When Dan Pelzer passed away at 92, his daughter discovered something extraordinary — a handwritten log of every book he had read since 1962. All 3,599 of them. She turned it into a website and shared it at his funeral via QR code, and the reading community hasn't stopped talking about it since.

In this Brief Encounters episode, Desiree and Morgan dig into Dan's story and the bigger questions it raises: What do the books we read say about who we are? Are there books that feel permanently stamped to specific seasons of your life? And has a book ever actually changed the way you live?

In this episode:

• The viral reading log that made us both emotional
• Books that timestamp your life — Twilight, Harry Potter release nights, a box of Goosebumps from a yard sale
• The DNF debate: is it okay to abandon a book?
• The return of analog habits and why they're good for your nervous system
• We build our dopamine menus live 🍽️
• Honorable mention reads: Evelyn Clarke and Yesteryear

Visit Dan's log yourself: what-dan-read.com

Facts & Fictions is a cozy book club podcast where we talk about the books we're reading and the thoughts we're having on them. New episodes weekly.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Desiree and Morgan are reading Discontent by Beatrice Serrano — a debut translated novel from Spain that is part workplace satire, part slow-burn existential unraveling, and entirely too relatable.

We're talking about Marissa: a mid-level marketing employee in Madrid who looks fine from the outside but is quietly dissolving on the inside. She's hiding in her office watching YouTube, surviving on tranquilizers, and dreading the corporate retreat that's about to push her over the edge.

In this episode we dig into:

✦ Why corporate burnout isn't just an American problem — and how uncomfortable that is to admit

✦ The connection between Discontent and My Year of Rest and Relaxation

✦ Faking productivity, stealing ideas from interns, and the particular horror of the workplace retreat

✦ What this book gets right about loneliness and the need for real community

✦ That ending — and why it might actually be Marissa's happily ever after

✦ Fan cast picks for a potential adaptation

⭐ We gave it a 4–4.5 out of 5. It's a great read if you already love the "quietly falling apart" genre — but maybe not the one to hand a beginner reader.

Facts & Fictions is a cozy book club podcast hosted by Desiree & Morgan. New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss one.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're doing something a little different this week — welcome to our first ever Overdue for a Chat episode. No book breakdown, no deep dive. Just Morgan and Desiree catching up on everything bookish that's been living rent-free in their heads.

Storygraph: @desireereed @morgankline

Instagram: instagram.com/factsandfictionspod

Subscribe to Facts & Fictions for new episodes every other Sunday

📚 Books & things mentioned in this episode:

Before I Forget — Tori Hendwood Hoen

The Future Saints

Half His Age — Jeanette McCurdy

Remarkably Bright Creatures — Shelby Van Pelt

Wuthering Heights (upcoming film, Charli XCX soundtrack)

Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir (film adaptation March 2026)

The Astral Library

Heated Rivalry — Emily Rath (TV adaptation)

Photographer: Sylvester Mako

Facts & Fictions is a cozy book club podcast dropping new episodes every Sunday. Subscribe so you never miss one.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.