All right, we are down to our last three cities for the live in the stacks tour, and if the first two stops were any indication, you do not want to miss this tour.

I will be in Washington, D.C. with Jason Reynolds on September 24th. I will be in New York City with KSA layman on September 25th, and I will be in Los Angeles on October 18th with three guests.

Yes, three guests, three of my favorite friends of the podcast, Rachel Lindsay, Chelsea Devantes, and Sam Sanders.

The show promises a night of big laughs, hot takes, and more bookish conversation than you could possibly imagine.

Tickets are selling fast, so head to the stackspodcast.com slash tour right now before they sell out.

Welcome to the stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. I'm your host Tracey Thomas, and today we are joined by Kamala Shamsi, the celebrated Pakistani and British writer best known for the award-winning novel Home Fire, which we did right here on the Stacks Book Club back in 2019.

Her newest novel, Best of Friends, is a provocative and deeply moving tale about a lifelong odd couple friendship between two women.

That's tested to its limits when the past comes back to haunt them.

Today we discuss the book, The Pressure of Awards on Kamala's Writing, and The Idea of Girl Fear.

Remember October Book Club Pick is the memoir fairest by Meredith Talusan?

Make sure to listen next week on October 26th when Anthony Christian Ocampo returns for the discussion.

Quick reminder, everything we talk about on each episode of the stacks can be found in the link in the show notes.

Listen, if you love this show and you want more of it, head to patreon.com slash the stacks and join the stacks pack.

The stacks is an independent podcast, which means I rely on listeners like you to make the show possible week in and week out.

So if you like what you hear, please show your love by joining the stacks pack.

In addition to supporting work that you love, you also earn perks like our monthly virtual book club, bonus episodes.

This past one was with brand new MacArthur Genius, KSA layman.

And you get access to our super duper lively discord.

If you'd like to be part of this wonderful bookish community, head to patreon.com slash the stacks.

And thank you to some of our newest members, Joseph Thomas, KSA layman, Michelle Obey, Megan Rose, David Jr. and Camille Whitaker.

Thank you all so much and thank you to every single member of the stacks pack.

All right, now it's time for my conversation with Kamala Shamsi.

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