the tongue of a snake, it is somehow good. It gives you wisdom and long life. So it's all about looking for our humanity. It's all about the nature of existence. That's what I like about her work is that it's very. It's science fiction, but it ends up being just about. It's about humans, which obviously a lot of science fiction is. But I'm very excited to dive into a short story collection by her. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, my God. I have. I've got this bad boy pre ordered. I'm so excited.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I'm sure you do. I saw this and was like, oh, yeah. Hell yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's the Keeper by Tana French. You know, I am. I just love Tana French so much. She's one of my favorite authors. She, her, and Megan Abbott are my favorite mystery writers. And this is the third book in the series. Of Cal Hooper books. So like the Hunter, the Searcher, this is the new one. If you haven't read this series, it's about this American cop who retires and moves to this like, remote village in Ireland thinking that he's going to retire in peace. But even in the small Irish town, he ends up getting involved in a lot of the politics and realizing that a lot of the, the feuds and the secrets and the sort of wars between families go really, really deep out here. And so this book, all I know is that one, a girl goes missing. There's this young woman, she's engaged to, like the son of like the, the, you know, the biggest, richest family in town. And one morning they find her. She's dead in the river. And it's a very close knit small town. And so this, whatever, this crime has just completely exploded. Generations, old grudges, power struggles, it splits the town in two. And because this Chicago, this like retired Chicago detective loves this town so much and has a lot of friends there, he feels the need to get involved. And it is like, I'm so excited if you love a small, like nobody does a small town secrets book like Tana French. And I'm so fucking pumped for this. Cannot wait. What's your next one? Oh, yeah, I figured you were gonna pick this.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like you're probably gonna read this one too because it's by an author we both really like. It's I Love youe Don't Die by Jade Song. Jade Song wrote a book called Chlorine a couple years ago that we both really liked. It's being compared to Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh. This, this book, it's about this young woman and she is obsessed with death and she like, she grew up living above a funeral parlor in Chinatown. She worked at a celebrity startup for bespoke urns. She is just. This has all been like part of her life. And then at some point she gets involved with a throuple, with an artist and a labor organizer and she gets involved in this throuple and things start to get great. But then her obsession with death seems to like, come back. It seems really great. I know there's some kind of supernatural

[Mallory O'Meara]

thing, some kind of.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, there is. Interesting. Okay.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's an element.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, I love that. I like Chlorine.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That makes sense.

[Bria Grant]

Chlorine also had like a magical realism element. Yeah. So I'm very excited to read this one. After Chlorine. This is gonna, this is always gonna. She's Always gonna be on my list. I feel like she's one of those authors that I immediately go for. But like I said, there's so many fucking books in March that I was like, I know, I kind of just went with the authors I already knew because there were so many exciting things coming out. But this is definitely one of those. What do you got?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My next one is a historical mystery thriller. Y situation called Ruby Falls by Jen Phillips. So this is a historical mystery set in the 1920s in Chattanooga. And it says it's set almost entirely underground with the discovery of 150 foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain and an unthinkable crime that happens in its caves. And I was like, oh, I want that.

[Bria Grant]

Read this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know it's funny because I've been kind of tracking, you know, the way that my reading's been changing and I feel like setting has started to come up and get. Nothing will ever eclipse plot for me, but I think setting is now like my second doorway because I was like, I was like historical thriller set entirely underground. I. I just want to know. I have to. I want to know what happens and. And all. Also, it says the main character is a woman who's never felt more alive. So I'm like, it's just. This sounds really interesting, really fascinating.

[Bria Grant]

It's also, I love a woman who's never felt more alive, truly.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's hard. You know, there's so many thrillers that come out. Thrillers are like romance. It's hard to make one that like sort of stands out. And this one with an underground waterfall and a corpse and, oh, they. They think somebody in the midst is a killer. Oh, so it's a locked room mystery that takes place. Oh, I love a locked room underground in an underground waterfall in Chattanooga. The night twenties. I like. Wow.

[Bria Grant]

I'm reading this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I'm actually.

[Bria Grant]

I may be going to Chattanooga in a couple months, so maybe this. I do.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I actually, I love Chattanooga.

[Bria Grant]

I've never. I don't think I've ever been.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This sounds awesome. I'm very excited. I've got it. Got on a hold of the library. Ooh, what's your next one? Oh, yeah, this sounds like a Bria book.

