Ep 468 - Mid Year Reader Goal Check-In!

Summary

Reading Glasses – Ep 468: Mid-Year Reader Goal Check-In!
Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Date: June 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the halfway point of the year, and Brea and Mallory do a lively mid-year check-in on their 2026 reader goals. They candidly assess their reading progress, discuss the realities of balancing creative and personal life with their ambitious bookish aspirations, and offer advice on both goal-setting and recommending potentially distressing books. They also share listener feedback, tackle a bookish problem about content warnings, and recommend books by Black authors for young readers.

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What We’re Reading

[00:37 - 05:44]

Brea:

• Mocha by Monica Kim
  • "Mocha is the Korean term for spy cameras that are secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos. And Monica Kim, you wrote a real fucked up book. Compliment." – Brea (00:56)
  • Follows two main characters: a woman who discovers her relationship has been secretly recorded, and a nerdy IT guy who has also been spying on women at work.
  • Mixes thriller and supernatural elements, offering a thoughtful take on distressing and voyeuristic themes.
  • "It's a very, like, thoughtful telling of very difficult subjects. I liked it a lot." – Brea (01:51)

Mallory:

• The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigondale by C.M. Wagoner
  • "This book is all characters, all world, low stakes, low conflict, low everything. It's very sweet." – Mallory (03:08)
  • Cozy fantasy: a witch finds a baby on her doorstep, who turns out to be a lost prince. Full of humor, queer-norm worldbuilding, and found family feels.
  • "It's just this very funny and it's CM Wagoner. So all the characters are hilarious, the voices are hilarious, and this witch is trying to figure out how to set this kingdom right and all the wacky people that they meet along the way… CM Wagoner is so fun and funny and this one is just such a blast." – Mallory (05:21)

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Listener Feedback

[05:52 - 10:59]

• Gretchen (Netherlands): Spotted “No Pressure Book Journal” in a Maastricht bookstore, sent photo.
• Isabel: Destroyed borrowed book with fish sauce/lunch disaster but replaced it, still friends. Advice: be prepared for books to come back “a little bit different.”
  • "If I ever borrow books from friends now, they do not leave the house or go anywhere near food or drink. And certainly not the bath." – Isabel (07:51)
• Jess: Solid “5 on the aphantasia scale”—can’t visualize at all when reading, which works well for managing PTSD and enjoying books with darker themes that would be too stimulating as TV.

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Main Segment: Mid-Year Reader Goal Check-In

[12:19 - 25:51]

How Are We Feeling About Reading This Year?

• General Vibes:
  • Both feeling behind, but putting things in perspective.
  • Mallory highlights the importance of celebrating non-novel reading: "I wrote two books this year. I am a project with an author friend of mine… I'm working on a very special, exciting, secret project..." (14:19)
  • Focus on quality over quantity: "I've been trying to focus less on numbers and more like, am I actually enjoying my reading life?" – Mallory (15:45)

Reader Goals Progress

Bria’s Goals

• Reading Glasses Challenge: On track, checked off difficult ones early (banned book, new genre).
• 3 Books Related to Profession: “Zero. I've done zero.” – Brea (17:59)
• 12 Graphic Novels: 4 so far, aiming to catch up, especially after finding her iPad.

Mallory’s Goals

• 10 Books a Month: Adjusted to include research reading; trajectory improving.
• More Audiobook Walks: Discovered membership at a local botanical garden makes this much safer and enjoyable.
  • “Get yourself a membership to a botanical garden.” – Mallory’s audiobook walk hack (18:22)
• Clear Physical TBR: Doing well, but getting more physical ARCs than ever due to publisher trends post-COVID.

Adapting Goals

• Both agree it’s okay to re-evaluate and adapt goals mid-year, based on changing life circumstances and professional obligations.
• Mallory: "Sometimes you make a goal for yourself and you're like, I really want to be the person who does those things. But you don't actually want to want to do those things..." (23:49)
• Brea: "You adjust your reading and your hobbies to where you are in your life." (25:05)

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Bookish Advice: Recommending Books with Content Warnings

[26:46 - 32:41]

Listener Question:
Kat, from Australia, asks about how to recommend books that deal with distressing or potentially triggering content, specifically those involving eating disorders.

Hosts' Advice

• Always offer content warnings but don't get bogged down in details.
  • "You can say, this is a tough read and it is about her dealing with her eating disorder." – Brea (28:57)
• Let people own their boundaries:
  • "You need to trust that people have agency over their own lives... You can never get preemptively upset on somebody else's behalf." – Mallory (29:17, 31:53)
• Don’t push a book if someone opts out.
  • “If someone says, I really don't like reading books about that, that's. That's it. That's the end of the road with that conversation.” – Mallory (31:04)

Key Quote: “If you're worried about being a rude person, you're probably not a rude person.” – Brea (32:14)

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Book Recommendation Request: Black Authors for Freedom School

[33:43 - 37:25]

Listener: L/Elle, helping facilitate the “Freedom School” program, asks for books by Black authors that could enhance the “Drop Everything and Read” (DEAR) library, with focus on Black history and voices.

