Ep 460 - Ask Not What You Can Do For Reading - Why Do We Read?

Summary

Reading Glasses Ep 460: "Ask Not What You Can Do For Reading – Why Do We Read?"

April 30, 2026 | Hosts: Mallory O’Meara & Brea Grant

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Main Theme & Overview

This week, Mallory and Brea dive deep into a meta topic every book lover grapples with at some point: Why do we read? The hosts reflect on their personal journeys into reading, dissect what draws them to books in adulthood, and explore both the emotional and practical benefits reading delivers in their lives. They also tackle advice on whether to blame a bad audiobook experience on the narrator or the text itself, and share recommendations for books about “Christianity gone wrong”—plus some fun book club listener stories.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Their Reading Lives

When did you realize you were a “reader”?

• Brea: Realized her love for reading as a teenager working at a library. She started reading books outside of required schoolwork, setting herself apart from her peers.

  “I was reading books there and… outside of schoolwork, which most kids were not doing. …That was the time where I really can like see that part of myself come out.” (14:30–15:05)

• Mallory: Pinpoints her “reader” moment to elementary school, finishing her first chapter book (the “Boxcar Kids”) and feeling immense satisfaction.

  “I finished the first Boxcar Kids book. …I just remember feeling this immense sense of satisfaction.” (15:13–15:33)

• Both reflect that reading became part of their identity early, reinforced by family and gift-giving rituals.

2. Why Do They Read as Adults?

• Brea:
  • Finds reading intrinsically relaxing and soothing—a ritual before sleep or as a reward at the end of the workweek (17:49, 20:18).
  • Seeks escape and loves inhabiting new worlds and perspectives, especially in genres that push boundaries (18:48).
  • Finds inspiration for her own artistry through others’ creative expression.
• Mallory:
  • Reads for fun and the pure enjoyment of discovering “what happens.”

    “It’s fun to know stuff… I just like being in a story and finding out what happened.” (18:48–19:00)

  • Loves being in control of the pace and feels reading is more immersive than other media.
  • Contrasts her high-anxiety, hyper-organized personality with the focus reading demands, describing reading as a rare moment when “the world moves as fast as my brain.” (21:23)
  • Reading calms her, distracts her from stress, and is one of the only times she escapes her ever-present anxiety—other than “banging and lifting.” (28:02–28:13)

3. Personalities Revealed: How Their Brains Approach Reading

• Brea: Sees reading as a creative and meditative act, tied to her love for art and solitary reflective pursuits.

• Mallory: Driven by productivity and speed—reading fits her need for agency, control, and continuous mental stimulation. Loves fast-paced, plot-driven books and dumps slow reads quickly.

  “If a book starts getting really slow, I’ll start skipping.” (23:37)

• Both recognize that reading allows them to escape rumination and anxiety, aligning reading with mental wellness.

4. The Deeper Benefits of Reading

• Promotes empathy, creative inspiration, and self-discovery.

• Reading as a controlled, solitary experience—but with rewards in connecting and discussing afterwards.

  “Books are a big part of just engaging in an artistic world. And what I like about books is that it’s a solo journey usually…” (20:51)

• Reading offers readers measurable improvements in mood, sleep quality, and a sense of personal fulfillment.

5. Listener Feedback: Book Clubs & Reading Preferences

• Book Club Drama Update: Listener Hannah’s reading slump was cured by sticking with her romance book club. She rediscovered the joy and value of bookish community (05:25–06:02).
• Alternative Book Club Model: The “Hardcover Heroes Book Club” skips traditional single-book reads, instead opting for monthly group reading challenges where each member chooses their own book—helpful for opinionated groups (06:31–07:19).

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Notable Quotes

• Mallory: “It’s fun. It’s fun to know stuff. If I… I am just… I like knowing what happened.” (18:48–19:00)
• Brea: “One of my favorite things is on a Friday… I could just like read for a couple hours. That is like such a dream.” (17:49)
• Mallory: “When I’m reading, the world is going as fast as me. …I am just… just fucking speed running it directly into my brain.” (21:23)
• Brea: “It’s a treadmill that you have to move… If you stop moving, they stop moving. …That’s what a book is.” (26:47)

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Advice Segment: Is It the Book or the Audiobook Narrator?

[36:45–37:37]

• Listener Sarah wonders if her dislike for certain audiobooks is due to the narrator or the book itself.
• Brea: Try speeding up the narration. If the audiobook’s not engaging in the first minute or two, it’s likely the narrator. Try switching to print. If the print still doesn’t grab you, it’s probably the book.
• Mallory: Agrees—if the narrator is the problem, you’ll know instantly (first few minutes). If you only get bored several chapters in, the issue is probably with the book itself.

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Recommendation Request: “Christianity Gone Wrong”

[38:28–40:48]

• Listener Knox wants horror with “Southern Baptist, Bible-thumping, Christianity gone wrong.”
• Bria: The Body by Bethany C. Morrow – Religious congregation, eerie attacks, and a wild, unexpected story arc.

  “This book is wild… It is a shocking book, and it is about religion at the end of the day.” (38:58–39:48)

• Mallory: The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davison – Southern gothic horror with a corrupt preacher and eerie supernatural happenings in the Arkansas bayou.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Why We Read – Main Discussion: 13:27–30:00
• Audiobook vs. Book Quality Advice: 36:45–37:37
• Book Recommendations (Christianity Gone Wrong): 38:28–40:48
• Listener Book Club Stories: 05:10–07:19

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Memorable & Lighter Moments

• Mallory’s obsession with email management and how reading is one of the few true escapes from her workaholic tendencies.
• Both hosts reminiscing about drinking Country Time lemonade while reading as kids (15:51–16:12).
• Listeners’ book club tales, particularly the discussion of “monster romance” and the existential importance of prehensile tails in genre fiction.

  “If the monster doesn’t use their tail, does nothing mean anything anymore?” (06:02)

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Conclusion & Call to Action

Mallory and Brea reiterate that reading, ultimately, is about pleasure, personal benefit, and calming the mind. The episode closes with encouragement to support the show through the Maximum Fun drive, a reminder of the value of community in bookish life, and gratitude for their engaged listenership.