[Bria Grant]

My next one, I. Okay. I was drawn to the name, but then I read about it and I was like, this sounds great.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This has a lot of Bria catnip in it.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, it's Wretch or the Unbecoming of Porcelain Caw by Eric LaRocca. Eric LaRocco wrote things have Gotten worse since we last spoke. And it's called a tech gothic thriller, which is really interesting. It also has stuff about memory, which I always love. And basically it's about a man whose husband dies. He's overcome with grief. It's also a grief book. And he goes to an unusual support group called the Wretches, who offer an addictive and dangerous source of relief. And they introduce him to our figure known as Porcelain Ka, which is a man with the ability to let those who are grieving have one last moment with their beloved for a price. This sounds like a total Bria book. Also sounds like something you would pick up to Mallory. It just seems really. Yeah, a lot of catnip there for me, which sounds amazing. What's your. What's your. Is this the last one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

No. No. I'm realizing I am picking even the start of this book. Why I'm reading so many historical books right now.

[Bria Grant]

I was about to say that. That you have so many historical.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You know what's funny? It's because I'm writing the nonfiction book I'm about to hand in is not historical. Like it's my first non history related nonfiction book. I wonder if I, the children long for the minds like I long for. I'm my longing for history. I miss it. But this is. This is a. I think this is going to be a really big glasser book. It's Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran. And this is a historical horror boarding school book that's also queer. So this is very glassery. It's about the untimely death of a student at a girls boarding school which turns out to be the first in a haunting series of escalating supernatural events. Sign me the fuck up. So it takes place in the 1920s and there's a girl who dies and they're trying to figure out why. And there's some, I guess some sort of deadly conjugation spreading through the boarding school. And yeah, that's gothic historical dark academia. That's also queer. I'm in. I'm. What's funny is that I was like, I went to go put this on my Libby list or my Libby holds list and it was already on there. So at some point I already found out about this book. I'm really excited about it. What's your last one for March?

[Bria Grant]

My last one is a debut author and I knew you were gonna pick the subject. I was like, okay, I gotta read this. I knew you. You knew of this. It's Westward Women by Alice Martin. It is about basically women between the ages of 18 and 35, they just start to slow down, they get tired, they get restless, and then suddenly they're kind of just drawn to the Pacific Ocean, like it's calling them home. And they start abandoning their lives, their jobs, their family. And then once they reach there, they vanish. And that just sounds like the perfect setup to me. I am so excited.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I get it. I also want to believe I didn't

[Bria Grant]

already have this book from the library. Yeah, listen, we all relate. Wait, are you over 35 or are you under 35? I don't know how old you are.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm 35, but I'm.

[Bria Grant]

You are 35?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, I'm on the cusp. Am I still allowed to walk into the sea? Can I still go? Can I still go for. There's all these, like, women under a sci fi magic spell, and then there's me just doing it for funsies. They're like, oh, she's not. She's not here because she's being forced to. She just wants to walk into the sea.

[Bria Grant]

And what's your last one for March? Which, by the way, y' all should pull up this list because there's so many more. Like, we are just. We are scratching the surface here. We are barely getting through this.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All right, hold on to your butts, folks. Wait till you hear the description for this book. It's called the Geomagician by Jennifer Mendula. This is a historical romantasy, and it's about a Victorian fossil hunter who discovers a baby pterodactyl and vows to protect him with the help of her fellow scholar and former fiance.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, my God, that's so cute.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know. I lost my shit. So in the world of this book. So this is Romantasy. So she's a geomagician, which means she's a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic. And because there's a geomagical society in London and it won't admit women, so she is sort of forced to, like, work in the tourism industry to. To survive. And there's an ancient egg that hatches in her hands and reveals a lovable little baby pterodactyl that she names Ajax. And the society who doesn't allow women into it wants to take Ajax from her and the sweet little berry pterodactyl. She doesn't want to give him up. She wants to help him because she knows that they're just going to do awful things to him. And she gets helped out by her ex, who I'm assuming is also very sexy and she has to save save this little guy. It just sounds like I love a little guy. I love a little. We have a little guy. This just sounds so sweet and fun and I'm really excited about it. All right, so those are our March books again. Before we get into our picks for April, we're gonna take a quick break. If you have thoughts on March books, you can send them to reading glassespodcastmail.com.

