0:07

You're listening to Reading Glasses, a show about

0:09

book culture and literary life designed to help

0:11

you read better. I'm author and book devourer

0:13

Mallory O'Mara. And I'm Bria Grant, filmmaker and

0:16

e-reader. This episode, we're taking off a box

0:18

from the 2024 Reading

0:20

Glasses Glasses Glasses Challenge, read

0:23

a buzzy book from this year.

0:25

Plus, we test out spinner rings

0:27

for reading concentration and we solve

0:29

a problem about jacket copy. That

0:31

sounds like someone's copying the jacket

0:34

you're wearing, but we're talking about

0:36

books, book jacket covers and

0:38

the copy on them. That's what we're talking about.

0:41

But first, Bria, what are you reading? I

0:44

am reading what may be

0:46

my favorite book of all time. What?

0:49

I don't know. It is Beautyland, a book I

0:51

talked about that I wanted to read by Marie

0:53

Helene Bertino. Oh, and we both loved her last

0:56

book. Mallory, you need to add yourself to the

0:58

very long wait list at the library right now.

1:00

Is it out yet? Yeah, it's out. Come

1:03

on, January. It just took me, I think, that long to

1:05

get it from the library. It's a weird fiction slash, I

1:07

would say weird fiction literary fiction is where I put it

1:09

in. And it is about a

1:11

little girl who lives

1:13

in Philadelphia, but at some point

1:16

she realizes that she's different and she's

1:19

like, oh, I'm from another planet. And

1:22

it's from her perspective. And what she does is she

1:24

goes when she goes to sleep, she goes and she

1:26

can talk to the people,

1:28

aliens from her planet. And also there's this

1:30

fax machine in her house and she faxes

1:32

them little things. She's like,

1:34

hey, just so you know, humans don't always cry

1:36

when they're sad. And they're like, oh. And just

1:39

like little. And I'm

1:41

obsessed with this book already.

1:43

I love a little simple

1:45

thing about life that an

1:47

alien discovers and is

1:49

like, oh, you know what I mean? Like

1:52

is like things about humans that we don't even think

1:54

about, but then an alien discovers it and makes it.

1:56

This was not a request from someone once. It

1:58

is such a. a

2:00

beautiful book. I'm

2:02

not devouring it. I'm savoring it.

2:05

I'm savoring every part of it.

2:07

It's such a beautiful book about

2:09

human existence. I

2:11

love it. Great. I'm putting

2:13

it on hold, or maybe I'll get it. I

2:16

think it's worth it. I really am. And loving it.

2:18

I think you'd like it too, because it is,

2:21

I would say it's more literary fiction

2:23

than traditional science fiction. What are you

2:25

reading? I'm still reading my grief books,

2:27

and I found this book. This book

2:29

was highly recommended on a lot of

2:32

sad motherfucker Reddit forums. And

2:37

it was a really big book about 10 years ago,

2:39

and it just got made into a movie last year.

2:41

It's called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel

2:44

Joyce. And it's about this

2:46

older man. He's retired. He lives a

2:48

pretty sad existence. Him and his

2:51

wife barely talk to each other anymore. They're

2:53

both retired. They don't really do anything. And

2:55

then one day he gets a letter from

2:57

an old friend of his and she tells

2:59

him they used to work together. There's some

3:01

sort of mystery about A, their relationship, but

3:03

also he keeps referring to something important that

3:05

she did for him that he never got

3:07

to thank her for. But he gets this

3:09

letter from her, this old colleague, and she

3:11

tells him that she has cancer and that

3:13

she's going to die. And she just wanted

3:15

to let him know. And

3:18

he gets the letter and he's like, well, I

3:20

have to write her back. So he writes her

3:22

back this letter and he

3:24

goes to deliver it and discovers that the postman

3:26

has already picked up his mail for the day.

3:28

So he's like, fuck. He keeps walking. And suddenly

3:30

he realizes that he just wants to keep walking

3:32

and he's going to walk the 600

3:35

miles to the hospice that she's staying in. And

3:38

with nothing, he didn't pack anything. He literally just

3:40

left out the door. He's in yacht, like boat

3:42

shoes, nothing on. He doesn't even

3:44

have a cell phone on him. He just

3:46

realizes that this is what he wants to

3:49

do. And through the whole book is just

3:51

it's like a road trip novel, but the

3:53

slowest road trip because he's walking. And as

3:55

he's walking, he is reckoning with why his

3:57

marriage is bad. What happened

3:59

with this? woman, what happened with his

4:01

life, what happened with his son, all

4:04

his regrets, and he meets all these

4:06

people. It's so sweet. And it's also

4:08

like really about grief, but different kinds

4:10

of grief. And I really,

4:12

really enjoyed it. It's really, really beautiful.

4:14

And you might like it, Bre, because

4:16

I know you like stories about like

4:18

older people. Yeah. And a person on

4:20

a journey of a road trip. I

4:22

love that. Yeah, you might like it's

4:24

very sweet. So that's the Unlikely Pilgrimage

4:26

of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. And

4:28

mine is Beautyland by Marie Helene Bertino.

4:36

So we want to take a moment to share some

4:38

listener feedback. Steph Rodin to say, Hello, Bre and Mallory.

