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

EPISODE · Jan 27, 2026 · 37 MIN

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

from STACK with Jake and Ella · host STACK Books/W!ZARD Studios

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

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

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