[Maximum Fun Announcer]

Saginaw, Michigan, Galveston, Texas, Albany, New York, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and Muncie, Indiana. We've just added these cities to the growing list of meetups on April 23 for Max Fun meetup day. Didn't hear your city or don't know where your local meetup is? Head to maximumfun.org meetup and we've got all the details there. And if you still don't see your city listed, host your own. Find somewhere. A park, library, cafe, bar, any public space a small group can hang. Then fill out the [e-mail] meetup and we'll add you to the page so other folks in your area can find you. That's maximumfun.org meetup. Hope to see you on April 23rd.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, we are back and talking about our most anticipated books of April. We have one shared pick that is very important.

[Bria Grant]

Yes. Coming on the show.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yes. Reading glasses hall of famer Mike Chen wrote the Photonic Effect, which is a space opera.

[Bria Grant]

And I was like, yeah, I'm so excited.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am so excited.

[Bria Grant]

If you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is a hot pink book. I have a copy. Very, very, very exciting. I mean, it's Mike Chen writing a space opera. Like, what more do you want here?

[Bria Grant]

Yes. It sounds so great. Yeah, I'm excited. I mean, look, we like all the Mike Chen books that come out, but this one particularly, I'm glad he's doing a science fiction book. I'm glad that it's a space opera, which I don't think he's written before. I'm very excited.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I mean, Mike Chen is one of the best ever authors when it comes to writing amazing characters in a sci fi space. It's like the kind of sci fi that I like and I don't read a lot of space operas, but I'm going to, I have a copy. I'm going to be reading this one. Not just because it's Mike Chen, but I'm like, he will write the kind of space opera that I would want to read.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Excited to have him on the show.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Aabria's first pick for April I picked out for her.

[Bria Grant]

Mallory picked this up for me and said, I assume you want this one, which you know what? I did. It's the Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva. It might be Oliva, I'm sorry. Who also wrote a book called the Last One that I really liked a few years ago. And Mallory is right to pick this out for me. It's called Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore, which, wow, okay, that sounds amazing.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I was like, what a Bria elevator pitch for a book for Bria Arrival in Wild Dark Shore.

[Bria Grant]

Like, it's about a husband and wife living in the adirondacks in the 1980s and they just had their first child. And something extraordinary happens in an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky which is ultimately determined to be a be communication from intelligent life on another planet. And even though they are light years away, nothing is known about them. But then there's a decades long exchange of messages which totally makes sense. That actually does exactly sound like Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore. I am very excited about this. This feels like exactly a Bria book. So thanks for picking that out, Mallory. You know me so well.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do.

[Bria Grant]

What's your first one for April?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My first one for April is going to be very Glass or Nippy. It's Honor and Heresy by Max Francis. And so this is a gay gothic horror romance, dark academia. And it's about two academic rivals trapped in a haunted library in a snowstorm. And they're so, I guess in this world they're like, in the world of this book, like that society doesn't really care about books for reading anymore in favor of an ongoing war, which honestly I think is just our society now. And because these two did not want to go on the front lines, they have chosen to study and they're trying to find information about the enemies of their country, whatever they're in. And it's the main character with this academic rival who is like manipulative and hot, I'm assuming, and enigmatic and charming, but also very mean. And so they get stuck there in this library as a fierce snowstorm isolates them from civilization. And they have to grapple with their tormented past, an unexpected romance and an age old conspiracy whose secrets are certain to wipe whatever the world they live in. I don't know if it's a country or a city, but it's determined to wipe it from history. And again, the library they're in is haunted. There's ghosts, there's Strange Voices, honestly, just sounds so fun. Like this sounds like a whole tornado of exciting things and I'm pumped. I haven't been reading a lot of horror romance lately. We've been doing a lot of romantasy for our other show but haven't done a horror romance in a while and I'm pretty pumped.

[Bria Grant]

April's the time.

[Mallory O'Meara]

April's the time for horror romance.

[Bria Grant]

That's what they say.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

You knew I was going to say it's the new Jesse Cusa Tanto who's putting out like a book a year.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know what it's going. She's got, she's taking the drugs that Brandon Sanderson is taking.

[Bria Grant]

She actually like does break it down on her Instagram sometimes. And I'm like, well I. She does work a lot. Like she talks about her day and like what she does. But she has a new one coming out called Ms. Mebel goes back to the Chopping Block. It is about a woman, a housewife. She's getting divorced from her husband for 40 years. They thought they were gonna be together forever and then he leaves her for a private chef. So she's like, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna learn, go to culinary school and I'm gonna win him back. And so she does. But in that process, she makes a friend at the culinary school and then that person disappears and mystery is afoot and so she has to go figure out what's going on. Jesse Cuso Tanto writes the Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice from Murderers series, which I am a huge fan of. So I'm very excited to have a whole nother person who sounds like, like they're nosy and going to learn going to solve mysteries.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That is really a nosy character.

