Ep 473 - New Genre Alert: Healing Fiction!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Reading Glasses - Ep 473: “New Genre Alert: Healing Fiction!”
Hosts: Brea Grant & Mallory O’Meara
Date: July 30, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on a "New Genre Alert" for reading enthusiasts: Healing Fiction! Brea and Mallory break down what defines this genre, why it resonates with so many, key characteristics, and must-read titles. The hosts also respond to listener questions on reading too much of one genre (“spree reading”), and recommend asexual romance novels. True to their lively and witty style, both hosts offer personal anecdotes and refreshing honesty about their reading lives.

---

What Are the Hosts Reading? (00:44–04:11)

Brea Grant: "Ice Planet Barbarians" by Ruby Dixon

• Reading it for their other podcast, Reading Smut.
• Discusses the unexpectedly sexy and wild premise: woman abducted by aliens, survival on an ice planet, a giant purring blue man.
• Quote (02:21, Bria): “It immediately gets very sexy in a way that I was not prepared for, so.”

Mallory O'Meara: "Lovers XXX" by Ally Rowbottom

• Historical literary fiction set in the LA porn scene of the 1980s; follows two young women navigating love, drugs, and ambition.
• Praises the writing style—focused on character and setting rather than plot.
• Quote (03:33, Mallory): “It’s so fucking good … It’s not a big plot book. It’s definitely more setting and character.”

---

Listener Feedback Highlights (04:32–07:02)

On Why Library Books Cost More (Sarah):

• Processing charges (labels, barcodes, cataloging), stronger bindings (library editions), and vendor services all add cost.
• Quote (05:21, Bria): “That’s helpful. Thank you for that feedback.”

Hot Book Tip from Melinda–Campus Libraries:

• Most academic libraries have leisure reading collections, including bestsellers, graphic novels, audiobooks.
• Students can request books via interlibrary loan, usually at no extra cost.
• Quote (06:17, Mallory): “You didn’t have time.”

---

Main Topic: Healing Fiction (08:25–22:47)

What is Healing Fiction? (08:25-09:53)

• Defined as a cozy subgenre of magical realism, typically centered on emotional healing in a usually-magic small business (e.g., coffee shop, bakery).
• Frequently translated from Japanese and Korean authors.
• Quote (08:30, Mallory): “Cozy magical realism centered around the emotional healing of the protagonist, usually in like a special location.”

Key Traits:

• Gentle stories with solvable (sometimes large) problems.
• Often structured in bite-sized stories or episodes.
• Light magical elements are common but not universal.
• Emphasis on hope, community, and gentle resolutions.
• Rarely any violence or high-stakes action.

Why is Healing Fiction on the Rise? (09:53–13:51)

• Popularity in the US rose sharply ~2024, often following cozy fantasy trends.
• Structure is influenced by the way Japanese/Korean readers consume stories (chapter-size, mobile reading).
• Provides escape and comfort in tumultuous times, post-COVID craving for “third places” and gentle community.
• Quote (13:29, Mallory): “There’s a draw to going outside your house to a special cool location … that is not your living room.”

Reader Experience & The Third Place (13:51–17:32)

• Brea and Mallory reflect on their own “third places” and the magic of being a “regular” at local businesses.
• Quote (16:08, Mallory): “That’s the thing is I’m very recognizable, but I’m not friendly. Every single Sunday, I go to the same bagel place in LA … and then I go to this record store that’s a block down.”
• They fantasize about opening a “healing fiction” style bookstore/record store/chocolate bar.

Reading Recommendations: Essential Healing Fiction Books (18:13–21:41)

• Before the Coffee Gets Cold (series): Classic example—magical time travel cafe in Japan, presented in short story format.
  • Flexible reading pace; easily dip in and out.
• The Kamogawa Food Detectives: Soft mystery/food-quest stories. Not overtly magical but feels magical.
• The Traveling Cat Chronicles: Narrative from a cat’s POV, explores grief and healing; lightly melancholic.
• Welcome to the Hyŏnnam-dong Bookshop: More of a “cozy” than fantasy, about a woman healing emotionally by opening a bookshop.

Quote (20:51, Mallory): “They’re cozy in the technical definition … the stakes are low. No one’s dying on the page, and everything gets solved by the end—which is nice.”

---

Bookish Problem: "Spree Reading" (Antislump) (23:59–30:46)

Listener Allison:
Experiences “anti-book slumps”—hyperfocused reading sprees in one genre followed by total burnout and a real reading slump. Asks: Is this normal? Should they try to avoid it or just enjoy it?

Hosts’ Advice

• Brea suggests mixing up “sprees” by keeping alternate genres ready.
• Mallory coins the term “spreeding” (spree reading) and recommends alternating genres. Hyperfocus can lead to burnout; breaking up readings maintains long-term excitement.
• Quote (27:36, Mallory): “Me and haunted house books have had a very long and fruitful relationship. We’ve never gotten into a slump together. Me and haunted house books are still really going strong.”
• Quote (29:01, Mallory): “It’s like being in a long-term relationship. Gotta keep it spicy.”

---

Recommendation Request: Asexual Romance Novels (31:08–35:29)

Listener Jackson:

• Asexual reader who struggles to relate to most romance novels, even those with diverse perspectives. Seeks books focused on platonic bonds or asexual identities.