Recommendations

• Brea: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • “It's essays… so you can pick it up and you can put it down, and you won't feel like you're, like, leaving in the middle of a story.” (35:56)
• Mallory: Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma Dabiri
  • “It's so fucking fascinating. And it's such a fun read. And no pun intended, the author weaves her own personal history of learning to love her hair through the book...” (35:56)
  • Emphasizes the microhistory, accessible style, and ongoing relevance.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Goal Anxiety:
  • “Every single year, Bria and I look at each other and we go, we do not read enough high fantasy.” – Mallory (02:23)
• On Letting Go:
  • “Sometimes you make a goal for yourself and you're like, I really want to be the person who does those things. But you don't actually want to want to do those things..." – Mallory (23:49)
• On Content Warnings and Reader Agency:
  • “It's not your responsibility… Just the heads up, you know?” – Brea (28:55, 31:01)
  • “You can never get preemptively upset on somebody else's behalf… You never know how someone's going to react to something...” – Mallory (31:53)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Current Reads: 00:37 – 05:44
• Listener Feedback: 05:52 – 10:59
• Mid-Year Goals Check-In: 12:19 – 25:51
• Bookish Advice – Content Warnings: 26:46 – 32:41
• Book Recs – Black Authors for DEAR: 33:43 – 37:25

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Episode Summary

Lively, honest, and full of practical tips, this mid-year episode offers listeners a window into how two passionate readers and creators assess, adapt, and get real about their reading goals—and why it’s okay if they (or you) fall short. With great advice about reading with intention, respecting the boundaries of others when recommending books, and a commitment to continuous reading joy, Brea and Mallory continue to make Reading Glasses a supportive and inspiring space for all kinds of book nerds.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

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.

[A]

And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, somehow we're already halfway through 2026. Someone needs to call the FBI and

[B]

make sure that's true because I don't

[A]

know if that's true. It's time for our mid year time.

[B]

We're arresting you.

[A]

Reader goals check in. Oh, Lord, I'm not doing great. Plus, we give advice on recommending books that might be distressing to people. And then we recommend books with black authors.

[B]

But first, Bria, what are you reading?

[A]

I am reading a book. I just finished a book that we talked about on our anticipated books recommendation show. It is Mocha by Monica Kim.

[B]

Oh, I know you were really excited about this.

[A]

Yeah, Mocha is the Korean term for spy cameras that are secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos. And Monica Kim, you wrote a real fucked up book. Compliment.

[B]

Complimentary.

[A]

Hashtag complimentary. Yeah, complimentary. That's what. That's what the people say. All takes place in Korea, which I'm going to Korea soon. So I was excited to read it.

[B]

I'm so excited for you to go to Korea.

[A]

Yeah, I'm excited. And it follows two different people. One is about a young woman who's dating this like handsome man who is. Who's like a multimillionaire and something bad happens in their relationship and she realizes that things have been recorded. And then the other person is this guy who she works with. He's like a nerdy, like IT guy who has been spying on women at work.

[C]

Murder.

[A]

Murder by putting cameras in the bathroom. This is all happens at the very beginning and then it just unfolds in this very strange way. There are supernatural elements to it.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

But also it is about this like, sort of like spy cam prop. Fascinating book. I did not expect where it was going. I would call it more of a thriller than a horror book. But it has horror elements for sure. Really interesting characters. I, as you know, I loved the eyes are the best part. And this one I thought was a really good follow up to that. Also, like just like a will make you squirm, but is still like, it's a very, like, thoughtful telling of very difficult subjects. I liked it a lot. What are you rating?

[B]

So every year we do the maximum fun drive. And every single year, Bria and I look at each other and we go. We do not read enough high fantasy. We do not read enough high fantasy. We don't. What I did after the Max Fun drive this year is I marched my ass down to Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena and I sat in the fantasy aisles and did not leave until I walked out with a giant armload of books. And so I want to talk about a book by an author that this is actually. This was one of our anticipations anticipated books. It's the Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigondale by C.M. wagner.

[A]

Oh, I have this from the library right now. We are like on the same path right now with a lot of books. I literally almost started this last night, but then I started Westward Women instead. Anyway, very cozy.

[B]

This is all. This book is all characters, all world, low stakes, low conflict, low everything. It's very sweet. It is about this woman. She's a like your stereotypical witch who lives in the woods. She makes like herbal things and she hangs out with the other witches in her coven who are. This book is really interesting because it feels like it's like a high fantasy world, but there are little tastes of things that are not. It's very fascinating. But she. She's very happy being, you know, a little a witch in the woods. Until one day she finds that someone has left a baby on her doorstep. And she's like, all right, I guess I'm going to take care of this baby. And she is furious because she doesn't want to love this cute little baby. She wants to be a scary wicked witch. But she's very attached to this baby. And he grows up and she realizes that he and in their kingdom was like a big coup. Like someone overthrew the previous not administration, but I guess dynasty, I don't know what you would call it. And no one knew what happened to the baby that the baby prince. And turns out that it's this baby that has been left on her doorstep.

[A]

And that's fun.

