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Hey, Glassers, get out those

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slide whistles. Woo hoo!

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It's the 2024 Max Fun Drive! Dun-da-da-da!

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What does that mean? It is the best

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time of year to sign up to become

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a member of our network, Maximum Fun. But

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why, Bria? What do they get if they do that? Well, first

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of all, you get to help us make the show. Every

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week. Every single week. And you get

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1:02

You're listening to Reading Glasses, a show

1:04

about book culture and literary life designed

1:07

to help you read better. I'm author

1:09

and book devourer Mallory O'Mara. And I'm

1:11

Bria Grant, filmmaker and e-reader. This episode

1:13

is a special Maximum Fun Drive episode.

1:16

We're giving you all of our best

1:18

tips and tricks to read better. Yeah,

1:20

the best of, but it's like, you

1:22

know, it's not like a clip show. It's us just talking about

1:25

the best of. You're going to get all

1:27

the best tips and tricks. Hot, hot tips,

1:30

folks. Right here. And also some comforting reads.

1:33

Going to recommend some for you. But first, Bria, what are you

1:35

reading? I finished a book that

1:37

I loved and I thought to myself, this could be

1:39

one of my favorites of the year, but it came

1:41

out last year. So it is not. But it could

1:43

still make the favorite non 2024 book that you read.

1:46

It could. And I'm going to say it's

1:48

not for everybody, but I loved it. It's

1:50

called Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji

1:52

Morimoto, translated by Don Notting. Do you know

1:54

about this person? No. Okay, this is a

1:56

memoir-ish, I would say. So there's

1:59

this guy. And he at some point,

2:01

he was like working a regular job in

2:03

Japan. And he felt like his boss was

2:05

always like bullying him and mean to him because he was

2:07

like, you don't do anything. You just sit there. You do

2:09

nothing. You're, you're like such a normal person.

2:11

You don't want to do anything any of the time. And he was

2:13

like, you know what? I don't want to

2:16

do anything any of the time. So he started a Twitter account.

2:18

This was like maybe four or five years ago. And

2:20

he was like, I want to

2:22

do nothing. And you can rent me to come and

2:24

do nothing. And people

2:26

started renting him to do nothing. So this is

2:28

a nonfiction book. This is a memoir. The

2:31

wildest part about it, by the way, is that he didn't

2:33

write it because he was like, this is not doing nothing.

2:35

And I don't want to do it. He doesn't do anything

2:37

he doesn't want to do. And so he was like, I

2:40

didn't want to write this. So it's actually people asking me

2:42

questions and then they are writing it for me. And

2:44

I'm answering the questions I want to answer. This is the

2:46

most genius man. So he was like,

2:50

you can do anything from you need to tell you, he'll

2:52

meet you and you can tell him the secret that

2:54

you need to know. There was a guy who was

2:56

like a writer and he was like, I just have

2:58

trouble writing when no one is around.

3:00

Can you just come sit in my apartment? He's like,

3:02

yeah, you can come sit there and he reads manga.

3:04

What about all these problems solved by having a cat?

3:07

Maybe there was one woman who was like, I want

3:09

someone to go with me to file my divorce papers

3:11

because I'm stressed about it. There was one person who

3:13

was like, I'm moving out of the city. I've

3:16

always wanted someone to come and wave to me from the

3:18

train. And I feel like it'll be too sad if any

3:20

of my friends do it. And so I just

3:22

want you to come and wave at me as if we're friends from the

3:24

train to say goodbye. Like, and he

3:26

was like, so, you know, some of that is not nothing, but he's not

3:29

even coming to your dishes. He's not going to run an errand. He'll

3:31

come and sit with you at the park if you're

3:33

just like having lunch or something. He doesn't really talk

3:35

to you that much. We don't answer questions and

3:38

you can talk at him. And he said he finds

3:40

out tons of stuff about people because people just start

3:42

talking. And he's like, I think it's easier to

3:44

people to talk to me because I'm not, I'm a stranger, you know?

3:47

And his whole thing is he's like, I'm very normal looking and

3:49

very boring. I really don't have any

3:51

interests. So much so that he kind

3:53

of quit going to concerts with people because he would go

3:55

and he's like, I don't like this music that much. In fact, I

3:57

don't know what I don't like music that much. So I'm going to

3:59

quit. going to concerts with people. This

4:01

is a human saltine cracker. A

4:04

human saltine cracker, yes, exactly. And he was like,

4:06

I'm going, this is what I'm going to do.

4:08

This is like, I think that that is actually my skill

4:10

set, is that I am great at doing nothing. And it's

4:12

what I prefer doing. I

4:15

enjoy this book. My mouth is literally hanging

4:17

open. I enjoy this book immensely,

4:19

because I actually think he has a really interesting

4:21

philosophy on life where it's like, he's

4:23

like, I think there's a lot of people who have

4:25

a lot of hopes and dreams and goals

4:28

and aspirations. And I'm not one. He has

4:30

a family. He has a wife and a

4:32

child. But he's like, I

4:34

don't have some big goal.

4:36

I just want to do nothing. And that's what he's

4:38

doing. And he wrote a book about it. What is an American? Someone

4:40

wrote a book about it. He's an American hero. Well, he's a

4:43

Japanese hero. He's a Japanese hero. Wow.

4:46

Yeah, pretty amazing. What are you reading?

4:48

Oh my god. I loved it. Wow.

4:51

So I was telling you right before we started recording

4:53

the show that I got a big order from the

4:55

Ripped Bodice recently, and I was unpacking it. And

4:57

my boyfriend walked by and said, you get

5:00

more smut, huh? I

5:02

was like, get out of here. But

5:04

this is one of those books from that

5:06

box. It is called The Lady's Guide to

5:09

Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite. And

5:11

it is a historical romance, definitely

5:13

pretty spicy. But it is so

5:16

fucking wonderful. It's about this woman. She's an

5:18

astronomer. It's during the 1800s in London. So

5:21

this was when there was a lot of amateur

5:23

scientists happening. Darwin was an

5:25

amateur scientist. And so she's an amateur astronomer.

5:27

Her father was an amateur astronomer. And

5:30

he is very old. He's just passed away

5:32

recently. And all of his colleagues don't realize

5:34

that she has been the one writing the

5:36

papers and doing all of his calculations for

5:38

years now. So she's just

5:40

kind of been trying to figure out what she wants to

5:43

do with her life. Her brother's like, you got to get

5:45

married. You can't

5:47

play around with astronomy anymore until

5:49

she gets a letter from this very wealthy

5:51

woman whose husband has just died. And in

5:54

honor of him, she wants to commission this

5:56

English translation of this new, very esteemed

6:01

book of astronomy and she's like, oh

6:04

crap, the letter was addressed to her

6:06

father because everyone thinks her father's still been doing all of

6:08

this. So she's like, alright I'm gonna go to London and

6:10

talk to this woman in person and

6:13

this woman actually is into it.