4:40

First of all, I love the podcast. Thanks for giving

4:42

me something to look forward to every Thursday. I spent

4:45

the last year working as a library assistant

4:47

in an elementary school with several deaf and

4:49

hard of hearing students. As a resource for

4:51

the teachers and students, I put together 700

4:53

ish videos of children's books in ASL. They

4:55

are all from skilled signers, mostly at schools

4:58

for the deaf. I made a collection of

5:00

QR codes that can be printed or accessed

5:02

by a QR reader on a screen. For

5:04

the books we had in our physical collection,

5:06

I printed the QR codes and taped them

5:08

to the inside cover of the books I'm

5:10

sharing because I want anyone working with DHH

5:12

kids to be able to duplicate this accessibility

5:14

is vital. I love this.

5:17

I will share the link that

5:19

Steph sent us. This is so

5:21

fucking cool. Wow. So the

5:23

QR codes. Wow. That is

5:27

really smart and taping them to the inside of the books

5:29

is great because then you can just wow.

5:32

I love that. Can I watch Steph?

5:34

That's amazing. Amazing. Emily

5:36

Rodin, Dear Bre and Mallory, time for a

5:38

hot book tip. Cue slide whistle and mouse

5:41

siren. Weeee. Hot book tip

5:43

in the morning with Mallory and Brea. Listening

5:46

to audiobooks, I find that listening on 1.25 audible

5:48

and 1.15 Libby mimics a normal speaking speed.

5:53

Listening at regular speed or 2.0,

5:55

those speeds are too

5:57

slow and too fast, respectively. I

5:59

believe I found the Goldilocks of

6:02

listening speeds. Okay, Emily says, it's 1.25 on Audible,

6:04

1.15 on Libby. Thank

6:08

you for making my Thursday afternoons an

6:10

absolute joy in absolving my book slash

6:13

reader guilt. Mallory, do you

6:15

agree or disagree with Emily? Well,

6:17

I actually, I bump it up a little higher on Libby.

6:19

I think it all depends on the narrator. Yeah,

6:22

I know. Because there are some narrators that I leave on 1.0 and

6:27

I just want to hear them as they're talking. But

6:29

there's some narrators that I bump it up. The audio

6:31

book I'm listening to right now, I have on 0.35,

6:34

I think. But

6:36

as someone who has narrated multiple books,

6:39

they do tell you to, like you don't speak

6:41

in your normal speaking voice. Did you just say 0.35 so fast?

6:46

Oh no, 1.3. Uh, I

6:48

was like, what? Okay. I was

6:52

like, it's just like, at that point

6:54

it's like the micromachines guy, just like

6:56

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's just

6:58

a ticker tape of sound, I'm like

7:00

fucking brilliant. Okay, sorry. They

7:02

tell you to speak slowly when you're doing it. Yeah,

7:05

especially for me as someone, as a

7:07

fellow fast talker, I'm a numerous fast

7:09

talkers. You have to talk like this.

7:12

And it is very difficult. So just know

7:14

that if you're like, wow, these narrators sound

7:16

really slow, they are being directed to do

7:18

that. So just do what Emily does and

7:20

bump it up, baby. Bump it up, baby. And

7:23

then Kenley wrote in with a

7:25

wheelhouse, which is fast-paced, adventurous books,

7:28

LGBTQIA+, dystopian space

7:30

opera, horror, and anything sci-fi with

7:32

awesome world building. We love to

7:34

see it. Quick bookmark from Bria.

7:37

Yeah, if you were in the Kansas City

7:39

area, I will be in Kansas City on

7:41

July 6th for the

7:43

Etherea Film Festival. I know some glassers are gonna

7:45

be there. I saw people talking about it in

7:47

the Slack. That's so exciting. My short film is

7:49

playing there. It is at the Armor Theater at

7:51

9.45 p.m., wow, it's

7:53

late, in Kansas City. I will be there

7:56

in person talking about my short film. Apparently,

7:58

the short film's in Etherea. They're always great.

8:00

They're all directed by women, all horror short

8:02

films. And I've heard this year as a

8:04

banger. Also, I launched another podcast.

8:06

Someone, by the way, Mallory, someone direct messaged me

8:09

and said, I just want to know if you're

8:11

still doing reading glasses. And I was like, I've

8:13

never stopped doing reading glasses. No,

8:16

this is not a, this is

8:19

a love triangle situation. Yeah,

8:22

this is, anyway, I started another podcast.

8:24

It's called Anthology Anthology. I am in

8:26

a couple of weeks. I start making

8:28

an anthology movie with a couple of

8:30

my friends that I've known for a

8:32

long time. And my buddy, Ed, and

8:34

I wrote it together. And we are

8:36

actually documenting the making of the movie.