Hosts’ Recommendations

• Both reassure Jackson that their feelings are valid: “Not unhinged at all!” (32:09, Bria)
• Mallory spotlights YA author Claire Kann, especially "If It Makes You Happy,” featuring an asexual protagonist and strong platonic relationship at the center.
• Romance is not mandatory—plenty of character-driven novels exist with no romantic subplot.

Quote (33:04, Mallory): “There are a lot of asexual romance novels … Let me introduce you to the world of Claire Kann … a platonic relationship, but it’s more than a friendship. And that’s … a really big part of this book.”

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• 08:30, Mallory (on healing fiction): “Cozy magical realism centered around the emotional healing of the protagonist, usually in like a special location.”
• 13:29, Mallory (on the genre’s appeal): “There’s a draw to going outside your house to a special cool location.”
• 20:51, Mallory (on healing fiction): “They’re cozy in the technical definition … no one’s dying on the page, and everything gets solved by the end.”
• 27:36, Mallory (on spree reading): “Me and haunted house books have had a very long and fruitful relationship.”
• 33:04, Mallory (on asexual romance): “There are a lot of asexual romances out there that will give Jackson what they’re looking for … it’s more serious than just a friend, but it’s completely platonic.”

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:44–04:11: What Are You Reading?
• 04:32–07:02: Listener Feedback – Library editions, hot book tips
• 08:25–22:47: Main Discussion – Healing Fiction genre breakdown, recommendations
• 23:59–30:46: Bookish Problem – Spree Reading (“Spreeding”)
• 31:08–35:29: Recommendation Request – Asexual romance novels

---

Conclusion

This episode is a warm, insightful guide to healing fiction, why readers are gravitating toward it, and how to make reading a more comforting, restorative experience. Brea and Mallory also address specific listener concerns with their trademark humor and inclusivity, making the community feel welcome and supported no matter their reading taste or identity. Perfect for curious readers who want to try a new literary comfort zone, or those looking for affirmation in the quirks of their reading habits.

---

Connect & Subscribe:
For show notes, book lists, and more, visit Reading Glasses on Instagram or email podcasts questions and requests to readingglassespodcastmail.com.

Transcript

[Sydnee McElroy]

Foreign.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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

[Bria Grant]

Meara. And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and e reader. This episode, we've got a new genre alert. New genre alert.

[Mallory O'Meara]

New genre alert. There's a new genre in town,

[Bria Grant]

and it's out there healing your heart and making you feel better every day. Doing healing fiction, which we just talked about a couple weeks ago. It's a genre we both are really loving. Plus, we're giving advice on reading too much of the same genre, and we recommend asexual romance novels.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But first, what are you reading, Bram?

[Bria Grant]

I am reading something. You know, maybe it's healing for some people. I'm reading the book for our other podcast, Reading Smut. Yeah, we keep thinking about renaming that show, so watch out for that in the future. That we might rename.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, we might rebrand some because of the way that we did not realize that Smut would be suppressed by so many Internet algorithms.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. But I'm reading our book this month, which is Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I've been so excited for Bria to read this book.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. Ruby Dixon. We've done one, two Ruby Dixon books on the show. We were big Ruby Dixon fans.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, we did Bull Moon Rising.

[Bria Grant]

Bull Moon Rising. But we also. Yeah, that's it. Right. We just did Bowl Moon Rising, which we both really. I really loved.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But this is the series that really put on the map.

[Bria Grant]

Right, Right. And it is about a woman who was abducted by a bunch of mean aliens. And the beginning is pretty rough. I was, like, so intense.

[Mallory O'Meara]

She gets trafficked by these, like, aliens who steal women and sell them to

[Bria Grant]

other planets who are fertile. So you know what's going on there. And then they crash land on this planet. And she is like, okay, there's a couple of them still alive. She's like, I'm going to go out there because there's air. There's looks like there's ice. Cause it is an ice planet, as said in the title. And I'm gonna see what's going on. And she meets this giant blue man with horns and a tail and that purrs for her purring noises. And it immediately gets very sexy in a way that I was not prepared for, so.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Which is saying a lot considering what our show's about.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, there's, like, eight. There's so many books in this series.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There's 19 books in this series.

[Bria Grant]

No way. No way. Okay. Wow.

[Sydnee McElroy]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. Okay. That's crazy. That's wild. That's what I'm reading. What are you reading, Mallory?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I am also reading something sexy, but in a very different direction. I am reading a book that I think was in my most anticipated. It's Lovers XXX by Ally Rowbottom. It is a historical literary fiction about the porno scene in Los angeles in the 1980s. And these two women, these two, they're. I mean, they're young, they're just 18, and they start by. They're best friends and one of them is a lesbian and in love with the other one and is trying to hide it, not doing a very good job. And they start as dancers at this club and of course, you know, they want more money. They. They're. They get addicted to drugs and they kind of end up in the. In the porn scene. And it is. It's so fucking good. But it is. It's interesting for me to love it this much because it's not a big plot book. It's definitely like more setting and character. These two women, it's like kind of them coming of age and learning, learning about themselves and learning what they want to do. And one of them wants to. Really wants to be a writer and the other one is kind of pretending to want to be a writer when really she actually, like, likes doing porn. She's really good at it, she has a fun time doing it, but she's really addicted to coke. And it's just like. It's just this really interesting portrait of these two women. And then it flashes forward to like 30 years later where they are. And it's. It's just. It's so well written and it's living in la. I'm like, oh, my God, this is what it was like back in the 80s. And now it's like they're flashing forward to now. And it takes place in Malibu in North Hollywood and Sherman Oaks. And so it's a great LA book. Just really enjoying it. But it is. Would not call it a feel good book, but it's excellent so far. So that's Lovers XXX by Ally Rowbottom.

