The Stacks (2024)

15/07/2023

Attention all book lovers! 📚Sign up for an amazing opportunity to win TWO tickets to Traci Thomas’ Live in The Stacks Tour in Oakland on July 22nd, along with some fun goodies. Don’t miss out on a night of bookish conversations. Enter now!

https://thestackspodcast.com/live-in-thestackstour-oakland-giveaway

13/05/2021

How the Word is Passed||Clint Smith
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[thank you to for sending this ARC to review]
A look into how America teaches and talks about slavery. Smith travels to different sites touched by the enslavement of Black people in America and asks questions to understand how this legacy is being dealt with (or not). There is a lot to unpack and uncover throughout the reading of HOW THE WORD IS PASSED, there is so much to learn. There is so much we’ll never know.
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Clint Smith has created a book that is really special. As I read, I kept thinking that perhaps this book is what is possible when we think about “a living history”. HOW THE WORD IS PASSED is mostly history but it incorporates reactions to that history from folks in this moment and from Smith himself. The way Smith made space for the history and the interpretations of that history is so well executed and so necessary. I don’t know what else to say, but that this book is special and I think you should read it.
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There is so much about the experiences of the people who were enslaved, in order to create wealth and stability in The United States, that we will never know. The inhumanity and cruelty of it all is often too much for me to begin to comprehend. It makes me feel a pure and true rage and at the same time a deep sense of grief. The people forced into slavery were my people, my ancestors, and I may never know their names. This book makes space for all of those feelings that came up. Instead of shutting down, this book made me want to think more deeply about what has been lost and what can be found. I am grateful to Smith for making that space.
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Is this book on your radar? It should be. It’s out June 1.
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05/05/2021

I’m thrilled to welcome Jenny Lee () author of one of my favorite books of 2020 ANNA K and this year’s sequel ANNA K AWAY to the podcast. We talk about writing in the pandemic, adapting a classic, and what happens when the source material runs out.
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This also means Jenny is our guest on May 26th when we discuss ANNA KARENINA, which should be even more incentive for you to get to reading!
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What’s one classic you’d like to see adapted into modern day novel?
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The episode is up now. Link in bio or search “The Stacks” wherever you get your podcasts.
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01/05/2021

MAY BOOK CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT
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I know you already know pick for May is ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy. I’m just here to remind you in case you forgot or in case you need a nudge to pick it (back) up. We’ll discuss the book on Wednesday May 26th and you can find out the guest by tuning in on Wednesday.
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To help you on your way, here are some tricks I learned in my reading.
1. I read it in 20 days which was 41 pages a day on average and was very doable.
2. Some parts are boring, power through.
3. If you start today you only have to read 31 pages a day to finish in time for the May 26th episode.
4. You might want to read the book on an e-reader or via audio to give your wrist a break.
5. You’ve got this! You’re not alone!
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So, tell me, how’s reading ANNA KARENINA going for you? What page are you on? Have you started? Have you finished?
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30/04/2021

I’m two of the best things I’ve read in a while and I couldn’t be happier. What is better than being neck deep in a great book? I’ll wait.
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I can barely contain my excitement about EMPIRE OF PAIN. I’m telling everyone I know who has ever read a book to pick it up. It is BAD BLOOD but better and with generations of scammers who actually succeeded in doing the terrible things. Not to mention, is a real fu***ng writer. The storytelling is top notch. Y’all go read this book.
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COUNTING DESCENT is my kind of poetry. I get it. It’s making me think without making me feel like a full on moron. Not to mention, has a nonfiction book coming in June called HOW THE WORD IS PASSED. This collection has me hyped to read the new prose. Y’all should 100% join .
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Please tell me the last really great book you read.
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29/04/2021

Coriolanus||William Shakespeare
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What happens when an unqualified celebrity who loathes the working class runs for major public office? How do the people respond? How do the representatives of the people respond! How do the the other politicians respond? Sound at all familiar?
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I couldn’t help but read this play through the lens of the last President and his administration. The elite’s disdain for the common man is the central argument of this play. What are the people owed by their government? I really liked the speeches that leaned into this conversation. Shakespeare complicates it all when the men put in place to protect the people are acting in their own personal best interests and not for the greater good. It’s a mess, and that feels spot on.
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Also, Coriolanus has some very interesting ho******ic undertones that I didn’t pick up on in a production I saw but were calling out to me in my reading. That’s directorial discretion when it comes to producing Shakespeare. Those choices fascinate me.
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Have you read or seen CORIOLANUS, what did you think?
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Next up for me in is PERICLES. I’m so close to the end.
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28/04/2021

