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STACK with Jake and Ella

STACK Books/W!ZARD Studios

Meet your next favourite books... STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast sharing the books we love and helping people fall in love-and stay in love-with reading. In every episode, Ella and Jake will present a curated list of six brilliant books on a theme. We're creating mini-libraries on a theme, for whenever the inspiration takes you. Get in touch with your dilemmas for Shelf Help - no question is too big. We are @stackpodcast on Instagram and TikTok

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  • 21 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 30 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • S2 · E6
    Yesterday · 39 min

    True Crime: Getting Your Books Wet, ACOTAR Updates and Writing Murder Respectfully

    Jake and Ella are reading outside of their type, looking at the true crime genre: the morals, the scandal and the real-life drama of it all. They - allegedly - cover the Kennedys, recent high-profile non-fiction and how to write about a murderer properly. It’s still a fun episode, they promise–just wait until Ella’s anecdote. And Jake’s okay after what he talks about in the intro, we promise. The books featured in this week’s STACK: London Falling - Patrick Radden Keefe Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M. Danforth A Hymn to Life - Gisèle Pelicot Notes On An Execution - Danya Kukafka Ask Not - Maureen Callahan STACK with Jake and Ella is the books podcast helping you fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Don’t forget to follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube so that you never miss an episode, and please leave us a review wherever you’re listening. It’s the best way to support the show so that we can keep making it. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S2 · E1
    July 29 · 35 min

    Literally Beach Reads: Off Campus, The Odyssey & STACK is Back!

    In this episode we discuss our favourite books set on the coast - perfect for your holiday reading. We also cover the cultural highlights from the break (The Odyssey! Off Campus! Heartstopper! Yesteryear!) and go absolutely mad responding to a Shelf Help dilemma about nature writing.

  • July 27 · 4 min

    This Wednesday... STACK is BACK!

    We're back. Have you missed us? We missed you. We're bigger, bookier and better than ever before. Now lightening up your hump days - series two lands in just two days time this Wednesday, with themes including Weddings, Revenge and Beach Reads. Get in touch now to tell us what you've enjoyed reading over the break, or your Shelf Help dilemmas. We've missed you. There's lots of exciting things to come. Think bonus episodes, think author interviews, think STACK. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #13
    April 7 · 34 min

    Books on Friendship: Confetti Cannons, Mayflies, Gabrielle Zevin AND we’ll be back in July!

    It’s the season one finale and it starts with a literal bang (sorry about the noise)! In this episode we look back on our highlights from the last twelve episodes and share our favourite books about friendship because we’re incredibly sentimental. Plus Ella pitches a soon-to-be-published book as Ghostbusters meets It’s A Sin and it’s the crossover you didn’t know you needed! Don’t forget to subscribe to the pod so you don’t miss our triumphant return in July… The books featured in this week’s STACK: Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin The Private Side of Friendship by Alexander McCall Smith Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #12
    March 24 · 36 min

    Books for Turbulent Times: Emily Henry, Motherland and When To Hibernate

    Do you ever feel the need to hide from the world in a book? We do! All the time! This episode showcases our favourite books to read in turbulent times - with a generous side of caveats. Our shelf-help segment this week includes our top recommendations for a documentary-style novel - perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six! The books featured in this week’s STACK: The Poetry Pharmacy by William Sieghart We All Live Here by JoJo Moyes Wintering by Katherine May Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer We also recommend The People We Meet on Vacation & The History of Sound. The poem Ella quotes is Today My Horoscope Read, by Warsan Shire. STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #11
    March 10 · 33 min

    Noughties Nostalgia: Lily Allen, Malorie Blackman and Kissin’ Kate Barlow

    In honour of World Book Day we’ve collected some of the most iconic reads of our childhood and hopefully yours too. Jake tries to recommend Lord of the Flies to an eleven-year-old and Ella learns that Lemony Snicket is actually a man called Daniel. The books featured in this week’s STACK: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz Northern Lights by Phillip Pulman The Poltergoose by Michael Laurence Holes by Louis Sachar The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman Jake recommends Daniel Handler’s memoir: And Then? And Then? What Else? Both are obsessed with Lily Allen’s album: West End Girl. STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #10
    February 24 · 34 min

    Classics with a Twist: Sally Rooney, Ella Risbridger and the 900 Versions of Pride & Prejudice