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Useful for new listeners and regular fans alike, this episode blends deep personal insights, practical advice, and a touch of chaotic bookish humor—perfect for reflecting on your own “why” as a reader.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, Glassers, do you love the anticipated books episodes? Do they improve your reading life? Do you look forward to them every other month when we do them?

[B]

Are you stacking up that TBR because you're like, these are my TBRs. I want to be reading these.

[A]

I want to be reading. I want to be listening to the anticipated books episodes. Well, folks, remember, we're not bringing them back until we hit 300 new members. Bria, how many new members do we need to bring them back?

[B]

We need 59 more new members by tomorrow.

[A]

Tomorrow.

[B]

We need to listen to this there. We need 59 more people to join by tomorrow. That's how many we are away from bringing them back. And guess what? Your time has come. It is time for you to join. You can sign up to join right [e-mail] join and help us make those anticipated books episodes. And guess what? If we don't get our goal, Mallory says we're not doing them.

[A]

I'm going to spend that eight hours. Eight to 10 hours.

[B]

You know, she's going to the spa.

[A]

I'm gonna. I'm gonna lie on the road. I'm gonna lie on the road for 10 hours.

[B]

Sounds good. Sound nearly as good?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

The max fund drive is almost over. That means you don't have much time to join. You have until tomorrow night to help us hit our goal. So go to maximumfun.orgjoin to join or upgrade. That's maximumfun.org join. The link is in the show notes.

[A]

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.

[B]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode we're talking about why we read.

[A]

Pretty big one.

[B]

It actually is like when you propose this topic, I thought, I know why I read, but it really made me examine that. Plus, we give advice on figuring out if a book is or is not for you or if it's just like a bad audiobook. Narrator.

[A]

Yeah. Pretty pertinent information.

[B]

Yeah, people, we in my book club, we talk about the narrator so much, and we recommend books about religion gone wrong.

[A]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[B]

Okay, you know, I'm on my. My one comic book a month thing right now, and I'm reading one graphic novel I'm reading right now. Spectators by Brian K. Vaughn. Nico Henrichen did the. Henrichen. Henrichon. Henrichon is the illustrator. I don't know how you Say it. This is. It's a beautiful graphic novel that was gifted to me. It is about a woman who dies, and then she meets up with this man, and they're both ghosts, and they go and watch people have sex, but also they.

[A]

I have to read this.

[B]

Yeah, it's really good, but it's, like,

[A]

the opposite of sex criminals.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Because these are just ghosts, like, who are basically just voyeurs.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

And, like. And it's. And they kind of discuss sex and violence and the world, like, violence happening in the world, but then they also discuss sex, and they. It's just a really fascinating book. It is sexy. I will say. It is porny a little bit. But also, like, it's very thoughtful. I'm really enjoying it.

[A]

About halfway through, totally reading this.

[B]

And it has really great art. The art is really beautiful, but a little bit sexy, which is nice. I'm, like, super loving it. It's just like, sex Ghosts, I guess, is the book.

[A]

I am. I. That's all.

[B]

I need to borrow it after.

[A]

Literally all you had to say was sex ghosts. And I am in.

[B]

What are you reading?

[A]

I am reading a book that is fucking wild.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

This was. It was one of my most anticipated books, and I anticipated it well. Spoiled Milk by Avery Koran. And this is a queer historical horror. Takes place in a 1920s boarding school for girls. And it opens up. This is not a spoiler one of like. Like the it girl of the group. I haven't seen Mean girls. Which one's the big mean girl? The meanest girl.

[B]

She's. I don't know her name. I can't think of it. It's. It's. Oh, it's Rachel McAdams. And she plays the role of.

[A]

Anyway, this is, like, her ver. Like, she is the best. The prettiest girl that everyone wants to be, and everyone kind of, like, trails in her wake, and she dies.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

In a weird accident. And our main character thinks that it was one of the teachers.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

She thinks one of the teachers is a lesbian who had some sort of relationship going with this girl. And because it's the 1920s, she's like, well, she would never return that feeling, so she would never do something. My friend would never do something like that. And so she's starting to just try to, like, figure out if this girl got murdered or not. And then she starts to realize that there are more and more lesbians around her than she realized. And she goes. She's like, I haven't got that far into the book, but I'm guessing that she's going to have some sort of queer awakening. And I don't know this because I haven't got that far, but I know from reading about it for the anticipated books episodes that they get their hands on some book about seances and being a medium and they have a seance and they call forth the ghost of this girl. And it works. And instead of giving them what they want, this girl is like, this is just the start of it. More bad things are going to start happening. Really weird supernatural stuff starts to happen in the school. There's so much going on and I just love it. In the middle of this, like, girl who's trying to solve a mystery and she's like kissing girls. Well, you can't do that. It's so great. I'm really enjoying it so far. So that's Spoiled Milk by Avery Koran

[B]

and mine is Spectators by Brian K. Vaughn.

[A]

Do you want to take a moment to share some listener feedback? Bria, we have gotten so much follow up for the book club drama episode.

[B]

Oh fantastic.

[A]

So much. Hannah wrote in to say hi. Thanks for discussing my problem on the podcast. It was weirdly thrilling to hear my name in question. Read.

[B]

We hear. We live to thrill. We.

[A]

We truly do. It's not a lot of thrills in the book world, so we live a pretty thrillist life, I will say. So when we get one. It big deal. Hannah says. I'm emailing to update you. I didn't include it in the original email. Hannah was the one who kept going to this romance book club even though they were kind of falling out of love with romance.

[B]

Oh, okay, got it, got it, got it, got it.

[A]

Hannah says. I had just gotten a friend from an outside book club to start going around this time and I didn't want to bring her to it and then drop off. That is really funny. You're just training her replacement at that point. So I did keep attending the book club. Thankfully, about a month after this, my romance reading ramp back up and I'm finding joy in it again.

[B]

Oh good.