6:15

She's like, alright well let's present your case

6:17

to this amateur astronomer society and the society

6:19

says, nope, you're a woman, you can't do

6:21

this. So it pisses both of them off

6:24

and the wealthy woman who's a countess is

6:26

like, alright fine, fuck you, I'm taking all

6:29

of my funding from the society

6:31

and I'm giving it to this woman to do this

6:34

translation and in the middle of all of

6:36

this they're falling in love with each other.

6:39

So it is so, it's like if you

6:41

are into science, like women in STEM, historical

6:44

romance, it's just so charming because these two

6:46

women and they're like, oh no, I can't,

6:48

I can't look at her but oh, her

6:50

dress is so beautiful. It's like so sweet

6:53

but also like it's these two women who

6:55

are fighting for women in STEM and

6:57

the 1800s in London, it's just

6:59

so wonderful. So that's the Ladies Guide

7:01

to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite and

7:04

mine is Rental Person Who Does Nothing

7:06

by Shoji Morimoto translated by Don Notum.

7:13

We want to take a moment to

7:15

share some listener feedback. Folks, we got

7:17

an amazingly overwhelming amount of email about

7:19

book organization systems. Oh, okay. This might

7:21

be the thing that we got the

7:23

most emails about. Mm-hmm. Mostly from those

7:25

chaos goblins who don't organize their book.

7:27

And I shouldn't be surprised about it because it's 20%, 28% of readers.

7:31

Yes, yeah. But they're here, they're, and they're

7:33

ready to be recognized. Stacy wrote in to

7:35

say, I don't organize my books. I'm primarily

7:38

a digital reader, e-books and audiobooks and I

7:40

have one physical bookshelf. It is a mix

7:42

of mine and my husband's books and it

7:45

is a complete mess. There is no rhyme

7:47

or reason to their placement. I have generally

7:49

divided it between his books and mine, but

7:51

within my own books, it's a complete mishmash

7:54

of everything. It's not organized by size, read

7:56

versus unread, genre or anything else. I

7:58

have no reason behind this. I also don't feel

8:01

bad about it. If I ever have to read

8:03

a book, I do have to dig through them,

8:05

but I do it infrequently enough that it doesn't

8:07

bother me. These people are like, I just imagine,

8:09

you know that scene from the Star Wars where

8:11

Luke Skywalker's meditating and he's levitating and he has

8:14

no thoughts or worries? That's what

8:16

these people are to me. I wonder

8:18

if it's also, Mallory, an e-reader thing, because

8:20

it's like, we don't have to look at

8:22

the shelf and pull, I'm

8:24

never pulling books from my shelf. Very,

8:26

very rarely do I have to do that. So I wonder if it's

8:29

just like, we don't have to think about it that often. So

8:31

if you have a box in your house that you don't

8:33

have to look through very often, even if it's on display,

8:35

you know what I mean? So maybe it's an e-reader versus

8:37

physical reader thing that once

8:39

we put them up there, we're like, I don't

8:41

have to think about that anymore. There's another element

8:43

too, a lot of people emailed in and were

8:45

like, there's no organizational system for my books, but

8:47

I know where everything is. And I'm like, can

8:50

you also shoot lasers with your eyes? That's

8:52

a, that's a, that's a good one. That is

8:54

like, holy shit, incredible. Mariana

8:56

wrote in and said, I am one of those

8:58

insane people that has zero organization on their bookshelves.

9:01

I don't know how it works, but it does.

9:03

I have no problem finding a book when I

9:05

read it. I know where every book

9:07

is located because I have such a memory of where

9:09

I placed that book on the shelf. Thanks

9:11

for the amazing podcast. You are both too funny and

9:13

have the most unique way of talking about books, I

9:16

love it. I think I'm gonna, instead of

9:18

Chaos Goblets, I think I'm gonna start calling them book

9:20

jettas. Okay, great. Where they can

9:22

just find whatever book they need. I

9:24

do feel like, you know, like

9:26

there is something about my home where I do feel

9:28

like I can find most things I need. Although sometimes,

9:30

hey, Melora is over and not that long ago. And

9:32

she was like, where's that thing that someone sent us

9:34

for reading glasses? And I was

9:37

like, I truly have no idea. But most of the time

9:39

I can, I can like pinpoint if someone's like, where's the

9:41

tape? I'm like, tape? Last time

9:43

I saw it, it's in the top drawer of this

9:45

one. You know, like, I feel like, so maybe it's

9:47

that. They just like, you know, they put the book

9:49

there. They remember where they put it. I just imagine

9:51

these incredible glassers, they stand in front of a messy

9:53

bookshelf and they just hold out their hand and the

9:55

book like slides off the shelf into it. Like that

9:57

is, it's so impressive to me. Katie.

10:00

wrote in to say, hi, I feel like I don't

10:02

really have a system. I mainly separate between read and

10:04

unread, but I don't keep books I've read unless I

10:06

really love them. I will either donate them or give

10:08

them to someone I think will love them. So the

10:10

unread is less the shelf than most of the shelves.

10:13

Despite the lack of organization, I feel like I can

10:15

find books when I need them. But if I needed

10:17

to tell someone else where to find a book, I

10:19

think it would be basically impossible, which is why I

10:21

don't think there is a system. It's also nice to

10:24

just browse my own bookshelves and stumble upon things since

10:26

I am a mood reader. Oh interesting. That is kind

10:28

of cool. You're making your books into kind of

10:30

like a treasure hoard that you

10:32

can browse at your leisure. Yeah, also I wonder

10:34

if it works better for mood readers who can

10:36

just go and like, oh, I'm in

10:38

the mood for this. You know, like that maybe

10:41

it is less about knowing where to go. It's

10:43

like having a bookstore in your house. An

10:45

organized bookstore. Oh, used bookstore in your

10:47

house. Alright, so you can email us

10:51

at readingglassespodcast.com if you want a list of all the

10:53

books we talk about on the show delivered to your

10:55

inbox every month. You can sign up for our newsletter.

10:57

There's a link in the show notes. And before we

11:00

talk about how to read better, we're going to take

11:02

a quick break. Hey,

11:10

you. Yeah, you don't

11:12

look around. We are talking directly to

11:14

you. It is

11:17

a 2024 maximum fund drive. What does that mean?

11:20

Well, it's maximum

11:25

fund drive. We're just like Patreon, right? Except

11:27

we are a podcast network. So if you're

11:29

trying to figure out what the hell we're

11:31

talking about, think about we're like NPR, we're

11:33

like Patreon. We are like your public radio.