[Bria Grant]

And I'm reading Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. And tune into our other show's episode about it coming very soon.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Tune in to hear what Bria thinks of a big purring man. He doesn't have. Bria normally likes a guy with wings, but maybe the purring will win her over.

[Bria Grant]

I'm liking it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So we want to take a moment to share some listener feedback. Sarah wrote in to say hi Brianne Mallory, you mentioned on the latest episode that you didn't know why library books are more expensive. There are a few reasons that they can be. If the library outsources their processing to their book vendor, then they will be paying for the processing as well as the book processing can include the labels that go on the book like the call number on the spine, the barcode, the genre sticker, and the RFID tag. Vendors also include the MARC records for books. This is the the cataloging record for the book that lets you look up the book on the online catalog with subject headings, et cetera. This is so library staff do not have to do the cataloging for each book. There's also a chance that the library buys library editions of certain types of books. Library editions have stronger bindings. When I was a children's librarian, I used to always buy the library editions for kids graphic novels. This usually made the book a couple dollars more, but it always lasted longer. Thanks for all you do love the podcast.

[Bria Grant]

Wow.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Interesting.

[Bria Grant]

Wow. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you for that. That feedback. We love that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We love hearing about interesting the ins

[Bria Grant]

and outs of the LIBRA system. Melinda wrote in and said, hi, Brian Mallory. I'm an academic library assistant with a potentially hot book tip for listeners who are attending college. Okay, Mallory's getting out the whistle. Let's see if this passes the whistle test. Did you know your campus library most likely has a leisure reading collection? These collections typically have bestsellers, popular fiction, and interesting nonfiction reads. Some even have ebooks, audiobooks and graphic novels. I often hear the phrase you have fun books here too from students when they stumble upon our collection. I love to introduce students to new reads so they can de stress from school and enjoy a little book therapy. I'm going to say that's a hot book tip. That's a hot book tip. I feel like in college it's been so long, but I feel like in college I did know they had those kinds of books but I was not checking them out there, which is interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You didn't have the time.

[Bria Grant]

Well, that's probably true. That's probably true. But I also just like didn't even think about it that there were fun books there too. Alternatively, if you're college college library doesn't have a leisure leisure reading collection. You can probably request books you want through their interlibrary loan services. For those who aren't familiar, this is just a way for libraries to request books from one to another to fulfill any outstanding requests. Depending on the institution, most requests arrive within the week. This service is usually included in your tuition, so you might as well use it, visit your college's website or talk to a librarian about either of these things. They would love to help you. Thank you both for all you do. I became a fan after you were recommended to me after I attended a Romantasy readers advisory class. It was fun. You guys are the best and have helped me to become a stronger reader. Do you want to read Melinda's?

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's books about Ireland, Victorian London, ghosts with unfinished business, age gap romances where the woman is older. Ooh, Women's history and pirates. Ooh, that's fun. I love that. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com if you want a list of all the books we talk about on the show delivered to your inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter. There's a link in the show notes. And before we talk about healing fiction, we're going to take a quick break. On Judge John Hodgman.

[Bria Grant]

The courtroom is fake, but the disputes are real.

[John Hodgman]

Brian would say I'm the Gumby of this family. He's just not claiming to be.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Gumby is an un Gumby like claim. No, it's just Gumby and I being our authentic selves.

[John Hodgman]

So what's your complaint? Too many sauces.

[Mallory O'Meara]

There are no foods on which to put the sauces.

[John Hodgman]

Have we named all the sauces on the top shelf yet? Not.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Not even close.

[John Hodgman]

You economize when it comes to pants.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Truly, it's not about the cleanliness of the pants.

[John Hodgman]

Well, why isn't it? This is what I want to know. Judge John Hodgman. Fake court, Weird cases, real justice. On MaximumFun.org, youTube and everywhere you get podcasts.

[Mallory O'Meara]

This week we got a new genre alert, folks, for healing fiction. How do you define the genre? And most importantly, should you check it out? We are getting into it. All right, Bria. Of course, first we have to define healing fiction. What does this mean? So this is like a sub genre of magical realism, and I would call it cozy. Magical realism centered around the emotional healing of the protagonist, usually in like a special location. I think that's a very specific part of the subgenre. A lot of them are translated books from Japan and Korea. And the special location is usually a small business. It's like some sort of small business that has some sort of magical power to heal your emotional problems. These books are very gentle. You're not going to see a lot of battles happening in healing fiction, no swords, no stabbings, and things are usually solved.