[A]

To be honest, I'm not sure I would have stopped going even if I hadn't gotten someone to join right then. Regardless, I enjoy being at book club enough. They may have kept at it just to hang out and crack jokes when I could. If I hadn't gone, I would have missed at least two discussions about how there's no point of having a monster romance where the monster has a prehensile tail and doesn't use it what are we even doing at this point? If the monster doesn't use their tail, does nothing mean anything anymore? Wow. I love this. And I also love. I feel like a lot of big genre readers were kind of like that. Sometimes you just read so much of it, you're like, I need a quick break. Then you always come back.

[B]

You always come back for more. You can never leave. The Hardcover Heroes Book Club wrote in and said, hi, Bri, Mallory, I really enjoyed your episode about book clubs with Chelsea Stardust and wanted to share what my friends and I do for our own book club. We started this book club last year because we all love reading and had a huge TBR we wanted to get through, but then we could not agree on a single book to read. Our book tastes are just too different. So instead we tackle reading challenges together as a group.

[A]

I love this so much.

[B]

This way everyone gets to read the book they want and we love we get to complete challenges together. Every month, each person reads the book or books they want. Then we get together to discuss what everyone read and how that book fulfilled a challenge prompt. That's so great.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

Conducting our book club like this has been a game changer for us, and I thought this setup might work for other book clubs with very opinionated book lovers. Thank you both for all you do for the bookish community.

[A]

I would totally join a book club like this. I love it. I love the idea of having a theme every month instead of or like a challenge every month instead of a specific book.

[B]

Yeah. Because then it's like we can complete it different ways, but we still can talk about it like you and I do on the show. We can talk about the way we completed a challenge, but without it being the exact same book.

[A]

Yeah. I love it so much. Then Tim rode in with a wheelhouse, which is prose written by poets. Good fun time, great plot point payoffs, post apocalyptic settings, and books about birding.

[B]

Wow. We love that.

[A]

Love it. You can email us at reading glasses podcast gmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. Before we talk about why we read, we're going to take a quick break. Holy.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

There's only one day left. The Maximum Fun Drive Zone. The portal is closing.

[B]

The portals. I see it. It's closing in the distance. It's going smaller and smaller and smaller. Mallory, what does it mean to be a Max Fund supporter.

[A]

So Max Fun is sort of like Patreon, except that it's through our podcast network. So that's if you, if you are someone who likes to support podcasts through Patreon, through. No, I'm going to start this over.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So it's just like Patreon, where you sign up to support someone every month for only a few dollars. But it's through our podcast network. You sign up at the $5, $10, maybe more level. If you're really, really fancy. And that money goes to help us make reading glasses, it goes to our network, which is a co op, which means every single cent of your 5 bucks or 10 bucks or more supports real people making the podcast that you love.

[B]

Reading glasses comes out every single week.

[A]

Through rain and sleet and dark nights,

[B]

through good books and bad books. We are here. We put so much time into it. We put a lot of effort into it. And thanks to our maximum fund members, which again, this is like being part of a Patreon, we're able to pay our bills. We keep those book recs common.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

We keep those hot book tips coming. We are focused right now on new members, like we said. We are. We are less than 60 people away from unlocking that anticipated books episode. That was our big goal for the year. And we're almost there. So it's time. If you haven't joined, this is it. What are you waiting for? This is the last day. You don't have any more time.

[A]

If you, if you love reading glasses, you love us. We've improved your reading life, but you haven't signed up yet. Now is your time. You, I'm talking about talking to you. You're driving in your car right now. You're maybe do. Maybe you're folding laundry. It's your time. It's not going to take that long. You got to go to maximumfun.org join to sign up. Bria, what have we already unlocked so far?

[B]

We've unlocked the TBR live stream. You can watch it on our Instagram. We, when we had 100 new members, we showed all of our TBRS, which was totally embarrassing. We also unlocked recommendation parties. We're going to be doing recommendation parties just for members and you can show up. We're all going to recommend books to each other. It's going to be really fun. And we are about to unlock hopefully today 600 overall, we're like less than 40 people from. Yeah, we're less than 30 people. We're. We're 572 as of this moment, we want Mallory to watch a musical.

[A]

Do we?

[B]

We do. We do.

[A]

Although it's been really, really sweet in the discord, people have already been planning on what they're going to vote for.

[B]

Uhhuh.

[A]

And I feel like I'm in good hands.

[B]

Oh, that's good. They're not trying to torture you.

[A]

They're not trying to torture me. They're picking something fun. But it's gonna be. It's gonna be fun and silly. I'm doing this out of my own own will. No one's forcing me. But, Bria, we have a new stretch goal.

[B]

We do have a new stretch goal.

[A]

You want to talk about stretch goal? If we hit 800, new upgrading and boosting members. So overall. So we've got two columns of goals. We have our columns for new members. If we hit 300 new members, we're bringing back the anticipated books episodes. But if we hit 600 overall, I'm watching the musical. And if we hit 800 overall, well, we're going to do something really special for members. We're going to do monthly recommendation request episodes that are just for members. And you get to skip the recommendation request queue and submit your recommendation requests. And Bria and I will do them on these special bonus episodes because there's

[B]

a long ass queue.

[A]

It is 293 pages long.

[B]

It is so long. But you could skip that queue. If we unlock this, we only need 800 new upgrading or boosting members.

[A]

Yes. That's our big stretch goal. We're really excited. For just five bucks, you can help us get there. Goldmaximfun.org join smacksmanfun.org join and folks, you get a lot of stuff if you're a new member. If you help us bring back the anticipated books episodes. We're still giving out personalized book recommendations.

[B]

Oh, my God. We are. We're doing one today.

[A]

We sure are.

[B]

We're doing one today at 5pm, today at 5pm, tomorrow at 3pm but you've only got one day left.

[A]

Only one day.

[B]

You have to sign [e-mail] join. Send your receipt to reading glasses podcastmail.com along with your recommendation. Request, your wheelhouse, whatever you want. And today at 5pm PST on Instagram, we will give you that personalized book recommendation.