11:36

We are like Patreon. You can give us

11:38

money every month to keep us going. You

11:40

sign up, you support us every month, and

11:42

that money goes to help us make green

11:44

glasses and also to our network, which is

11:46

a co-op, cooperatively run. We like

11:48

that, which means every cent supports real

11:50

people making the podcasts that you love.

11:53

So folks, all right, reading

11:55

glasses comes out every single week, which means that

11:57

it was a full time job for us. We

11:59

write the episodes, we record them, we produce them,

12:01

we edit them, and we promote the show. Well,

12:03

someone else edits some, but yes. In-house. We know

12:06

what I mean. We do it in-house. We do

12:08

it in-house. It's all our team.

12:10

You pay to have someone do that. That's

12:12

correct. So thanks to our Maximum Fun members, which again

12:14

is like our version of Patreon patrons, we

12:17

are able to stay independent and have

12:19

total creative control over the show. That means we're

12:21

allowed to swear. We can use slide whistles. We can

12:23

review plastic bags. We can talk about horny fairies, and

12:26

no one's going to stop us. Natalie can make as many boner

12:28

jokes as she wants, and no one tells us not to. No

12:30

one can stop me. And

12:32

it's listeners like you that make this possible.

12:35

So have you been listening to the show for a

12:37

while? Maybe we've helped your reading life. We

12:40

are asking you to help us back for

12:42

just five bucks. Yeah. So by the time

12:44

you listen to this, Maximum Fun Drive has

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already been done. In fact, we're

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almost halfway through now, right? Yeah. We're

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halfway through. Right now you can go to

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maximumfun.org/join and support reading glasses for as little

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as $5 a month. Or,

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that's not very much, $5. Or

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upgrade your existing membership. So you're already a member. You can

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go a little bit higher. And

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for just five bucks a month, not only

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do you get our eternal gratitude and help

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us continuing to make this show every week,

13:12

but Bria, what's all the stuff they get?

13:15

They get an invite to our Slack channel,

13:17

which is my favorite place on the internet,

13:20

about all of the bookish things that you want to talk

13:22

about. Zoom parties, which we

13:24

have about once every quarter, sometimes more

13:26

often, where we hang out

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content. This year we did an episode about bookish TV

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shows from the 90s, but we also have bonus episodes

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about the best and worst book adaptations, our

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favorite comfort reads. Not to mention a whole

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year's worth of anticipated book episodes from last

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year, plus a ton of recommendation episodes. We've

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done so many of these bonus episodes, and

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you can only get them if you're a

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Maximum Fun member. So,

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yes, hours and hours of extra reading glasses for just

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five bucks. So just

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go to maximumfun.org/join. That's

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maximumfun.org slash join. Folks, it

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really means so much. to us. It means a lot to

14:01

our hungry pets. Reading glasses literally pays my

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rent. That is how I am able to stay alive

14:05

and live in my home and feed my cats. It

14:08

means... And we like Mallory living in her home

14:10

and feeding her cats. It would be cool if

14:12

I was a ghost, but I would like to

14:14

stay alive at least a little bit longer just

14:16

because there's so many good books. There's a new ton

14:18

of French book. Yeah, you got to stay alive for

14:20

that. I got to stay alive for that. Folks, it

14:23

really, really means the world to us.

14:25

We absolutely love our members. We're biased,

14:28

but we think they're the best bookish community on the internet.

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And you can join them and get

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maximumfun.org/join. Join.

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Join. Join. Join.

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Join. Join. Join.

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Join. Join. Join.

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Join. Join. Join. Join.

14:54

Join. Welcome

14:56

to our live episode. To celebrate the occasion,

14:59

which happens only once a year, we are

15:01

gathering our best tips and tricks from almost

15:03

seven years of reading glasses to help you

15:05

read better, not necessarily more or

15:07

faster, but better. So, Bria,

15:09

we've been doing this show for

15:12

a long ass time. What are

15:14

tricks that you've learned along the way that

15:16

have helped improve your personal reading life?

15:18

We've only been doing it for seven years.

15:21

Isn't that bonkers? How am I seven years

15:23

older than when we started? That's wild. A

15:26

couple of young bookish gals. Never

15:29

knew what the future was going to hold. Okay,

15:31

first of all, I'm going to

15:33

say the library has been a

15:36

really big game changer for me.

15:38

I was already using the library

15:40

when we started, but because of

15:42

this show, I've learned so much

15:44

more. I know how to request

15:46

books, even through the very horribly complicated Libby

15:48

app, which has gotten complicated in the last

15:51

year or so for some weird reason. I

15:53

know how to ask my librarian for things.

15:55

I know how I can get non-book related

15:57

things from the library. I like

15:59

just... the Los Angeles Public Library site

16:01

to see what my librarians are suggesting, book-wise. Nobody

16:04

knows the hottest books better than librarians and booksellers.

16:06

Yeah, so just generally trying to look at the

16:08

library and using the library more and more as

16:10

a public resource and a resource for me that

16:13

as a member of the public I pay for

16:15

and I enjoy, that's been something that's really helped

16:17

me in my reading life. What

16:20

about you? What's a tip and a trick

16:22

you feel like you've learned? Something I

16:24

think we don't, we haven't talked about on

16:26

the show a lot recently but has really, really helped

16:28

me is stop thinking about people watching

16:30

and judging what I fucking read. Oh yeah. Because

16:33

I feel like something that really hampers people's

16:35

reading lives, mine included, is the thought of

16:37

how your reading habits are going to be

16:40

perceived by people. Like someone coming

16:42

into your apartment, looking at your book, someone seeing you reading

16:44

on the train, whatever it is. This

16:46

happened to me before social media even started and

16:48

it happens to me now as an author and

16:50

book podcaster whose reading choices are scrutinized by tens

16:53

of thousands of people every day. Right.

16:56

And it's hard to do, to

16:58

reach for a book and not have that

17:00

moment of like, oh well, is this

17:02

book cool? Is this book worthy of reading? Can

17:05

I read this book in public? Are people going to look at this and think,

17:08

look at this, intellectual

17:10

over here? It's

17:12

hard to not consider that at all.

17:15

But once you're free, it's

17:17

like unplugging from the matrix without the

17:19

slime. It just feels amazing and that's

17:21

something that the show has really helped

17:23

me and I hope that we

17:26

can help people do. All

17:28

books are real books. All books

17:30

are worthy of being read in public.