It’s day and we’ve got a special episode all about poetry. We read THE TRADITION by Jericho Brown with poet, lawyer, and activist Reginald Dwayne Betts (). Dwayne is also the founder of Million Book Project, the organization we’re raising $50K for this month. Have you donated yet?
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In addition to dissecting some poems from this winning collection we also talk about poetry in pop culture, reading poems aloud, and how we can interpret the same poem in completely different ways.
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What was your standout poem in this collection?
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The episode is up now wherever you get your podcasts or use the link in bio. Thank you for listening!
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27/04/2021

It’s the last pub day of April! Since I forgot to do posts the rest of the month I’m giving you a roundup of some of the books that came out this month. I’m also wishing an extra special book birthday to and because their books are out today. Stay tuned my review of ANNA K AWAY is coming soon.
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What April release are you most excited about?
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25/04/2021

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev||Dawnie Walton
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A fictionalized oral history of a rock duo who rose to fame in the 1970’s in the aftermath of a violent tragedy. This book is a joy to read even as it navigates issues of racism, sexism, capitalism and betrayal. A celebration of performance and Black women as the creators of culture and leaders of social consciousness. Unique and refreshing, a real treat of a reading experience.
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I love oral history as a form but wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it used in fiction. Walton’s ability to tap into her characters unique voices made the book feel real. The use of language felt authentic and the ways she folded people from pop culture into the narrative helped to make the book feel rooted. Walton did a superb job of bringing in history. I loved the Easter eggs and the nods to moments and movements on civil rights and music history. So well executed.
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I would’ve liked less “editor notes” throughout the book. That felt like a literary tool and not true to the form. Oral histories don’t tend to insert the editor into the story/throughout the text as much and it took me out of the book. I understood why we wanted to hear from the editor character, but would’ve loved a more creative way to insert her without leaning on that crutch.
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Have you read this book? Who is your favorite Black woman in rock n’ roll? Mine is Tina Turner. This record in the picture is from my dad’s extensive collection.
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Thank you to for sending over a copy of OPAL & NEV as part of their new book club. Also shout out to for saying I needed to read this book because she was right! If you’ve read and loved this book I’ve got two books you should pair with it on my column over on . Check it out.
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24/04/2021

Happy Independent Bookstore Day!
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I love any opportunity to celebrate bookstores and booksellers. Books have and continue to change my life, and bookstores have always been my way in. Grateful doesn’t begin to explain it. I can not tell you how many books I’ve purchased and loved based solely off a bookseller recommendation.
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This photo is from a 2017 trip to bookstore in Portugal. It was as cool as it looks. This photo was taken before was an idea I had, but it’s still very on brand. What can I say, I love bring in the stacks.
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Let’s show the people in the bookstores some love. Tell me in the comments one book you bought and loved based off a booksellers rec.
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Last thing, is giving anyone who spends $15 or more at an independent bookstore (in person or online) between April 24-26 a free audiobook. Yes you can even use to make your purchase. More info on their page, check it out.
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23/04/2021

It’s column day. The 2nd to last week of each month my column goes live (Still can’t believe these people gave me a column).
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I’m back giving you backlist pairings to go along with new releases. This month’s focus is on
THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL AND NEV by Dawnie Walton
FROM A TALLER TOWER by Seamus McGraw
BIRD UNCAGED by Marlon Peterson
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What’s a book you might pair with one of these three books?
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Also, worth noting, I’ll be picking books each month that were published since the release of the last column, so that means the pub date might be from the previous month (i.e. Opal & Nev). If you’re a rules person like me, you care about these details, if not, nothing to see here.
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You can find the column on or through the link in bio.
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23/04/2021

Happy Earth Day.
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I’m a full fledged indoorsy kind of city gal, which is why this is about the best I can do when it comes to a photo. I’m outside with my books, I tried.
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The truth is, when I think about Earth Day this year, I think about this quote from
“I’m definitely not interested in this idea that there are blank issues, like women’s issues or Black issues. If you are really good at hurting Black people, you will indeed hurt the environment, I promise you...If you are really good at hurting women, you’re probably also interested in war — I promise you.”
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It’s all connected. It’s all political. It’s all personal.
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21/04/2021