[B]

He's like the ultimate himbo. He's just this sweet little. He has one. One brain cell. He's so handsome. All he wants to do, he's a barber. And all he wants to look do is look at cute boys and cut there until these knights come for him and convince him. Until not convince him. But they tell him, they're like, you are the lost prince. You need to be the king. And he's like, oh, okay, I guess I need to be the king. And his mom, the witch is like, no, you're not smart. You would not be a good King. But he does become the king and he, because he's so good natured, he's like, well, okay, people don't like taxes. Okay, we're not having any taxes anymore. And then immediately the entire economic system of the the kingdom collapses. So he realizes pretty quickly he needs his mom's help in running this kingdom. So she moves into the the castle. It's again, it's so low stakes, so low conflict. It's just this like very funny and it's CM Wagoner. So like all the characters are hilarious, the voices are hilarious and this witch is like come into this cast and is trying to figure out how to set this kingdom right and all the wacky people that they meet along the way. It's also pretty short actually. It's funny. But last both books that I've been reading recently are novellas. Like, this is also a small book, but it's just very. CM Wagoner is so fun and funny and this one is just such a blast. So if you're looking for something that's very cozy, will not stress you out in the least and is like queer, this is. This is a queer norm book. Also, if you're looking for a queer norm book. And yeah, lovely. So I'm reading the Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigondale by C.M.

[A]

wagoner and I read Mocha by Monica Kim.

[B]

So I want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Gretchen wrote in to say, hey, Brianne Mallory. I was out and about. Oh boy. Okay, this is. Hasn't. Has Dutch. Is it Dutch? Dutch are from the Netherlands.

[A]

Okay, Ma, strict.

[B]

Yeah, we're all gonna. I feel like it's the.

[A]

Oh my God, there's so many.

[B]

Pronouncing words in another language is hard, but when you're from New England and your accent has been hammered down to a flat line, it is very difficult. But I'm going to do my best, folks. Hi, Brian, Mallory. I was out and about in Maastricht, the Netherlands today and stopped into the Bo Candel Dominican, a beautiful bookstore and an old church when I saw your no Pressure book journal for the first time in the wild.

[A]

That's so cool. In the Netherlands.

[B]

What's doing over there?

[A]

I love that.

[B]

I love that. Gretchen says it was such a beautiful location that I had to take a picture and send it to you. Thanks for everything and have a great week. Gretchen, thank you so much for sending us this photo. Every once in a while people email us and say they see our book in places, so we really love to see that and I'm glad that people are out there getting their the pressure taken off their reading lives. Thanks so much Gretchen.

[A]

That's so cool. Anytime y' all see it, please email it to us. We love it. Isabel Roden said. Hey RG Saviors of my reading life, Regarding Bria's concern about damaging borrowed books, I borrowed my friend's copy of the Last Unicorn back when I would only read one book at a time and take it everywhere. One day I put it in my giant Tardis like handbag along with my many daily necessities, including my packed lunch of stir fried noodles. Oh God, I can see where this is going. Not only did it rain that day soaking my bag and the book, which subsequently lost its back cover from being tossed like a wet salad in my bag full of junk, but my lunchbox exploded covering it in a dressing of brown fish sauce stains. And to top it off, my friend, being an awesome human, is vegan. My friend was remarkably cool about it, but obviously I apologize profusely and bought them a shiny new copy to replace the one I had damaged and almost destroyed. Seven years later, I still have that book and more importantly, that friend. Thank you both for saving me from my almost 10 year uni induced book slump. I'm back into reading more than ever and your positive influence on my continued reading life has been massive. Appreciate all the hard work you do for us, Glassers. P.S. needless to say, if I ever borrow books from friends now, they do not leave the house or go anywhere near food or drink. And certainly not the bath. Imagine just getting a full food bunch

[B]

of noodles all over your book with a. With a noodle as a bookmark covered in fish sauce. Brutal. But I mean, but it happens. But it's funny, I saw a few people in the reading classes Discord be like, I don't let someone borrow a book unless I'm prepared for it to come back a little bit. Yeah, I think you do have to

[A]

be prepared for that possibility.

[B]

Yeah. And it's okay. And also you. You got our friend another copy of this book that's arguably nicer than the one he had.

[A]

So I did.

[B]

It happens. This is. That's what. But Isabelle's right. That's what you do. You buy a new copy and you're still friends and then everything's okay. Then Jess wrote in to say hello. I was just listening to episode 458 about what you can see while reading. I am a solid 5 on the aphantasia scale. I call it the Void. I can't see anything at all while I'm reading.

[A]

And that's the highest, right? Yeah.

[B]

Or that's like the. Well, depending on which. What you're looking at it means that you can't see a single thing.

[A]

Right? Right.

[B]

It's actually such a great thing for me. I have PTSD and a lot of visual activities, namely tv, are very over stimulating for me. Reading offers a very low sensory escape. I also find I can read a lot more scary or violent than I can watch. So a show I'd normally stay far away from I can still enjoy and participate in if it was originally a book. I love your show and look forward to it every week. This is funny because I'm the same way. I crave the scariest possible reading experience, but I am such a baby when I'm watching stuff. Oh my God. It's because I'm easily startled and I don't like the. I like the feeling of being scared. I don't like the feeling of being startled.

[D]

And.

[A]

And so I jump scares and you can't. It's hard to jump scare in a book.

[B]

It's hard to jump scare it. It'll be really funny if you just opened a page and it went like too scary for me. But that's. It's interesting. You want to read Jess's wheelhouse books

[A]

that start sad but in hopeful, happy nature writing, Queer norm, cozy, witchy and stories with resilient women who overcome the shitty men in their lives. Beautiful.