17:32

I mean, maybe you don't want to

17:34

read gurgle, erotica, when you're

17:36

at the daycare, perhaps. But

17:41

all genres are worth reading and being

17:43

able to read for you, not what you think

17:45

you should read. I think that almost

17:47

more than anything has really, really

17:49

improved my reading life. I like that. What

17:51

else? What do you think? Using my time

17:53

wisely. Sometimes that means

17:55

dumping a book that I'm not enjoying,

17:57

even if that book has really I'm

18:00

almost through the book, which I recently was reading a book

18:02

and I was more than halfway through the book and I

18:04

was like, I just can't keep reading this book. This is

18:06

a way of telling my time to finish this book. Sometimes

18:09

it means reading a book of poetry while I'm waiting

18:11

for someone at a copy shop. Sometimes it means giving

18:13

myself time to read something I'm really enjoying. That is

18:15

a good use of my time to read something I'm

18:17

really enjoying, you know? Also it

18:19

means plugging in the audio book, plugging it in like I

18:22

have to like, hold on, let me get out the house.

18:25

You have Agnes running on a little video. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

18:27

Come on, we gotta go. I'm just thinking about how I

18:29

want to use my time when it relates

18:31

to reading and books has really helped. What

18:33

else do you have? That is sort of

18:36

connected to mine, which is if it's not

18:38

fun or enjoyable, stop doing it. Yeah. Which

18:40

I think is so hard because when we grow up, reading

18:43

is so intertwined with school

18:46

and work and like stuff that you have to

18:48

do that one of the, I think the biggest

18:50

things when you're an adult to

18:52

enjoy reading is to be able to uncouple that and be

18:54

like, okay, no, I don't have to read this for a

18:56

book report. I don't have to read 100 pages

18:59

of this before Friday for my English teacher. Like this

19:01

is just a purely fun thing. But

19:04

something that really helped me is it doesn't just go

19:06

for reading. It also goes for book

19:08

related activities. You know, people,

19:11

I think when some people get in the bookish community,

19:13

they feel so beholden to doing these things. Like, they're

19:16

like, oh, well, you know, a lot of people are

19:18

tracking the reading. I don't really want to, but like,

19:20

stop doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you hate your

19:23

fucking book club? Stop going. Yeah. You're

19:25

doing a reading challenge because you're it's buzzy on Instagram,

19:28

but it's making you feel overwhelmed. Fucking tap

19:30

out. I think about the number of book clubs that we've

19:32

destroyed by telling people to stop going. But

19:34

if you don't like it, don't go. There's I'm sure there's

19:36

some books that we book clubs that we've helped start because

19:38

other people are like, hopefully, I don't like this book club.

19:40

I'm going to do my own. Yes.

19:42

I think it just helped me. It helps me so

19:44

much. My reading life to get rid of things that

19:47

are stressing me out. Like,

19:49

you know, last year when I was like, I'm going to try the

19:51

amount of pages I read every day. I

19:53

was like, this makes me want to pull my

19:55

eyeballs out. I'm so stressed out about this. And

19:57

I just was like, I'm Just going to stop doing

19:59

it. At like we were the ultimate.

20:01

Boss of you. Want. No. No one's

20:04

making you didn't like soap. the book please aren't

20:06

com ng me at me angry Are watching you

20:08

fit for a teacher? like the show but you

20:10

don't be like I notice you're reading lately. I

20:12

phone by the wayside you have him updated your

20:14

book journal and monitor. How are we the take

20:16

it out of the season which is as the

20:18

libraries but I think. That. I'm

20:20

just letting go of those book related activities that

20:22

you think that you should do to be able.

20:25

This person you know how to do any of

20:27

that stuff to be Booker's Yeah, just like books

20:29

and you don't need to be, don't need to

20:31

be in your book club. Of.

20:37

What aspirin and attract new genres and books

20:39

that sound interesting like I can be a

20:41

person who's like I only read the specific

20:43

genre like very January Horror and sign as

20:45

I read write and because powder identity it

20:48

dies and but because of the show and

20:50

listeners I have been open up to romance

20:52

to more memoirs to non fix and in

20:54

a way that I didn't them never would

20:56

have thought I would have been a just

20:59

by looking at what other people are reading

21:01

and asking people what they're reading and is

21:03

being interested in like a in that oh

21:05

these people. I. Have some seven

21:07

com with I'm I'm interested in what they're

21:09

reading and like I wanna find out and

21:11

so it I am been of more open

21:14

to new genres. And

21:16

just listening to other people's both opinions, I found I've

21:18

just become way more open to it where I think

21:20

there are the time people be like. I'm.

21:23

Reading this thing and mince a celebrity memorabilia, an

21:25

animal care for and like you know what? I'd

21:27

turn off my now turn off my ears but

21:29

in Edinburgh and now I feel like I am

21:32

much more open. Because. They're actually

21:34

have been linked to some real gems

21:36

I sound with. People were talking and

21:38

about substitutes, both listening to new ideas

21:40

and being not scared to approach a

21:42

new genre that I've not really familiar.

21:44

I remember the first western I ever

21:46

read. Lonesome Dove by Larry. Mcmurtry we

21:49

just like will always remain. One of my

21:51

favorite books. I was so resistant to it for so

21:53

long even though it so many people that you know

21:55

it's one of the great American classics. Sounds like I'm

21:57

not someone who reads westerns to. I would like a

21:59

dad see a. My friend

22:01

Liberty Hardy over at Book Rye. It was like.

22:04

This book is incredible and finally I was like well Liberty

22:06

thinks it's I good We have very similar bookcase and I

22:08

read it and I was like. Be. A

22:10

It took. You to meet extra long to

22:12

read because I kept having to punch myself in

22:14

the face every few channels. So I was like

22:16

this was incredible and I have not wanted to

22:19

read it for so long as I didn't think

22:21

that I was a western reader. Now it's time

22:23

for my Myself Sledge Hammer. Have

22:25

between every every so often for not

22:27

reading was not. With

22:30

has been able to like let go of that

22:32

A because there are we done episodes on this

22:34

Like how much reading ties into your identity Yeah,

22:36

like that's not. The way I. Yeah.

22:39

For me, it's also been. you don't have to

22:42

do a lot. Freer. Can be tested

22:44

I'm one of those people that like well if

22:46

I can't devote my entire life to at why

22:48

bot lane asset why bother us as sometimes I

22:50

feel like that is and it's hard for me

22:52

to be like oh well you know I only

22:54

in I only have a half an hour. And

22:56

my head on like I'll just sit there

22:59

and be stress out on my phone, but

23:01

that's a half an hour of reading last

23:03

time. The lot of time getting into or

23:05

back into reading can be really daunting, especially

23:07

as it's one of those things where people

23:09

are like always have time to read. But

23:11

if the goal is to enjoy your book

23:13

and not get a bunch of reading done,

23:15

it is so much easier to sit down

23:17

and just read a chapter and accounts aig.