[Bria Grant]

I really do. Especially if they're like over 50. Nosy woman. Like I'm totally down. Or you know, honestly, any age, I don't care. Just be nosy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, this is not a Mallory book, but there's a big reason why I chose this. I am picking the Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon. And this is.

[Bria Grant]

I saw this that you picked this and I thought that feels like me more than you, but I'm curious. Go.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This is a cozy sci fi book and it takes place in the near future where all appliances are sentient. The main character is a young little Roomba vacuum and she lives in a self running smart house that is there's two older people there's an older couple who lives in it. And when the wife passes away, she finds out. The Roomba finds out that, like, there's, like, an omnipresent technology called the grid, which monitors every single household. And because now this man, the husband, who's older, is living there alone, they want to remove him from this house, even though he's lived there for 50 years. So the little Roomba and all the other appliances go on a journey outside the house to save.

[Bria Grant]

To say Brave little Toaster. Yes.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay. So I'm obsessed with the movie Brave Little Toaster. I loved it when I was a kid, and me and my best friend Rich have so many weird jokes, like in jokes about the Brave Little Toaster. I have this weird obsession with this movie. And when I read it, I was like, this is just the Brave Little Toaster. And I immediately texted Rich. And I was like, does Brave Little Toaster makers need to sue? Because this is just like it. But I love that movie so much. And this sounds so sweet. It says it's cozy. This does sound like maybe it's a little not cozy. I think it's maybe just cute instead of cozy. But I'm ready to find out. I'm really excited. Also, apparently this little Roomba is so obsessed with To Kill a Mockingbird, she calls herself Scout, so that's what she names herself. I'm really pumped for this. There's always one wild card book that I pick, and I think this one is it. What's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

Monica Kim has a new book. Monica Kim has a new book. Has a new book coming out.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Bria has. Has. Has a. Has a phone in her office that once a year it rings and Bria picks up and goes, monica Kim has a new book. Great. Puts it back down.

[Bria Grant]

I'm very excited. Monica Kim wrote a book that I basically had to retire because I've recommended it so many times called the Eyes Are the Best Part. This book is called Mocha, which is the Korean term for spy cameras, secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos. Wow. Love this premise. Okay. It's about a woman who. She ends up in this romance with this handsome young man who's like, a really rich guy. And then they're caught on a spy cam amid Korea's growing mocha epidemic. And the video gets on the Internet and he has to flee the country, and she has to deal with, like, the ramifications. And then things unfold from there. It seems like she makes friends with this IT Guy who is harboring a secret that he's been spying on women as well. And then she starts to figure out, like, what happened and like the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy. So it sounds thrillery, it sounds horror. It's built first as a horror, but also a mystery. So I am stoked. I will read anything she puts out. So I'm really excited, excited to read this one. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Okay, my next book is. This one is a very malory book. It's called Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stevens. So this is a romantasy book, but this is romantasy book that takes place in New Orleans, which I'm really excited about.

[Bria Grant]

It's.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's a reclusive witch who fled the burden of her bloodline, rises to be the greatest among them in this lush and haunting fantasy debut. So this, all this seems like romanticy, but with some horror elements, which I really, really love. So there's vampires and werewolves in this as well. And apparently the main character has a werewolf X, which I was very excited about. And there's. It's. It's witches and vampires and werewolves in, In New Orleans. Like, this is the most classic shit you can get, but in like, in a sexy, romantasy way, I'm really, really excited about it. This is a type of book that I really enjoy. And I guess there's like two rival houses of magic. And the main character has been gone for a while and she's coming back and she has to prove herself and there's like all these different paranormal creatures and paranormal communities. And she's also like getting over this, this, this Werewolf X. And it just honestly sounds great. I'm pumped. What's your next one?