I got to talk to author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib () about his brilliant new essay collection, A LITTLE DEVIL IN AMERICA. We talk about grief and gratitude, restraint as a tool, and the joy of celebrating Black performance.
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This has been an incredibly difficult week, and that continues with the murder of Ma’Khia Bryant. I hope listening to this episode is a balm and a refuge. I’m truly grateful that writers and thinkers like Hanif exist and create. It’s a gift that I’ll never be able to repay.
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In honor of this book on Black performance comment with one your favorite Black performers.
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The episode is up now wherever you get your podcasts and through the link in bio. If you like what you hear tell a friend and leave the show a review.
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20/04/2021

Checking in with you all. I’m so tired these days and the ever present anxiety I’m experiencing around the looming Derek Chauvin verdict has me off balance. Trying my hardest to stay calm and present, but the history of these types of verdicts is top of mind. Not to mention a lot of my thinking around prison and police abolition have me feeling some type of way about either outcome.
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In an attempt to distract myself I’m working way too much and trying to read every single book in my house. I’m reading these books this week, and while they seem sort of disparate, they’re all painting a picture of what America is about.
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ONE DROP by Yaba Blay
EMPIRE OF PAIN by Patrick Radden Keefe
COUNTING DESCENT by Clint Smith
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What’re you reading this week?
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Also reminding you all to donate to Million Book Project if you can. Trust me, you’ll want to be entered in this week’s giveaway.
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18/04/2021

From a Taller Tower||Seamus McGraw
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[thank you to for sending a copy for review]
A journalist examines the history of mass shootings in America. An attempt to explain how these things happen and how complex it all is.
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I had mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to love it because I’d hoped it would shed light on the types of mass shootings that have become part of American life. The subtitle led me to believe that’s where we would go. That I’d have more clarity on who commits these crimes and why, and what we’ve seen that evolution to be since the 1960’s. Instead McGraw takes a few mass shootings and profiles the crime trying to extrapolate a point, like the harmfulness of calling these shooters “evil”. The book is less direct than I’d hoped.
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I think more than anything the book falls short because it lacks thesis or direction. Each section could easily be an essay, and they’re mostly interesting, but together the book doesn’t say much, except maybe America is totally fu**ed. Which does seem to hold water given the last few weeks of mass shooting after mass shooting. In a book of this nature less graphic chronicling of mass murder and more analytic understanding would’ve been appreciated. The book lacks a lot of the interesting things I’ve read around race, gender, religion, and class when it comes to these crimes.
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Seamus McGraw has a strong voice and this book is easy to follow. I was never bored and I was mostly interested. Though at times he leans into rhetoric devices that play games around what if’s and get dangerously close to advocating for the devil. I didn’t find any of that helpful.
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I’m taking recommendations for books about mass shootings, so please share yours in the comments.
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I’m glad I read this book, I did learn things. I just hoped it would have done more to push the conversation around these types of public acts of terror and violence. As we seem to so desperately need to make sense of this.
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16/04/2021

✨3-WINNER GIVEAWAY✨
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Thanks to people over at were giving away three books & a Scribner tote to anyone who has donated at least $10 to Million Book Project this week. So go give a little something to help bring books into prisons and to win a copy of:
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon
You Made Me Love You by John Edgar Wideman
And a Scribner tote!
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Here’s how you enter.
1️⃣use the link in bio to donate $10 or more to Million Book Project & screenshot your receipt.
2️⃣tag a friend and in the same comment say which of these three books you’d read first.
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Anyone who has donated by between Tuesday April 13th and Monday April 19th at 11:59pm PDT is eligible. You will need to share your receipt (with time stamp) to redeem. You must have a US address to enter.
Please note MBP is run through Yale, you will be redirected to a Yale page to donate. That’s it. Good luck, and thank you.
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15/04/2021

Thrilled to have been asked to host the reading & fundraiser in support of the AAPI community. The money raised will go to three incredible organizations, . The event is going down this Saturday April 17th at 5pm CDT//8pm EDT.
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Go ahead and swipe to see how many of your favorite authors will be there. This stack is just SOME of the outrageous talent that is coming through. I’m freaking out about who all is coming. You should be too.
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Thank you to & for inviting me to be a part of this. I also want to note that I was asked to host so that no API person would have to do that labor for the evening.
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To join, please click the link in bio for tickets (the price is any donation you can make).