23:20

Even. Taunt! Ten to twenty minutes of reading

23:22

everyday makes a difference in a Definitely d

23:24

stresses me and I feel like again I

23:26

it's also tied to this idea that like

23:28

reading his work reading is like the special

23:30

saying like know you can sit down for

23:32

ten minutes Reason for can smile on your

23:34

phone and like that's reading Yeah. Yeah,

23:37

Like you don't? You don't. You don't have to

23:39

sit down with at home for six hours and

23:41

like. You. Can just have it like as

23:43

a fun little. Treat for yourself. would

23:45

urge more your final thoughts on.

23:47

How to read better throws out. There is

23:49

an ivy league just because of doing the show

23:51

and thinking about the up with touchdowns so as

23:54

it either had a much more like. and

23:56

another delay putting this like a three

23:58

sixty virtual reality way of viewing my

24:00

reading life, which I guess is just

24:02

a reality way. But it's, okay, like

24:05

basically like thinking about reading

24:07

as part of my life in general. So I'm

24:09

going on a trip, I'm going to pack a

24:11

book about that place, right? I'm writing about a

24:13

historical figure. I read a book for fun, just

24:15

said during that time, right? Like I'm not, I'm

24:17

not just using reading for

24:19

escapism anymore. Like I'm

24:21

incorporating it more into every aspect. You're

24:24

a reality with it. Yeah. Okay. Maybe it's

24:26

a, yeah, maybe it's not virtual reality. Augmented

24:29

reality. Augmented reality, which is, that's very

24:31

funny to think about. But yes, I think

24:33

that's what I'm feeling. Like I've just started

24:36

augmenting my life a bit more by thinking about

24:38

what I'm reading in the,

24:40

in relationship to the rest of my life. I

24:43

think what a lot of these things for both

24:45

of us are is taking reading out of the

24:48

realm of like stuff you have to get done,

24:50

stuff that you have to do, stuff that is

24:52

productive and putting it squarely into the realm of

24:54

like something that is fun and can enhance your

24:56

life and just bring you joy and happiness. And

24:58

it doesn't matter what, how many pages you read

25:01

a day. It doesn't matter what genres you read.

25:03

It doesn't matter if what you read is one,

25:05

a Pulitzer prize, just making

25:07

it something that's a nice

25:09

thing to do. Yeah. Like eating a snack. Eating

25:12

a little snack, little brain

25:14

snack. So you can send your

25:16

thoughts to readingglassespodcast.com. We'd love to know

25:19

how, how you read better. Before we share more

25:21

of our best reading tips, we're going to take a quick break. Yeah,

25:28

2024 maximum fun

25:32

drive. When people

25:34

find out to support us, they get so

25:36

much stuff. But on top of that, we're

25:38

doing extra stuff. Extra,

25:41

extra stuff. If you will. Mm hmm.

25:43

We've got reading glasses, specific goals on

25:46

top of all the other things that

25:48

are happening, which means more fun events

25:50

and episodes for you. Bria, what are some of the

25:52

things that we're doing? Okay, here

25:54

we go. Ready? Now, I was just thinking,

25:56

you know, this meme that says when

25:58

you're when you're mean to. somebody you're mean to

26:00

this. Yeah. Like a little sad thing. Well,

26:03

this is when you're supporting us, you're supporting

26:05

this and it's just a book, it's just

26:07

book buddy and he's waving at you. All

26:09

right. If we get 50 new

26:11

or upgrading members, we're going to do another

26:14

readathon. We love our readathons. I'm

26:16

so pumped. Doing them. This is very fun

26:18

for us. Um, at a hundred, we're going

26:20

to bring back the erotica reading book

26:22

club. This year is a doozy. Now

26:25

I tell people what it is. This was

26:27

actually requested multiple times. And y'all know we

26:29

do this during the maximum fund drive if

26:31

we hit a hundred early, so we got

26:33

to hit that number early. Yes. And so

26:35

many people in the Slack had asked us

26:37

to do this book. It's

26:40

morning glory milking farm by CM

26:42

Nacosta. All I know

26:44

is that there is a, I guess it's some

26:46

sort of cryptid milking

26:49

facility where a woman works

26:51

at and falls in love with a Minotaur who

26:53

comes in. To get milked.

26:56

We're going

26:58

to read this book and we're going to talk about it.

27:00

We'll each their own. You know, and we're going to talk,

27:02

we're going to talk about it and we'll do this during

27:04

the maximum fund drive. If we make that a hundred new

27:06

or upgrading members. Excited for that one.

27:09

And 150, we're going to do a live bookshelf

27:11

tour of our books. If we get that during

27:13

the fund drive, we'll also do that during the

27:15

drive. Hello, everybody. Bria stepping in here because, uh,

27:18

we have a lot of updates and what we

27:20

recorded, uh, no longer is

27:22

relevant. So wanting to update you

27:24

on the reading glasses goals and

27:26

where we're at with the reading glasses

27:28

goals. So our goal is from 2024. We

27:31

should let you know we've already reached a few, right?

27:33

We got the readathon, which was our first

27:36

goal. That means we're going to have another readathon this

27:38

year. We also got our erotica read.

27:41

Mallory and I are both in the process

27:43

of reading morning glory milking farm. That's the,

27:45

uh, Minotaur erotica. For those

27:47

of you who were wondering, uh,

27:50

there's a lot going on

27:52

there. I got a text from Mallory saying that

27:54

she really, uh, hopes to never hear the word

27:56

sweep cream Ever again.. I Haven't started

27:58

it, but, um, We got

28:01

that were also we are marked

28:03

are bookshelf to are so tonight

28:05

tonight. Mallory. And I. Are.

28:07

Going to show You are Bookshelves at

28:10

Five Pm Pst on Instagram Lives of

28:12

you Listening to this. This happened on

28:14

Thursday. We're gonna show You Are Bookshelves!

28:16

Oh and the Erotica book clubs that

28:19

is on Sunday at two pm. Pst.

28:21

Also on I Instagram like to check

28:23

that out and. At the time

28:25

and recording this. And. We.

28:28

Are ten nine people away? This is

28:30

Wednesday night were nine people away from

28:32

our two hundred person goal which is

28:34

which will unlock the reward of how

28:36

many books Mallory can list. She's gonna

28:38

see how many books that she can

28:40

left. If we get just no more

28:42

people, that could be you. You could

28:44

be the person who gets Mallory to

28:46

put books into tote bags and see

28:49

how much she can list. Very.

28:51

Exciting. Okay, back

28:53

to our list because we haven't achieved

28:55

these yet. and ah, we want to

28:57

tell you about them. But what else

28:59

we're married at? to Hondo? Two hundred

29:01

new are upgrading members. I wanna see

29:03

how many books I can live. To

29:06

be this is something that was specifically requested by

29:08

a lot of people. We try to do it

29:10

last year and so were making it a more

29:12

attainable goal this year. I'm also much stronger than

29:15

I was very excited. A yearly gall lot of

29:17

lot a Pr is this year and I'm very,

29:19

very pumped of Bria. What are we doing at

29:21

Three Hundred People? We're going to read the North

29:23

Wing Mallory and I have not read fourth leading.

