STACK with Jake and Ella

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

STACK with Jake and Ella

Show Notes

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

More from STACK with Jake and Ella

Oct 21, 2026

It’s STACK with Jake and… Lucy! In this special Halloween episode, Jake is joined by Lucy Rose, bestselling author of The Lamb, to discuss her writing and a stack of her very own.

Oct 7, 2026

Ella and Jake introduce STACK’s fairytale-themed episode, full of classic tales, retellings and modern fables, starting with a discussion of the Booker Prize shortlist and a particularly annoying clip of Mary Beard criticising the phrase ‘a love of reading’.

Sep 23, 2026

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.

Sep 9, 2026

It’s freshers week for Jake and Ella as they share their favourite campus-set novels. Whether you’re talking Uni or College, consider these books your set texts for September - educational, fun and full of mistakes.

Aug 26, 2026

Why are we so obsessed with weddings in fiction? This week Jake and Ella discuss their favourite books about nuptials. From love triangles and in-laws to hen-dos and croquembouches, these six books are guaranteed to bring the drama.

See all episodes →