[A]

Yes. Or tomorrow we are going to do another one on Friday. So if you're listening to it this episode, the day comes out on Thursday. We're doing it at 5pm Pacific tonight or tomorrow, which is Friday, May 1st. At 3pm Pacific. But even if we. If you don't make that in time, we'll still buy. If you get us. If you send us your receipt by Friday at 11:59pm we will give you a personalized book recommendation. We are so grateful to you. You truly mean the world to us. We're biased, but we think we've got the best bookish community on the Internet. And if you want to join and help us hit these goals, go to maximumfund.org join. That's maximumfun.org join. Thank you so much. We, we have. We deal in words, Bria. But even we cannot tell you how much we appreciate you. Glasses. Glasses. This week, it's a big one, folks. We're talking about why we read. What do we get out of reading? How does it improve our lives? What makes it so important that we prioritize doing it all the time? We're getting into it. So. Bria, I feel like we're on actors on actors right now. Brian, when did you first realize that you loved reading? Like, when did you first have the like the realization about yourself that you were a book person?

[B]

I mean, I think in part, but when I was a kid, like my parents read to me and stuff. But then the real thing was I got a job at a library as a teenager. Which is not your normal after school job.

[A]

No, it's a cool.

[B]

Depending on who you ask.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I was always, and that was really interesting because I was always reading. I was reading books there and I think I was reading books outside of schoolwork, which was. Which most people, kids were not doing at that age. So maybe I came to that a little bit later. Like I was an early reader. I read at a young age. I was like in advanced reading groups, like as far as like advanced for my age, but like finding those like outside books. Like I really remember. I mean I read a lot as a kid and. But like I really noticed that maybe the difference between me and other people when I started working at the library and being like, I'm going to read like these books just for fun, in addition to all the schoolwork that I have to read. Like, I, I don't think you're looking

[A]

around, you're like, no one else is doing this.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Like at the time I was like, like, I want to read Jack Kerouac. I want to read. Like I was reading. I loved, you know, like a lot of the classic stuff, like beat era stuff. And I think, I think there is this like thing that you. I Like when I was thinking about this, I was like, wow, did I like, do you have to plow through like high school level books as a kid to be a big reader? And it's like, no, it can be a gradual thing, which I think it was for me. Like, it was like more of like identifying it as I got older. And there's been times I didn't read as much for sure, but like, that was the time where I really can like see that part of myself come out. What about you?

[A]

Oh, I was wicked young.

[B]

You. You were reading the, the older books when you were younger?

[A]

Yeah, I was. I think I was in elementary school, so maybe like eight or nine. I always was really interested in reading, but that was the first time. So I was like. I was reading my first. I finished my first chapter book. I have this like very. I remember exactly the. The configuration the living room was in. I. On the couch. I remember the couch. And I finished the first Boxcar Kids book. And I just remember feeling this immense sense of satisfaction.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I'm being like, I gotta do this all the time. This is amazing. And I started reading all the time. I realized I had a kind of a similar moment that you did. I think I was just a little bit younger. I realized that over the summer, and it might have been the summer between elementary and middle school, that I was spending a lot of time in a lawn chair with some country time lemonade.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Reading. While other kids were doing other stuff.

[B]

First Country Time Lemonade Lemonade. Now we are. We're not talking about it. No one's drinking it. Does it still exist?

[A]

It has to.

[B]

It was so good. I mean, I think it was mostly sugar. That's why.

[A]

Well, because you. They were like, oh, one spoonful per glass. And we were like, oh, half the. Half the jar.

[B]

Hell yeah, that's totally right.

[A]

It's basically a smoothie.

[B]

Yeah. It was so good.

[A]

Then sometimes, you know, someone will get the pink one. Did not taste any different.

[B]

No, but it was good.

[A]

So good.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It's just sugar water. You're just being a hummingbird all summer.

[B]

You know what? That's what you do as a kid. Yeah, you basically. I was a hummingbird. I still am a hummingbird.

[A]

I was gonna say that's that your, your Stanley, your little Stanley thing is just filled with red sugar water. It was.

[B]

I mean, if it was full of country time lemonade, I'd be living a better life. That would. I would actually like. That feels way better to me than. Than just. Yeah, than just Regular water.

[A]

We're gonna look into this. But I was like, oh, this is what I am choosing to do. I think it's interesting that we're having the same thing. This is what I'm choosing to do. While everyone else is like playing tag or whatever. And I was like, huh? I guess reading is my thing. And the thing about when you're a kid is that it's very hard to buy gifts for people. Families, all families are like this. If you see someone, everyone has that relative where you're like, oh, you mentioned one thing offhandedly one time and you get gifts about that for the rest of your life.

[B]

Sure. Yes.

[A]

And around this age, every. That's all I got for holidays, for my birthday, for Christmas. Every relative was like, mallory likes to read. Huh? And there's a book. Yeah. And I. Because there were not a lot of middle grade books back at the time I was getting Moby Dick.

[B]

Yeah. Right.

[A]

At nine years old, so.

[B]

And I think you're like, I relate to him.

[A]

Yeah. You know, I too am on a great journey for revenge. So I think it just sort of started to feed into itself. And I was like, oh, I'm the only one getting a stack of books at Christmas time. I guess I'm the book person. So now, as an adult, why do you read?

[B]

I think first and foremost is to relax. Like, I find reading very cathartic. I read to go to sleep. I read. It is like a little reward for me. Oh, man. One of my favorite things is on a Friday. I don't have anything to do on a Friday. I finished all my work. It's like 5pm I'm like, oh, my God. I could just like read for a couple hours. That is like such a dream. Especially if it's like a graphic novel. Oh, wow. Also, it's an escape for me. Like, I like to go via book, visit other places, be in other people's minds, be in other stories. Like, I like being drawn into something. And I think also, like, I like art, I like artistic expression. I like being inside someone else's mind for a while and seeing what they create and why they create and how creative that is. I think that's why I am drawn to stories that are a little bit more out there, a little bit more science fictional or things that are just a little bit beyond, like what I see every day. I'm not doing so much literary fiction, even probably less now than I used to because I think I just am interested in seeing art that is a little bit outside the Box like, that is another draw for me. Why don't you read?

[A]

It's fun.

[B]

Yeah, it is fun.

