Pam gets SMART with her goals, Hallie makes puns, and we reveal the books we namedropped the most on the pod this year. 

Books mentioned in order:
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Leech by Hiron Ennes
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed
Crash by Lisa McMann
A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Shattered Spirits: The Fall of Ishcairn by Cal Black
Fox 8 by George Saunders
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
O Pioneers by Willa Cather
The Door by Magda Szabó
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Gone with the WInd by Margaret Mitchell
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers
American War by Omar El Akkad
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
The Odyssey by Homer

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam baked four types of cookies, and Hallie, inexplicably, is reading a doorstopper.

Books mentioned in order:
Choose Your Own Adventure series
Goosebump series 
Culpability by Peter Holsinger
Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto
Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto
Leech by Hiron Ennes
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Babel by RF Kuang
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka 
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed

PhilosophyTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2PA-AKmVpU6NKCGtZq_rKQ


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam is on a reread streak and Hallie finally finished Nonfiction November.

Books mentioned in order:
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore 
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
If You’re Seeing This It’s Meant for You by Leigh Stein
Bunny by Mona Awad
Shattered Spirits: The Fall of Ishcairn by Cal Black
No Land For Heroes by Cal Black
Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Books mentioned in order:
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
The Land of Stone Flowers: A Fairy Guide to the Mythical Human Being by Sveta Dorosheva
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree 
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
How Far The Light Reaches: A Life In 10 Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Review mentioned: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7093851464


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam has success with a book club read and Hallie continues Nonfiction November.

Books mentioned, in order:
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

NPR Book Concierge https://apps.npr.org/best-books/


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam finishes her fifth vampire book, and we share a short bookish gift guide ahead of the holidays

Books mentioned, in order:
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe 
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna 
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Playground by Richard Powers
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Friends of the Museum by Heather McGowan
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Links mentioned:
https://tertulia.com/


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Hallie continues Nonfiction November and Pam faces an audiobook dilemma. 

Books mentioned, in order:
Flesh by David Szalay
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

The Booker Prize: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2025 


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Our take on "10 Before the End."

Books mentioned, in order: 
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Briefly a Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
A Certain Hunger Chelsea G. Summers
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib 
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Paradise Logic by Sophie Kemp
The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Guards Guards by Terry Pratchett

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam goes for a hat trick with book hauls.

Books and links mentioned in this episode: 
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Search by Michelle Huneven 
Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette
The World According to Garp by John Irving
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

LINKS
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-childrens-booker-prize


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Surprise, Pam has another book haul! 

Books and links mentioned in this episode:
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
What Draws Us Near edited by Keith Cadieux & Adam Petrash
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum
Whimsy by Shannon McLeod
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
The Alaskan Bull Worm: https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Alaskan_Bull_Worm
A Christmas Story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Story




Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam hauls 25 books!! Just kidding -- only 6 from her haul make an appearance. 

Books mentioned, in order: 
Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Hot Wax by M.L. Rio
The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul Tremblay
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Wordplay by John Langdon
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving


Links mentioned this episode:
Seven Samurai Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seven_samurai_1956
Season 1 of Carmilla web series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uPd3g5wi1A 
VSauce on Ambigrams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyD6b9ww-1I
Dracula Daily: https://draculadaily.substack.com/ 


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

In this episode, Hallie loves a book that survived a TBR culling, and Pam reads a book with 80s music built right in.

Books mentioned, in order: 
Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones
The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones
American War by Omar El Akkad 
One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Possession by AS Byatt
Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton
Hot Wax by M.L. Rio
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger


Booker Shortlist: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2025


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Hallie asks Pam why the Canadian government is like that, and Pam is racing against a library deadline. 

Books mentioned, in order: 
The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones
Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution by Amy Coney Barrett
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline 
Hot Wax by ML Rio
American War by Omar El Akkad

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Hallie has finished a dark academia series and Pam tries her luck at reading new releases.

Books mentioned, in order:
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, tr by Julia Meitov Hersey
Assassin of Reality by the Dyachenkos
School of Shards by the Dyachenkos
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones
The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Hot Wax by M.L. Rio
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Moonbound by Robin Sloan
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Sourdough by Robin Sloan
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Hallie, a silly goose, is reading two physical books, and Pam finally conquered a classic.

Books mentioned, in order:
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Whirlaway by Poe Ballantine
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Looking for a Alaska by John Green
The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Assassin of Reality by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey
School of Shards by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence
Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Hallie learns her series is new this year, and Pam attempts to conquer a classic. 

Books mentioned, in order:
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
The Poppy War by RF Kuang
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
I’d Kill For That by Kathy Reichs
No Rest for the Dead by Kathy Reichs
Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs
Assassin of Reality by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Whirlaway by Poe Ballantine
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
School of Shards by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam gets to correct Hallie's French pronunciation and Hallie finished a physical book!

Books mentioned, in order:
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman
Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones
The Ravel Cycle Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater
Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Whirlaway by Poe Ballantine
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko with Julia Meitov Hersey
The Magicians by Lev Grossman


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionalpod@gmail.com 

Pam is getting her license and Hallie has the Titanic recorder meme in her head.

Books mentioned in order:
Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Search by Michelle Huneven
Jamesland by Michelle Huneven
Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir by Jessica Hindman
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Nonfiction Book Party Substack: nonfictionbookparty.substack.com 

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionpod@gmail.com 

Pam continues HRCYED and Hallie gets furniture to read on!

Books mentioned, in order:
The Raven Boys (Graphic Novel) by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams, illustrated by Sas Milledge
The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab
The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by VE Schwab
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Island: The Complete Stories by Alistair MacLeod
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall 
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

The Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do: https://hrcyed.my.canva.site/

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionpod@gmail.com 

Hallie's bookshelves are finally done!

Books mentioned, in order:

Here’s To Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Piglet by Lottie Hazell
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Ballad for Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab
The Raven Boys Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater
Blue Lily Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater 
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Collected works of Shakespeare
Collected works of Walt Whitman
Collected works of Emily Dickinson
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
The Tales of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Borrowers series by Mary Norton
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Follow Hallie’s Substack at wordsmithreads.substack.com
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart
Or, send us both a message at mostlyfictionpod@gmail.com