[Bria Grant]

That's the thing. It's like. There's like a problem. It is introduced. It's not a huge. Maybe it is a huge problem, but it's a problem that can be kind of rectified by the end, which is nice. Do they always have a magical realism element to it? Because I was thinking about the bookshop one where the woman opens up just a bookshop and just runs the bookshop. Is that a healing fiction?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't know. Maybe.

[Bria Grant]

Okay. All right. Well, I have more to say about books.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So almost all of the ones that I was looking at have some sort of, like, magical element to the small business or location.

[Bria Grant]

Okay, interesting.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But I would say, I don't know, maybe. Well, let's get into it. All right. So, Bria, you love these books. When did you notice these start getting popular?

[Bria Grant]

I think I was late to the game, but I think it was before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first one that I heard people talking about a lot. And it was right around the time I feel like cozy fantasy was getting popular. So these kind of got lumped in there. So it was like, people will be talking about legends and lattes, but also talk about when. Before the Coffee gets cold, which are two very different books because.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But they're on coffee.

[Bria Grant]

That is true. They're two very different coffee books. Magical coffee books. But Legends and Lattes was like an orc creating a coffee shop. You know, that's like a big magical world. Before the coffee gets cold. There was like. It's like an element of time travel, but it's our world and it's just like slightly. It's magical realism. So it feels very, very grounded. 2024 seems like a big rise for me. That's when we started seeing a lot of articles about it.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah.

[Bria Grant]

When I was looking back, seeing people talk about it, yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I was actually kind of surprised because seeing these books get their own definite sub genre, and I. I thought it was just going to be a fad, but people clearly fucking love these books. Like, I thought it was going to be kind of a blip, and they just seem to be getting more popular. So why. Why do we think that is? Why are people really gravitating towards the sub genre? Also, why Japan and Korea specifically? Like, what about those cultures in those countries gravitates towards these type of books? Because a lot of these books, I've. I realized, like, are bestsellers in Japan or Korea, and then they get translated and brought over here.

[Bria Grant]

I think that's the only way they get translated. They do really well over there and then they bring them over. And I think it takes years. So I think whatever the. I guess I'm saying 2024 for America because I think a lot of these books were much more popular like years and years ago, but they just kind of started hitting America. So one thing we should note, these books are kind of written in chunks. So if you read before the coffee gets cold, it's like five stories. It's like five different people or four different people, I can't remember come in, they all have their problems solved, like by going traveling back in time and drinking this cup of coffee. So one thing to know is that the way a lot of people in Korea and Japan are consuming books, they're consuming them on their phones. So that it kind of explains the structure. So because I think both of those are like, there's a lot of more train culture, like people being on trains using public transportation. People are pulling this stuff up on their phones. They read like a chapter which is like 40 pages or I'm saying 40 minutes or something so you can read it on your commute. And I think they're sort of more designed for that. Whereas like we aren't doing as much commuting like that in America.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But how, how we wish we would.

[Bria Grant]

We wish we would. But a lot of em, they are four or five stories just like shoved, shoved together in the same location. I also think like in general it feels like everywhere in the world there's tumultuous times. We're all living in these very like work based cultures, very stressed cultures, stressed out cultures. So people are more gravitating to things, more cozy. I think it's when we saw a rise of cozy mysteries for the average person. I think they're cozy fiction, cozy fantasy. Like we started seeing more of that in general. So it's like you can see this person, they're experiencing heartbreak, they're experiencing loss, and then they go somewhere normal like you and I would go. They go to a coffee shop, they go to a restaurant, they go to a bakery. And like they're, that's how they heal. And that feels kind of nice, you know, because it's like I too am experiencing a breakup and I'm going to go to a cafe and at this cafe it's going to remind me of the fact that I can drink a little cup of coffee and everything will be fine. So that kind of, I think there's

[Mallory O'Meara]

that and well I also have a theory. Cause it seems like these, I mean, in the wake of COVID Cozy clearly has been the thing. But I wonder if these books specifically, like, there's a draw to going outside of your house to a special cool location. Oh, like a third.

[Bria Grant]

Like a third place?

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah. Yes. That is not your living room. There's other people there. There's some sort of aspect of community. I wonder if that is really appealing to people that were stuck inside their homes for so long. Is like, I'm gonna go to a special nice place that is not my house and it's gonna heal something in me and I'm gonna see other people. And like, I just wonder if, like, the location is a big part of it.

[Bria Grant]

Well, it's also interesting cause the main characters are almost always the only characters you see again and again are the people who work at the place. So they become sort of the main characters. But it's never about them solving a problem. Sometimes they'll have like an issue, but for the most part, sometimes it's a customer coming in and they solve the customer's problem and all. And there is something very satisfying about that too. Just, you know, as a person who wants to help other people and like, you know, you have a job and a lot of our jobs are very like open ended. We're not helping people, you know, but like, if the idea is this person's coming in and hurting and by the end of this 40 minutes, I solved their problem, they leave a happier human.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That does sound nice.

[Bria Grant]

There's something like helpful about it, you know, like it's like a. It is, you're right. It's like a community building thing and like a way to sort of take care of your community.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh yeah.