[A]

It's fun. It's fun to know stuff. For me, it's a good time. If I. I am just. And I think this is all this. This particular ties back into me being a plot reader. I like knowing what happened.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I want to know what's going on. Like, obviously, I'm a big film person too, so I just like being in a story and finding out what happened. Like, that is. It's. And the thing about reading is that. And I say this as a huge film person, as someone who watched watches. I think I watched 300 movies last year. Like, I love movies, but reading is a little more immersive because I'm in control of the pace. So many of the elements are generated by my mind, so I'm really in it, you know, like, everything else is kind of hard to speedrun. You're not putting a movie on 1.25. That would be.

[B]

People do, though. What? You can do it on Netflix. Oh, you can watch a movie and fast forward or whatever.

[A]

Would you do that?

[B]

I don't know. I've just seen that you can do it. I don't know if you still can. I think you can. You can watch a movie on faster version. And like. Yeah, I know.

[A]

I go lie on the 405.

[B]

Yeah, it's no great. It's no great. It's not good.

[A]

Jesus. But the thing about a movie is that you're not generating it. Like, if you look away, you go to pee. The movie's still playing. The book doesn't work like that. So it's. It's very fun for me to both simultaneously be finding out what happened, but also getting my brain stimulated enough that I'm.

[B]

You're the catalyst for making the story move forward. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's very fun to me. So what do you get out of it besides the relaxing? Is it just. Is it just the sleep? Is it.

[B]

The calming is helpful. I need a lot of calming in my life. And if it's good and I'm really engaged, like, I'm so calm. My aura ring will be like, you slept. Like, it is like that in a good movie. It'll be like, did you take a little nap? And like, sometimes I am taking a little nap. Listen, I would say, like with a bar of chocolate in your hand of the time. I am taking a nap during a

[A]

book and waking up with a chocolate time.

[B]

I'm taking a nap during a Movie reading puts me to sleep every night. I cannot fall asleep without reading a book. Yeah, that's magic to me when I. And if I wake up in the middle of the night, I have to read in order to fall back asleep.

[A]

One banana, one book.

[B]

One banana, one book equals great night's sleep. That's the math. That's math. That's Bria. Math. But being creative and engaging in art is very important to me in all aspects, in movies, in books and music. So books are a big part of just engaging in an artistic world. And what I like about books is that it's a solo journey usually, you know, and so it's like, it is just me in my mind. And it's great to get to discuss it with you and discuss it with people. Discuss.

[A]

You're in control of it.

[B]

But, yeah, you're right. There's something about it that. Wow. Do you think there's a control issue we're looking for here?

[A]

Maybe for me, it's more like I. My brain goes so fast all the time, and when I've never articulated this before when I'm reading, the world is going as fast as me. The story is going as fast as me. I am just. Just fucking speed running it directly into my brain. And it feels very good to be doing that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Interesting, because I'm a really impatient person.

[B]

Yes, you are, very badly. That's your whole thing.

[A]

I'll be like, hey, Bria, I sent you an email 30 seconds ago.

[B]

Why haven't you? Mallory said. I said, what did you say? You were so nice about it. And it was like, clearly I made you mad.

[A]

He said.

[B]

I said. You said, when can we record next week? And I was like, I just wanted back to my trick. And you said, it's funny. I don't see it in the calendar. When you're back from your trip, I don't see it in the calendar. Which I was like, you're right. I. You didn't say you didn't put it in the calendar. Like, you just said, I don't see the calendar.

[A]

Could have been my error. Could have been my error.

[B]

Which is very funny because it's clearly me and you've asked me to put in the calendar like, five times, but I'm 44, and honestly gets harder. I don't know how to explain this to you, but there's not enough.

[A]

That is brain cells. You and I are the dream team. Because I am too much. I'm like, oh, I have a thought. I have to put it in the calendar. Yeah, because the problem is if I don't. My brain is moving. I feel really bad. Our mutual friend, good friend of the show Ross, invited me to something a few months ago and I literally was in the middle of something when they texted me and I was like, I'll just put in my calendar. I didn't. I completely forgot about it. Like, I put like, like Bilbo and the Hobbit.

[B]

This is my whole life, by the way, is completely forgetting to put stuff in my calendar.

[A]

And that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

[B]

This is. I do this like three times a week.

[A]

Haunt me forever.

[B]

Anyone who knows me, I'm like, I'm sorry I can't come today because I scheduled a tooth cleaning during. Like, I like have no. Like, my brain just can't function anymore.

[A]

You calm me down because I am just too over. I'm just too type A. Me and my boyfriend are in the process of like figuring out how we're going to move in together. And I had to be like, you were adopting a freak of nature into your home. Like, I, I'm just too, I'm too impatient. I'm too. But it's, it's good for us to balance out. But when I'm reading is the only place where I'm.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[A]

Where everything's happening on time.

[B]

It's quickly. What if the book isn't getting to the plot point you want?

[A]

Dump it.

[B]

Wow. Okay, interesting.

[A]

That's why I'm plot reader. Like, I want something to keep going. If a book starts getting really slow, I'll start skipping.

[B]

Okay, interesting. It's not moving at the pace you want.

[A]

No. Like, that's why I love ton of French Megan. My, my thriller readers. I love my thriller authors. I love. Because some shit's going.

[B]

Shit is going.

[A]

I love a fast paced book.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting.

[A]

That is because that's my, my brain is just like, I can't function until everything is organized and scheduled and responded to. Like, I, if I go more than a day to respond to an email, I feel like I'm dying.

[B]

I'm like scared for you to even look at my inbox right now.

[A]

It would kill me.

[B]

Yeah, the inbox is. I do answer emails every few days.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And then I'm like, that's enough for me. I can't. Otherwise I would never finish anything. I have to like, I have to like save my brain.

[A]

That's why like every, like, that's why you get all the podcast stuff on one day a week. Because I'M like, I. I do all the podcast stuff, and then I, Like, I'm trying because I. If I let it take over my life, I will. That's why I love reading so much, is it's all. I'm in control in here.

[B]

Great. Okay. Well, I'm glad we found reading.

