Keep It Fictional

Is the best present for a book lover a book? In today's episode, Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia read books gifted to them, and discussed what makes a perfect gift. Books mentioned: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, and Beyond the Curve by Kobo Abe, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter.

Our long-time listeners will be familiar with our "most anticipated upcoming releases" episodes, where we talk about books we are looking forward to reading. Sadie wonders, how many of these "most anticipated" books did her book friends actually end up reading? Well, at least one, since she is making us read one for today's episode. Books mentioned on this episode: The Book...

It's just three of us today, so in addition to telling you about the books we read for this Asian Heritage Month episode, we also sneak in a few bonus reading suggestions. Books mentioned on this show: The Lantern and the Night Moths edited and translated by Yilin Wang, Welcome Me to the Kingdom by Mai Nardone, and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

Here are some more upcoming releases Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia are looking forward to this season. Plus, find out what is the best book each of them has read so far this year. Books mentioned on this episode: Cicada Summer by Erica McKeen, Dark Wire by Joseph Cox, Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong, Funeral Nights by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer by Faith...

It's that time of the year again for us to look forward into the future to see what books have the potential to be our favourites of 2024. We will be talking about books coming out in May, June, July, and August in 2024. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week. Books mentioned on this episode: Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer, Yona of the Dawn Volume 41 by Mizuho Kusanagi, The Sins on The...

Today, we talk about the book equivalent of a "turducken": genre mashups. Do the authors we read for today have the chops to mix things up and create something amazing? Let's find out. Books mentioned on this episode: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas, Yona of the Dawn series by Mizuho Kusanagi, Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, and Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian...

Celebrate National Poetry Month with us and check out a poetry collection or a novel in verse from your local library. Books mentioned on this show: The Carrying and The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon, Gay Girl Prayers by Emily Austin, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson, Root Fractures by Diana Koi Nguyen, and Crushed Wild Mint by Jess Housty.

We welcome all tea and non-tea drinkers to another episode of Keep It Fictional! This week we dive into Sadie's obsession and read books with tea in it. We also try to figure out what tea we would be, if we were a type of tea. Books mentioned on this episode: The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill, The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton, The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly, and...

This week, we explore one of Emma's obsessions and read books about warrior women, real and fictional. Books mentioned on this show: The Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco, Madame Fourcade's Secret War by Lynne Olsen.

How does an episode on books about families lead to a discussion on dinosaurs? Find out in today's Keep It Fictional Book Chat. Books mentioned on this episode: Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis, The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh, Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth and translated by Charlotte Barslund, and The Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich.

Join us in celebrating the hard work of many wonderful independent and small publishers this March, along with a discussion of the star rating system. Books mentioned on this episode: The Way She Feels by Courtney Cook (published by Tin House), Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura (published by Canis Major Books), and You, Bleeding Childhood by Michele Mari and translated by Brian Robert Moore (pub...

Let's see what our Keep It Fictional librarians think of this year's contenders for Canada Reads? Who will reign supreme? We will find out on March 7. Books mentioned on this episode: The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou, Shut Up You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji, Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, Denison Avenue by Christina Wong & Daniel Innes, and Bad Cree b...

We spotlight Black authors and creators in this episode today (and judge each other's beverage choices...again.) Books mentioned on this episode: Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi, The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin, Home by Toni Morrison, and A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib.

Since it's Valentine week, Emma decides we all need to read a book with the word "love" in the title. Didn't really end up having any pure romance books, but we did have: inheriting a London bookstore, "American Psycho meets Legally Blonde", ants crawling around, and more... Books mentioned on this episode: With Love From London by Sarah Jio, Kill for Love by Laura Pick...

To thank Al for all the great book suggestions they have given us during their time on Keep It Fictional, we all consumed some vampire media for today's episode. Books mentioned on this episode: My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine, The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Certain Dark Things by Si...

The word "murder" comes up fairly frequently on the show so we thought, why not do an episode where we all have to pick a book that has the word "murder" in the title? Books mentioned on this episode: The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley, Murder in the Age of Enlightenment by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and translated by Bryan Karetnyk, and Murder Your Employer:The McMasters Gui...

Happy New Year to all our listeners! For our very first episode of 2024, we want to tell you about upcoming books we are excited to read in the new year. Let us know what you are looking forward to reading. Books mentioned on this episode: Murder Road by Simone St. James, Ghost Roast by Shawnee Gibbs and Shawnelle Gibbs, What Feasts the Night by T. Kingfisher, Harlequin Butterfly by Toh EnJoe, tra...

Do you believe that authors should "stay in thelr lanes"? See what our Keep It Fictional Book Chat librarians think, after they read a book by an author who decides to try out a new genre, or write for a different audience. Books mentioned on this episode: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, Shuna's Jo...

At Keep It Fictional today, we decided to be nice to ourselves and do a "free play" episode, i.e. we can talk about any book we like. Turns out that's just as hard. Books mentioned on this episode: The Modern World by Cassie Beacham, The Miner by Natsume Soseki, translated by Jay Rubin, and Making it So by Sir Patrick Stewart.

More books (and other things) we are looking forward to in 2024. Books mentioned on this episode: There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum and translated by Shanna Tan, A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark, How to Become the Dark Lord...

We continue our countdown to our favourite books of 2023. What are the best books you have read this year?

We have read sooo many great books this year, and these are our favourite books of 2023. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week.

The Keep It Fictional Librarians reveal their guilty pleasure reads. What do you read that you are a bit embarassed to admit that you love? Books mentioned on this episode: Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, The Wrong Girl by C.J. Archer, Make It Stick by Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel, and Peter C. Brown, and Vampire Hu...

Introducing our new book friend, Emma! As per the tradition of Keep It Fictional, we read and talked about a book from Emma's Top Ten List, and found out a bit more about what type of reader Emma is. Books mentioned on this episode: Himawari House by Harmony Becker, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Bleach by Tite Kubo, and The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.

Aside from suggesting underappreciated books more people should read, Corene and Virginia also talk about the elusive bestseller list, the lesser-known types of picnics, the unforgiveable "crimes" of Kenneth Branagh, and this thing called baseball.