8:39

And then we're also reviewing horror anthologies and

8:41

talking to other filmmakers who've been involved in

8:43

horror anthologies. Natasha Carmani, who directed a movie

8:45

called Lucky that I wrote, came on the

8:47

show. Ryan Spindel directed a movie called Mortuary

8:50

Collection. Natasha was part of VHS. So I'm

8:52

talking about a lot of anthologies. And if

8:54

you don't watch horror anthologies, you're like, what

8:56

is she talking about? I actually think it'll

8:58

still be interesting to you because

9:01

it is about the behind the scenes

9:03

of making, we're doing these interviews as

9:05

like one-offs, but we're also just doing

9:07

weekly updates about like, here's what we're

9:09

going through as independent filmmakers doing something

9:11

on a super low budget. And

9:14

here's what it looks like. And it's again

9:16

called Anthology Anthology. You can find it

9:18

on all your podcast platforms. And

9:21

we also have an Amazon wish list if you

9:23

wanna send us like drinks and food and stuff

9:25

to eat during our chocolate, to eat

9:27

during the shoot. I was gonna say, people, you've sent Bria

9:29

some chocolate, she deserves it. I got a package of chocolate

9:31

this morning and I was like, do I have to wait

9:33

and like bring this to the direction office? Or

9:36

can I open it up now? And Mallory,

9:38

I already ate half the bar. And

9:42

it's 10 a.m. You're already, but you're already

9:44

making the anthology. You've been making it. You are

9:46

actively doing it right now. Yeah, we've been in

9:48

prep for like a while. And then this is

9:50

like the, we're just, you know, you

9:53

have to prep a movie for a long time,

9:55

but yes, I'm in prep actively. Like when I

9:57

leave this, I go to the production office to

9:59

work for the rest of the day and it's

10:01

a sad day. So you deserve that. Chocolate chocolate

10:03

my friend Ian sent it but anyway We'll put

10:05

the the link to the show and the show

10:07

notes and our little Amazon wish list It's just

10:09

like sending something to reading glasses But it's like

10:11

liquid death that water people love sending that I

10:13

do like that quite a bit Sparkling

10:16

one or the regular one? Sparkling

10:18

one during the regular one does feel too weird to

10:20

drink out of a can I don't like it I

10:22

mean some people love it, but we also have a

10:24

ton of the iced tea ones which the iced tea

10:26

ones are wicked good Anyway, thank you for letting me

10:28

plug that on the show You can email us a

10:30

reading glasses podcast@gmail.com if you want a list of all

10:32

the books We talk about on the show deliver to

10:34

your inbox every month. You can sign up for our

10:36

newsletter There's a link in the show notes and before

10:38

we talk about reading busy books. We're

10:40

gonna take a quick break Reading

10:47

glasses is sponsored in part this week

10:49

by green chef Which is now owned

10:51

by hello fresh Which means a wider

10:53

array of meal plans to choose from

10:56

and something for everyone Green

10:58

chef is the number one meal

11:00

kit for clean eating delivering pre-proportioned

11:02

and prepped quality Whole foods with

11:04

limited process ingredients and Bria it's

11:06

great for us for all people

11:08

who have weird dietary Restrictions.

11:10

Yeah, they actually cater to all sorts

11:13

of dietary restrictions They have over 80

11:15

weekly menu and market options to satisfy

11:17

every taste bud and every weird dietary

11:19

restriction Now everyone said if your person

11:22

who has trouble when you have to

11:24

say a lot of things to the

11:26

waiter When you go to the

11:28

restaurant green chef can work for you. It's

11:31

great You could be keto paleo vegan vegetarian

11:33

gluten-free or you just want to eat more

11:36

balanced meals green chef has got you covered

11:39

Bria and I both have very particular Diets very fun

11:41

to travel with the two of us and find a

11:43

restaurant that we can all go to But

11:45

it really I love green chef because of that

11:48

It feels really good to be able to pick off a

11:50

list of different special diets and just know that whatever

11:52

is going to be Delivered to me is going

11:54

to not make my mouth swell up not give

11:56

me a stomachache But more

11:58

importantly it's going to be delivered delicious.

12:01

They have unique farm fresh ingredients like

12:03

figs and dates and artichokes, sustainably sourced

12:05

seafood and more. It's fantastic. It really

12:07

is one of our favorite meal boxes

12:09

and it's so convenient. Bria, we

12:11

hate cooking. I hate cooking. You like to cook a little

12:13

more than I do. I love cooking, but there's times like

12:16

right now, let's say you're trying to make a movie with

12:18

your friends. This is the perfect thing to have when you

12:20

get home at one in the morning

12:22

and you're tired and you're like, what am I

12:24

going to eat? Hey, Green Chef has you covered.

12:27

So all you have to do is

12:29

go to greenchef.com/glasses 50 and use code

12:31

glasses 50 to get 50% off plus

12:33

20% off your next two months. That's

12:36

greenchef.com/glasses 50 and code glasses 50. Glasses.

12:42

Glasses.

12:45

The following is a promo for Beef and

12:47

Dairy Network podcast. Hello.

12:49

Hello, please. You have to help

12:51

me. I was kidnapped and bundled

12:53

into the back of a van. I

12:56

was taken to the docks and beaten with

12:58

chains and tied up inside a shipping container

13:01

and then I was forced to listen

13:03

to episode after episode of a podcast

13:05

called Beef and Dairy Network and

13:08

I absolutely loved every second of it.

13:11

Please, you have to tell me where I can

13:13

listen to more episodes. The

13:16

Beef and Dairy Network podcast is a

13:18

multi award winning comedy podcast and you

13:20

can find it at maximumfun.org or wherever

13:22

you get your podcasts. This

13:35

week, we're ticking off another box

13:37

on the 2024 reading glasses, glasses,

13:40

glasses, glasses challenge. Read a buzzy

13:42

book from this year. So

13:44

how do you find a buzzy book? What

13:47

counts as buzzy and how are

13:49

we completing this part of the challenge? So first

13:51

off, we got to go over the rules. We

13:53

know the glasses. One has to be

13:56

a book that came out this year. So no buzzy

13:58

books from last year or the year before. This

14:00

part of the challenge is about reading a

14:02

buzzy book while it is buzzy

14:04

and seeing what that does to your reading experience. Does

14:07

it make it better? Does it make it worse? Wait,

14:09

I have a question about the rules. We

14:11

made the rules. I have a question about the

14:13

rules. Do you think that if

14:16

the book has gotten buzzy again, people can read

14:18

it? Like for example, if a movie comes out

14:20

and it's based on a book, like that book

14:22

will sometimes get up on the bestseller list again.

