Keep It Fictional

Emma, Liz, and Virginia talk artificial intelligence and robots on this week's episode. Books mentioned: The Singularity by Dino Buzzati, translated by Anne Milano Appel, Carole and Tuesday by Morito Yamataka, and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle.

Today's episode is all about books that give us the Fall vibes. As per usual, our three librarians have slightly different takes on the season. What kinds of books do you like to read during the Fall season? Books mentioned on this episode: The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa, and The Avian Hourglass by Linds...

Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia are bringing you some CanCon today for the upcoming "I Read Canadian Day" (November 6, 2024). They also talk about the first Canadian books they remember reading. Books mentioned on this episode: Bad Medicine by Christopher Twin, All You Can Kill by Pasha Malla, The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan, and Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks.

It's the Emma and Corene show today. Find out what book they chose to read together. Warning: this episode contains some strong opinions, especially about cinnamon buns.

Celebrate Latin American Heritage Month this October with these amazing books by authors of the Latin American community. Books mentioned on this episode: Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet Witches by Brenda Lozano, translated by Heather Cleary All They Will Call You by Tim Z. Hernandez Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova

The coziest season is upon us, so the Keep It Fictional librarians have chosen some books to go with your cozy beverage of choice. Also play along with our "Cozy, Not Cozy" game. Books mentioned on this episode: The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood The Full Moon Coffee Shop by M...

In this week's episode, an Aries, a Gemini, a Cancer, a Scorpio, and a Pisces share a book that they think embodies their star signs. What's your star sign, and what book would you recommend? Books mentioned on this episode: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabr...

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30 to honour the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities. Please join the Keep It Fictional Team in reading works by Indigenous authors. Books mentioned on this episode: Picking Up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman and Kirsti...

We continue our 200th anniversary episode with more existential questions: What book would you make every book friend read? How much influence does your book friends' recommendations actually have on your reading? Do you plan what you read ahead of time or see what your mood takes you? We also played a game of "how well do we know our book friends", and of course, we had to debate qu...

1085 books and 9607 minutes later, we have arrived at our 200th episode of the Keep It Fictional podcast from the Port Moody Public Library. Thank you, listeners, for joining us in the past four years, and we hope we'll get to spend many more with you. For this special 200th episode, you will not only get to hear from Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia, but also from three former book friends,...

Long time listeners know that we are big, big fans of books in translation on Keep It Fictional. As September is National Translation Month, we dedicate this episode to all translators and publishers that specialize in translation. Thank you for all the work you do! Books mentioned on this episode: The History of My Sexuality by Tobi Lakmaker, translated from Dutch into English by Kristen Gehrman,...

Emma and Virginia finally got a chance to do an entire episode on the series Bungo Stray Dogs! This series is especially dear to them because it has introduced and inspired them to seek out many classic Japanese authors, whom they will talk about today. They are a bit insufferable because they love this series so much, so thanks for listening! Books mentioned on this episode: The Poems of Nakahara...

This week, we hear from Emma and Sadie about the books they are looking forward to reading this Fall. You can expect heists, assassins, queer relationship stories, and lots of cats. Books mentioned on this episode: Latin America Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara, The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner, Invisible Kitties: A Feline Study of Fluid Mechanics or The Spurious Incidents...

For the next two episodes, we are going to talk about books we are excited to read coming out in the last quarter of the year. Of course, as you can imagine, Corene and Virginia are going to bring two very different sets of books to the table today. Books mentioned in this episode: Overstaying by Ariane Koch, translated by Damion Searls, Real Ones by Katherena Vermette, The Stone Door by Leonora C...

Is romance dead? Not on Keep It Fictional today! Corene, Emma, and Sadie dive deep today into all things romance, from what they like about the genre, to how they feel about the many tropes in romance fiction. Books mentioned on this show: The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley, Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong, and A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole.

We will be mixing it up today and taking on the persona of a book friend and reading one of their favourite genres, subjects, or formats. What are the lessons learned from this exercise? We shall find out! Books mentioned on this episode: Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen, Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen, A Study in Drowning by...

Perhaps the strangest Keep It Fictional experience yet... Corene, Sadie, and Virginia have to read a book that have characters with the same names as them. Books mentioned on this episode: I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang, Corinne by Rebecca Morrow, and The Chandelier by Clarice Lispector, translated by Benjamin Moser and Magdalena Edwards.

For our 193th episode, we are finally going to tackle Westerns. We also discussed how to get out of a reading slump. Books mentioned on this episode: Frontier by Grace Curtis, A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon, True Grit by Charles Portis, and Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson.

We read historical fantasy, Sadie's favourite genre mashup, and share some feelings about trains, clothes in Medieval times, romantic leads named Ralph, and people on the internet. Books mentioned on this episode: The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks, The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker, The Last Heir to the Blackwood Library by Hester Fox, and A Crane Among...

Are two heads always better than one? Today, Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia finds out by reading a book that is co-written by two or more authors. Books mentioned on this episode: Bury the Lead by Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti, Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel, My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton, and Ghost Roast by by Shawnee Gibbs and Shawnelle Gibb...

Corene, Emma, and Virginia dive into the mysterious world of Booktok today. Are you a fan of Booktok and do you read books popular on Booktok? Books mentioned on this episode: Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid, A Shameful Life (also known as No Longer Human) by Osamu Dazai, translated by Mark Gibeau, and Bride by Ali Hazelwood.

2024 is the year of the dragon, so we thought we would do a dragon episode. Find out what happens when two librarians who are pretty "meh" towards dragons read a dragon book. Books mentioned in today's episode: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill and When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker.

Sadie assigns us to judge a book by its colour today. What is your favourite colour? Will you read a book just because the cover has your favourite colour? Books mentioned on this episode: The Blizzard by Vladimir Sorokin, translated by Jamey Gambrell, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan, and Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs.

Let's travel back in time to... 2023. What are some books we didn't get to that we finally read for today's show? Books mentioned on this episode: Homecoming by Kate Morton, Grave Expectations by Alice Bell, and Blackouts by Justin Torres.

Happy Pride Month everyone! Pick up a book by the many amazing 2SLGBTQIA+ authors in June (and all year around, of course). Books mentioned on this episode: The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag, Antiman by Rajiv Mohabir, Family Meal by Bryan Washington, and In the Form of a Question by Amy Schneider.