The Stacks

By Traci Thomas

The Stacks is your one stop shop to talk books and reading. Guests will join the host, Traci Thomas for lively discussions about books and the ways they have shaped their lives, and they way we all

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FAQs about The Stacks:

How many episodes does The Stacks have?

The podcast currently has 505 episodes available.

The Stacks episodes:

December 03, 2018 The Short Stacks 1: Crystal Hana Kim//If You Leave Me
Its time for our first ever Short Stack! These mini episodes will come out every other Monday, and feature a conversation with an author about their book and writing process. We are thrilled to have author Crystal Hana Kim for this inaugural episode. Crystal is the author of this week's The Stacks Book Club pick, If You Leave Me. Crystal shares with us where the idea for this book came from, what it is like to hear from readers, and rituals she has around her writing. Don't worry, there are no spoilers on any of the Short Stacks, listen and enjoy!
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2018/12/03/short-stack-1-crystal-hana-kim
Connect with Crystal: Website | Instagram | Twitter
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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38min
November 28, 2018 Ep. 35 Prodigies, Time Machines, and Beautiful Writing with Aja Gabel
This week on The Stacks our guest is author Aja Gabel. Aja's debut novel, The Ensemble, came out in 2018, and she talks with us about writing her book, cover design, which writers inspire her, and why she got a PhD in creative writing. We also talk music prodigies and time machines, which is to say, we talk about a little of everything.

You can find everything we talk about this week in the show notes below. By shopping through the links you help support The Stacks, at no cost to you. Shop on Amazon and iTunes.
BOOKS

The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
Alexander Chee
Antonya Nelson
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Open Secrets by Alice Munro
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Toni Morrison
Chalk by Joshua Rivkin
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Lot by Brian Washington
Alice McDermott
Zadie Smith
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
The People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry
Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
The Emissary by Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
George Saunders
Ted Chiang
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philips
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz
The Babysitter's Club
Nancy Drew
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
How to Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Lover by Marguerite Duras
John Cheever
Raymond Carver
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

EVERYTHING ELSE

Aja Gabel's Website
Sarah Fong on The Stacks (Ep. 3)
Curtis Institute of Music
Grey's Anatomy
"Latin Ballroom-Kids- Antonio & Maria Rosario" (YouTube)

"Yasha and Daniela at Atlanta Open 2011" (YouTube)

Helen Yentus (Cargo Collective)
Fiddlehead Ferns
Tom Holland
Tobey Maguire
Brit Marling
Rooney Mara
Peggy Olson
Mad Men
Jonathan Franzen's 10 Rules for Novelists (Literary Hub)
Cy Twombly
"Waugh" (Bryan Washington, The New Yorker)
Riverhead Publisher
Ten Non-Fiction Books for Fiction Lovers (Traci Thomas, The Stacks)
National Book Award: Translated Literature
Amazon Kindle
Busy Philipps
Dixie Chicks
Arrival (Paramount Pictures)
Amy Adams
Scarlett Johansson
Jennifer Lawrence
Passengers (Columbia Pictures)
"A Glimpse into the Ideological Monoculture of Literary New York" (Matthew Binder, Quillette)
Atonement (Universal Pictures)
The Bachelor (ABC)
The Hours (Paramount Pictures)
My Brilliant Friend (HBO)

Connect with Aja: Aja's Website|Aja's Instagram|Aja's Twitter

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram|The Stacks Website|Facebook|Twitter|Subscribe|Patreon|Goodreads|Traci's Instagram

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page.
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1h 2min
November 28, 2018 Ep. 35 Prodigies, Time Machines, and Beautiful Writing with Aja Gabel
This week on The Stacks our guest is author Aja Gabel. Aja's debut novel, The Ensemble, came out in 2018, and she talks with us about writing her book, cover design, which writers inspire her, and why she got a PhD in creative writing. We also talk music prodigies and time machines, which is to say, we talk about a little of everything.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2018/11/28/ep-35-reading-with-aja-gabel
Connect with Aja: Website | Instagram | Twitter
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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1h 1min
November 21, 2018 Ep. 34 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison — The Stacks Book Club (Renée Hicks)
The Bluest Eye is the first novel of Nobel Laureate, Toni Morrison, it is also The Stacks Book Club pick this week. We dissect this American classic and discuss its many themes including race, beauty, love and abuse with Renée Hicks, founder of Book Girl Magic. Our conversation covers the entire book, which means there are a lot of spoilers. Go read the book and then come back and listen.