[Bria Grant]

It's almost like a shepherding of your community, you know.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Is there any place that you go regularly that you're like, you know, the

[Bria Grant]

staff and they like hand me my magical cup of coffee? Not regularly enough. No, not really. There used to be some places, but like, I'm not. Cause here's the thing, I'm not a coffee drinker. So like, there's not like a place I go and get coffee every morning, which I feel like that's people's spot. There is a guy who runs a corner store down the street from me that I go buy a lot of stuff from. And we kind of made friends during the pandemic. So I know that guy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And he's your chocolate bar dealer.

[Bria Grant]

He's my child.

[Mallory O'Meara]

He's giving you a magical bar of chocolate.

[Bria Grant]

Can I tell you a little something, Mallory? There's one chocolate bar store I love in la. They never recognize me. And I wild. I probably bought a thousand dollars worth of chocolate there. I'm not exaggerating. Like, there's no way. I haven't bought that much because I have a little punch card, and I like the pun. They never. And I'm always like. They're like, oh, have you been in before? I'm like, yes, I've been in before.

[Mallory O'Meara]

It's wild to me.

[Bria Grant]

I know they're very busy. They're in a busy street, so I get it. Oh, the place where I buy my dog food, I buy. They do kind of recognize me.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Is it healing, Agnes?

[Bria Grant]

We have a little conversation. Agnes does love to go in there because, you know, they have all the dog treats on the floor. So she was like, oh, let me have one of these treats.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All of Agnes's emotional problems have been solved.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, I don't have a problem. I feel like you are a person who makes friends when you go and you have places, which is funny because

[Mallory O'Meara]

I'm not a friendly person.

[Bria Grant]

No, but you're recognizable.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's the thing is I'm very recognizable, but I'm not friendly. Every single Sunday, I go to the same bagel place in la. It's the only good bagel place I found. That is because I lived in, like, I lived in New York for a couple years, and it gave me really snooty bagel opinions. So it's been hard for me to find a good bagel place in la, except for this one place that I will not say because I go there every Sunday and I don't want people to. To find me. But. And then I go to this record store that's a block down, and I'm very. I'm there at the same time every Sunday, and I am friends with the owners, and I like, aww. And I love hanging out with them and talking to them about music. So I want the thought of them, like, giving me a magical record that solves my problems.

[Sydnee McElroy]

Is.

[John Hodgman]

That's.

[Bria Grant]

That's the healing book you should write. That is. That is the magic record store. That is exact part of one of these books that's such a good example. Like, you are the customer going, it's about the store and the people who work at the store. But then you come in and they're like, oh, she comes in every week and she's clearly looking for something. And she's. Whatever. She's trying to hear Weird purple haired

[Mallory O'Meara]

woman comes in same time every Sunday.

[Bria Grant]

And then finally they figure out what it is you're looking for, and they hand you the perfect record.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And it's always a Tom Waits record that I haven't been able to do.

[Bria Grant]

You don't go back after that. You're kind of done.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, see, I know I go every single Sunday, that it is my routine. Same time I get. I order the same bagel, pumpernickel everything. Pumpernickel everything.

[Bria Grant]

Whoa, that's a weird order.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Once you've had a pumpernickel everything, you can't go back to a regular everything. Oh, my God. Pumpernickel everything. Wicked big iced coffee. And then I read for half an hour until the record store opens. It is my favorite thing to do. And maybe you know what? Maybe I am already healed. Maybe because I like the joy that I feel going there every week. And I buy a lot of records. Maybe I'm already healed, Bria. Maybe my story is already over. So I. You read way more of these books than I do. Are there some that you. You recommend or, like, some that you, like, can point to that are, like, really good examples of healing fiction?

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. I mean, I've said before, the coffee gets cold. And there's a bunch in that series, so they're. They. It keeps going. But if you are trying to dip your toe into it, that is such a good example of, like, what you're going to get from these books and what's nice about them. And I'll just pitch this to people. You don't have to read it straight through. You can read a section, put that book down, read a whole other book. You'll come back. There's nothing you need to know between the two sections. Like, it is very, like, in that way. It's like watching, you know, like a CSI episode. Like, you don't really need to know what happens. You can take a break.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Do you think that is a factor of this subgenre that is appealing to people, is that it's like, very low barrier to entry. Like, there's not a lot of world building. It's like, very easy to dip in and out.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. Which I do like too. And I will dip in and out of them. Like, it's nice to read one if I'm reading something else. Or, like, if you're in a book and you're like, I know I need to get through this book, but I need a break. Like, these are kind of the perfect thing to, like, throw in, like, a section or two. Yeah, I think. I think that makes them really appealing. Another book I really loved was the Kamigawa Food Detectives.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, yeah.

[Bria Grant]

So if you're a big, like, restaurant person. Yeah. Like, this is a fun one because people. People go in there and they're like, I just want to eat this one. You know, miso soup from my childhood. And then they're like, okay. And then they go and they, like, figure out how to make it, and they're not. There actually isn't, like, a magical element to that one, really. They just like our food. They are just like, okay, you grew up in this region, and your mom did this for a job, so she probably was getting her miso from this one store. So we went to that store, and we got this very specific thing. But actually what it is is the water in your area was like this. So they are like little detectives and figure it out. And then the people have the food, and they're like, yeah, I was missing this. And it's like, this. That's all it is.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But that's the magic of the heart, Bria.

[Bria Grant]

That is.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That is.