14:24

Or for a hot time, I feel like everyone's

14:26

rereading Parable of the Sower. Like there

14:28

were like a couple of books that like were older

14:30

books, but they became buzzy again. So the question is,

14:32

is it a 2024 book or is

14:34

it a book that's buzzy this year? You

14:37

know what, Bria? I think you're right. I may have

14:39

found a loophole. Yeah, but if it's

14:41

a book from not this year, it has

14:43

to be buzzy right now. Like people have

14:45

to be talking about in the news. It

14:47

has to be going viral online, but yeah,

14:50

okay. All right. An amendment. It

14:52

just has to be buzzy right now. But Bria, what

14:54

is buzzy? What does that even mean? Well, we'll talk

14:56

about that. The reason we put it

14:58

on here, I think that it allows for the buzziness

15:01

more than the year. But anyway, yes, what counts as

15:03

buzzy? Signs a book are

15:05

buzzy. They're hitting that bestseller list like the

15:07

New York Times, USA Today, LA Times. They're

15:09

getting a lot of reviews in newspapers and

15:11

magazines. They're getting mentioned on late night or

15:13

morning talk shows. What was the the Colbert?

15:16

There was like something called the Colbert bump.

15:19

Oh, I know. Yeah, I

15:21

know what you're talking about. If Colbert had someone

15:23

on, it was like it meant that book was

15:25

gonna sell a certain amount or something. There

15:27

was like a brief moment. It goes viral

15:29

on Bookstagram or Booktalk. And of course lots

15:32

of people are talking about it. Even reading

15:34

Glass of Slack, we're counting that. That's a place

15:36

where to find your buzzy books is the Slack

15:38

channel. It sure is. So why did we put

15:40

this on the challenge this year? Something that helps

15:42

readers, not all of them, of course, but some

15:44

readers is a communal reading experience. It's something we

15:47

talk about on the show a lot, knowing that

15:49

other people are reading this book and you can

15:51

talk to them. Some people love reading a book

15:53

while a lot of other people are. One, because

15:55

it feels hip as hell, but also

15:57

because it's easy to find people to talk. about

16:00

it, you know, online in person. It's a book is

16:02

in the air, you know, and

16:05

it's easy to find someone to connect with about it. Honestly,

16:07

it kind of feels like you're participating in a

16:09

big book club with no hard read by date.

16:11

It's just everyone is reading this book and you

16:14

are participating, then it can be really fun. Yeah,

16:16

which is why I think that if it's just

16:18

buzzy, but not from this year, that's why it

16:20

counts, because it is about the book that people

16:22

are talking about. Also, weirdly,

16:25

I think these buzzy books, in some

16:27

ways, you can talk about them

16:29

even in a few years, and someone who only reads

16:31

a few books a year, they probably read the buzzy

16:34

books, so it's something you can connect with people on,

16:36

on like a larger level for the foreseeable future, not

16:38

just right now, but right now is what we're talking

16:40

about. And also, I mean, we understand that some people

16:42

don't like reading books when they're very buzzy. Yeah. You

16:44

get that. So this might be a challenge for some

16:47

people, but also it might be a

16:49

challenge. That's why it's called a

16:51

challenge. There's a lot of readers, Bria and

16:53

I included, that you can get a little contrarian, and

16:55

you're like, well, I don't want to read that, because everybody else

16:57

is. But it might be kind of

16:59

fun to, like I remember I read Yellow Face right

17:01

before it came out, so it felt really good to

17:04

like see all the huge buzz around it and be

17:06

like, I know what everyone's talking about. And I'm like,

17:08

oh, this is actually kind of fun. All right, so

17:10

Bria, how are you completing this part of the challenge?

17:13

Well, kind of by accident, I wasn't really

17:15

thinking about it, but I did the last

17:17

in the Crescent City series, House of Flame

17:19

and Shadow. Can't get buzzier than this. Yeah,

17:21

and I probably would have done it anyway,

17:24

but this did give me a reason to

17:26

do it sort of when it was happening.

17:29

I had a lot of people to discuss it with, like

17:31

in my life who read these books, especially one person in

17:33

particular, who really likes for me to

17:35

read the book so she can discuss it with me,

17:37

because I think I'm like her bookish friend. And so

17:39

it was really nice to read it when it came

17:41

out. I pre-ordered it so I had it and was

17:43

ready to read it and got through it as quickly as

17:45

I could. Even though those books are so long. They're

17:48

so long, there's a lot going on. And I just read

17:50

the other one, and I still was like, who's this character

17:52

again? But yeah, so that was what I did. It was

17:54

sort of by accident. I probably would have done it anyway,

17:56

but I feel like it counts, because I did have a

17:58

lot of nice conversations about it. What is your plan? I'm

18:00

gonna read exhibit by our own Kwon. I

18:02

saw that it's like books last night when

18:04

I was hosting the women in horror thing

18:06

Thank you for everyone who came out. That

18:08

was really fun. Hell. Yeah. Oh were the

18:10

glasses there? There were glasses there Yeah, we love

18:12

it. Yeah, this is a very hotly

18:14

anticipated book in the literary fiction realm our own

18:17

Kwon wrote the incendiaries a few years ago and

18:19

that was very very buzzy and so this one

18:21

was like very Hugely anticipated. It's

18:23

been buzzy for a long time It came

18:25

out a few months ago. I think and

18:27

immediately hit multiple bestseller lists It was a

18:29

New York Times editor's choice book So it

18:31

has all the critical buzz but I've just

18:33

been seeing like it's just very buzzy in

18:35

the literary world people who are really Into

18:37

literary fiction are buzzing about this I'm seeing

18:39

a lot of stuff on social media and

18:42

I already I like the incendiaries This book looks

18:44

really good is supposed to be very sexy intense

18:46

It's about like a an affair between these two

18:48

artists and like what these two women like are

18:50

getting out of it how it changes Their lives

18:52

and I just think it's gonna be a really

18:54

good summer read So I'm pumped. Yeah.