    We tried to put together an episode on Classics but Jake only likes the popular ones and Ella doesn't like any of them... Instead, presenting our own take on the late, the great, and the classics we hate. Plus, Ella has never read a Sally Rooney book. The books featured in this week's STACK: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver In Love With Love by Ella Risbridger Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld Intermezzo by Sally Rooney James by Percival Everett Catherine by Essie Fox Ella recommended this episode of the Shameless podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/50OXBpqrmONxw17gI0VlsR?si=svPd51krQZqc3E1T0jBnvQ Jake gave a shout out to the Boys Book Club: https://www.instagram.com/boys.book.club?igsh=MXRscXM2a2h0NjN1eQ== STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #9
    February 16 · 23 min

    BONUS: Wuthering Heights - What We Thought

    Join us for an extra special bonus episode of STACK, filmed the day after Jake and Ella watched Wuthering Heights in the greatest cinema in the world. It’s one of Jake’s favourite books, and it’s the talk of the internet, but was it any good? STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #8
    February 10 · 34 min

    Love Stacktually: The Marian Keyes Of It All, Relationship Podcasts and Romantic Comedy

    Love stories are some of our favourite stories, so this Valentines week, join us for six books to put on your stack - books of toxic first loves, the line between friendship and romance, and stories about loving yourself. It’s all in this episode, alongside Jake’s love of reformer pilates, and Ella’s love of Marian Keyes. Plus: what to do if you buy someone a book, and they never tell you they’ve read it. Should you chase? The books featured in this week’s STACK: Chosen Family - Madeleine Grey Talking at Night - Clare Daverley Isaac - Curtis Garner Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfeld Wild Things - Laura Kay Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes Also featured: Orange - Curtis Garner Tell Me Everything - Laura Kay The Split - Laura Kay Marian Keyes’ writing videos in the vlog section here: https://www.mariankeyes.com/videos/ STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #7
    January 27 · 37 min

    Books We Thought We’d Hate: ACOTAR, Historical Fiction and Prize-Winners

    What puts you off a book and what pulls you towards one? This episode is all about the books we thought we wouldn’t like - whether the cover, the topic, or something else - but we’re happy to tell you these are six books we actually thought were great. We deep dive into our own reading tastes and prejudices and create the Venn Diagram of Jake and Ella’s reading taste. Warning: there are some hot, and bad, takes in this episode! The books featured in this week’s STACK: 8.20 Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel 12.40 Ducks, Newburyport - Lucy Ellmann 15.22 Yellowface - R. F. Kuang 19.32 The Bee Sting - Paul Murray 22.00 In Memoriam - Alice Winn 27.20 A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas Also featured: One Day - David Nicholls Heated Rivalry - Rachel Reid It Lasts Forever and then It’s Over - Anne de Marcken Second Best - David Foenkinos Blood Over Bright Haven - M.L. Wang A Little Life - Hanya Yanigahara STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything! STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #6
    January 13 · 35 min

    Life-Changing Books and Hamnet on Film: £1 Book Hauls, Awkward Money Chats and Naming Your Brain

    ***This episode contains discussion around death and bereavement - we advise listening with caution or skipping this episode if those topics wouldn’t be right for you right now*** It’s a New Year and our first STACK of the year is here. We’re a firm believer in the power of books to change lives, but which ones specifically? We’re also virtual this episode, hot off the back of seeing Hamnet and desperate to talk about it, and we’re sharing life hacks including how to afford a New Year book haul. Plus: bao buns, surprising stats and discussing whether Stephen Sondheim is a household name. Plus - we run through the best upcoming 2026 books to add to your TBR. The books featured in this week’s STACK: 11.57 Solve For Happy - Mo Gawdat 14.50 Open Up - Alex Holder 18.28 East - Meera Sodha 21.06 A Heart That Works - Rob Delaney 23.56 Four Thousand Weeks - Oliver Burkeman 28.49 How Sondheim Can Change Your Life - Richard Schoch Also featured: Hamnet - Maggie O’Farrell Land - Maggie O’Farrell Hooked - Asako Yusuki What Am I, A Deer? - Polly Barton Vigil - George Saunders The Things We Never Say - Elizabeth Strout People In Love - Claire Daverley STACK with Jake and Ella is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section - you can literally ask us anything STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #5
    Dec 23, 2025 · 34 min

    Cosy Mysteries for Knives Out Fans: Fancying Alex Rider, Books Within Books and Loving Terry Pratchett