[A]

Well, question. Do you think that aside from the soothingness, like, there's something about being. The stimulation of it, the mental stimulation?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. Because I think. Well, I think that adds to the soothingness because I think I really. I think that's when I can't sleep or I'm trying to relax. I can really. I can ruminate like anyone else. I can ruminate over what's going on or what I need to figure out or whatever. And giving my brain another puzzle is always really helpful. Like, and even if the puzzle is just, like, weird, even if it's a cozy puzzle, like, it's just giving my brain something else to think about.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Really does help me. I think that that is important. I think also, I'm an artist. You're an artist. Like, thinking about what is inspiring for me. And, like, books have always been really inspiring.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And there's so many times where people are talking about scripts and talking about other art things, and I'm like, but have you read this book? Because this book actually does this thing you're talking about in a really great way. And it's just because it's a different medium, especially than the medium I work in. I find, like, a lot of inspiration in that because it just feels like something adjacent to what I'm doing. But, like, I'm discovering new things. I'm discovering new things about myself. I'm discovering new things about other people. It makes me more empathetic. Like, it just is, like, all the things that book books do. I think, like, that's why I read.

[A]

Yeah. Good stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For me, it's like, it's also soothing, but it's the only time I'm not thinking about other stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My brain, like, if you wake me up in the middle of night, I'll be thinking about.

[B]

You're like, the email.

[A]

Oh, my. Truly. I check my email when I wake up in the morning.

[B]

It's very bad for you.

[A]

I know.

[B]

You should at least give yourself, like, 10 minutes.

[A]

But what if there's an email in there that I need to, like, I'm

[B]

telling you, 10 minutes doesn't matter. I'm telling you, 24 hours usually doesn't matter.

[A]

I know.

[B]

I know. That's Shocking. It doesn't matter. I know.

[A]

And I'm getting like, you've got you. You literally per. Like, only you have been. Have pushed me to get better about it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But when I'm. I'm just constantly thinking about things. I like to have music or audiobooks going all the time, because if I'm cleaning my house, I'll just be thinking of it. Like, I'm so. I have such high anxiety. But when I'm reading and I think reading is better about it, like, even when I'm watching a movie sometime I'll start. I can get distracted just by my own anxiety reading. Because you have to generate it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I can't be thinking about other things while I'm reading or the book won't go.

[B]

Yeah, it's like those treadmills. You know, the ones that. Like, there's treadmills that move automatically and then there's ones you have to move.

[A]

Yes. That's 100% what.

[B]

It's a treadmill that you have to move. I don't know what the toes are called, but you know what I'm talking about. Yes.

[A]

Painful.

[B]

Painful. Yeah. They're the ones that you. If you stop moving, they stop moving.

[A]

Yeah. Which is nuts. But that's what a book is. It forces me out of my mind into a book. You know, I don't sleep well. I have insomnia. That's why I can't fall asleep while I'm reading. I just. I. I need the only. I honestly think sometimes that my brain probably relaxes more while I'm awake reading a book than it does while I'm sleeping.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Like, I would love to get a sleep study done. And they'll be like, wow, you should

[B]

get an aura ring.

[A]

They're like, this human woman. How is she able to do this? She's never stopped thinking, ever. And you know what? Like, we love to support authors, we love to support artists. We, you know, getting to do that every day to have time where I'm not worrying about things and thinking about things is so clutch for me. That is like, that is the most important thing, and I crave it. And especially when. When you're in a really good book. Like, I literally. If that's how I know I'm really liking a book when I'm thinking about it. Like the spoiled milk book. I'm thinking about it right now.

[B]

And are you. When you're reading the book, do you ever think, what about the emails?

[A]

No, that's the thing.

[B]

I don't think about him. At all.

[A]

No, it is maybe the only time that I'm not thinking, like, yeah, I can't. Banging, maybe Banging and reading, lifting.

[B]

The only time you're not thinking about emails.

[A]

I don't think about emails while I'm lifting too, because I'm forced out of. I'm forced out of my brain into my body.

[B]

What about watching movies?

[A]

No, sometimes I get. Because if a movie gets real slow.

[B]

Oh, yeah, sure. But that's why I start and go into my. Through my to do list.

[A]

Sometimes it's nice when you're watching a foreign film, though, because you have to read subtitles.

[B]

It involves reading it while I was reading.

[A]

But you, you have to. If you look away and start thinking about your inbox. Your various inboxes. Yeah, that's my problem is I. I have 4 email address for email accounts.

[B]

That's a lot of emails.

[A]

So there's always something going on in one of them.

[B]

Yeah. One of the two podcast ones.

[A]

Two podcast ones. And then my junk email and then my regular email.

[B]

You check the junk email isn't the point of the junkie.

[A]

I'm keep it cleared out.

[B]

Oh, my God, Mallory, delete that one. What are you talking about? There's nothing in there that you need to look at. That's the whole thing is the junk email. Yeah.

[A]

But sometimes if I order something, the tracking will go there.

[B]

Okay. And you are like, I gotta track it. Is it gonna not arrive if you don't see the tracking?

[A]

You know, I was afraid it'll arrive.

[B]

It will get there. And if not, in a few days you'll be like, that never arrived. And then you contact them.

[A]

Yes, it's important. And it's easier to find that email if it's all nice and cleaned out for that contact information. I am a broken woman, but that's why I love reading.

[B]

How many times a day are you checking email? 100 probably.

[A]

Probably around there.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

That's the thing is, I feel like we talk on the show a lot about, like, what it's like to be, you know, why it's important to be a good bookish citizen and like building empathy. But also just reading does something for you.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Like it is good for you.

[B]

That's not what you can do for

[A]

reading, but ask for anything can do for you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's what this whole thing is like. It's just fun. It's fun and it makes you feel good and it calms you down.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like we always. We want to extol the other you know, maybe more selfless virtues of being a reader, but really it's, it's a good time. Yeah, it's really good time. So you can send your thoughts to reading glasses podcast Gmail.com. before we solve a listener problem about bad books versus bad narrators, we're going to take a quick break. Hey glassers. Have we helped your reading life? Gotten rid of your book guilt? Given you lots and lots of book recommendations? Have you been listening to the show for free? Well, now is the best time to show your love for us because you're going to get some stuff in return.

