Keep It Fictional

Pride Season 2025

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Pride Season! Corene, Sadie, and Virginia have some on-brand suggestions for your any-time-in-the-year reading to celebrate Pride. Books mention...

A Book with an Object in the Title

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eggs, shells, suits, lemon squeezer, bookmarks, pens, coffee machines... These are just some of the objects you will hear about today on our slightly ...

Short Story Month

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You know Virginia loves a good short story, but the others are more neutral about this format. How about you? Maybe our book choices today can convinc...

Asian Heritage Month 2025

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Join us this May and celebrate Asian Heritage Month by exploring authors of Asian descent. There are so many wonderful voices to discover! Books menti...

Books that Took a Long Time to Finish

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Books that took us a long time to finish. Why? We are not really sure. They were not doorstoppers, but yet, we started these books a while back and on...

Books Set in British Columbia

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Read local! Corene and Sadie chose a book set in British Columbia, by an author from British Columbia, for today's podcast. Books mentioned on the...

Anniversary Year

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The books we read for today's episode are celebrating a notable anniversary in 2025, including a book about standing in line, and two books that h...

Most Anticipated Books of 2025 (May to August): Part 2

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Identity theft, talking fox, not one but two Legendborn comparisons, eyes, heists, and more. Just some of our favourite things showing up in some upco...

Most Anticipated Books of 2025 (May to August): Part I

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Get your Keep It Fictional Bingo Card ready, folks! We're going to talk about upcoming releases we are looking forward to reading in the next few mont...

Snakes on the Podcast

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did it have to be snakes, Indiana Jones? Because 2025 is the Year of the Snake, so we have dedicated this episode of Keep It Fictional to these li...

We Suggest Books to Emma

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our mission today is to find a book that Emma may like, even though the book is unlike anything Emma normally reads. How successful are we? Let's ...

The Books That Got Away From Us

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There are so many books that get published every year that there are bound to be ones that we didn't get to immediately, so today, we each picked ...

March is Small Press Month

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrate the amazing work of small and independent publishers this March with us. Pick up a book by a small press from your library. Our suggestions ...

Travel the World With Us

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pack your bags and let's take a trip with the Keep It Fictional librarians to Rwanda, Jamaica, Prague, and Turkey. Books mentioned on this episode...

Retelling of Literary Classics

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Retellings seem to be having a moment these days. Do you prefer a retelling that more or less follows the original trajectory, or do you prefer one th...

Black History Month 2025

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We encourage you to read books by black authors all year long. Books mentioned on this episode: The Monsters We Defy by L. Penelop, Rest Is Resistance...

Childhood Favourites

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Corene, Emma, and Sadie revisit and re-read their childhood favourite. Did these books withstand the test of time? Find out in today's episode. Bo...

Great Title! Round 2

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Will a great title make you want to read a book? Let's see if any of the ones we chose for today's episode pass the test. Books mentioned on this epis...

Most Anticipated Reads of 2025 (January to April): Part 2

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here are some more books we are looking forward to reading in the first quarter of 2025, including long-awaited sequels, telepathic sloths, complicate...

Most Anticipated Reads of 2025 (January to April)

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

2025 looks to be another great year for books. What are you excited about reading? On our list, we have heists, Minnesota, Indigenous horror, true cri...

Happy New Year!

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For our very first Keep It Fictional Book Chat episode for 2025, we practise some self care and decide to do a free play episode, where we can read wh...

Our Favourite Books of 2024

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia share their top five books of 2024, and their honourable mentions. Political intrigue, burnout, dragons, mermaids, m...

Translators who are also Authors

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the episode where Corene and Virginia read books by translators who are also authors, but what is the real reason behind this episode's choice...

Ghost or Futuristic Romance

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Romancing another human being is clearly not satifisying enough so we're going to take to the next level today. Books mentioned in this episode: Th...

Cats! Cats! Cats!

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Talking cats. Disappearing cats. Prescription cats. Non-existent cats? Today's episode contains all kinds of cats, and all kinds of opinions about cat...

AI takes over Keep It Fictional

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Emma, Liz, and Virginia talk artificial intelligence and robots on this week's episode. Books mentioned: The Singularity by Dino Buzzati, translated b...

Fall Vibes

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 k...

I Read Canadian Day 2024

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

The Emma and Corene Book Club

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Celebrate Latin American Heritage Month

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrate Latin American Heritage Month this October with these amazing books by authors of the Latin American community. Books mentioned on this epis...

Cozy and Magical

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 wit...

Star Signs

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Books by Indigenous Authors

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30 to honour the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their fami...

Celebrating 200th Episode of KIF (Part Two)

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our 200th anniversary episode with more existential questions: What book would you make every book friend read? How much influence does yo...

Celebrating 200th Episode of KIF (Part One)

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

National Translation Month 2024

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 dedica...

All Things Bungo Stray Dogs (We do talk books and literature in this episode, we promise!)

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Emma's and Sadie's Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 relation...

Corene's and Virginia's Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Is Romance Dead?

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

Freaky Friday Episode

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Books featuring Corene, Sadie, and Virginia?

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Westerns

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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: ...