[Bria Grant]

So it is not magic as much as it feels magical. The way it works. The Traveling Cat Chronicles. I don't know if you read that one. It came out a while ago. Like, I want to say that came out 10 years ago or something, but I feel like it was maybe another one of the first ones of these that people started reading. That is from the point of view of a cat. And I think it was very cute. And it has a little bit more darkness in it. They all have a little bit of darkness. Usually it's like somebody lost somebody. There's a lot of grief. There's a lot of, like, healing from, like, oh, I miss this person. I missed this part of my life. Like, before the coffee gets hold has a whole section, and I'll just. It's not a spoiler. Cause, like, whatever. But, like, someone loses their husband to dementia, and they go back to see him before he has dementia. And, like, it's tough. Like, these are not. Like, they're cozy, but, like, they're not easy reads.

[Mallory O'Meara]

You are going, yeah, they're cozy. In the technical definition of cozy in that, like, the stakes are low. There's no one's dying on the page,

[Bria Grant]

you know, and everything gets solved by the end, which is nice. And then. And this is one. Another one that doesn't have any magic in it is welcome to the Hyeonnam Dong Bookshop, which is one. The one where the woman Just starts a bookstore that might just be more cozy fiction. I'm not really sure, but it felt very healing for her. And, like, it's less about the customers, and it's also not told in those chunks. It's more like chapters. So it's a little bit different, but I wanted to, like, throw it in there. Same flavor, though, right? And it, like, it. It's about a woman starting. She is healing. It's her healing journey of being like, I'm leaving this corporate job. I'm gonna start a bookstore. And then it's just sort of like, you know, her being like, I should hire someone. And she's like, who should I hire? And she hires someone. And that's great. Like, it's just, like, very, like, that's

[Mallory O'Meara]

gonna be you and I when we retire. We're gonna start the world's first chocolate bar record store.

[Bria Grant]

Listen. Sounds great to me.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, do you think there's not one?

[Bria Grant]

A chocolate bar record store?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I don't think so. I mean, I've never seen one, and I go to a lot of record stores.

[Bria Grant]

There is a chocolate bar in Portland, Oregon, a chocolate bar store that has a lot of, like, mixers. What do you call those? Like, vinegars and stuff? So it's half chocolate bar, half, like. What do you call those? You make drinks, you know, with like. No, like, they're, like, in little bottles. Like, things you do use to make mixed drinks. Like, they don't sell the alcohol, but they sell all the accoutrements.

[Mallory O'Meara]

That's a weird combo of things like

[Bria Grant]

vinegars and, like, they also have, like, salt and things like that. But a ton of, like, stuff to like, make the grocery store.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Basically, it's a witch who owns this.

[Bria Grant]

It feels like it. It kind of feels like it. And then tons of chocolate, huh? Yeah.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Well, it's not gonna be as popular as me. And is our used record store chocolate bar emporium.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah, but then I'm in there and all that. You get little fingerprints all over all the records.

[Mallory O'Meara]

All the records. Yeah. Okay, maybe not. Well, we'll figure it out. We'll heal someone in some way. All right, so send your thoughts on healing fiction atreading glasses podcastmail.com before we give advice on reading too much of the same book, we're going to take a quick break.

[Sydnee McElroy]

In 2026. Our comedy podcast, Softman's is one of the most reputable sources for medical information. Does that make me feel great? No.

[Mallory O'Meara]

No, me neither. But I do like to think. I think we're doing our part in making sure that we're fighting the pseudoscientific misinformation that has pervaded modern society.

[Sydnee McElroy]

Yeah, but we're doing our part over here on Sawbones every week, a marital tour of misguided medicine. It's not all serious stuff. We're still getting into all the wild, weird ways we used to try to heal people over the years, but we're also trying to keep tabs on the evolving situation.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, we can talk about drinking raw milk and eating mummies. It's Sawbones.

[Sydnee McElroy]

That's right, it's Saw Bones. It's every Tuesday, and it's on maximumfun.org or wherever you get a podcast these days.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Time to solve a bookish problem from one of our listeners, Allison wrote in to say hello. Brianne Mallory I'm a longtime listener and a lot of your recommendations and tips have really helped me reconnect with reading for fun. During grad school I just noticed an interesting reading phenomenon which I can only describe describe as an anti book slump. Every once in a while I'll find a new genre or wheelhouse item that sets me off on a marathon of reading where I'll find and read tons of books in that category in a short period of time. This happened most recently when I started reading Emily Henry esque romance, but I definitely remember the same thing happened when I discovered food, culinary memoirs, medical non fiction and time travel romance. I love the anti book slump because I get to enjoy a ton of new books. I typically get through them really quickly. The only problem is that I will usually exclusively read a pretty specific type of book for a while. Reading a ton of similar books really quickly means I don't really have the time to process and appreciate each individual book. Eventually there comes the point where I feel like I've run out of books on the genre or wheelhouse that interest me or I end up reading one that I don't like as much which can bring the anti slump to an end. At the end of an anti reading slump, it can be hard to find a new book that I really enjoy and I can go into a real reading slump. Does anyone else experience this type of anti reading slump? Is it better to avoid this pattern or reading? Or should I just enjoy these short bursts of hyper fixation and accept the consequences? Thank you so much for making your show. I love forward to listening every week. Bria I love I love when we get this is this is the question kinds of questions we live for. Like very hyper specific reading questions that someone who is not a reader would not even fathom as being a thing.