[B]

You can email [e-mail] if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes and echoing last week's bookmark, folks, you don't have to write in. We already took care of this for you. We did an entire episode on sci Fi book recommendations for husbands and dads. I will link it in the show notes. You can find it yourself. You just look up reading glasses podcast sci fi books for husbands and dads and this will come up depending. I guess it depends on which search engine but it should come up. We've already got you covered. This is the number one recommendation request we get is for people who want to get a sci fi book. Sometimes fantasy, but usually sci fi for their husband or dad who likes to read these books. So we've got you. And before we check in with our 2026 reading goals, we're going to take a quick break.

[C]

Hey, it's Jon Moh and I host Depression Mode and Sleeping With Celebrities. And I'm here with Max Fun Member of the Month, Kara Barnett.

[E]

Hi, John.

[B]

It's great to talk to you.

[C]

We appreciate your support. Kara, how long have you been listening to the show?

[E]

I've been listening to Depression Mode since the first promo came out with Patton Oswalt. I've been listening since the very first episode.

[C]

Now, Kara, as our MaxFun member of the Month, you'll be getting some prizes here. A $25 gift card to the Maximum Fun Store, a special Member of the Month bumper sticker, and get this, a parking spot at Max Fun headquarters in Los Angeles just for you. Just for a month or so.

[B]

Well, that's so exciting.

[E]

If only I lived in Los Angeles, but I got my eye on some stuff in the Max Funds Store.

[C]

Kara Barnett, thank you for being a listener and congratulations on being this month's Member of the month.

[E]

I hear the Member of the Month promos all the time, and I can't wait for my friends who listen to Max Fun shows to hear me on the radio because I haven't told any of them.

[A]

Support the shows you love, including this one.

[B]

Check the show notes for a link

[A]

or go to maximumfun.org join.

[B]

This week. Oh, my God. We're halfway through 2026. I realized that and I wanted to go lay in the road. I can't. What the.

[A]

Bria, we should be allowed to have our time back.

[B]

I. I just. What? And I get, like, for me, I have been. I have. I have written two books this year.

[A]

So impressive.

[B]

So whenever I'm like, where did this year go? I'm like, oh, at my desk, where I went into two books that I wrote. Okay. But also, like, I feel like I haven't done enough fun stuff. So this summer, I'm like, I. I texted a mutual friend of ours and I'm like, we're going swimming this summer. Okay. We're going swimming every weekend. I'm going to do.

[A]

I love swimming.

[B]

Yeah. I just feel like I haven't done enough fun stuff. I just feel like, ah, it's really freaking me out. So what we need to check up on is how we're doing for our reader goals this year. Have we added anything? Are we giving up on anything? And how do we feel about our reading lives so far this year? All right, let's dive into that last piece first. Bria, how are you feeling about reading this year? I know that you have been doing so much traveling.

[A]

You've been so busy oh, my God. I've been so busy. I have a lot going on, so I'm gonna say not great. I am incredibly busy. I'm behind on every goal, reading and otherwise. I'm always trying to write new scripts. I've not written one single script this year. It's been six months this year. I haven't read.

[B]

If you look at my. If you look at our shared calendar, it's like Bri, Briya's in Portland, Bria's in Chattanooga, Bria, Bria's in Korea, Bria. Like, you've been going a lot of places now.

[A]

And my reading, it does feel the same. I'm very concerned about our half year top books. We do like, these are our favorite books of the year so far. Mallory. I don't know if I've read enough books for that.

[B]

I'm glad I have another week every single year. And every single time I do this every single year, you're like, I don't think you text me and you go, I don't know if I'm gonna have enough books. And then we get to it and you're like, actually, I've read a lot of books. I'm fine. Yeah, you're gonna be okay.

[A]

Okay. I hope so. How are you feeling about your reading?

[B]

I also feel behind, but I actually feel pretty good about it because I am considering all the things, which you should also be considering all the things because I wrote two books this year. I mean, I had been working on them for a long time, but, like, did a lot of drafting. This year.

[A]

I'm.

[B]

I wrote two books. I am a project with an author friend of mine. I'm working on a very special, exciting, secret project with two other collaborators that I will hopefully be able to announce. I don't know when we're gonna announce it, but people are gonna be very excited about it. And. And then I'm working on another project with a past collab. I'm working on a lot of books, I'm doing a lot of writing. And this happens just like you panic every year about having enough books every single time. I'm in a big drafting stage, especially. Cause the second book that I handed in this year was a lot of research. I was reading just probably a hundred different studies articles. Like, just. I was re doing so much research reading, and I do that and I'm like, why haven't I read enough books? What's going on here? And then I need to fight myself because I. I am doing a lot of reading. It's just not like novels and stuff. So something. What I've been. What the thing that's been making me feel better is that I am. This year I've been tracking on my cawpile ratings is how many books are getting five stars and I. Or four stars or three stars. I'm also doing like half ratings for it. And so I checked in. 54 of the books I have read so far this year have been at least four stars. And I think that's pretty good. That makes me feel good about my reading life. It makes me feel like I'm picking up a lot of books that I like, especially since that number is thrown off by books I have to read for our other show, which are not always great. Sometimes they're very silly.

