STACK with Jake and Ella

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 subsc...

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 Willia...

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...

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...

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 sh...

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...

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,...

***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 de...

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...

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...

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 H...

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 T...

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 o...

Welcome to STACK with Jake and Ella - a books podcast cutting through the noise to help you fall in love - and stay in love - with reading. We're here to introduce the books that are worth your time with six brilliant books per episode, on a bespoke theme. STACK starts Tuesday 28th October, new episodes every fortnight. The Stack is hosted by Jake Williams and Ella Horne. This episode was recorded...