The Stacks Book Club – August 2022

Our Book Club pick for August is How to Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee, an award-winning essay collection named a Best Book of 2018 by publications including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, NPR, and Time. The first nonfiction collection from Korean-American novelist Chee features his lessons on life, politics and the personal and cultural history which shaped his worldview as an artist, activist and tarot-reading lit lover. It has been described as “refreshingly open” with an “unguarded sincerity and curiosity” by The New York Times.

We will discuss How to Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee on Wednesday, August 31st. You can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on August 3rd. If you’d like even more discussion around the book, consider joining The Stacks Pack on Patreon and participating in The Stacks’ monthly virtual book club.

Order your copy of our August book on Bookshop.org and Amazon, or listen to the audiobook through Libro.FM.


To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thestacks). We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of The Stacks.

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed. For more information click here.

The Stacks Book Club — August 2021

To close out the summer we’re keeping it light around here with a young adult (or maybe new adult) romance novel. Our August pick is Emergency Contact the debut novel from Mary H. K. Choi. If Mary’s name sounds familiar its because she was a guest on The Stacks earlier in 2021, check out our conversation here.

In Emergency Contact we meet Penny and Sam. Penny is a college freshman trying to figure it all out. Sam is a 21 year old feeling stuck and lost which working day and night at the bakery he lives in. They meet in a less than adorable fashion and exchange numbers, they begin to text and then become digitally inseparable, without seeing each other in real life. The characters in Emergency Contact are complex and unlikeable in the most relatable ways. Ultimately this is a story of falling apart and trying to hold on to something or someone until you find your way.

We will be discussing Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi on Wednesday, August 25th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on August 4th. If you’d like even more discussion around the book consider joining The Stacks Pack on Patreon and participating in The Stacks’ monthly virtual book club.

Order your copy of our August book on Bookshop.org or Amazon.


To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thestacks). We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of The Stacks.

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed. For more information click here.

The Stacks Book Club — August 2020

Its time for a favorite annual tradition around these parts. Every year we read a Toni Morrison novel for The Stacks Book Club, and this year we’re reading Sula.

Sula, written in 1973, is the story of a relationship between two girls, Nel Wright and Sula Peace, and the ways their friendship evolves and complicates as they grow up. The book asks questions about betrayal and loyalty, and how these ideas are often more complex than they appear. Sula is not only about the relationships between the two women, but also the family trauma they come from, the community they are raised in, and the societal expectations of Black femininity.

We will be discussing Sula on the podcast on Wednesday, August 26th, and you can find out who our guest will be buy listening to the podcast on August 5th. If you’d like even more discussion around the book consider joining The Stacks Pack on Patreon and participating in The Stacks’ monthly virtual book club.

As always, we want to hear from you, so please reach out with your thoughts, questions, and things you want to hear discussed on the podcast. You can email us at thestackswithtraci@gmail.com, comment on this post, or reach out through Instagram @thestackspod.

Order your copy of our July book on Bookshop.org or Amazon.


To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thestacks). We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of The Stacks.

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed. For more information click here.