Go places with Keep It Fictional! We are heading to Upstate New York, London, Nevada, Baghdad, and Berlin. Won't you join us? Books mentioned on this episode: Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens, Berlin by Bea Setton, The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner, Nevada by Imogen Binnie, and Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright.
Do you need more than one word to capture the essence of a story? We'll find out today with our one-word titled books. Books mentioned on this episode: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew, Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter, Inland by Téa Obreht, and Luminous by Mara Rutherford.
Explore some favourite tropes of ours in this episode: found families, secret magic, unreliable narrators, and fake dating. Books mentioned on this episode: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman, Too Much Like Lightning by Ada Palmer, True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop by Annie Darling, and Frankly in Love by David Yoon.
What's in a name? Today we picked books that have a person's name in the title, bringing you Jamaican-Trinidadian folktales, ghosts and scavenger hunt, comic books with iguanas and coyotes, and mechs that appreciate music. Books mentioned on this episode: The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia, The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong, and August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White.
Take a break from reality and step into an alternate universe. Your travel guides today include Allison, Sadie, Virginia, and a special guest! Books mentioned on this episode: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin Philip Gabriel, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, Famous Men Who Never Lived by K Chess, and Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine.
Should celebrities become authors and write novels or should they stay in their lane? That's the question we try to answer in today's Keep It Fictional. Which celebrity wrote the most bananapants book? Who put on a tween girl voice for the audiobook? Whose work was labeled as "aggressively bland"? Books mentioned on this episode: The Reservoir by David Duchovny, Elixir by Hilary Duff, Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, Devil House by John Darnielle, and Holy Cow by David Duchovny.
Celebrate Pride with books from LGBTQ+ authors this month and beyond. Books mentioned on this episode: An Archive of Brightness by Kelsey Socha, The Big Reveal by Sasha Velour, Delhi: Communities of Belonging by Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh, Without You by Anthony Rapp, and Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh. (Wait, do we have more non-fiction today than fiction? That may be a Keep It Fictional first).
Listeners know that Corene, Fiona, Sadie, and Virginia all like different kinds of books, so what will happen if they are "forced" to read the same book? Find out on this "buddy read" episode. Also, we find out whom among the staff at Port Moody Public Library do they trust when it comes to book recommendations. Who on our staff may be your book twin? Check out the Staff Picks shelves ....
Get to know Allison from their favourite books, and of course, from their answers to some existential questions. Books mentioned on this episode: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, Letter Perfect by David Sacks, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, and The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman.
Things are about to get weird on Keep It Fictional. This week, we bring you sentient sourdough, sentient car, sentient train, sentient robot moose, sentient gingerbread people, and more! Books mentioned on this episode: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, Christine by Stephen King, and The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz.
May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. Here at Keep It Fictional we want to take the opportunity to express our thanks for all the opportunities to read books written by authors of Asian descent. Thank you for your great contribution to literature. Books mentioned on this episode: A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin, I Went To See My Father by Shin Kyung-sook, translated by Anton Hur, The Dwellers by Eliza Victoria, and People Change by Vivek Shraya.
We finish off talking about our anticipated reads of May to August 2023, and bid farewell to Mark, one of our dear book friends. Thank you, Mark, for all your thought-provoking book recommendations in the past year. We will try to carry the torch by raising awareness of lesser known, translated works from around the world. Books mentioned on this episode: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs, The Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life by Kristin Ross, Oh God...
Your TBR is about to get longer! This and next week, we will tell you about 25 very on-brand upcoming releases we are looking forward to reading. Books mentioned on this episode: The Stronghold by Dino Buzzati and translated by Lawrence Venuti, The Book that Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence, The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera, Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See, Crooked Manifesto by Colson Whitehead, Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wol...
Today's episode is all about giving a shoutout to those books that were nominated for an award, didn't win, but should have, in our opinion. Get ready for epic road trips, missing bodies, alternative realities, and true crime podcasts. Books mentioned on this episode: Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer, The Trees by Percival Everett, The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi, translated by Emily Balistrieri, and I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan.
The tables have turned! This week, instead of recommending books we have read and loved, we had to read books someone else has recommended to us. These books include a melancholic read with not much happening, a thrift shop with eccentric customers, a queen who doesn't want to die, and a detective taking witness statements from ghosts. Are the Keep It Fictional librarians good at taking recommendations? Let's find out. Books mentioned on this show: At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora K...
