Mostly Fictional

In this episode, Pam and Hallie talk about recent book awards and pair off songs and books to fill your TBR and playlists.

Books mentioned, in order:
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Demon Copperhead by Barbara
Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated from Catalan by Julia Sanches
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim
The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated from French by Richard Philcox
Standing Heavy by GauZ’, translated from Ivoirian by Frank Wynne
Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated from Spanish by Rosalind Harvey
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende
The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser
The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
The Project by Courtney Summers
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Cold Storage by David Koepp
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Everyday by David Levithan
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers


Songs Mentioned (not in order):
You Are a Tourist by Death Cab for Cutie
Blinding by Florence + The Machine
I Beg to Differ (This Will Get Better) by Billy Talent
Knees Deep by The Beths
Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
Any Day Now by Trousdale
It Will Come Back by Hozier
Drops of Jupiter by Train


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Bookstagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

After a brief hiatus, Pam and Hallie are back! Pam had two book hauls and finished her degree, and Hallie returns from an eventful vacation/belated honeymoon.

All books mentioned, in order:
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah
Greenwood by Michael Christie
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Animal Friends of Pica Pau by Yan Schenkel
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality by Lindsay Wong
The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audre Burges
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Pinata by Leopoldo Gout
This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Watch Over Me by Nina Lacour
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
Michelangelo: His Epic Life by Martin Gayford
The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
Marvelous by Molly Greeley
The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector
Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Bookstagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam and Hallie create a rainbow of books!

Books mentioned, in order:
A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill
The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul G Tremblay
How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart
It by Stephen King
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Come in and Cover Me by Gin Phillips
Albatross by Terry Fallis
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Babel by RF Kuang
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
The Trees by Percival Everett
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Bookstagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

Three months into 2023, Pam and Hallie review their 2023 reading goals to see if they're on track. Spoiler alert: it's a mixed bag.

Books mentioned, in order:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
The Colony by Audrey Magee
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Complete Works of William Shakespeare
A Court of Thorn and Roses (Series) by Sarah J. Maas
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler
Half Life by Krista Foss
The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver
The Secret History Donna Tartt
This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang


Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Bookstagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam shares the plethora of titles she's finished, and Hallie reviews a 700-page tome and a new release. Plus, we pair fiction and nonfiction reads across a variety of genres.

Books mentioned, in order:
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul Tremblay
Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women by Kate Moore
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult by Michelle Dowd
Educated by Tara Westover
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Trials of Passion: Crimes Committed in the Name of Love and Madness by Lisa Appignanesi
There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
I’ll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara
Sadie by Courtney Summers
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Overstory by Richard Powers
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Lakewood by Megan Giddings
Exile and Pride by Eli Clare
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Bookstagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Bookstagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam shares an exciting life update and Hallie talks about breaking out of her reading slump. Plus, a list of ten books that were important to Pam and Hallie’s reading lives.

Books mentioned, in order:
The Marrow Thieves by Cheri Dimaline
The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Indigo Field by Marjorie Hudson
Stray Dogs: Stories by Rawi Hage
I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
The Centaur's Wife by Amanda Leduc
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Lee
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
Look Out for Pirates! by Iris Vinton, H. B. Vestal
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Red is Best by Kathy Stinson
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Emma by Jane Austen
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield [Vintage Anchor Emblem Canada Series]
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
How High We Go In the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Sadie by Courtney Summers
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

Find Pam and Hallie online!
Hallie can be found on Substack and Instagram at @wordsmithreads
Pam can be found on Youtube and Instagram at @pams_inkheart

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam plans to "Finish Your Damn Books" in February while a polar vortex slams Canada, and Hallie talks about a readathon of 25 hours of reading. Plus, a Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow buddy read recap – both with and without spoilers.

Books mentioned, in order:
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Half Life by Krista Foss
Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown
Stray Dogs by Rawi Hage
Out There by Kate Folk
The Marrow Thieves by Cheri Dimaline
Empire of Wild by Cheri Dimaline
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Phase Six by Jim Shepard
The Trees by Percival Everett
All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
The Centaur’s Wife by Amanda Leduc
I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Huntress by Malinda Lo
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Lady Sapiens: Breaking Stereotypes About Prehistoric Women by Thomas Cirotteau
Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Sadie by Courtney Summers

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam and Hallie update their reading progress, as well as share a handful of exciting books releasing in 2023!

Books mentioned, in order:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
The Misconceiver by Lucy Ferriss
The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
The Martian by Andy Weir
Out There by Kate Folk
Jamesland by Michelle Huneven
Search by Michelle Huneven
Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin
All’s Well by Mona Awad
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Bunny by Mona Awad
Sandman Vol. 2 by Neil Gaiman
Sandman Vol. 3 by Neil Gaiman
Half Life by Krista Foss
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Indigo Field by Marjorie Hudson
Stiff: The Secret Lives of Cadavers by Mary Roach
Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh
Then Everything Happens at Once by M.E. Girard
Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard
Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult: A Memoir by Michelle Dowd
Educated by Tara Westover
The Last Catastrophe by Allegra Hyde
Eleutheria by Allegra Hyde
Pinata by Leopoldo Gout
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay
Chlorine by Jade Song
The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Ascension by Nicholas Binge
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Open Throat by Henry Hoke
Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam and Hallie talk about their current reads, create a "new goal" for themselves, and recommend books inspired by the God Janus, the namesake of the month of January.

Books mentioned, in order:
The Pallbearer’s Club by Paul Tremblay
Out There by Kate Folk
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Misconceiver by Lucy Ferriss
To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Half Life by Krista Foss
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Over the Woodward Wall by A Deborah Baker
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amar El Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

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 [email protected]

In this episode, Pam and Hallie set some intentions and goals for reading in 2023, and plan what their first reads of the year will be.

Books mentioned, in order:

• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – Readalong: @footnotes.and.tangents
• Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
• Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
• Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
• The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Phase Six by Jim Shepard
• The Trees by Percival Everett
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

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 [email protected]