18:56

All right important question for us does

18:59

buzz affect our reading? So

19:02

I mean we've done this show for a while

19:04

So I feel like I've gone through like a a

19:06

real a real ebb and flow of this right

19:08

like if enough like Like

19:11

it does like if enough people are talking

19:13

about something more in real life than online

19:15

because I'm affected by online stuff

19:17

A little bit less because I'm an elder millennial

19:20

But in real life if a lot of people are like have you

19:22

read this book? I'm like, oh people are talking to me about a

19:24

book. I am gonna take it seriously and Malorie

19:27

I'm gonna miss something a little book snooty to you.

19:29

Listen, this is this this podcast. Are you gonna? Is

19:31

the safe space? Are you gonna solve me after I say it?

19:34

I? Did the melody

19:36

is off if enough people are

19:38

talking about the book? I Worry,

19:41

it's not like okay. First of all if it's online.

19:43

I worry it's a paid thing So

19:46

I start to go like is a thing

19:48

public. I like you pay influencers. Yeah, I know

19:50

I talk about listen I'm not paid but

19:52

I'm sent free stuff sometimes like movie wise

19:54

to talk about Yeah,

19:57

and so I I'm like sometimes I'm like, yeah this

19:59

pay paid for, like is the buzz fake? And

20:01

that I don't love. So I'm looking for genuine

20:03

buzz. And I think that there's a book snoot

20:05

part of me that does start to, if it's

20:07

too buzzy, go like, I think this is fake.

20:09

Which I don't know, or that's the punk rock

20:11

in me. I'm not really sure what it is.

20:14

But listen, if it's- I think it's

20:16

a combination. I think that there

20:19

are, like, I mean, it's known that when

20:21

publishers know a book is gonna do really

20:23

well, they put more effort into it. It's

20:26

like, and it can be frustrating to authors

20:28

because authors are like, well,

20:30

you already know that book's gonna do well. Like,

20:33

why aren't you spending it on books that need more

20:35

help? But publishing's a business and publishers want to bet

20:38

on a sure thing. So a book

20:40

that's already doing well will start to get,

20:44

they'll put that author on book tour, they'll pay

20:46

influencers, they'll submit you for other things, which is

20:48

why you should all pre-order my book, Daughter of

20:50

Duels, which I don't know, it's gonna be right.

20:53

Please, I beg of you. But

20:56

also, I do feel, so it's a combination of stuff

20:58

that is really happening, but also, yeah, if you're kind

21:00

of like an alternate person, like both of us are

21:03

alternative person, you're like, well,

21:06

the man wants me to read this.

21:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If

21:10

I'm being told I have to read it, I'm like,

21:12

you know, screw you. But there is a certain amount

21:14

of buzz that does get me, I think it gets

21:17

me less than it used to, though. I feel like

21:19

if you listened to an early reading glasses episode, I'd

21:21

be like, you know, those buzzy books. But now I've

21:23

kind of been like, well, I'd rather

21:25

like find a book that no one is talking

21:27

about that may be actually more suited for me

21:29

than a book that everyone is reading. Although every

21:31

year on my top list, there's some books that

21:33

were like incredibly buzzy, you know, like Yellow

21:36

Face was obviously on my top books of the year,

21:38

you know, like there's like books that I'm like, yes,

21:40

these are just like, they are, some

21:42

of them are amazing, and there's a reason they're fucking buzzy,

21:44

you know? Yeah, I

21:47

think for me, it goes both ways. Like

21:49

buzz can definitely make me curious about a

21:51

book, you know, especially a book that wasn't,

21:54

it's not in my wheelhouse, like a book that I

21:56

like, like Yellow Face is

21:58

a perfect example. Like I don't like. stressful books.

22:00

That would not normally be it. But

22:02

it was already getting so much buzz

22:05

and we got early copies of it that I was like, well,

22:08

kind of want to know what's going on. But

22:10

the problem is it can also tip over and become

22:12

too buzzy. And I think the reason why that puts

22:14

me off is because I am such

22:16

a spoiler person. I'd like I mean,

22:18

I don't even watch trailers for movies before I go

22:20

see them. I don't like knowing anything about something before

22:22

I go into it. So if a book gets too

22:24

buzzy, and all of a sudden I know what the

22:26

plot is, and I know what's happening, and I know

22:28

there's a big twist or whatever, then my

22:31

brain's like, I need to wait until this buzz

22:33

dies down so I can forget all the things

22:35

I know about this book so I can go

22:37

into it unspoiled, not knowing anything. But I'm

22:39

excited to do this part of the challenge.

