Show & Tell: I'm Not Really Here, I Just Needed to Review These Books.
This is Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the week and the one thing I hated, plus round up everything else going on around these parts. The first half of Show & Tell is free to all. The adoration and hateration are for paid subscribers only.
Ok, so last week I said I wasn’t going to write a newsletter this week. And I wasn’t going to because I am on vacation. But, then I read finished four books this week. And like, I was going to have to review them next week and that felt like too much. So, I am just here to drop a few book reviews, remind you about what stuff came out in The Stacks Universe this week and then be on my merry way. Oh, and I saw The Odyssey and Chritopher Nolan did a big thing with it and Emily Wilson is right and now Joyce Carol Oates is here, not sure why, but she is. But mostly I’m just glad everyone is tussling over a movie based on a certified classic and a review in the London Review of Books. Revenge of the nerds, am I right?
Since I am not working I am not going to give you my takes on the movie. Mostly I liked it and it had major issues. But, I will leave you with two pieces I read this week about the movie that I really appreciated. The first one is from who is my favorite person to read whenever I see a movie that I have thoughts about. She’s got some great insight into why the film didn’t fully work for her.
The other is from friend of the pod and is about how and why we talk about movies.
I would be remiss not to mention that I was in NYC this week to celebrate ’s tenure as the poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center. I got to be onstage with and and it was such a vibe. I wish all literary events could be this fun, but the energy in the room was a testament to all that is Mahogany L. Browne. She is the tops. I can’t wait to watch whatever it is she does next!
This Week in The Stacks
It’s hard to believe Katie Porter pissing me off was just last week.
Nonfiction editor Julianna Haubner came back to The Stacks for book club and we talked about Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Find out where we both came down on the book.
There are few August books coming that I am really looking forward to. I listed them here for you.
It’s August, which means we’ve got a new book club pick!
Books I Read This Week
Capitalism Is Sexism by Doortje Smithuijsen translated by Erica Moore
I should have known this tiny book wasn’t going to deliver what I needed from it, because how could anyone really take on capitalism and sexism in 128 pages? The book is more like a memoir with some data points from a young woman realizing that everything that was frustrating in her life could be connected to capitalism and sexism, which yes, but also, this could’ve been a diary entry. It reminded me of the kind of book a celebrity would write on a topic they became obsessed, regurgitating other people’s work because they were so taken with it, versus adding a depth and analysis of their own.
The Academy by T. Z. Layton
If you had told me this middle grade novel about an American boy who gets called up to tryout for a Premiere League youth academy was going to be a book I absolutely loved, I would not have believed you. But the truth is this book is a damn delight, and the Minis and I absolutely loved it. The main character is really great and learning life lessons in a non-life lessony way. Also the cast is full of other kids who I adored. While you sorta know how the book will pan out big picture, the details and twists kept us reading, and not just reading, but inventing time to read reading. There is one minor romantic plot line that feels very out of place is annoy as hell, but it was small enough that I could get over it. It is the first in a six book series, and yes, we started book two just as soon as we finished the first. Let’s see if Layton can keep the magic going.
Fave of the Week
Good, God: A Creation Story by Kiese Laymon
I am not really reviewing this here1. I read an early version of the book that comes out next April. It is very good. It is Kiese Laymon back in the memoir space. I will save my full thoughts for the finished version of the book, since this one is likely to change a bit, but, picture this is a yes. You’re going to want to read this. Of course you are, it’s new Kiese. Also, that cover. Whew.
Hiroshima 8:15 by Kiyoshi Tanimoto
A first hand account of surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima from a pastor in the city who survived. This book was written years ago but the manuscript wasn’t discovered until 2022, and is being released for the first time in 2026. What I appreciated most about this book was that is was so deeply concerned with the experiences of the Japanese people. The story of the atomic bomb has been told by plenty of Americans with a sole focus on America’s guilt/shame/pride/ingenuity, but this book is only concerned with the Japanese experience during and after the blast. I found the ways that Tanimoto was grappling with his relationship to forgiveness and the blame that should be placed on the US. In that way, the book feels very much like a time capsule, as the thinking has evolved since its writing. As an aside, the introduction from his daughter was very moving. Do not skip it.
See, I wasn’t eve here. It was all a dream. I will actually be here on Friday with my July reads ranked. So you know, subscribe so you don’t miss it.
If you want more of me and my nonsense be sure to listen to The Stacks podcast every Wednesday and follow me over on Instagram for a lot more book content.
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Since this isn’t really a review, I didn’t make it up for “best of the week” didn’t seem fair.
