Tag: TSBC2022

The Stacks Book Club – October 2022

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Our Stacks Book Club selection for October is Fairest, a memoir by Meredith Talusan. The author’s powerful story spans from her experience of neglect while being raised as a boy with albinism in the Philippines to her transition into womanhood upon immigrating to America. Often passing as white in privileged spaces, Talusan survives the culture shock of racial and sexual politics while adjusting to her newly affirmed identity and the loss of a great love. Her journey challenges our own assumptions about identity, gender and the concept of fairness . Fairest has been likened to a love story in the vein of Austen classics and was a finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction.

We will discuss Fairest by Meredith Talusan on Wednesday, October 26th. You can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on October 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.

Order your copy of our October 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 – September 2022

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September’s Book Club selection is Percival Everett’s The Trees, a suspenseful novel about a series of murders in small-town Mississippi which confronts the reader with the cultural legacy of lynching and police brutality. A detective thriller chock full of puzzles and twists, it’s also a powerful indictment of racist American institutions, combining elements of horror, satire and pulp noir. A genre and tone-bender that’s as hilarious as it is poignant and infuriating.

We will discuss The Trees by Percival Everett on Wednesday, September 28th. You can find out who our guest will be by listening to the podcast on September 7th. 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 September 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 2022

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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 – July 2022

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July’s Book Club pick is Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. Written in 1966, this classic book features an unnamed narrator returning to his village in the Sudan following years of study in Europe. Upon his return, the young man is eager to contribute somehow to his country’s emerging postcolonial life. He finds familiar faces from his childhood and soon meets the mysterious Mustafa Sa’eed, who gives a detailed and shocking confession about his own life and career in London before a return to his native land. Our narrator finds himself caught in the tumult between Europe and Africa, tradition and innovation, faith and unholiness. In 2001, a panel of Arab writers and critics selected Season of Migration to the North as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century.

We will be discussing Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih on Wednesday, July 27th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on July 6th. 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 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.

The Stacks Book Club – June 2022

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This month’s Book Club pick is Lauren Michele Jackson’s essay collection White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue … and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation. It sharply examines the widespread white appropriation of Black ingenuity as a plague which exacerbates racial tensions to this day. From fashion to music, speech and even activism, the global influence of Black creativity is fodder for those who seek to profit and thrive at the expense of true originators. New Yorker contributor Jackson’s debut book, White Negroes is a narrative, scholarly cultural critique of the insidious trend which we have come to take for granted.

We will be discussing White Negroes by Lauren Michele Jackson on Wednesday, June 29th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on June 1st. 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 June book on Bookshop.org or Amazon, or get a copy of the audiobook from 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.

Ep. 216 Shine Bright by Danyel Smith — The Stacks Book Club (Novena Carmel)

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It’s The Stacks Book Club Day! Novena Carmel, musician and cohost of KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, joins us again to unpack Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith. We talk about Danyel as a cultural icon, what it takes to be a superstar. and the joy of disco as a threat to whiteness.

Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out what our June book club pick will be!

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

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Connect with Novena: Twitter | Instagram | Website
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.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.

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 here. For more information click here.

The Stacks Book Club – May 2022

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This month’s Book Club pick is Danyel Smith’s Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop. Shine Bright combines music criticism, memoir and biography to give a detailed and intimate narrative of pop music’s bedrock, as built by Black women. Smith’s history as a music fan, essayist,Vibe and Billboard editor, and host of the Black Girl Songbook podcast has put her in the center of this American story since childhood. She covers everyone from the enslaved singing poet Phillis Wheatley to Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and Gladys Knight, along with under-appreciated artists such as Deniece Williams, Jody Watley and Marilyn McCoo.

We will be discussing Shine Bright by Danyel Smith on Wednesday, May 25th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on May 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 May book on Bookshop.org or Amazon, or get a copy of the audiobook from 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 — March 2022

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Once a year we read a Toni Morrison novel for The Stacks Book Club, and the time has come in 2022, to take on one of her later works, A Mercy.

Written in 2008, A Mercy is set in late 17th century colonial America and centers the inhabitants of a farm in New York. We meet the European farmer and the wife he purchased, an Indigenous woman, a Black enslaved child, two indentured servants, and more. Morrison explores the complexity of ideas like ownership, community, and the evolution of the systems that have come to define America.

We will be discussing A Mercy by Toni Morrison on Wednesday, March 30th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on March 2nd. 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 March book on Bookshop.org or Amazon. Or listen to it as an audiobook with 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 — February 2022

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This month we’re reading Jan Grue’s memoir I Live a Life Like Yours, which looks at Grue’s life in Norway as a wheelchair user with a undiagnosed muscular disease. The book brings up issues of accessibility, stigma, privilege, and ultimately our relationship to our own humanity. The book was originally published in Norway in 2018 where it won the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. It has since been translated from the original Norwegian by B. L. Crook, and released in English in the United States in 2021.

We will be discussing I Live a Life Like Yours by Jan Grue on Wednesday, February 23rd. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on February 2nd. 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 February book on Bookshop.org or Amazon. Or listen to it as an audiobook with 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.

Ep. 200 Passing by Nella Larsen — The Stacks Book Club (Cree Myles)

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Today on The Stacks Book Club we’re discussing Nella Larsen’s 1929 classic novel Passing. We’re joined again by Cree Myles, the creative force behind Penguin Random House’ All Ways Black, to discuss this story racial passing in the 1920’s. This episode touches on the history of passing, the 2021 film adaptation, and the central question of freedom.
There are spoilers on this episode.

Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out what our February book club pick will be!

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

Connect with Cree: Twitter | 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.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.

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 here. For more information click here.