[Bria Grant]

That's true. Yeah.

[Sydnee McElroy]

All right.

[Mallory O'Meara]

What do you think? What do you think Allison should do?

[Bria Grant]

It does seem fun while it lasts. I think it's okay to lean to a genre hard when you're into it. And that's. It's unfortunate. You feel like, you know, you're burning out. But, I mean, maybe it's nice to, like, mix up your sprees. This doesn't happen to me. Mallory, I feel like maybe that you'll be better at answering this question. Like, if I read a type of book, I'm not usually like, and I'm gonna read another one and another one, and then I don't have, like. It's not like, in my personality. But I think if you start with a type of book and you start, you're like, oh, I'm leaning in. But, you know, you have another type waiting that you also like leaning in on. Maybe you need to switch it up. Like, while you're reading all the romantasy books, like, search for one from one of your old runs that you loved. You know, like, maybe you remember you're like, ah, but I was reading, like, horror romance or something, I don't know. And, like, keep a couple those books aside, so when you start, you can feel yourself going down this path. You know, you can go back to the other path. I mean, the nice thing about books is that it is kind of hard to run out, but it seems like you are running out. Like, I guess if you're reading like all of one person or something, like, maybe you save one for, like, a special occasion when you're on, like, another run. I'm not really sure how to break this cycle. What do you think? Do you have these. Do you have this problem?

[Mallory O'Meara]

I have these urges. And so first off, I want to say instead of an anti reading slump, I'm going to call this spree reading spreeding, if you will. Honestly, this. The thing is, it didn't even seem like that much of a problem to me until Allison said the bit about not having time to process or appreciate each individual book. That, to me, is definitely an issue. And now this is gonna be a tough balancing act because you wanna break up your reading enough that you're able to appreciate the books, but not enough that you're losing interest. And again, you don't wanna throw yourself into a reading slump. What I personally do is alternate, which is what you really were saying. If I'm really into a particular type of Book. Oh, I don't know, maybe haunted house books. Perhaps just a random example. The thing is if I let myself, I will read nothing but haunted house books forever. That's all I ever wanna read.

[John Hodgman]

I.

[Mallory O'Meara]

But I never let myself do that. And so because I think, because I've never let myself fully go. Me and haunted houses have had a very long and fruitful relationship. We've never gotten into a slump together. Me and haunted house books are still really going strong.

[Bria Grant]

I just imagine like you sitting in a situation, you're like. And you're like slumping your shoulders but you're looking at a haunted house who's also slumping it's shoulders. Like you're both are slumping.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We want each other so badly and

[Bria Grant]

you warn yourself that, that.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So I will do one haunted house book and then one completely different genre. I will actually use my love of haunted house books to keep me going. Like I won't force myself to finish. Like if I like if I'm reading something else. Like I. Because that's, this is why I like to alternate genres, whatever I'm reading. And I just won't do straight horror. Like I won't ever force myself to finish a book. Like if I'm starting to read. I don't like a random literary fiction book and I'm not into it, I'm not going to force myself to read it. But you have to at least give your brain a little bit of a break. And sometimes if you break it up like this, I really feel like you can keep the excitement to read your spree genre going for a long time. Which is what I'm saying. Like I've never, I think there is a world where I've let myself burn myself out on haunted house books and I don't want to read another haunted house book for 10 years. But because I've never let myself do that, I've kept the excitement going.

[Bria Grant]

It's like it's like being in a long term relationship. Gotta keep it spicy.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Me and haunted house books have really kept the excitement going in the bedroom. And by bedroom I mean reading in bed before, before I go to sleep. Yeah. And like a little like night cap with like dressed like the sleepy time bear. So I. If you're in a, I would say the balance it out. You're in a spree on for a particular type of genre. Go for it. But try to break it up a little bit and you might be able to make this brie last for a long time. Maybe last forever. Like me and Haunted house books. We're on our, I don't even know, decades now. I don't know what I. I've never been married. I don't know, like, all the different anniversaries we're on, like, our silver anniversary, wood anniversary. I don't even know. But. So I think you need to go down the middle. Read these books, but try to break them up as much as possible. And you might find that this is like a genre that you keep forever. Like, that's the thing that I'm curious about is how Allison does if she breaks up the spree. You know what I mean? Does that derail it? I would, but if this was me, and it sometimes is, because I do get obsessive about things. Force yourself to break it up a little bit with whatever. Just as long as it's a different genre. Like a completely different genre. Doesn't matter what genre it is. Sci fi, romance, whatever it is, break it up enough that you get excited that you keep the excitement going for the spree. And again, maybe you'll find you and a genre are matched together for life. Me and Hana House books are very happy. We have a very fulfilling marriage. It's honestly my longest term relationship is me and Hana's books. Yes,

[Bria Grant]

Mallory, your longest term relationship is with me. It really is. It really is.

[Mallory O'Meara]

I know. Fuck boys get podcasts.

[Bria Grant]

Oh, let's make that a sticker.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Oh, that's such a great idea. Fuckboys get podcasts. Really? You know what? A man will let you down. A podcast Never will.