[A]

Sometimes we don't like them.

[B]

Well, sometimes they. We. We have a lot of fun with them, but they are not great books. Yeah, but sometimes they're really, really good. Like, the last few we've done have been actually very, very good. But yeah, that's what. So I've been trying to focus less on numbers and more like, am I actually enjoying my reading life? Because after the slow start to the year, like January, February, I had a really slow start, and I feel like the past few months I've been reading a lot of really good books, and I think that's what matters. As long as I am enjoying the reading that I am doing, then I think I'm okay. All right, so I pulled our reader goals from the start of the year. Your first one was doing the reading glasses challenge. How are you doing?

[A]

Yes, this is good. It always helps me to keep up by putting it on my goals list. I'm doing okay. I checked off banned book and a book from a genre I haven't read, which were ones I was actually worried about. And then everything else, I need to go three. Yeah. I may have already done a queer norm book. That was my nest next on my list. But I haven't gone to look through. But I'm feeling okay about this one. I feel like I can get through this. Not going to be a problem. What about your first one, which is you're re upping to 10 books a month?

[B]

I am doing this. If you would. If you include all of my research reading, I include it. The past three months, I think I've got. I've done like nine books a month. And I'm like, oh, no, I didn't hit 10. And I'm like, Mallory, you read 50 scholarly articles this. This month you read two research books about this thing this month. So I think adjusted for research, which is much more fun than adjusting for inflation. I am actually, I'm reading about as much as I said that I would. And I'm. The thing. The thing that is giving me hope is that I had a slow start to the year, and I have the past few months, I've just been doing more and more and more and more, which has been. Which has been good. So I think if I can keep this going, especially now that I have both these books turned in and I'm going to be doing Me and our. Me, you and some friends are going to be at the lake all the time. We need. You know, what we need to do is we need to find a friend with a really good pool.

[A]

That's what we do need that.

[B]

Yeah, that's. That's. We need to figure out someone. Some friend that has a really good pool. But yeah, I. I'm doing okay. And I feel. And I'm on an upward trajectory, so I feel like I'm going to be doing okay. All right, so your next one was three books related to your profession. How are you doing on that?

[A]

Zero. I've done zero.

[B]

You have been doing a lot of work related to your profession.

[A]

But it's inspiring me to me to do books related. Read books related to my profession, like memoirs or. Or like just craft books. And I do need to get back on this because it does make me feel good. Your next one was more audiobook walks.

[B]

Oh, baby. All right. I was telling you this. I get. I get to tell folks one. One hot audiobook walk hack. Get yourself a membership to a botanical garden.

[A]

Oh, yeah, baby.

[B]

Because I. I've been doing my audiobook walks, and at least I try to do at least two or three a week. And. But the problem was, like, I kept driving. I.

[E]

For.

[B]

For months. I was either walking around my neighborhood, which is tough because there's not a lot of sidewalks, or I was going to every single park or, like, hiking area in my area and trying to find like, the. Because I'm. There's a few different factors because I need it to be. Have parking. I need to be able to. I need to be easy. I can't, like, I can't be. It can't be something that's difficult to do. I have to have parking and it has to be long enough because there's like, a lot of parks near me, but they're just like, what am I gonna do? Just loop around the park 15 times? Like, I needed to have enough space that it feels like I am getting some. Some. Some steps in. And also, I don't want to be murdered. That's my problem is that I found. There was like, two or three different places that I found near my house that are really great for hiking and walking. And I would get all the way up. I'd get like. Like a. A couple miles deep, and I'd be like, I could get murdered right now. And I am a woman. I am very strong, but I am still a woman alone with headphones on. And, yeah, the headphones, that's the problem. So I crack the code. I live very close to a really nice botanical garden. I think all together, there's like, 10 miles worth of trails, so I can park. I don't have to worry about someone breaking into my car. Really easy parking. I walk right in. I can walk around. There's tons of people there. People walking their babies and. And strollers and people sketching and looking at flowers. And, like, I feel very. I don't have to worry about getting. Getting hit in the head with a rock and dragged down the mo. Mountain somewhere. And it's so great. It was not that expensive for the whole, like, it paid for itself within a couple of weeks. And the amount of I get. I really look forward to going to a walk. Like, I'm. After we get done recording, I'm gonna eat a sandwich and go. Go walk around the botanical garden. It's so pretty. It's so lovely. I do, like, one hour. I do, like, three miles. And baby. So I am. This is. This is the one that I feel the bested in my goals that I've done this year. And I'm really, really happy I put this on there because honestly, me put my list of I wanted to do, like, forced me to be like, Mallory, you have to figure this out. And I did. So that's great. Hot audio book walk tip. All right. Your last one was read 12 graphic novels. How you doing?

[A]

I'm doing okay. I've read four. Four is not bad. Halfway through the year. I can pile on a few more before the end of the year, but

[B]

again, I've been traveling, and they don't. Graphic novels are not something you want to try.

[A]

And I also. I weirdly couldn't find my iPad for a while, so I wasn't reading any on there, but I found it. So that will help, because then I can put a few on and then just, like, go to the park or something. And that always helps as well.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then you also want to get through more of your physical tbr.

[B]

I have been doing pretty well with that. The only thing that was sort of a monkey wrench in my plan is that I have been getting more physical arcs than we have gotten since COVID

[A]

It is true what is happening.