You can find everything we talk about this week in the show notes below. By shopping through the links you help support The Stacks, at no cost to you. Shop on Amazon and iTunes.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Book Girl Magic
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Beloved by Toni Morrison
"Why America's Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis" (Linda Villarosa, New York Times)

"Black Women Face More Trauma During Childbirth" (Catherine Pearson, The Huffington Post)

Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington

"The Surgeon Who Experimented on Slaves" (Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic)

"Serena Williams: What my life-threatening experience taught me about giving birth" (Serena Williams, CNN.com)

Top Ten Most Challenged Books List (American Library Association)
Native Son by Richard Wright
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Ep. 20 The Stacks Book Club – Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates" (The Stacks)

"Lana Del Rey Stepped into Kanye West's Instagram Comments to Call Him a Narcissist" (Mehera Bonner, Cosmopolitan)

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Marsai Martin
Regina King
Octavia Spencer
Terrence Howard
Brian Tyree Henry
Danny Glover
The Color Purple (Film)

Connect with Renee and Book Girl Magic: Book Girl Magic Website|Book Girl Magic Instagram|Book Girl Magic Facebook|Book Girl Magic Twitter

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram|The Stacks Website|Facebook|Twitter|Subscribe|Patreon|Goodreads|Traci's Instagram

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of this show. If you prefer to do a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.
Sponsors
Audible- to get your FREE audiobook download and FREE 30 day trial go to audibletrial.com/thestacks.

My Mentor Book Club - for 50% off your first month of new nonfiction from My Mentor Book Club go to mymentorbookclub.com/thestacks

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website. Shopping through these links helps support the show, but does not effect my opinions on books and products. For more information click here.
...more
54min
November 21, 2018 Ep. 34 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison — The Stacks Book Club (Renée Hicks)
The Bluest Eye is the first novel of Nobel Laureate, Toni Morrison, it is also The Stacks Book Club pick this week. We dissect this American classic and discuss its many themes including race, beauty, love and abuse with Renée Hicks, founder of Book Girl Magic. Our conversation covers the entire book, which means there are a lot of spoilers. Go read the book and then come back and listen.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2018/11/21/ep-34-the-stacks-book-club-the-bluest-eye-by-toni-morrison
Connect with Renee and Book Girl Magic: Book Girl Magic Website | Book Girl Magic Instagram | Book Girl Magic Facebook | Book Girl Magic Twitter
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
51min
November 14, 2018 Ep. 33 Book Girl Magic with Renee Hicks
This week on the podcast, our guest is Renée Hicks, founder of Book Girl Magic, an online book club that centers books by and about Black women. Renée shares with us her journey into reading, how her reading has inspired the reading life of her children, and her love of romance novels, one in particular.

You can find everything we talk about this week in the show notes below. By shopping through the links you help support The Stacks, at no cost to you. Shop on Amazon and iTunes.
BOOKS

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
The Perfect Find by Tia Williams
Nappily Ever After by Trisha R. Thomas
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
I'm Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi
Everything's Trash, But It's Okay by Phoebe Robinson
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Tayari Jones
Octavia E. Butler
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Parable of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Passing by Nella Larsen
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jennifer Lewis
Roots by Alex Haley
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Jason Reynolds
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sista Souljah
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union
Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth

EVERYTHING ELSE

Book Girl Magic
Noelle Gray Creative
Nappily Ever After (Netflix)
Sanaa Lathan
Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ep. 4 The Stacks Book Club -- Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Anna's Instagram (Renée's book friend for more great recommendations)
Family Matters (CBS)
Kindle Paperwhite (Waterproof)
Black-ish (ABC)
Marsai Martin
23 and Me
BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features)

Connect with Renee and Book Girl Magic: Book Girl Magic Website|Book Girl Magic Instagram|Book Girl Magic Facebook|Book Girl Magic Twitter

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram|The Stacks Website|Facebook|Twitter|Subscribe|Patreon|Goodreads|Traci's Instagram

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of this show. If you prefer to do a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.
Sponsors
Audible- to get your FREE audiobook download and FREE 30 day trial go to audibletrial.com/thestacks.

My Mentor Book Club - for 50% off your first month of new nonfiction from My Mentor Book Club go to mymentorbookclub.
...more
53min
November 14, 2018 Ep. 33 Book Girl Magic with Renee Hicks
This week on the podcast, our guest is Renée Hicks, founder of Book Girl Magic, an online book club that centers books by and about Black women. Renée shares with us her journey into reading, how her reading has inspired the reading life of her children, and her love of romance novels, one in particular.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2018/11/14/ep-33-book-girl-magic-with-renee-hicks
Connect with Renee and Book Girl Magic: Book Girl Magic Website | Book Girl Magic Instagram | Book Girl Magic Facebook | Book Girl Magic Twitter
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
51min
November 07, 2018 Ep. 32 To The Bridge by Nancy Rommelmann — The Stacks Book Club (Heather John Fogarty)
When a mother, Amanda Stott-Smith, throws her two young children off of a bridge, one journalist tries to understand why. That is the premise of Nancy Rommelmann's true crime book, To The Bridge. This week, for The Stacks Book Club, we discuss this haunting book with journalist Heather John Fogarty. While the story of Stott-Smith and her children is true, if you're not familiar with the events there will be some spoilers on this week's episode.

