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 that reinvents and takes the original in a new direction? In today's episode, we each read a retelling of a literary classic. Books mentioned on this episode: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler, Pym by Mat Johnson, Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, and The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye.

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 by Tricia Hersey, The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated by Alison Anderson, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

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. Books mentioned on this episode: A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, Everworld #1: The Search For Senna by K.A.Applegate, and The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling.

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 episode: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell, and I was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.

Here are some more books we are looking forward to reading in the first quarter of 2025, including long-awaited sequels, telepathic sloths, complicated sister relationships, pawnshops and more. Books mentioned on this episode: Malinalli by Veronica Chapa, The National Telepathy by Roque Larraquy, translated by Frank Wynne, In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space by Irvin Weathersby Jr., The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon, The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner, Wildcat Dome by Yuko Tsushima, translated by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, Counterattacks at Thirty by Won-pyung Sohn, translated by Sean Lin Halbert, Oathbound by Tracy Deonn, The Black Orb by Ewhan Kim, translated by Sean Lin Halbert, and We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin.

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 crime, strange drawings, Nobel Prize winners (and not-winners), and scandals. Books mentioned on this episode:

• To Steal From Thieves by M.K Lobb
• Passing Through a Prairie Country by Dennis E. Staples
• The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson
• Strange Pictures by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion
• We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
• Barley Patch by Gerald Murnane
• The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips

Stay tuned for the rest of our most anticipated reads next week.

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 whatever we want. What is the first book you read this year? Books mentioned on this episode: The Art Detective: Adventures of an Antiques Roadshow Appraiser Paperback by Philip Mould, Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba, translated by Lisa Dillman, and A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston.

Corene, Emma, Sadie, and Virginia share their top five books of 2024, and their honourable mentions. Political intrigue, burnout, dragons, mermaids, murder, bookstores, skateboarding, memoirs, assassins, mollusks, poetry... we have got them all.

Listeners, what are your favourite books of the year?