22:41

A good thing about exhibit by R.O. Kwan

22:43

has it hasn't gotten

22:45

buzzy enough that like, and it won't

22:48

because it's like straight up literary fiction

22:50

book, I feel like only books that

22:52

are genre or genre adjacent get super

22:55

buzzy, you know, this book is kind of staying

22:57

in that like literary publishing world. But it hasn't

22:59

gotten so it hasn't gotten busy enough for me

23:01

to know what happens like people aren't tweeting about

23:03

the plot, you know, I mean, I think there

23:05

was it like I the book that keeps coming

23:08

to mind is where the crawdad sing for some reason,

23:10

because I'm like, right, like, like, there are

23:12

books that are not genre, but they're actually I

23:14

think that is a genre book weirdly, but I

23:16

think it is a literary. Oh, yeah, well, it's

23:18

the Oprah book club world, but that's not our

23:20

that's not our world. Yeah, but I do think

23:22

those would count as a buzzy book if you

23:24

want to read Oprah or any Oprah club pick

23:27

5000% will will count. Mm hmm. Yeah, for

23:32

sure. Well, I'm very interested to see what

23:35

people think about this. And if buzz helps

23:37

the glasses hurts the glasses, what people think.

23:39

So send your thoughts to reading glasses podcast@gmail.com. Before

23:41

we test out a spinning ring for reading, we're

23:43

going to take a quick break. Reading

23:52

Glasses is sponsored in part this week

23:54

by our friends over at Earth Breeze.

23:56

Bria and I are obsessed with them.

23:58

Earth Breeze eco sheets look just like

24:00

dryer sheets, but they're actually ultra concentrated

24:02

liquidless laundry detergent. It works great on

24:04

stains and odors while being kind to

24:07

the planet and your skin. Bria,

24:09

these are like our favorite thing. We

24:12

actually use them and both order them.

24:14

They are dermatologist tested, hypoallergenic, free of

24:16

bleach, dyes, and parabens. And there's a

24:18

fragrance free option, which is what I

24:21

do because I do not like things

24:23

smelling too strongly in my house. And

24:26

they come in this lightweight cardboard packaging that

24:28

it gets kind of lost in my mail sometimes.

24:30

That's how small it is. It's so

24:32

small that it just sits on my dining room table. I'm

24:34

like, oh, that's my earth breeze actually. That's

24:37

not a letter. It's that small.

24:39

You can just stick that little thing. I

24:41

have a cute little laundry room basket that

24:43

I use and I stick it in that

24:46

basket. It doesn't take up hardly any space.

24:48

It's next to all my other little laundry

24:50

accoutrement, but it is the detergent. It's amazing

24:52

because detergent normally takes up so much space

24:54

on the laundry room counter. And you know,

24:56

you don't have space on your laundry room

24:58

counter. And it takes up space and makes

25:00

everything sticky. I can't believe I dealt with

25:02

it for so long. And if you're like,

25:04

wow, you switched and you're like, man, this

25:06

is taking up so much less space than

25:08

the jugs do. Imagine all the space

25:11

that those jugs take up in landfills.

25:14

So much. I was going to say

25:16

they probably make the landfill sticky too, but I feel

25:18

like landfills are already very sticky. I agree. Landfills

25:21

are like definitely the consistency of

25:23

ooze. Ooze

25:27

are like with jugs floating in them. That's exactly what they

25:29

are. So right now our listeners can

25:31

receive 40% off Earth Breeze

25:34

just by going to earthbreeze.com/glasses.

25:36

That's earthbreeze.com/glasses to cut out

25:38

single use plastic in your

25:40

laundry room and claim 40%

25:43

off your subscription earthbreeze.com/glasses. Glasses.

25:46

Glasses. Glasses. Glasses.

25:49

Glasses. Somewhere

25:52

in an alternate universe where

25:54

Hollywood is smarter. And

25:58

the Emmy nominees for

26:00

Outstanding. comedy series are

26:02

Jet Pacula, Airport

26:04

Marriott, Frepple, Dear

26:08

America We've Seen You Naked,

26:11

and Allah in the Family. In

26:14

our stupid universe, you

26:16

can't see any of these shows, but

26:18

you can listen to them on Dead

26:21

Pilots Society, the podcast

26:23

that brings you hilarious comedy

26:25

pilots that the networks and

26:27

streamers bought but never made.

26:29

Journey to the alternate television

26:31

universe of Dead Pilots Society

26:33

on maximumfun.org. Time

26:46

to test out some book tech advances in

26:48

bookish technology. This week's book tech was sent

26:50

to us by Angela. Thank you so much.

26:52

We really appreciate it. This, we

26:55

talked about it before someone had written in.

26:57

Yeah. We didn't know what to do

26:59

because they were a nail biter, nail biter reader. And

27:02

this caused a bunch of people to send us ideas

27:04

for fidget toys and fidget things that you can do

27:06

with your hands while you're reading. So we got this

27:08

little spinning ring. It's not very expensive. I think it's

27:11

less than $10. And it's

27:13

a silver band and it has a metal flower on

27:15

it and the flower spins. So

27:17

you're supposed to put it on your finger and spin

27:19

it and it's supposed to help you focus while you're

27:21

reading because you're fidgeting with this. And so what did

27:23

we think of this, Bria? I

27:26

liked it. I didn't love it, but I think

27:28

what I didn't love was that it's a ring.

27:30

I'm not like I just part of me is I'm

27:33

just like don't want jewelry on me anymore except for

27:35

my watch. And I think that's part of

27:37

it. I used it a little while reading, but I wore

27:39

it all day one day just to see what it'd be

27:41

like while driving because I do fidget while driving and I

27:43

mess with I I mess with my nails and

27:45

I shouldn't. And

27:47

it did work for that. Like it did

27:50

work. But I also didn't love wearing it

27:52

as a ring. Yeah. I think

27:54

that's part of it. It's the function was

27:56

good, but for me, it

27:58

just like personally wasn't. what I

28:00

need because I didn't want to wear the ring.