29:26

Everyone wants us to all really want us to

29:28

and look. I know people really reading,

29:30

you know run one reader supported the shelves. Yes,

29:32

it is a lot of under. I've worried you

29:34

all sorts of an embryo. It is for you

29:36

and we. Are. Slam Barry curious up

29:38

for doing so. I were not such a thing

29:40

as people, just any a book that Brie and

29:42

I don't worry they assume we don't want to

29:44

read it but I'm I'm I'm ready for fourth.

29:46

were greeted us and I wouldn't do we have

29:49

four hundred new are upgrading members as a lot.

29:51

Blind. Us so we normally do these

29:53

quarterly honor online meet up for members only,

29:55

but this year we're going on. If we

29:58

have four hundred people we are unlocking. The

30:00

themed version of Than. Including

30:02

the first one which is gonna be a

30:04

book recommendation party. Ill know you want it.

30:07

To. Love these recommendations. Bring books you want to

30:09

talk about, Bring types of books you were desperate

30:11

for and we're all just a hangouts and talk

30:13

about what books were looking for and recommend books

30:15

to be what's going to be so much. Fine,

30:17

but we need four hundred new. Or upgrading

30:19

members to get their. Ryota

30:22

We do. Hundred! Wow you

30:24

the slide whistle. Ah we're gonna do a

30:26

horny sorry but club we sure are going

30:28

to write a horny ferry book and we're

30:30

going to discuss it with their to get

30:33

to the bought A very exciting why people

30:35

are so February side is about it. very

30:37

excited and then Mallory I'd is a big

30:39

one at six hundred which is a lot

30:41

for us or is hop regular goal this

30:43

is our tippy top. Ah. Both.

30:46

Last year we unlock it has been a

30:48

book that buses but they were for members

30:50

only. but this year. At

30:52

six hundred and new upgrading members, we

30:54

going to bring them into the mean

30:56

feed. So folks if you sign up

30:59

at Maximum fun.org such join or upgrade

31:01

your membership. You could help contribute. To.

31:03

Bringing more glass or content more

31:06

glasser episodes more reading glasses to

31:08

the public news. Be a book

31:10

is hero. And

31:13

of absence has to do because he had

31:15

you a lot of research and I which

31:17

Mallory honestly does ninety nine percent of it.

31:20

You you poor boy. what's your but married

31:22

as you. a lot of work and always

31:24

you pull books. For. Us to talk

31:26

about she'll suppose like. A lot of additional

31:28

books or she's like we didn't talk about the is that

31:30

these feel like books that they closers. Would want and

31:32

I read all the wheelhouse items for the know

31:35

and. You can be looking at those and you

31:37

can say oh this is a someone's i should

31:39

preorder and by the way we're done with those,

31:41

were doing them any more, They're not going into

31:43

debt Them member feet anymore. Begin be all year

31:45

of. I'm the only way to get these anticipated

31:47

books Episodes for each corner. A

31:49

threat Three, six and remember. Yep, So. For

31:51

just five dollars. find that and some

31:53

places you cable by a coffee for

31:55

that. That's. True, in

31:58

Los Angeles, you cannot cheaper than a class. cheaper

32:00

than a book, you can help

32:02

us reach all of these goals.

32:04

All you have to do is

32:07

go to maximumfun.org/join. That's maximumfun.org/join. Plus

32:09

tonight, because it was

32:11

unlocked, we are doing the live

32:14

bookshelf tour on Instagram at

32:16

5 p.m. Pacific Time. Go on our Instagram

32:18

Reading Glasses podcast and you will get to

32:20

see what reanized bookshelves look like. We're gonna

32:22

show you. We're gonna bring you into our

32:24

homes. It's like the bookish version of that

32:26

Architecture Digest type of video that

32:28

celebrities do, but it's Bria and I and we're

32:30

bringing you into our bookshelves. And then Bria,

32:33

what is happening this Friday? This is our

32:35

first big event. Tomorrow we're doing a bookish

32:38

family feud at 6 p.m. Pacific. Mal,

32:40

are you gonna tell people what that

32:42

means? Yes. So what, so we have

32:44

done bookish trivia and that's very fun,

32:47

but we want to get the Glassers

32:49

involved. So tomorrow night, Friday, we are

32:51

doing a bookish family feud where

32:54

the Glass, you are playing. If you were

32:56

a member, you go to maxwellandfund.org/join,

32:58

you are an official Glasser. You will

33:00

join, you're a whole team of Glassers.

33:02

All the Glassers are gonna be together

33:04

and you are going to play as

33:06

a team, play Reading Glasses specific family

33:08

feud. And if you unlock a certain

33:10

amount of points, we will unlock a

33:13

special event just for you. But you got

33:15

to do, you have to, you got to win. Bria

33:18

and I are hosting and you are the teams.

33:20

That's right, that's right. And family feud, you know,

33:22

it's, it's, it's not trivia. It's like, you know,

33:24

we surveyed these people

33:26

and this percentage of the people said it. That's

33:28

the most popular answer. Yeah. Yes. It's gonna be

33:30

so much fun, but this is again members only.

33:32

It will be on Zoom to join. You

33:35

have to go to maxwellandfund.org/join to sign up to

33:37

support us. Email us your receipt and if you

33:39

aren't in the Slack, don't want to do the

33:41

Slack, we'll just send you the Zoom link. But

33:43

if you're in the Slack, we are going to

33:45

be posting the Zoom link. Again, it's members only,

33:48

but if you ever wanted to join with your

33:50

other Glossers on a family feud team and test

33:52

your bookish knowledge, this is gonna

33:54

be so much fun. Mm-hmm.

33:56

And then Sunday, Bria, we're... doing

34:00

something very different

34:02

to hone. Sunday because we've unlocked

34:04

our erotica book club which I'm

34:07

thankful but am I? 2pm Pacific

34:09

Mallory to tell people what we're reading?

34:12

We have read Morning Glory Milking

34:14

Farm by CM Nacosta. We sure

34:17

have and we have thoughts about it. Last

34:19

year we did the gargoyle erotica this year

34:22

I guess it's Minotaur erotica. Yep. And we're

34:24

gonna talk about it and

34:26

figure out why people are

34:28

so horny for this. Can

34:30

I ask a question? Oh

34:32

yeah. Minotaurs are human heads

34:34

or human... cow heads. Cow

34:36

heads. Bull head, body. Whoa

34:38

that's not what I expected for some reason. That's

34:44

different. I thought... You thought it

34:46

was the other way around? Human head. And

34:52

a bull body?

34:55

A bull body. That seems like

34:57

a... okay. You know like I

35:00

guess I gotta see where you got there. Bull body.

