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- Dec 18, 2020
- 4 min
Sofía Segovia's THE MURMUR OF BEES - A Beautiful, Whimsical Story about the Power of Love
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Wow. This one will definitely be one of my top reads of the year. I chose this, Sofia Segovia's The Murmur of Bees, as my book in translation pick for the Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge, which is the reading challenge I participated in this past year. Segovia is a Mexican author writing in Spanish, and her work was translated by Simon Bruni. (Check out our reading challenge episodes from the beginning of 2020 where we shared our
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- Dec 11, 2020
- 3 min
Kate J. Baer's WHAT KIND OF WOMAN - A Beautiful Poetry Collection about Being a Woman and a Mother
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) The first time I read a Kate J. Baer poem, my youngest child was still an infant. I was new to Instagram and still learning how stories worked on there; the poem had been shared by a beloved friend. (Don't all our best discoveries come from friends?) I remember feeling like the world rocked a little bit when I read those words—poetry can do that to you. Sometimes, it's like the poet, whom you have never met, can somehow see a
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- Oct 16, 2020
- 3 min
Virginia Soenksen's THE TITAN STRAIN - A Compelling Science Fiction Read
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) A fast-paced story with complex characters, some fascinating turns, and a bit of a mystery... that's what you get with Virginia Soenksen's The Titan Strain, the first book in her Genetics Chronicles series. This series also includes The Osiris Contingency and The Ragnarok Resolution, which just released in September! In this science fiction novel, the protagonist Liane has some superhuman qualities that have made her an idea
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- Sep 4, 2020
- 2 min
Alexis Hall's BOYFRIEND MATERIAL - More than Meets the Eye
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) When I started listening to Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material, it was kind of an arbitrary choice to start it. (Thank you, thank you, thank you to @libroFM and their amazing ALC program for providing the audio!) The next thing I knew, I was trying to find things to do around the house to justify listening to the book instead of the other endless tasks I should have been doing instead. And then, the next thing I knew, I was wo
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- Aug 14, 2020
- 3 min
Tayari Jones's AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE - A Close Examination of Relationships
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) "Marriage is like grafting a limb onto a tree trunk. You have the limb, freshly sliced, dripping sap, and smelling of springtime, and then you have the mother tree stripped of her protective bark, gouged and ready to receive this new addition" (110). Wow, friends, this was a phenomenal book. I was totally captivated by the story. In Tayari Jones's An American Marriage, Celestial and Roy, who live in Atlanta, are still early
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- Jul 24, 2020
- 2 min
Sandhya Menon's 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PINKY - The Attraction of Polar Opposites
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) We at Unabridged Podcast were all SO excited to see this new release from Sandhya Menon! This one just came out on Tuesday -- check out the Pub Day Shout-outs here! We all loved When Dimple Met Rishi and the awesome #unabridgedpodbuddyread discussions about it! I haven't read There's Something about Sweetie yet, but these awesome books don't have to be read in order. I'll look forward to reading that one soon! As far as 10 T
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- Jun 19, 2020
- 3 min
Abi Daré's THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE - An Uplifting Story of Bravery and Determination
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Abi Daré's debut novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice, captures your heart with the focus on Adunni, a young Nigerian teenager who loses her ability to go to school and becomes a child bride after her mother's untimely death. Despite her father's promise to her mother that Adunni will get to continue her education and will not become trapped in a life of hard work and misery, her father agrees to her marriage for a bride pr
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- Jun 5, 2020
- 3 min
Dhonielle Clayton's THE EVERLASTING ROSE - Great Dystopian Fantasy Series
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) “You have to decide for yourself. It is you who must live with the outcome.” “Lies are as dangerous as a sword. They can cut to the bone.” (from The Belles, book 1) "If I accomplish one thing in this life... it will be to ensure the old way of doing things is done." (from The Everlasting Rose, book 2) I loved Dhonielle Clayton's The Belles and was so excited to read the sequel, The Everlasting Rose. Set in the dystopian world
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- Feb 27, 2020
- 3 min
Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT: There's Still Time! - Ashley's Review
Phew! Anne Bogel’s amazing new book, Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life, left me with a lot to think about and plenty to celebrate as I reflect on the tips learned and consider what is most important. Thanks to #partner Netgalley for my early ebook copy; publication date is March 3, 2020. There’s still time - don’t forget to preorder now to support Anne Bogel and to improve your quality of life! What I loved Friend
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- Jan 24, 2020
- 2 min
Tomi Adeyemi's CHILDREN OF VIRTUE AND VENGEANCE: High Tensions and Hard Choices - Ashley's Review
Title and Author: Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Virtue and Vengeance Overall Impression: I loved Children of Blood and Bone and couldn't wait to read this sequel. I did have to read up on some plot details about the first one before I dove into the second book, but it came back quickly, and I was thrilled to see the main characters as they grew in their leadership and in their sense of purpose. I appreciated the three main perspectives (Amari, Zélie, and Inan) and found that Ade
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- Jan 22, 2020
- 2 min
Welcome - Introduction and Overview
Just getting started with Unabridged Podcast? Welcome! We're Ashley, Jen, and Sara, and we are teachers and podcasters who are passionate about books. We have four kinds of posts here on our blog. On Mondays, we post about our Bookish Faves, on Tuesdays we do Pub Day Shout-outs, on Wednesdays our episodes drop, and on Fridays, we post book reviews. (Be on the lookout on Thursdays, too; we sometimes have an extra post then!) There are many ways to connect with us! In addition
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- Sep 20, 2019
- 2 min
Min Jin Lee's PACHINKO - Ashley's Book Review
Upon beginning this novel, I was immediately swept away by the tender, compelling story of the young Sunja, child of Hoonie and Yangjin, and their family's challenges as they worked to make their living by running a boarding house for people in the small village where they lived in Korea. When Sunja found herself in a position of dishonor and shame, I was moved by her resolution and her courage. As she makes the move to Japan, the story shifts into an exploration of Korean li
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- Aug 30, 2019
- 2 min
Dhonielle Clayton's THE EVERLASTING ROSE - Ashley's Review
Thank you to Partner Netgalley for my advance copy of this novel. I loved The Belles and was so excited to read the sequel, The Everlasting Rose. Set in the dystopian world of Orléans , this novel reveals the way that quests for beauty and power can spiral out of control as the quest to become the most beautiful and most powerful gets in the way of compassion, equity, and all forms of understanding. The Belles opens in a world where most people are born gris, meaning that the
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- Aug 16, 2019
- 4 min
Yara Zgheib's THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET - Ashley's Review
"There must have been signs, but we were distracted by the roller coaster of the adventure. Paperwork, looking for a couch for the apartment, ties and shirts for Matthias." "I used to eat. I used to like to eat, then I grew scared to eat, ceased to eat. Now my stomach hurts; I have been anorexic for so long that I have forgotten how to eat." "I did not choose anorexia. I did not choose to starve. But every morning, over and over, I choose to fight it, again." Thank you to Pa
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- Jul 26, 2019
- 3 min
Jandy Nelson's I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN -Ashley's Book Review
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson is a literary work of genius. This is one I read quite a while ago, but it has stayed with me and remains one of my favorites. It's riveting and powerful without seeming forced or contrived in any way. It's the story of twins, Jude and Noah, whose lives are drastically, irreparably altered by a catastrophic event. The entire story shapes itself around that event and their quest to find themselves functioning on the other side. Let's talk
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