28:02

So I'm going four out of five pages on

28:04

this, but I think it's a great idea. And

28:06

if you like rings or you're cool with like

28:08

wearing them while you're reading, I think this could

28:10

really work. What about you? Did you like

28:12

it? I just want to say, I also

28:14

agree. I have stopped wearing rings because I

28:16

have huge power lifter fingers and like rings.

28:18

I just lose rings. Wait a second. I

28:21

have a very important question. Are your

28:23

fingers real strong? Yes. Whoa.

28:27

What do you mean? Grip strength, baby. Wow.

28:30

That's amazing. I'm good at holding up

28:32

heavy objects, but because of that,

28:35

my fingers are like, they're

28:37

almost shaped like cones. So like, they're

28:41

very short, but they're thick. And

28:44

rings just, I lose rings constantly.

28:48

It is so frustrating to me. Oh,

28:50

because it's like a cone. And if it's thick at

28:52

the bottom, it can slide off

28:54

the top. It just slips right off. That's

28:56

really funny. That's such a funny problem to

28:59

have. It is so weird. So

29:01

I wear a lot of thumb rings and that's

29:03

where I put this ring. And I agree. I

29:05

do like it cause I love fidgeting with stuff

29:07

while I read. When I was a kid, I

29:09

had this Harry Potter bookmark and it was a metal,

29:12

flat metal bookmark of Hedwig, the

29:14

owl. And it had like a

29:16

tassel on it and I would spin it

29:18

while I read until one day it flew

29:20

off. I don't know where it

29:22

went. I was devastated. But

29:25

so a ring like this is, it serves

29:27

that same kind of function. And I really think that the

29:29

readers who have issues biting their nails, or even if

29:31

you're just have a hard time focusing should try one, especially

29:34

cause they're not, it's not like it's expensive. It's not even $20.

29:37

The only drawback for me, besides the fact

29:39

that neither one of us like wearing rings

29:41

is the noise. The flower makes

29:44

this like whirring noise while it spins.

29:46

And it didn't bother me a ton,

29:48

especially when I'm reading, but it might

29:50

get annoying to someone around you if

29:52

you live with somebody. I

29:54

can see someone like trying to watch a movie and

29:56

just hear psssssssss psssssssssssssss.

29:59

Like that would be... Very annoying other than that

30:01

I agree. I give it a four out of five

30:03

pages It's very fun inexpensive And I think it could

30:05

help some people focus like put your phone in another

30:07

room spin spin a spinner ring I definitely

30:09

think it's a good help that ours had a little letter

30:11

on it It had a B on it B for books

30:14

I or Bria I thought you did that for B for

30:16

Bria well I can't remember why I did it, but I'm

30:18

gonna say it's for books But it probably was Bria, but

30:20

you can't get it personalized which I do think is cute

30:22

like so if you got it as a gift For someone

30:24

you could put their initial or whatever And

30:27

I'll put a link in the show notes, but there's a bazillion

30:29

of these online I

30:31

actually just got a spinner another one of those spinner

30:33

rings. It's like a ring within a ring Oh, it

30:36

was one of one of Scott's things that I took

30:39

I think that's on our Amazon wish list, too But

30:42

it's also really loud. Oh Hmm,

30:44

let me see again I think

30:47

people should test it out if this sounds this

30:49

sounds intriguing to you or you like to fit it fidget while you read

30:52

Give this a test or you can

30:54

send your other fidget tech ideas to reading glasses

30:56

podcast or gmail.com And you can check out our

30:58

wish list in the show notes. Thanks again to

31:00

Angela Now

31:05

let's solve a reader problem from one of our listeners

31:07

Sarah wrote in Something about the

31:10

way the little summaries on the back cover

31:12

or overleaf of books are written is deeply

31:14

off-putting to me Even if the

31:16

book is by an author I know I like on

31:18

a subject that sounds like exactly my kind of thing

31:21

Even if I've read the book before and loved

31:23

it if I read that summary I don't want

31:25

to read the book anymore something about them makes

31:27

me feel like tired I'm

31:29

like I don't have any time for that not

31:32

today I have a few strategies for finding new

31:34

things to read without consulting these summaries Ranging

31:36

from get recommendations from people whose taste you're

31:38

familiar with to just walk down an aisle

31:40

in the library and take a book and

31:42

read It what's the worst that could happen

31:44

any tips tricks or superior strategies for finding

31:46

the good stuff without getting poisoned by cover

31:48

copy? Bria, what should Sarah do this so

31:50

specific? The

31:53

white hot center of reading glasses wheelhouse

31:56

we got it. Okay to me it

31:58

sounds like Sarah is is having

32:00

fatigue about reading about

32:03

books, which I get. It's

32:05

a little bit like I get tired

32:07

of being advertised to, like quit advertising to me. I

32:09

know one time I clicked on a fucking mat in

32:11

that bag and now it's the corner of every website

32:14

I visit. And guess what? I don't want it now.

32:16

I don't want it because I've seen it 400 times.

32:20

And now it's not exciting to me anymore. And that is

32:22

what I feel like the advertising, they got to chill with

32:24

it because you think you're saying it to me 400 times

32:26

and I want it. It's actually the opposite.

32:29

Are those the purses with little eyeballs on them? No,

32:31

they're like a vegan leather purse. Oh, I get a

32:33

lot of vegan leather purse advertisements. I've probably seen that

32:35

exact same person. I'm sure you've seen it. They're very

32:37

cute. They're kind of expensive. And I thought about buying

32:39

one, but I didn't buy one. And I wish it

32:41

would just shut the fuck up. Okay, because now I

32:43

don't want one. Now I've seen it too many times.