    We’ve got our Santa hats on! This episode’s STACK is all cosy vibes for Christmas, New Year and the period in between, whatever that’s called. Jake and Ella create a stack containing crosswords, colours and predicting your own murder. Mysteries that are light on jeopardy, and won’t keep you up at night. And a listener question for the Shelf Help section takes an unexpected turn… The books featured in this week’s STACK: 05.46 The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers - Samuel Burr 07.26 How To Solve Your Own Murder - Kristen Perrin 10.20 Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde 12.30 All The Colours of the Dark - Chris Whitaker 15.30 The Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz 18.35 The Hogfather - Terry Pratchett Also featured: Buckeye - Patrick Ryan Wolf Hall Trilogy - Hilary Mantel The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde The Big Over Easy - Jasper Fforde STACK is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #4
    Dec 9, 2025 · 34 min

    Weird Little Books: Zombies, Word Soup and Falling In Love With A Printer

    Ella and Jake pick six tiny books that pack a weird punch, and have fun debating whether they could handle the zombie apocalypse, whether they like to know what’s going on in a book, and a man called Bigolas Dickolas. The books featured in this week’s STACK: 3.56 Hard Copy - Fien Veldman 6.31 This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 11.10 Heatwave - Victor Jestin 14.23 It Lasts Forever And Then It’s Over - Anna de Marcken 19.07 Second Best - David Foenkinos 21.50 Treacle Walker - Alan Garner Also featured: Impossible Creatures - Katherine Rundell Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry George Orwell’s 1984: An Audible Original adaptation STACK is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #3
    Nov 25, 2025 · 30 min

    Christmas Gift Guide: Crowd-Pleasers, Broadchurch and Miriam Margolyes

    Ready for your Christmas shopping? This week’s Stack covers six crowd-pleasing books to fill anybody’s stocking. Ella and Jake discuss their own Christmas lists, getting your colours done and what on earth to buy for your dad. The books featured in this week’s Stack: 12.14 The Poetry Pharmacy 14.17 My Friends - Fredrik Backman 16.14 Is A River Alive? - Robert Macfarlane 18.12 Death At The White Hart - Chris Chibnall 19.40 The Little Book Of Miriam - Miriam Margoyles 22.48 The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King - Harry Trevaldwyn Also featured: The Wedding People - Alison Espach Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance - Alison Espach The Christmas Tree That Loved To Dance - Miranda Hart All The Best For The Future - Greg James Buckeye - Patrick Ryan Alchemised - SenLinYu The Raven Scholar - Antonia Hodgson The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden The Stack is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. STACK with Jake and Ella is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #2
    Nov 11, 2025 · 33 min

    For Girls and Gays: Caroline O’Donoghue, Sad Gay Lit and Life-Changing Non-Fiction

    This week’s STACK is all about the girls and the gays. Jake and Ella cover books that speak to their identities, others that help them to understand other perspectives and Ella reads The Lamb after Jake’s review last week. The books featured in this week’s STACK: 04.45 Amateur - Thomas Page McBee 09.05 The Rachel Incident - Caroline O’Donoghue 12.23 Period Power - Maisie Hill 16.05 I Leave It Up To You - Jinwoo Chong 17.50 A Marvellous Light - Freya Marske 21.05 A Home At The End of the World - Michael Cunningham Also featured: The Lamb - Lucy Rose Amazing Grace Adams - Fran Littlewood Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead The Binding - Bridget Collins The Stack is a books podcast helping you cut through the noise to fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. Each fortnight, we’ll be sharing curated lists on a theme of the books that are worth your time. Please follow us on your podcast player or subscribe on YouTube. Do comment and share and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review - it’s massively helpful. We are @stackpodcast on socials. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stackpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stackpodcast Please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. STACK is an independent podcast production. It is produced by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. Our theme music was created by Thomas Clarke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • #1
    Oct 28, 2025 · 31 min

    Everybody Scream: Haunted Books, Ghost Stories and Book Binges

    Welcome to the first episode of STACK, a new fortnightly books podcast from Jake, a writer and producer, and Ella, who works in publishing. Every week, they’ll curate a list of six brilliant books on a theme, cutting through the noise and choice of the book world to recommend the ones that are really worth your time. This week, they’re chatting haunted houses and ghost sightings, convincing each other to give children’s books a try, read a book after having seen the film, and to give oozing haunted houses a try. The books featured in this week’s STACK: Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co Book 1) - Jonathan Stroud Strangers - Taichi Yamada Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Lamb - Lucy Rose Please comment, subscribe and share, and if you’d like to support the podcast even further, we’d love it if you could leave us a review. We are @stackpodcast on socials - please get in touch if you read any of the books from this week’s episode, or have a bookish problem for our Shelf Help section. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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