14/04/2021

Our guest today is author, cultural critic, and podcaster Rebecca Carroll (). We talk about her new memoir SURVIVING THE WHITE GAZE, embracing our Blackness, transracial adoption, and her stellar podcast Come Through with Rebecca Carroll. This was a special one for me, I hope you’ll give it a listen.
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Have you read SURVIVING THE WHITE GAZE? What did you think?
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The episode is up now and spoiler free. Link in bio.
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12/04/2021

Bird Uncaged||Marlon Peterson
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[thank you to for sending an ARC for review]
I had planned to post my review for BIRD UNCAGED today in anticipation of its pub day tomorrow. Then was murdered. My review has since changed. It’s not a review so much a plea for you to read this book about Peterson’s life and time in prison.
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Read this book, because the conversation about policing and incarceration are all part of the bigger conversation about the value of Black life and the inherent toxicity of white supremacy. Our justice system is a weapon and it must be dismantled. America is obsessed with putting Black people “in their place” and often time that means a prison cell or a premature grave or a neighborhood without resources or a city without water or...
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Read this book because it’s good. I do feel that Peterson’s editor let him down because the book can be clunky at times. The ideas are there but the flow isn’t always. Its worth reading because those ideas are a glimpse at where we can refocus our values, toward the people that white America tells us we should throw away.
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Read this book because Marlon Peterson dares to dream of possibilities. In the face of murder and the systemic destruction of our Blackness, possibilities are vital. They are our only way forward.
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If you’re white, read this book because maybe, just maybe, it’ll spur you into action to fix this system that you’ve created and perpetuated.
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Read this book because I’m tired of this country and the white people who tell us they don’t have to speak up because they know “their truth” or what’s in “their heart”. If it’s true. If it’s who you are why is it so hard to say it with your chest. Your self victimization is violence, and we, Black people, are being killed. So how is it that you’re the one crying?
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10/04/2021

Hello weekend and hello weekend reads!
Sort of a weird combo, but honestly it’s working for me.
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What’re you reading this weekend?
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09/04/2021

✨3-WINNER GIVEAWAY✨
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I’m giving away any one item (winner’s choice) of The Stacks merch to anyone who has donated at least $10 to Million Book Project.
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Here’s how you enter.
1️⃣use the link in bio to donate $10 or more to Million Book Project & screenshot your receipt.
2️⃣tag a friend and in the same comment say what item you’d pick from the shop if you win.
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Anyone who has donated by Monday April 12th at 11:59pm PDT is eligible. You will need to share your receipt (with time stamp) to redeem. Please note MBP is run through Yale, you will be redirected to a Yale page to donate. That’s it. Good luck, and thank you.
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08/04/2021

Felon||Reginald Dwayne Betts
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[thank you to .w.norton for this review copy]
A poetry collection about prison and its effects and impact on humans. Thought provoking and visceral these poems pack a punch.
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I always say “I don’t get” poetry. Which is true, unless a poem really lands for me. Which is to say I do get poetry, at least on some visceral level. FELON has plenty of really good poems that land. Sure, I don’t have the language to dissect poetry like I do for prose, but when something works you don’t always need to explain why. This book works.
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One thing I did appreciate about FELON was Betts’ choices to play with form. The constraints of certain types poems help to make these poems more impressive. The first poem Ghazal is a perfect example. As is the final poem, House of Unending. The form gives Betts freedom and keeps him grounded and in turn keeps the reader connected. Brilliant use of form.
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Have you read this one? What did you think?
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The poet, Dwayne Betts, is our guest this week on the podcast. He talks more in-depth about this book and his nonprofit Million Book Project. I hope you’ll listen and donate to our fundraiser. Link to listen in bio.
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The Stacks

15/07/2023

13/05/2021

05/05/2021

01/05/2021

30/04/2021

29/04/2021

28/04/2021

27/04/2021

25/04/2021

24/04/2021

23/04/2021

23/04/2021

21/04/2021

20/04/2021

18/04/2021

16/04/2021

15/04/2021

14/04/2021

12/04/2021

10/04/2021

09/04/2021

08/04/2021

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