35:02

The head would be too small. The head

35:05

would be too small. A human size head on a

35:07

bull? No but no okay

35:09

no but that's a centaur right? A

35:11

centaur. Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah. That's

35:13

confusing. I was thinking of the centaur.

35:15

It was a human half like torso.

35:17

No other way around. Two

35:20

bull legs. Yeah. But

35:22

this you're telling me. Two human

35:25

legs and human... yep. Okay

35:29

underneath. Yep. Undercarriage

35:31

and then and then and where

35:33

does the bull start? The

35:35

neck. Oh my god. Yeah. It's

35:37

a full torso of a person. Yep. A man.

35:40

It's just bull head. Wow.

35:42

Which means a bull tongue. Which sure

35:47

comes into play. But we're gonna we're gonna be discussing it

35:49

live. Is that a tail? No. Okay.

35:52

It's just got a regular butt I

35:54

think. But all

35:57

your questions will be answered 2 p.m.

35:59

Pacific. time on our Instagram, Sunday

36:01

the 24th. We're doing all this

36:03

stuff in the hopes that you will

36:06

want to support us and help us make this

36:08

show every week. So let's recap. Bria, for a

36:10

measly $5 a month, what does

36:12

that get somebody? Well, it helps

36:14

us stay independent, helps us keep the show

36:16

going every week. You get access to the

36:18

Slack, you get hours of bonus episodes, you

36:20

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37:10

Okay, we are back. The first section was

37:12

tips and tricks on how to read better.

37:14

This section we are tapping in book tech

37:16

that we have tested out, reviewed, checked out

37:18

over the past seven years that has improved

37:20

our reading lives. Bria, what is some book

37:22

tech that you think is essential to reading

37:24

better? Well, for me, the shower speaker has

37:26

been huge. I do love the shower speaker.

37:28

I use that little sucker almost every day.

37:31

I used to be a silent shower taker. No talking

37:33

in the shower! Just extremely quiet, just me and the

37:35

running water. Sometimes I still am, but I think this

37:37

is a good way for me to fit in more

37:39

reading time because my phone

37:42

isn't loud enough. That shower speaker makes a big difference.

37:44

It really does. It's a great book tech that I

37:46

have incorporated into my life. What about you? Mine

37:49

has been embracing other book formats. Okay.

37:51

Remember, when we first started the show, I was like a strict

37:54

print reader. Yeah, you were. And

37:56

anti. I wouldn't say anti. Anti. Hey!

38:00

I was an anti-ebook, but I was

38:02

very pro-print. That was my thing. But

38:05

ever since we started doing the show, over

38:07

the years I've really embraced audiobooks and ebooks,

38:09

especially on my phone. It just

38:11

added so much to my reading life. It was

38:13

just so nice to replace scrolling Twitter with reading

38:15

a book on my phone, listening to an audiobook

38:18

in the shower. I have an anxiety disorder, so

38:20

my brain is running at full capacity at all

38:22

times, thinking about multiple things at once, but I

38:24

can't do that when I'm listening to an audiobook.

38:26

It's like putting a binky in the mouth of

38:29

my anxiety. I have to

38:31

shut it the fuck up. So it's so nice that

38:33

instead of being in the shower and thinking about

38:35

the emails that I have to answer, I'm hearing somebody tell

38:37

me a story. Or

38:39

when I'm walking or doing

38:42

laundry, really opening myself up to

38:44

trying other book formats and being like, nope, all

38:46

books are real books, all book formats count. All

38:49

reading is reading. That really has changed

38:52

my life. What else? I'm

38:55

using all my online apps. A

38:58

Libby storygraph, even though

39:00

I'm a newbie to storygraph, I've been enjoying

39:02

it. I use Libby all

39:04

the time. So just that as a tip and

39:06

a trick and a thing that I think about

39:08

a lot, I find it to be very helpful.

39:10

Literally on our break, I was checking Libby to

39:12

see if a book came in. This

39:15

is something that I use all the time. And

39:17

yeah, I think this is something we've tested on

39:19

the show and I've started using and I like

39:21

it. You know what I really like using Libby

39:23

for is checking out new releases because the browsing

39:25

on there is so great that sometimes if I'm

39:28

bored, I'll be like, you know what I really

39:30

wanna do? Just browse some audio books

39:32

on Libby and I will like, you can

39:34

toggle it for audio books, you can have it

39:36

set to fill new releases first and then you

39:38

can pick different categories and the categories are pretty

39:41

specific. So you're like, I wanna look at whatever

39:43

new historical fiction just came out and it's so

39:45

nice. I

39:47

sometimes do it at night because it does scratch that. Scrolling.

39:50

Add to cart itch. Yeah, that's nice. That

39:52

comes after 9 p.m. I'm

39:55

like, I'm just gonna look at Libby and see what

39:57

audio books I can put on hold. Great. What

40:00

else is making your life better tech-wise? My

40:02

other thing is anything that makes reading more comfortable

40:04

and feel like a little treat. Okay. You

40:07

know, like book pillows, book

40:09

cape, the blankets that we've tested out. It's

40:11

just such a huge factor in making reading

40:13

feel more like fun and less like work.

40:16

Like, ooh, you curl up with

40:18

a little cozy reading accessory. Maybe

40:21

I put on one of my little reading

40:23

ambiance videos, my Fairy Cottage Volume

40:25

4, and just treating

40:27

reading like a reward has been like really revolutionary to

40:30

me. Instead of like, I gotta sit down, I gotta

40:32

read. Like, no, like reading is like, oh, this is

40:34

something I get to do at the end of the

40:36

day. Yeah, it's going to a spa, but you're

40:38

at your house and you're doing it, you're making it

40:40

comfortable. I think myself. And no one's touching your feet

40:42

and you're not naked. When I go to the spa, I'm like, why

40:45

don't I wear a robe at home? Why don't I do these like

40:47

nice things? Why don't I put aromatherapy on at home, you

40:49

know? And like, that is something you can. You

40:51

can do that. You can make yourself have a

40:53

nice little spa day with your book at home.

40:56

Don't bring your book into the spa, though. It will get wrinkly. then

41:01

you're okay. Or you could put your e-reader in

41:03

a bag. That's right, because we're not sure that

41:05

it survives steam anyway. Yay! But

41:08

yeah, those are my two things, is like

41:10

being open to other types, like other formats,

41:12

and then just really leaning into like the

41:15

tactile joy of

41:18

reading has really helped me. If

41:20

you have any book tech you want us to

41:22

test out in future episodes, send it to readingglassespodcasts@gmail.com.