[B]

Yeah, right now you can unlock even more reading glasses for just five bucks a month. That's right, five bucks a month. Not only do you get this show, you get to help us make this show, but you also get access to our discord. You get ad free episodes, you get member only events, you get BoCo. This year we shared our souls. We went through our old book journals, but there's also so much bonus content from years past.

[A]

So many our fourth wing episode. Our last year we did our favorite bookish TV shows, best and worst book adaptations, our favorite comfort reads. So many specific recommendations episodes.

[B]

And if you listen to our other show, you get to hear our most bangable creatures.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Which is pretty exciting.

[A]

If Bria would bang a skeleton. That's, that's the, that you gotta, you gotta pony up for just five bucks.

[B]

That's just five bucks a month. You get hours and hours of reading glasses. So go to maximumfound.org join maximumfund.org join

[A]

wait, so what's Bria, what would be more glasses? Would that be a bifocal?

[B]

Oh yeah. Or a telescope

[A]

picturing someone wearing two telescopes, one on each eye. So that, that's all the, the extra stuff, the like content you get. But if you sign up at the ten dollar level, you get presents. So ten dollar level this year, usually they do pins. This year they're doing keychains. Folks, these things are so cool.

[B]

They're so cute.

[A]

So this year, the reading glasses keychain. It is a little square keychain and it has a smiley face with books for eyes. And it says books keep me sane. Which is the truest shit of all time. Right now.

[B]

It really is. The 2026 maximum fun drive is almost over. There's only one day left. If we have helped your reading life, if we have given you a book recommendation, if you were like we have

[A]

given a book recommendation to. If we have given a sci fi book recommendation to your dad. And or husband.

[B]

We are asking for help from you. We want to reach our goals. We want to keep the show going. Reading Glasses. We do this every week, y'. All. It is a full time job for us. We write, record, produce, edit and promote the show ourselves. It's a lot of work, but it's supporters like you who make it possible. You. That's right. You listening at home?

[A]

Yes. Is your name Sarah? Do you wear glasses? Do you have. Do you have a big old TBR where then we're talking to you for just five bucks. You keep the book recs flowing, you get so much extra bookishness. That's maximumfund.org join don't forget, if you're a new member, you're also getting a personalized book recommendation. If you want it, sign [e-mail] join send your receipt to reading glasses podcast gmail.com along with your recommendation request. But folks, you've only got one day and trust me, I know sometimes I get excited. There has been a daiquiri recipe that I have been meaning to try and I've just left the tab open and finally I was like, this has been open for weeks. You got to do it right now.

[B]

Just it really. It will take me that daiquiri recipe

[A]

because it looks so good. It's gonna take you 60 seconds. Sign go click the link in the show notes or go to maximumfun.org join pick reading glasses as your show. It's. It's really easy to do. I promise. We appreciate it so much. We appreciate you so much. We know that you could spend that five bucks on books. Although I will say you're probably not going to be getting a book for five bucks unless it's like an ebook sale.

[B]

Yeah, that's true. That's true. Or it's a Chuck Tingle special. Yeah, those are about three bucks.

[A]

Yeah. So. And we know that you could be buying a Chuck Tingle book with that five bucks but giving it to us and our hungry cats. We're here in my house right now, sailor. Just got some snacks. And you know how I bought those snacks? My cat who was chewing on my house plant because he was so hungry. We got it from you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We appreciate you so much. Sign [e-mail] join to show your love for us back glasses. Now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners, Sarah Roden to say dear Mallory and Bria, longtime Sarah listener, because of course in recent years I've been listening to more audiobooks helped along by your insistence that all books count as reading combined with my own anxiety fueled awareness that I'll never be able to listen to all the books I want to in my life and so audiobooks help me read more I have a question about audiobook narrators and dumping books. I have found that the quality of a narrator is really crucial to my enjoyment of a book and have dumped books when the narrator is not working for me. A few times I found myself wondering if I would enjoy the book itself if I switched to the print version. Do you have any tips for discerning if it's the narrator or the book or both that should be dumped? Ria, you want to read this wheelhouse?

[B]

Wheelhouse is fantasy that is fairy tale like speculative fiction, magical realism and fantasy and sci fi. That is our world but different retellings of myths. We're the same person retellings of myths and fairy tales but the real horror is the patriarchy or racism etc clifi Particularly when it's not dystopic or apocalyptic genre mashups novels that are interconnected short stories toggle back and forth between time periods or contain significant jumps in time.

[A]

Is this you Bria?

[B]

I know. It really is Ambiguous endings Nonfiction includes poetry, optimistic climate, futures and actions, tarot and popular science, particularly astrophysics and nature. Wow. This is such an important what do you think Bria? Such an important question.

[A]

How do you tell?

[B]

Okay, sometimes. Sometimes I just want to say this. I can listen to it on high speed and then it does help if already narrator is boring. Yeah, that does help me. It's like sometimes I'm like this. I just need to go faster because

[A]

normally I think I think that about every person on earth.

[B]

I'm doing like a 1.5 and I'm like I'll speed this shit up and maybe it'll get better. But it seems like something you should be able to tell right away if this audio book narrator is not great. Um we talk about this so much in my book club. It is one of the cause about half my book club are audio. Maybe not half. Maybe like a third are audio folks only or they at least doing the the book club book audiobook audiobook book book and so we end up talking about it a lot. I think you should be able to tell right away and switching to print can defin I've also done it the other way where the print book wasn't grabbing me. I'm like what if someone read this to me and they were interesting and I that will help. So I do think, like, going back and forth will help, especially, like. Especially, like, maybe you're having trouble paying attention. Audiobooks can be hard to pay attention to, particularly if you have add, like, things like that. But also just if the narrator's not good, if they're not engaging, which I feel like is really tough. Must be tough for a novelist because it's like, I worked so hard in this book and then this narrator fucked it up.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, that might.

[A]

A lot of people have no control over it.