[B]

I think what's happened is everyone switched over to digital arcs during the pandemic because people weren't shipping. People weren't in the office to ship things, and it was just easier. But I think the problem for. For publicists and the problem for authors is that when it's all digital, it's really hard to make your book stand out. So people now are trying to send some more physical arcs to make them stand. It's true because we. We right now. I'm not even exaggerating. Probably have 150 digital arcs in the reading glasses email box just, just from the past couple of months. But I have, I. I have my little rolling reader cartoon and the top shelf of it is all like my immediate physical tbr and I have fully half of it is arcs that we've gotten. And it does stand out because I sit in my little reading chair and I'm like, oh, that does look good. And like. And I get, I get excited because I get a copy of it and I got the new Scott Hawkins book shout out to my old editor, Peter Joseph, who's now at Crown and has been publishing a lot of really cool books. And he's doing the new Scott Hawkins book, the guy, the author who wrote the library at Mount Char. And I texted you immediately. I was like, oh my God, look what I got in. I got. I'm so excited about.

[D]

About it.

[B]

So weirdly, the finally the year of my life where I was like, I'm gonna get my together and clear off my physical tbr. All the publishers were like, what if we added.

[A]

What if we give you more sense, you.

[B]

Dozens and dozens of physical books. But I'm actually, actually okay with it. And I've gotten into a pretty good system where I do a chunk, I do a bunch of library books, and then I unsuspend my holds. And while I'm waiting for those holes to come in, I read a couple print books. So it's like, it's.

[A]

I. I kind of like you got

[B]

a system going back and forth. It's a really good system for me. So it seems like we're doing okay, all things considered. It's been kind of a crazy year for both of us. You just, you. You've just been traveling so much. I mean, you Travel a lot. But this year I feel like you've been traveling just more than, more than normal and. But I feel like all things considered, we're doing pretty good. Are we gonna. So finally, are we, are we gonna stop any of these goals or add anything to them?

[A]

Not right now. I do think I'm gonna reassess my goals for the year at some point, but. No, right now I think I'm gonna keep trying on these. I'm gonna try. It doesn't feel like that much for me to do. What about you? You think you're gonna add, you're gonna subtract?

[B]

No, I think, yeah, I feel I, I don't want to take anything away and I. Because I think I always take something away. Of mid year, I realized I either haven't contributed that much to it or I just don't want to do it. Like, sometimes you make a goal for yourself and you're like, I really want to be the person who does those things. But you don't actually want to want to do those things. You just want to be a person who does those things, which are two different things. And there's nothing on here that I don't look forward to doing. Like, I wanna. I like reading more. I like audiobook walks, I like reading print books. Like, I'm very excited to keep doing those things. That being said, I don't feel like I'm gonna add anything to them. Like.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And something that I had to really lock in on this year was the fact that, like, I am an author. That is my job. And it's always funny because I'm like, well, I'm doing a lot of research and like, I have to accept that this is the rest of my life. This is what my, this is what my life is like. I have been a full time author since 2019 and I am just now being like, you know what? Maybe you need to adjust your goals for how much you think you should read every month, for the fact that you were going to be researching books until they don't let me do it anymore. You know, so this is, I mean, I used, I used to read 200 books a year.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. But you, you have a different lifestyle now. Things change, people change. And that's. And you adjust your reading and your hobbies to where you are in your life.

[B]

Yes. And I think that's what I need to do. I finally, I think it was very hard for me to accept, like, oh, wow, I actually am allowed to do this. I get to be a full time author. But now that I finally done that, I need to be like no motherfucker, you read. You have to do so much research for your work. That has to, that has to permanently take a chunk out of your read. And I think I've done that and I'm getting radically okay with it. So you can send your thoughts to reading glasses podcastmail.com before we give tips on recommending books with big content warnings, we're going to take a quick break.

[D]

Hello, this is Alden Ford and Mujanzo Fagari, two of the creators of Mission to Zix, your favorite improvised, obsessively sound designed sci fi sitcom here on the Max Fun Network. And the news is we're back with

[A]

an all new miniseries set in the six universe, the Young Ol Derf Chronicles. Yeah, will Derf find his own killer before it's too late to find out how that question could possibly make sense? Well, you just have to tune in.

[D]

Yeah, and as always, it's ambitious and labor intensive to a frankly absurd degree.

[A]

Indeed.

[D]

So if you are looking for a little break from your own gallery, we would love for you to check it out.

[A]

That's the Young Old Durf Chronicles search mission to Zix Zyx in your podcast

[D]

app or on maximumfun.org keep it fresh.

[B]

Now let's solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners. Kat wrote in to say Dear Bri and Mallory, hello from Australia. I love the podcast and hopefully have an interesting question for you. How do you talk about or recommend books when they contain subject matter that people might find distressing? I just finished Laura Freeman's the Reading Cure, which is a biographical novel about her ongoing recovery slash management of Anorexia. I found it a fascinating book not just because I love food writing and descriptions of food and fiction, but also because she takes us on a journey through her extensive and passionate love of reading and how books have formed an anchor in the darkest times of her life. The problem is, I don't want to just launch into how great it is when speaking to someone about what I've been reading because I have no idea what experiences people may have had with eating disorders. How would you suggest discussing books that may have content that can be triggering for people, even if you believe it to be a fantastic book that they might enjoy. You want to read Cat's Wheelhouse?