41:29

Now let's answer a recommendation request from one

41:31

of our listeners. Dawn writes in, hello, your

41:34

podcast has encouraged me to get back into

41:36

reading. Like many listeners, I used to be

41:38

a voracious reader. I'm currently in my final

41:40

year of my PhD, and I'm trying to

41:42

read regularly again. My issue is that I

41:44

can't deal with any suspense or tension because

41:47

I'm already too stressed. I find myself rereading

41:49

books I know well because I know what

41:51

stressful parts to skip. Can you recommend some

41:53

comforting books that won't stress me out? I've

41:55

tried a few of the cozy mysteries you

41:57

recommended and the suspense of the mysteries stressed.

42:00

Me I would do much. The Monk and Robot

42:02

books by Becky Chambers capture a lot of what

42:04

I'm looking for, but they're really short. I primarily

42:06

read speculative fiction, but I'd be happy to try

42:08

something else if you have a recommendation. Rhea, what

42:10

is Dawn's wheelhouse? Uh,

42:12

meaningful friendships. Teams of

42:14

skilled-clover people just solving problems.

42:17

Narrators with a distinct voice. History books

42:19

where the title is just a date.

42:22

Haha! Uh,

42:24

protagonists who aren't sure the world's worth saving but

42:26

are trying to save it anyway. Alright, what do

42:28

you think Dawn should read? I

42:30

was looking at this book and I thought that you would recommend

42:32

it. Um, I personally want to just say I feel bad for

42:34

people who are like, no, trust please. Because Mallory and I are

42:36

both like, please, more trust. Uh,

42:39

we would like, please, put more trust in our books.

42:41

Feel me, I can pay attention. It's so true!

42:43

And then we get, I'm like, oh no,

42:46

I don't know, every book I've read

42:48

in the, like, someone, it's life, it's

42:50

a literal life or death. Um, but

42:52

I'm getting read something not too stressful

42:54

because there is a mystery, and there's

42:57

lots of meaningful friendships. So I think

42:59

that this could really, uh, work. It's

43:01

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by, um,

43:03

Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Jeffrey Procelot? Procelo?

43:07

Truth slot? Oh. Truth slot? I'm

43:10

thinking maybe it's pronounced like moose. Oh,

43:12

truth slot. Okay. It all takes place at a Tokyo

43:14

coffee shop. There's a sequel, I think, that just came

43:16

out to this, but this one all takes place at

43:18

a Tokyo coffee shop. And if you sit in this

43:21

certain seat and you order a coffee, you

43:23

can go back in time to this certain time, but

43:25

there are a lot of rules about it, right? So

43:27

you can't get up from the seat, you can't change

43:29

anything that happened in the past, and you have to

43:31

drink your coffee, which is what sends you back to,

43:33

like, present day before it gets cold. Otherwise you, like,

43:36

start a weird ghost or something. Um, so

43:38

the stakes aren't too high because the people

43:40

going back in the past can't actually change

43:42

anything. They're just looking at stuff? Well, they

43:44

all are going back for, like, a purpose,

43:47

but it's like they get clarity on something

43:49

that they're trying. It's kind of like they're

43:51

getting clarity on, like, a life thing. Oh,

43:53

okay. So they're going back and they're talking

43:55

to people from, like, that

43:57

they know. Usually it's like it's when someone they know came

43:59

into this coffee. coffee shop like before something

44:01

happened or like they get clarity

44:03

on things. And so it is

44:05

a really nice little book and

44:07

you know that it's going to

44:09

end up okay. Everything's going to be enough. Okay. And

44:12

they can't, you know, do a lot because they have

44:14

to stay in the same seat and they, and nothing

44:16

is going to change in the future is what I'm

44:18

saying. So yes, it changes in the past that they

44:20

can talk to this person. They can't do not just

44:22

observing, but it's not going to change the outcome of

44:25

what. So if someone in the future,

44:27

you know, died in a car crash,

44:29

you can't tell them not to go, it's not going

44:31

to happen. So you can't go tell them that you

44:33

love them. Exactly. That's

44:36

so nice. Exactly. That's kind of my speed of

44:38

time travel though is like, I wouldn't want to

44:40

like be stressed out about like having to murder

44:42

a dictator. You know, I would just just want

44:45

to like have a coffee and look at stuff. Yeah. I

44:47

don't know if I, I mean, that just

44:49

seems like it'd be really hard to murder a dictator. I don't know.

44:52

Well, you already have to

44:54

travel through time, you know, a lot of pressure.

44:56

A lot of stuff to do in what trip

44:58

really is. What, what

45:00

do you have for Don? My

45:02

recommendation is a middle grade fantasy graphic novel

45:04

trilogy by Kay O'Neill. It's called the Tea

45:06

Dragon Society, big glass strip book. A lot

45:09

of glassers love this. It's a very cozy

45:11

story. It's about this blacksmith apprentice and she

45:13

finds a lost little tea dragon. And because

45:15

of that, she has to learn how to

45:17

take care of it and becomes entwined in

45:19

the world of taking care of tea dragons. It's

45:22

just a little tea dragon. Yeah. They like tea

45:25

or they're made of tea. I think they like

45:27

tea. Okay. You have to make tea for the

45:29

tea dragons. Okay. And it's adorable.

45:32

It's about making friends and the art is

45:34

really beautiful. It sounds exactly

45:36

like a almost PhD brain means just

45:38

like, look at pretty dragon. Right. Cute

45:42

story about friendship, like very low stakes, very

45:44

low stress. And it's funny that

45:46

I, one of the reasons I put this in here is because more and

45:48

more people are asking

45:50

for this and I'm seeing publishers advertise

45:53

this. Like there's a new book,

45:55

I think it's coming out by tour, but it was like high fantasy,

45:58

low stakes. And

46:00

Legends in Lattes, the subtitle of that has

46:04

low stakes in it. So I think that's like something

46:06

everyone's so stressed out now that people just want low

46:08

stakes, no stakes. Yeah, great.

46:11

So that's the Tea Dragon Society by

46:13

Kay O'Neill. And mine

46:15

is Before the Coffee Gets Cold

46:17

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Jeffrey

46:19

Tiswell. So

46:25

if you want us to answer your recommendation

46:27

request, you can send it to Reading Glasses

46:29

Podcast@gmail.com. Bria, can you believe the Maximum Fun

46:31

Drive is already happening? Happening? Mallory,

46:33

it's halfway over! Bonkers. And

46:35

right now, folks, you can go to maximumfun.org to

46:38

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46:41

a month. Or if you already have

46:43

an existing membership, you can upgrade it. Folks, we

46:45

pour so much goddamn work into this show. The

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reason we are able to do it is

46:50

because of our supporters. Like Bria

46:52

and I know that we can put work into this

46:54

show because it will love us back. We

46:56

know that it is worth it. It is

46:58

worth our time. We won't just be working

47:01

for free. Our supporters really are

47:03

the backbone. you

48:30

you