32:45

It's not exciting. I do kind of still want one.

32:48

But anyway, I think it's gonna be the same thing.

32:50

I just like, I wish there was a place where

32:52

you could go and it was just like on the

32:54

cover, it just says vampires. And you're like, cool, I

32:56

got it. Like, you know, like, it's like, you just

32:58

like the very simple thing. Like I would

33:00

be totally in. I

33:03

say, my advice for Sarah is look

33:05

at what is popular. Hey, today's

33:07

episode. What is Buzzy instead of reading what they're

33:10

about? You got your best sellers. You got your

33:12

top books on Goodreads that people are reading. You

33:14

got your best of the year. Look at our

33:16

halftime show. You can just look at the list.

33:18

You don't have to read about it. You know

33:20

someone is liking them. You don't have to do

33:22

that much research, especially with someone you trust. If

33:25

you're a Mallory or a Bria or like you

33:27

like what the New York Times picks or something,

33:29

you're gonna be able to find, like

33:31

I said, just grab one of those books so

33:34

you don't have to look at the cover copy.

33:36

And I think you're gonna be a little bit

33:38

safer than if you just are grabbing a book

33:40

willy nilly off the shelf, because that to me

33:43

is scary. That's too scary. I agree.

33:45

What is your advice for Sarah? Well, I also

33:48

wanna say, I think we talked about this on

33:50

the show, but it was a while ago. Jacker

33:52

copy is about selling books and there was an

33:54

article written, I think last year or the year

33:56

before, about how jacket copy is becoming even more

33:58

bland and vague. because they're trying to

34:00

attract all kinds of readers. They're

34:03

trying to write about the book in a

34:05

way that seems appealing to everybody. But of

34:07

course, that doesn't always work. But

34:10

it can lead to people feeling like Sarah does. It's

34:12

a marketing strategy. I mean, it works for

34:14

some people because they're like, wow, I also

34:16

want an ambitious adventure. Okay. But some

34:18

people, if you are in the book

34:21

world a lot, I agree, it gets

34:23

a little, you're like, oh, wow, another

34:26

compelling coming of age story. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

34:28

Give me the, like you said, I want to

34:30

know what wheelhouse is. Is there werewolves? Is there

34:32

a talking bear? That's what I care about. So

34:35

Sarah, what I would recommend you do, along

34:38

with what Bria said, is find an

34:40

outlet that you like. Is

34:42

there a magazine you read, newspaper you like? Those

34:45

reviews have to be more specific. I

34:47

would find some, like, there's regular people

34:49

who review science fiction and fantasy for

34:51

the New York Times, someone that is

34:53

great to follow in the horror world

34:55

is author Emily Hughes. She's

34:57

fantastic, but they're actually reviewing the books

34:59

and talking about them in a way

35:01

to explain what the book is about

35:03

to you. It's not a marketing thing.

35:05

So instead of using these really vague

35:07

terms, they're going to tell you what's

35:09

the book about and why they liked it.

35:12

So there's a lot of people online. Liberty

35:14

Hardy is a great one. Her newsletter is

35:16

absolutely banging. Highly recommend signing up for that.

35:18

Find either an outlet or a journalist or

35:20

a writer or somebody who recommends books online.

35:23

And NPR is a good one.

35:26

NPR book reviews are really good. And

35:29

again, they're going to talk about books in a

35:31

way that all of that

35:33

marketing stuff is a sign. It's actually what

35:35

the book is about. Or you can join

35:37

something like Storygraph, and you can see other

35:39

readers reviewing and recommending things. And the same

35:41

thing. You're going to get someone on

35:43

Storygraph that's like, gay

35:45

crimes in space. And you're like, yes, this

35:48

is what I want. And

35:50

that's what, again, we get it. That's what should be on the

35:52

back because of books. But publishers are working hard to

35:54

try to. And they have research into

35:56

what works and what doesn't. But for some of us, it

35:59

gets annoying. That way you don't even have to

36:01

read the jacket copy. You can just see what other people

36:03

are saying about a book and judge from

36:05

there. So if you want us

36:07

to solve your reader problem, you can send it

36:09

to readingglassespodcast@gmail.com. As always, I want to thank the

36:11

wonderful mods who run our Facebook group. And remember

36:14

folks, it's summertime, baby. You need a tank top.

36:16

You need to stay cool. Go to our Void

36:18

March store. There's so much cool reading glasses stuff

36:20

in there and helps us feed our pets. They're

36:22

so hungry. My cat, Sailor, has been really picky

36:24

about his food and I've been having to buy

36:26

extra food for him because he's sick of all

36:28

the flavors he's normally getting. I don't know why.

36:31

He also likes to eat plastic. I don't know why he cares what

36:33

kind of tuna he eats. Very frustrating. But every

36:35

single time you get something from our Void March

36:37

store, it goes to feeding my picky cat. And

36:40

if you like the show and you want to do

36:42

something nice for us that's totally free, please rate and

36:44

review us on the podcast listening app of your choice.

36:46

Go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, open up the mobile app

36:48

in your phone and give us a nice little review,

36:50

a five-star rating. It's really great for us and helps

36:52

us grow the show. You can email

36:55

us at readingglassespodcast@gmail.com. Find us on Instagram

36:57

at readingglassespodcast. Thanks for listening and thanks

36:59

for reading.