[A]

Yes. Murder mysteries, Practical women, Food writing journeys, books set in London and crime taking place in the depths of a Scandinavian winter and or rain swept British countryside. Wow. So specific. Also, Mallory, I always read the Extensive list of book recommendations that you put together. And I requested that my local library by a great number of them. So thank you so much for the work you put into those. It is appreciated.

[B]

Thank you.

[E]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you. All right, Bria, what do you do?

[A]

I mean, I do always try to preface it by saying there's a lot of content warnings here. I said at the beginning of this show, we do this on the show a lot. I always say this deals with dark material. I don't think you have to get into the nitty gritty of this, the exact things that happen. But I think it's. It's safe to say that you should probably give people a heads up if it's a tough read. You know, like, I think it's very thoughtful that you want to warn people, but people can also, like, put a book down if it doesn't work from. For them. That. That is what boundaries are. That is like, I think there's sometimes like a misunderstanding of what boundaries are, but the boundaries are. You see that this crosses a boundary for you as a. You as a reader and you go, this is. This is not good for me. You are not in charge of somebody else's knowing what they can or cannot deal with. It is too hard for you to learn all that information. It's super thoughtful, but you don't have to learn that.

[B]

It's not your responsibility. I think you can.

[A]

You can say, this is a tough read and it is about her dealing with her eating disorder. And then someone can go, oh, you know what? I can't read books like that, but thank you so much. Or they can go, that sounds great, but you just saying that it's an eating disorder. That's enough. You don't have to get into the nitty gritty. And I don't think. I think that's a nice thing to give people a heads up about. What do you have for Kat? What do you think?

[B]

I mean, I completely agree. I mean, Kat, you said it yourself. You have no idea what other experiences people have had. You can't control other people. And you need to trust that people have agency over their own lives. Something that I think about a lot in the immediate aftermath when Scott died. I could tell, like, I would when I moved back to la and I could tell that there were, like, when I would go to parties, like, people would, like, if anyone mentioned death, like, people would look at me and like, and like, try to shield me from it. But that's all I wanted to talk about. The only thing I Wanted to talk about for, like, a full year after Scott died was Scott that it's all I wanted. Like, and I got. So I got really close with people. There's one friend of mine, one of our friends of the show that I got very close to because she had also had one of one of her closest friends die. And, like, so I would have gotten upset if I thought someone was like, well, I read this really great book about death, but I don't want to tell Mallory because, you know, she's got, you know, she's grieving. I'm like, that's all I want. Like, you. You really. Even if someone has personal experience or you think that they might, like, you just don't know what other people are gonna go. Are going through. You don't know what. What they want, what they'. Or you just have to trust people that they're gonna. If they're gonna say something. You talk about whatever book you want. But, like, Bria's right. As long as you give someone a warning. I wouldn't, no matter what, if there's any kind of content warning in a book, I wouldn't just give it to someone and be like, all right, have fun. If there's something intense in it, you gotta be like, hey, this thing happens, you know?

[A]

Yeah. If you say like, oh, this book is a book about someone dealing with an eating disorder, and they go, ooh, I don't. Like, I don't read books about that cat. Stop talking. Just stop talking.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And you'll let it go. You don't need to be like, but you love this book. Like, and it doesn't sound like the cat is doing that at all.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, and we've all been there where you're like, I don't really read books like this, and someone will try to convince you otherwise.

[B]

Like, that's a problem, people. Yeah, but you gotta go on a.

[A]

Just telling people, I think is the head. Just the heads up, you know?

[B]

Yes. And so when I say you have to trust people, it goes both ways. If someone says, I really don't like reading books about that, that's. That's it. That's the end of the road with that conversation. You can't push past that. I mean, you can, but you deserve to go through a trap door in the floo floor. There should be a trap door at every party where someone has a. Can pull a lever if someone is being rude. But if you want to talk about this book, just be like, hey, I read it. It's really Amazing. It heavily features eating disorders, and someone says, it's not for me, Boom. Move on to a different conversation. Or someone could be like, I went through this. I struggled through this. I'm always looking for stuff that talks about it. And you might have made a new book friend. You know, like, you can't. You can never get preemptively upset on somebody else's behalf. That's. That is. I feel like that is a waste of time because you don't. You never know how someone's going to react to something, and you never know in either way.

[A]

So I think Cat seems incredibly thoughtful.

[B]

That's what I mean. I think Cat is. Cat is working so hard to take care of other people, and that is effort that you don't have to expend. Like you.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I also think, like, if you're worried about this, then I don't think you need to worry about this. Like, and, like, you know, like, you're not a psychopath if you're worried about being a psychopath, because, like, psychopaths don't worry about being.

[B]

If you're worried about being a rude person, you're probably not a rude person.

[A]

That's so true. So true. You did a great Cat.

[B]

All of the rude people that Bria and I know have no idea that they're rude.

[A]

So true.

[B]

I'm thinking there's certain people that Bri and I, whenever we see them at a party, we're like, oh, that person's here, and they have no idea that they're rude.

[A]

Yeah. They don't know.