Historical Fantasy

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We read historical fantasy, Sadie's favourite genre mashup, and share some feelings about trains, clothes in Medieval times, romantic leads named ...

Two Authors Are Better Than One?

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. ...

Booktok

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

Year of the Dragon

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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" t...

Our Favourite Colours

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 co...

Back to 2023

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Pride Month 2024

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ep...

Thank you for your book presents!

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

The One Where Sadie Held Us Accountable

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our long-time listeners will be familiar with our "most anticipated upcoming releases" episodes, where we talk about books we are looking fo...

Asian Heritage Month 2024

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 b...

Most Anticipated Reads May-August 2024 (Part 2)

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

Most Anticipated Reads May-August 2024

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Genre Mashups

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Poetry Month 2024

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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: T...

Sadie's Obsession: Tea

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Emma's Obsession: Warrior Women

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

All About Families

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Celebrate Small Press Month 2024

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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....

Canada Reads 2024

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Celebrate Black History Month 2024

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We spotlight Black authors and creators in this episode today (and judge each other's beverage choices...again.) Books mentioned on this episode: ...

Love is in the air...and in the title

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 an...

Al's Obssession: Vampires

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Murder!

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Most Anticipated Books of 2024 (January - April, Part 1)

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ye...

Stay in your lane...or not

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Free Play

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Most Anticipated Books of 2024 (January to April) Part 2

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Asce...

Top Five Books of 2023 (Part 2)

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Top Five Books of 2023 (Part 1)

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

Guilty Pleasures

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ment...

Welcome Emma, Our New Book Friend!

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 fo...

Underappreciated Books

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Aside from suggesting underappreciated books more people should read, Corene and Virginia also talk about the elusive bestseller list, the lesser-know...

I Read Canadian Day 2023

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We bring you our CanLit book suggestions today if you'd like to join in the "I Read Canadian Day" celebration this year. Also, Sadie has...

Halloween Scare 2023

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Al, Sadie, and Virginia face their fears by choosing a book that has something that scares them in it. Books mentioned on this episode: Weyward by Emi...

We recommend...other podcasts (and books, of course)

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today we took book recommendations from other podcasts we listen to. Books mentioned on this episode: The Parking Lot Attendant by Nafkote Tamirat, Ch...

Celebrate Latin American Heritage Month

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We highlight some recent books by authors of Latin American descent on today's episode, as we celebrate the Latin American community and their con...

What's Your Number?

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On our 157th episode, the lucky numbers are: 5, 7, and 11. We also discussed our ideal page length for a book. Books mentioned on this episode: The F...

Thanksgiving

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Thanksgiving is upon us, we dedicate this episode to authors we are thankful for: Lavie Tidhar, Julie Kagawa, Ursula K. Le Guin, and the Interlibra...

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2023

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We hope you would pick up a book by an Indigenous author this September and take some time to look through the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and R...

Celebrate National Translation Month 2023

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is dedicated to all the amazing translators out there who made it possible for readers of all languages to read stories from around the w...

Books about Art and Artists

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dive into the world of art with Al, Corene, and Sadie in today's episode. Let's see what their books say about art, and what their favourite p...

Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023 - Part 2

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've got more upcoming Fall releases to introduce you to, along with some unpaid product placements. Books mentioned on this episode: What You Ar...

Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023 - Part 1

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Crunchy leaves, beautiful fall colours, pumpkin patches, and more new books. Al, Corene, Sadie, and Virginia talk about the upcoming releases they are...

Happy 150th Episode!

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are celebrating our 150th episode this week by talking about ten books that have made us the reader we are today. Thank you, listeners, for spendin...

Books that Intimidate Us

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are going to be brave today and tackle a book that intimates us. Books mentioned on this episode: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García ...

Thank you, Fiona!

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fiona, our resident CanCon and audiobook champion, is heading off to another amazing adventure! Thank you for all the book suggestions in the last few...

If You Liked This TV Show, Read These Books

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We have book recommendations for fans of the TV shows Yellowjackets, Only Murder in the Building, Stranger Things, 99 Day Fiancé (and the other 17 se...

Books with Place Names in Titles

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Just One Word

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 epi...

Book Tropes

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Explore some favourite tropes of ours in this episode: found families, secret magic, unreliable narrators, and fake dating. Books mentioned on this ep...

What's in a Name?

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 scaven...

Welcome to the Alternate Universes!

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Take a break from reality and step into an alternate universe. Your travel guides today include Allison, Sadie, Virginia, and a special guest! Books m...

Novels Written by Celebrities

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Pride Month 2023

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrate Pride with books from LGBTQ+ authors this month and beyond. Books mentioned on this episode: An Archive of Brightness by Kelsey Socha, The B...

Buddy Read

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Listeners know that Corene, Fiona, Sadie, and Virginia all like different kinds of books, so what will happen if they are "forced" to read t...

Welcome Allison, our new Keep It Fictional librarian

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Get to know Allison from their favourite books, and of course, from their answers to some existential questions. Books mentioned on this episode: The ...

Sentient Something

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Things are about to get weird on Keep It Fictional. This week, we bring you sentient sourdough, sentient car, sentient train, sentient robot moose, se...