We discovered that one of our book friends loves a good betrayal, thankfully only in books and not in real life. Join us this week as we try to figure out who will be the traitor among our books. Books mentioned this week: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn, The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud, and Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe.
Get ready to feel all the emotions with our poetry and novel-in-verse recommendations. Books mentioned in this episode: Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, A Really Good Brown Girl by Marilyn Dumont, The Tradition by Jericho Brown, and Cluster by Souvankham Thammavongsa.
What should be a pleasant episode about spring and plants and fungi turns out to be stuff of nightmare for one of our book friends. Books mentioned on this episode: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari, This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, and A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East by László Krasznahorkai.
Find out what our Keep It Fictional librarians think of this year's CBC Canada Reads' contenders: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Greenwood by Michael Christie, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah, and Ducks by Kate Beaton. The debate will take place from March 27 to 30. Let's see if we have guessed the right winner.
What kind of superpowers would you want? How about the ones our characters have in the books we read for this week's episode? Shapeshifting, immortality, ability to fly, superstrength, and...Math? Books mentioned on this episode: Wildseed by Octavia E. Butler, Faith by Julie Murphy, Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson, Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang, and Dreadnaught by April Daniels.
March is National Small Press Month. We want to give a shout out to all the amazing small publishers out there that make our book world so much richer and more interesting! Thank you. We encourage you to pick up a book from a small press this month, and every month of the year. Books mentioned in this episode: The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste (Algonquin), Dislocations by Sylvia Molloy (Charco Press), Just Jen: Thriving Through Multiple Sclerosis by Jen Powley (Fernwood), and Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unf...
We say goodbye and good luck to Gabriel, one of our book friends who has been with the Port Moody Public Library for the last year. Thank you for all the book (and video game) recommendations, Gabriel. Books mentioned on this episode: Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Minecraft: The Dragon by Nicky Drayden, and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.
This week (February 19 - 25, 2023) is Freedom to Read Week in Canada. Our Keep It Fictional librarians are here to talk about banned books that people don't want you to get your hands on. Show your support and commitment to freedom to read by picking up and reading a banned book. Books mentioned on this episode: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.
Our librarians recommend fantastic reads by Black authors for every month of the year. Books mentioned on this episode: Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi, The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy, and Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia.
Get ready for some earworms! In today's Keep It Fictional Book Chat, Corene, Fiona, Mark, and Virginia talk about books that have the same titles as songs. Also on the episode, a revelation that blew Corene's mind. 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa, You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo, Girl in a Coma by Douglas Coupland, and She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen.
This episode provides some incentives for our librarians to pick up a book by an author they have always meant to read. And with Sadie back, a topic that hurts Corene's brain resurfaces: buying series. Books mentioned on this episode: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Ravelstein by Saul Bellow, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany, and Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer.
Are you a fan of books with multiple perspectives? Corene, Fiona, Mark, and Virginia have recommendations for you in today's Keep It Fictional Book Chat. Romance, Frankenstein retelling, swimming pools, and reality shows are on the menu today. Books mentioned on this episode: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka, Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez, and Love From Mecca to Medina by S K Ali.
The Keep It Fictional librarians challenge themselves to read a loooong book. Are you a fan of a doorstopper? What is the longest book you've read? Books mentioned on this episode: Books mentioned on this episode: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (different translations available), Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez and translated by Megan McDowell, Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura and translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida, and A Perfect Spy by John le Carré.
In case your To-Be-Read (TBR) list is not long enough already, we have more books to suggest to you. Fiona, Gabriel, and Mark talk about the books coming out from January to April that they are looking forward to reading. Memoirs, mysteries, haunted houses, shogi, guerilla gardening group, and more. Let us know what books you are excited to read! Books mentioned on this episode: Stravaging "Strange" by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Joanne Turnbull, Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, Miss Majo...
Happy New Year, book lovers! 2023 is here, and Corene and Virginia are putting together their lists of upcoming books to read. This season's lineup includes murder, more murder, mysterious suitcase, French elf, anxious robot vacuum, dark academia, and chicken soup. Books mentioned on this episode: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune Greek Lessons by Han Kang Lone Women by...