[B]

But all the people who are like, oh, my God. I, I, I don't want to. I don't want to upset anybody. You're. You were.

[C]

You were.

[B]

You're doing too much. You don't have to do that. Just let, Let people tell you. And, and honest again. Even if someone might be upset by something, they might want to read it anyway. All, like, all I wanted after Scott died, all I wanted to do was read grief books. That's all I wanted. I didn't want. I don't want to be happy. Are you crazy?

[A]

No.

[B]

I want to be sad. I wanted to read sad things. So you can send your reader problems to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. Time to answer a recommendation request from Ellie, who says, L. I can't tell if it's Ellie or Ellen. Probably L. L. Right. Keep all of this in because maybe you are an. There's a couple of names that I always say wrong because I just assume, like, sometimes I Say Zoe and people think. Or I say Zoe and people. It's always Zoe.

[A]

Zoe. Yeah.

[B]

And I think I always.

[A]

So you're doing the same with L. Yes. I think this is L. Fanning. Like an L situation.

[B]

I always it up. I think her name is Ellie Fanning, and that's not it. No, it's L. L. It's probably L. L write in. Let me know. L says, hi, Brian.

[A]

Mallory.

[B]

During the summers, I help in a national program called Freedom School. In Freedom School, we encourage the joy of reading through a daily curriculum where we read books for each level, think grade, range, and facilitate discussions based on the book and the topic at hand. We also have a deer section. Drop everything and read. Hell, yeah. To continue that excitement of reading where the students actually find it interesting. I can honestly say that this podcast has made me even more excited to facilitate because I now remember that joy of reading and sharing what I read read. I would love any book recommendations that I can add to our library for deer that speak on black history and black voices. And then Elle gave us a big list of books they've already read. What do you think Elle should bring into this library, Bria?

[A]

Well, first of all, I'm literally looking

[B]

up several people drop everything and read art that I want right in.

[A]

About deer. Yeah, we. We've had people write in about deer about Drop everything and read. Should we start doing it on the show, Mallory? Like, what is it? Because it's. I. I just, like. I just. This sounds so cool. Deer.

[B]

Yeah, I remember this from school. We had deer.

[A]

Oh, we didn't have this.

[B]

Yeah, it's. They have a national celebration day. Like, they have a deer day. But I remember this happening when I was in elementary school, and I want a poster of this.

[A]

Oh, that is cool. That would be so cool. So my recommendation is just because it's on my mind right now and it is Pride Month, I'm gonna recommend All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. It's a memoir by the. This black queer man who goes through his childhood. It's really funny. It is one very highly banned book in America right now. It is really funny. It's really poignant. It also just goes through, like, there's a lot of nuances to being a queer person in America. A black person in America. A black queer person in America. There's a lot of nuances. Not everyone has the same story. And also, it's essays. So, like, I don't know how the Dear program works, but I feel like if it's like, you drop and you read for a little bit, and then you go do something else. It is kind of nice because you can pick it up and you can put it down, and you won't feel like you're, like, leaving in the middle of a story. It's like, there's these little essays. Like, one will be about, you know, his relationship with his grandmother, and one will be, like, how he played sports and, like. So it's just, like, different essays about different things in his life and growing up in America. Yeah. What do you got?

[B]

I'm gonna recommend an audiobook I did a few years ago that I really loved. It's Twisted the Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma Dabiri. And so this is a micro history looking at black history and black culture through the lens of hair. It's so fucking fascinating. And it's such a fun read. And no pun intended. The author weaves her own personal history of learning to love her hair through the book because you really get to look at, like, how, like, the way that racism works in this country, like, specifically through the lens of hair, which is fascinating. Like, we, like, we don't give people enough time to get places and to, like. And how, like, capitalism and racism kind of work together against people with. With black people and, like, the way that they take care of their hair, which is really, really fascinating. It's just, again, I'm. Again, as a white lady, I have no idea. This is not something I have a personal history with, but I think even if you are a black person, it might not be stuff that, you know. Like, it might not be history that you've gotten to learn before. And she's just, like. She's a really engaging, fun author. The audiobook is great, but I'm sure it's really great in print, too. I just learned so much, and I. This is one of those books. Have you ever read, like, a micro history where you're like. Like, you think about it a lot for the rest of your life? Like, so there's just certain things about hair that this book made me aware of and think about, and I'm like. It's one of those books where I'm like, damn. I really. I'm really glad I read that. So I'm recommending Twisted the Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma Debiri.

[A]

And I'm recommending All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson.

[B]

If you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. if you are a member and you want us to answer your recommendation request in the VIP Members Only Recommendation Lounge episodes. Send them also to reading glasses podcast Gmail.com, but just let us know that you're a member in the subject line. As always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. And if you're looking for some cool merch, we're into summer now baby. It's hot as hell in my house and I'm desperately waiting to turn the air conditioner back on. You need some tank tops? Check out our Void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes and if you like the show, want to do something real nice for us? Write and review us on the podcast listening app of your choice. It will take you 30 seconds. It doesn't matter if you're on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you are, give us a five star rating. Write us a nice little review if you like. Sometimes I read the reviews when I'm going to check to see how many we have. Always warms our hearts, but it really helps grow the show. You can email us@reading glassespodcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[A]

Thanks for reading.

[B]

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