[Bria Grant]

Does sound good. My next one is called Japanese Gothic. It just caught my eye. It's by Kylie Lee Baker. The description is interesting. So it, it says October 2026. Lee Turner doesn't remember how or why he killed his college roommate. And basically he flees and goes to this house, his father's new house in Japan. And there's something wrong with the house. No animals will come near it. The bedroom window isn't always a window. And a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls. And then it also has October of 1877. There's a samurai who. A monster comes home wearing her father's face. And then the samurai, like, turns her sword on her own mother. And then it says, one of these people is a ghost. And one of these stories is a lie and something's hiding beneath the house. It is such an interesting description.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Almost picked this one, honestly.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, Grady Hendrix gave it a blurb, which is obviously one we. We pay attention to. This is so interesting. Like, what a wild description. I can't wait for this one. That sounds fantastic. What's your next one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

My next one is actually kind of. Maybe even more of a. More of a Bria book. But this one just I like. It's by an author that I like is Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh. So this is a magical realism book.

[Bria Grant]

I like her too. She wrote. We both read Water Cure.

[Mallory O'Meara]

She wrote Water Cure and she wrote. I can't remember the name of the book, but it was about. It was like a fictionalization of that real event that happened in France where like there was something, some. Some mold got into the bread and it made everyone like. It was like everyone was on lsd. It was something about bread.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So this one's called Permanence. It's magical realism. It's about these two women. It's a sort of Sapphic romance. But these two women, they're having an affair with each other. And they find a secret world where people who are having affairs can live openly as couples. And they have to make the decision, do they stay in this magical world? What are they giving up to do that? And if they stay in this world, does their. You know, that's always the question for adulterers. Like, your relationship feels magical when it's a secret, but is it as magical when it is out in the open and it's not. You don't have the illicit thrill of the affair. And I just think this sounds like a really interesting concept and it. It's got a great cover and I'm pumped. What's your last one? Yeah. Oh, I didn't expect that, did you? Just didn't expect you to pick this one.

[Bria Grant]

I, you know, I wanted to pick a. Like a. But you do Romantasy cozy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You do like baked goods, though.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, that's as baked goods too. That's helpful. But it's called Death Meets Cute. It is about a woman. She wants to be very villainous. It seems like we're in like some sort of. We're in a fantasy world. We're in. We're. We're living in a fantasy world. But she's trying to be like villainous and wicked and she has this little cottage where she's like making curses and stuff. But then her ogre bodyguard disappears and she needs some new muscle, so she finds this other ogre or orc who actually just toppled over in her yard and she's like, oh, I guess I'm gonna reanimate this guy. And so she ends up with this guy and it turns out he is such a good baker and he's nice and she's like, oh, no, do I have a thing for this guy. So this sounds like a book I like. Also, I don't know because of our other podcast now I've decided that I like the Large Monster men. I don't know when that happened.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I do think you like large monster men.

[Bria Grant]

I know. Especially ones that will make a large monster man. Well, this is huge. I mean, is the baked. Are they gluten free baked goods? Because then I like him even more.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Imagine. Wow.

[Bria Grant]

So, yeah, this just felt like a cute one. And I wanted to pick at least one like cozy or romance book because I feel like all of mine were pretty heavy. Horror, sci fi. What's your last one?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Mine is a romance.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. We're already through. Okay. Both do romances.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's Big Girl Blitz by Danielle Allen. I've never read this author before, but I'm excited. You know, I love a sports romance. So this is a contemporary sports romance about football, has a plus size female main character and it has one of my favorite things, which is coming home to a small town. I love that so much. It's about this woman. She left her small town as soon as she possibly could, but her aunt, who was like her haven, has taken a turn with her health and she. So the main character has to come home and she is not interested in dating. She just wants to like, get, get back, take care of her aunt. But then of course, one night she goes to the local sports bar and sits next to a sexy man and that is making her rethink everything about about her life and staying in this small town. And she has to decide if she can leave the past behind because she had a really hard time in high school growing up as a fat girl and a fat teen. Fat people do not have a good time typically in high school because we live in a shitty society. So she has to decide if she can leave all of that resentment behind. I know I couldn't give me a crowbar, but she's into this really hot guy, so sounds great. It's getting really good blurbs and I like the COVID So yeah, I'm into it. If you have books that are coming out or came out in March and are coming out in April that you're excited about, let us know. You can send them to reading glasses podcast mail.com as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember folks, Merch. There's totes, there's shirts, there's stickers, all kinds of cool stuff at our Void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes and if you like the show, please rate and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It would make us so happy, it would warm our hearts. And it's getting chilly in LA again, so we need those hearts warmed up. It's so great for the show. 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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