You can find everything we talk about this week in the show notes below. By shopping through the links you help support The Stacks, at no cost to you. Shop on Amazon and iTunes.

To the Bridge by Nancy Rommelmann
Nancy Rommelmann
Nancy Rommelmann on The Stacks
The Homicide Report
Ghettoside by Jill Leovy
Christopher Hitchens
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Ep. 28 The Stacks Book Club --Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Warner Bros.)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (The Shubert Organization)
Vanessa Hudgens
Jessica Biel
Brie Larson
Jake Gyllenhaal
Joseph Gordon Levitt
Andrew Garfield

"On Motherhood and Murder: A Conversation with Nancy Rommelmann" (Heather John Forgarty, Los Angeles Review of Books)

To the Bridge by Nancy Rommelman (Audiobook)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Connect with Heather: Heather's Website|Heather's Instagram

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram|The Stacks Website|Facebook|Twitter|Subscribe|Patreon|Goodreads|Traci's Instagram

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of this show. If you prefer to do a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.
Sponsors
Audible- to get your FREE audiobook download and FREE 30 day trial go to audibletrial.com/thestacks.

My Mentor Book Club - for 50% off your first month of new nonfiction from My Mentor Book Club go to mymentorbookclub.com/thestacks

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website. Shopping through these links helps support the show, but does not effect my opinions on books and products. For more information click here.
...more
55min
November 07, 2018 Ep. 32 To The Bridge by Nancy Rommelmann — The Stacks Book Club (Heather John Fogarty)
When a mother, Amanda Stott-Smith, throws her two young children off of a bridge, one journalist tries to understand why. That is the premise of Nancy Rommelmann's true crime book, To The Bridge. This week, for The Stacks Book Club, we discuss this haunting book with journalist Heather John Fogarty. While the story of Stott-Smith and her children is true, if you're not familiar with the events there will be some spoilers on this week's episode.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' Website: https://thestackspodcast.com/2018/11/07/ep-32-the-stacks-book-club-to-the-bridge-by-nancy-rommelmann
Connect with Heather: Website | Instagram
Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Subscribe
To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
53min
October 31, 2018 Ep. 31 All the Book Recommendations with Heather John Fogarty
Our guest this week is journalist Heather John Fogarty, whose work has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire Magazine, Playboy, and more. Heather previously worked as the wine and spirits editor at Bon Appétit. In today's conversation we talk about Heather's James Beard vote, how finding a editor for a novel is like dating, and a book that made both of us very angry. Get ready, Heather is a prolific reader, your TBR will never be the same.

You can find everything we talk about this week in the show notes below. By shopping through the links you help support The Stacks, at no cost to you. Shop on Amazon and iTunes.
BOOKS

Mozza at Home by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno
There There by Tommy Orange
The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
Elsewhere, California by Dana Johnson
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
The Milkman by Anna Burns
The Mirage Factory by Gary Krist
The Stranger Game by Peter Gadol
Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonia Vargas
Fight No More by Lydia Millet
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Octavia E. Butler
Ray Bradbury
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Unaccompanied by Javier Zamora
The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú
To the Bridge by Nancy Rommelmann
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia by Philip Sidney
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth
The Amazing Bone by William Steig
Who Was Babe Ruth? by Joan Holub
Who is Michelle Obama? by Megan Stine
Ninjago Books
Another Country by James Baldwin
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Joan Didion
Dana Johnson
Paul Beatty
Philip Roth
Virginia Woolf
Lucia Berlin
Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
In the Not Quiet Dark by Dana Johnson
Jaws by Peter Benchley
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Locking Up Our Own by James Foreman Jr.
Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose

EVERYTHING ELSE

Chi Spacca
Mozza
Nancy Silverton
Carolynn Carreño
Bon Appétit
Vogue
Vanity Fair
Harper's Bazaar
James Beard Foundation Awards
Gwen
Langer's Deli
National Book Award Finalists
Man Booker Prize Shortlist
Flywheel Sports
Daniel Pearl
Chevalier's Books
Jaws (Universal Pictures)
The Godfather Trilogy (Paramount Pictures)
Nancy Rommelman

Connect with Heather: Heather's Website|Heather's Instagram

Connect with The Stacks: Instagram|The Stacks Website|Facebook|Twitter|Subscribe|Patreon|Goodreads|Traci's Instagram

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of this show. If you prefer to do a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.
Sponsors
Audible- to get your FREE audiobook download and FREE 30 day trial go to audibletrial.com/thestacks.

My Mentor Book Club - for 50% off your first month of new nonfiction from My Mentor Book Club go to my...
...more
53min

FAQs about The Stacks:

How many episodes does The Stacks have?

The podcast currently has 505 episodes available.

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