[B]

No control at all. But. So, yes, I think switching could definitely help, especially. But dump it fast if you. If this narrator is not working for you, they're not getting better.

[A]

Yes, that's. That's, I think, really the crux of it.

[B]

Yeah, that's what you want to say, too.

[A]

I. This has definitely happened to me. I've bounced off audiobooks and then really enjoyed the print version. I think it's really a matter of timing. That's how you can tell, like, I almost. I know almost immediately, which is why I do try to listen to the samples. With a book that's boring me, however, like, sometimes you can be a few chapters into a book before you realize it's boring.

[B]

Sure, sure.

[A]

If you don't like the narrator, it's. You figure out first chapter. I feel like. So if you've got an audiobook and you're a minute or two in and you're like, I don't think this is for me. Return it to the library. So I would say if you get it in an audiobook and within a minute or two, you're like, I don't think this is for me. It's probably the narrator. It's probably not the book.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

But if, like, if you get halfway through a book and you're like, this seems kind of boring, I don't think it's the narrator. I think it's the book. So I think that's the. That's the way to tell. So if you want us to solve your reader problem, you can send us your readingglassespodcast gmail.com. Time to answer a recommendation request from Knox, who says, hi, Brian Mallory. Hope you're doing well. This is a request for a kind of book I've been searching for since I started reading again last year. When I wasn't reading, I got really into horror and the genre of Christianity gone wrong, especially Southern Baptist Bible thumping, going to extreme to bring glory to God kind of Christianity. I've been desperate for a book with this kind of thing, but I've yet to find any. It's quite easy to find these sorts of books with Catholic themes and overtones. While I enjoy those, they just don't satiate my hunger. Can you think of any books that would fit this description? Thanks for helping me along my reading journey. Bria. You want to read Knox's Wheelhouse?

[B]

Autistic protagonists. Religious horror. Examining humanity through a robotic lens. The Victorian era. Incomprehensible horror, Abandoned places, flowery descriptions, Slow burn romances. Queer norm, Diverse casts and body horror.

[A]

Good wheelhouse. I, I'm glad you recommended this. Yeah.

[B]

By the way, the first few books I thought I was like, oh, yeah, this is great. But they were all Catholic, so good call on the Catholic. Yeah. I'm so excited. I get to recommend a new book by Bethany C. Morrow that we both loved called the Body.

[A]

Wild book.

[B]

This book is wild.

[A]

Wild book.

[B]

It's about a woman who broke off from her parents congregation. So it is a religious congregation. And now a lot of weird things are happening to her. It starts with there's like a car accident. And when she sees who hit her with, they like hit her car. It's people she knows.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And she's like, that's so weird.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then all of a sudden somebody else attacks her that she knows. And then there's someone who's like, who? She watches them do something really violent and she's like, but I don't totally know them. But then she turns out she doesn't know them. And so it's like her and her husband are being attacked physically and violently. And this thing, this book goes places you do not expect.

[A]

Yeah. You're not gonna, you're not gonna guess.

[B]

This book, it feels so weird. It is like an out of body experience. And I just realized it's called the body. And now I, I, it's understand why this is, this book. I, it was, it is a shocking book and it is about religion at the end of the day.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Takes you a second to get there, but you're gonna understand.

[A]

Yeah. First you think it's about a marriage.

[B]

Yeah. You're gonna get there and you're gonna be like, why did Brie recommend this? You stick around. Stick around for it. What do you have?

[A]

I love this. This is a really fun one. I'm gonna recommend the Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davison. This is a southern gothic horror novel. So I'm pulling some southern stuff set in the Arkansas bayou. It's about a young woman who runs Cargo through the bayou for a corrupt preacher. When things start to go strange and supernatural in the swamp, and I think the evil preacher element will give you the Christianity gone wrong that you're looking for. This is very. That kind of like Southern Baptist, flailing snakes around and stuff, kind of kind of preacher. I don't know. I've never.

[B]

Snake throwing. That's what they do in the South. They just throw snakes at each other.

[A]

Instead of handling them, you're tossing them,

[B]

tossing snakes like cornhole, but the hole

[A]

is real small, flinging the snakes. But this one, this came out a few years ago, and it's real atmospheric, real weird, and I think Knox will like it. So that's the Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davison.

[B]

And I'm recommending the Body by Bethany C. Morrow.

[A]

I realized the first time I said it, I said boatman, Boatman. The boatman. I don't think that's how Andy Davison would like this book to be pronounced. So if you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it toreading glasses podcastmail.com. if we've helped improve your reading life, if you. If this show has made your book life any better, please sign up to support us, become a member of our network. It is the best way for you to show your appreciation and your support. It means the world to us, and it makes all the work we pour into the show, which is quite considerable, every single week, worth it.

[B]

And this is it, y'.

[A]

All.

[B]

This is it. This is the last day. This is all you got. You have to go right now to maximumfun.org join if you are going to join. If you want that book recommendation, if you want to help us out, if you want to help us to reach our goals, this is it. This is it. You don't. After tomorrow, we're done.

[A]

I'm trying to remember that song. You only got one shot. Do not miss your chance. Mom spaghetti. I don't know how the. How it goes.

[B]

I don't even know the song you're singing, but I was dancing.

[A]

I was dancing over here, that Eminem song. Okay, you gotta lose yourself in the network.

[B]

You too, could be supporting this kind of content.

[A]

I love that every time I bring up a reference on the show, I don't know what.

[B]

That's good. That's fine. That's fine. That. That's, you know, and that's the kind of content we're here to provide, and we won't apologize for it. In fact, you support it. So go to maximumfun.org join to support reading glasses for as little as $5 a month. $5 a month? That's like buying like a T shirt.

[A]

Not even two years.

[B]

Two T shirts a year maybe.

[A]

Oh yeah, two T shirts. Now T. I saw a T shirt that was $50 the other day.

[B]

Gonna be not. So one T shirt. One T shirt. Upgrade your existing membership. Give us a little boost. Help us out, Help us reach our goals. That's maximum fun.org join.

[A]

Maximum Fun, a worker owned network of artist owned shows supported directly.