[Bria Grant]

Never will. And you know what? I bet there's a lot of people who have their longest relationships with us too. Oh, my God.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Wow.

[Bria Grant]

And you know, we're here for you.

[Mallory O'Meara]

We're here for you, and you're here for us. Wow, that's. That's so beautiful, Bria. On that note, if you wanted to solve your reader problem, send it to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. Now let's answer a recommendation request from Jackson, who says, hi, Mallory and Bria. I have been a proud Reading Glasses Max fund member since 2016. Oh, man, Jackson, thank you so much and absolutely love your show. As someone who identifies as asexual, I have a really hard time connecting with romance novels. For me, it's not due to trash baby incel opinions, but ra a genuine lack of interest in love or intimate human relationships. For example, on reading Smut, I tend to love the protagonist, but I couldn't care less about the outcome or if the relationship works out. My friends think it's Absolutely unhinged. I've tried diversifying the perspectives I'm reading about in terms of gender and sexual identity, but nothing really clicks. Any advice on where to start? Any good books involving long term platonic relationships? Lol. Thanks for all you do, Bria. What do you think Jackson should. Should read?

[Bria Grant]

Okay, well, first of all, this is not unhinged. No, not at all. I love that Jackson is like, oh my Lord, those protagonists. That's such a nice. Like what a nice way to. You just. You just love the character and that's great.

[Mallory O'Meara]

And I mean, that's what romance is good with, is really amazing. It's all about the character.

[Bria Grant]

Yeah. I'm gonna say just you don't have to like romance novels. Maybe that is something. This is a problem we've had people write in before where they don't like to have romance in their books at all. And a lot of books have romantic subplots, which is it is hard. And when people ask for books, romantic subplots, we're always like, okay, does it have one? Because it's just not something that I don't think to flag it. It's something I should pay attention to when reading, being like, oh, there's no romantic subplot here. I should like, remember to recommend this book. But there's so many types of books out there. Mallory has some really good specific ideas for romance, but I think you can read outside of romance and there are so many great books. But I think Mallory has a better answer for this than I do.

[Mallory O'Meara]

Yeah, well, I want to agree. You're not unhinged, Jackson. My God, tell your friends to get it together. This is wild. Like, there is this. I mean, there are a lot of asexual people out there in the world and some of them do like reading romance and some people are not asexual and just don't like reading romance because they don't like it. I have a very, very close friend of mine, I've talked about this on reading Smut. I got them a romance book once and they were like, I don't like reading romance because it feels too intimate because they're in my head and some people just are not into it. There's nothing unhinged about it. It completely normal. Second off, have you heard about asexual romance novels? Which might seem like it is an oxymoron, but it is not. There's a lot of asexual romance and there's a lot of good out there. Let me introduce you, first off, to the world of Claircon. I love Claircon. She's got a lot of really amazing books, but she has a few novels featuring asexual protagonists and a few of them are romance novels. I'm gonna recommend one that I have have talked about on the show a bunch. Highly recommend. It. It is a YA novel. It's called if It Makes yous Happy. And I guess you'd call it romance because the way it's structured. But it's more. It's more about this teenage girl. She goes to visit her grandmother who lives in this small town. Her grandmother owns this like, very like storied famous diner and she's learning about her own identity and she wants to win this baking competition to like, help out the diner. But one of the central conflicts and things in the book is that the main character has this sort of like platonic. It's a platonic relationship, but it's more than a friendship. And that's. They're like. This main character is like trying to figure out how to reconcile that, like this is a person that they want in their life long term. And it's more serious than just a friend. But it's completely platonic and this friend is asexual. So it's like the exploration of that identity is a really big part of this book. But it's also really fun. If you like baking stuff. There's a lot of really fun cooking scenes. There's a lot of just like a lot of cool food stuff in this book. But I would recommend reading some Claricon. But there's a lot of really great asexual romances out there that will give Jackson what they're looking for, which is like, really cool. Deep dives into a character's journey about something and like, maybe like them finding themselves or whatever. But it's not about sex or even romance sometimes. So check out Claire Khan. Check out if it makes you happy, happy and you're not unhinged. Most importantly, most important thing, you're not unhinged. Oh, you know what? Maybe you're unhinged about other things, but you're not unhinged about this.

[Bria Grant]

Not this one, not this thing, not this one.

[Mallory O'Meara]

So if you want us to answer your recommendation request, you can send it to reading glasses podcast gmail.com. as always, want to thank the wonderful mods who run our Discord server and our Facebook group. Remember, you can buy reading glasses, totes and shirts and stickers over at our Void Merch store. There's a link in the show notes. And folks, if you like the show? You want to do something real nice for us? It's totally free. Completely free. It'll only take you 30 seconds. Open up the mobile app for whatever podcast listening app you have on your phone. You gotta open it on your phone though. You can't do it on a computer. Open it on your phone. Give us a nice little rating. Give us a nice little review. Five stars. Nice little review. It's really great for us, for our hearts, but it's also really just great for the show. And it's completely free. You can email us at reading glasses podcastmail.com find us on Instagram at Reading Glasses Podcast. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading.

[Bria Grant]

Thanks for reading.

[Mallory O'Meara]

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