Unabridged Podcast

Welcome to Unabridged, the podcast where teachers take on books! Every week, Sara, Jen and Ashley (shown left to right in the photo) talk books, share recommendations, and celebrate all things bookish. On our blog (see our posts below!) we share bookish faves, pub day shout-outs, show notes, and book reviews each week.

Want to get more involved? Check out our 2021 reading challenge, join our buddy reads on Instagram, or become an Unabridged Ambassador!

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Feb 11
3 min

Casey McQuiston's ONE LAST STOP - A Twisty Love Story Full of Fascinating Stops

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Friends, I did not see what was coming in Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop, and let me tell you - I was here for it! Longtime listeners know that I was a huge fan of Red, White, and Royal Blue, and I still think of that one as one of my most favorite romances ever! While there are some traits that are present in both books -- heartfelt characters with rich personalitie

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Jan 21
3 min

Kacen Callender's KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES - Finding Your Own Way

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachinigtheapolcalypse) Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies This book, Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), captivated my attention from the second I started it, and I was so compelled to find out what was going to happen. I listened to this one on audio, and the narration by Ron Butler was outstanding. This was a strong five-star read for me, and as I write this, I'm regretting not including it on my list

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Dec 3, 2021
3 min

ONCE UPON AN EID - A Beautiful and Sweeping Collection Celebrating the Joy of Eid

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I absolutely loved this beautiful collection of short stories, Once Upon an Eid (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org), edited by S. K. Ali (author of Saints and Misfits) and Aisha Saeed (author of Amal Unbound, a podcast favorite!). I listened to this one on audio, and the narration was outstanding! This collection is a gorgeous middle-grade work, and it conveys a wide array of different experiences, all of which center on Muslims celeb

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Oct 29, 2021
2 min

Stephen Graham Jones's MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW - An Ode to Slashers with a Twist

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Still in the mood for some spooky reads as the end of October approaches? Don't miss Stephen Graham Jones's newest book that just came out on August 31st, My Heart is a Chainsaw (Amazon | Bookshop.org). I was so excited to read this one after reading and absolutely loving Stephen Graham Jones's The Only Good Indians (which I talked about on episode 148!), and thanks to Netgalley, I was able to get an e-galley of this one in

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Oct 8, 2021
3 min

Jasmine Warga's OTHER WORDS FOR HOME - A Beautiful Portrayal of Coming from Syria to America

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Friends, I absolutely LOVED this brilliant middle-grade novel in verse. I had seen recommendations from several bookish friends (including multiple Unabridged Ambassadors!) who read this and had great things to say about it, and I was eager to try it out. (Also, I seem to be on a middle-grade kick here! I haven't really read that many middle-grade books this year, b

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Sep 17, 2021
3 min

B.B. Alston's AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS - A Thrilling, Magical Middle Grade Read

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) B. B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers I absolutely loved this brilliant book, B. B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers (Amazon | Bookshop.org), so much! It was fast-paced and compelling with excellent world building and an outstanding protagonist. I loved Amari right from the start, and I found her motivation, her desire to find her older brother Quinton who had disappeared, to be powerful and authentic. When the boo

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Aug 27, 2021
3 min

Jennifer Saint's ARIADNE - An Exploration of the Role of Women in Greek Mythology

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Friends, this one, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne (Amazon | Bookshop.org), was another five-star read for me, and it's one I absolutely wanted to share on here. I think what I found so captivating about this one is the way that through exploration of several of the Greek myths, Jennifer Saint highlights the way that women in the stories pay for the faults of men, be they mortals or gods. Although this one does not spare the reader

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Aug 6, 2021
3 min

Steven Rowley's THE GUNCLE - A Book about Melting Our Hearts

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I knew I wanted to read Steven Rowley's The Guncle (Amazon | Bookshop.org) from the first moment it came out, but it turned out to be much more than I expected. I loved Patrick from the moment the book began, and I quickly came to appreciate and empathize with his perspective on his niece and nephew, both of whom he adores but whom he's never had to care for in any central way. When their mom, his beloved friend and his broth

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Jun 4, 2021
3 min

Aiden Thomas's LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS - A Dark and Twisty Peter Pan Retelling

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) In this retelling of Peter Pan, Aiden Thomas's Lost in the Never Woods (Amazon | Bookshop.org), we meet Wendy Darling as she turns 18. We quickly learn that she and her brothers disappeared five years earlier, and she was found in the woods six months later without her brothers. She has no memory of what happened during that time. In the present, she works as a volunteer at the local hospital and spends a lot of time with th

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May 14, 2021
3 min

Nicola Yoon's INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING - Celebrating the Beauty and Complexity of Love

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I absolutely love Nicola Yoon's work and could not wait to read her latest book! Thank you to partner NetGalley for the ARC of this one; Nicola Yoon's Instructions for Dancing releases on June 1st, so preorder your copy today! The question at the center of this book is a hard one—should we continue to love others even though all love essentially ends in loss? It's a heavy question that resonates throughout this book. As the

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Apr 23, 2021
3 min

Yaa Gyasi's TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM - A Close Examination of Addiction and Its Impact on Family

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I was so excited to see Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom on Libro.fm this fall and am thankful that I was able to listen to an ALC of the audio. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing is one of my favorite books, and I plan to read everything Gyasi writes because her work is brilliant. Although Homegoing and Transcendent Kingdom have some similarities including gorgeous writing, complex characters, and complicated relationships, where Homego

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Apr 2, 2021
2 min

Sumi Hahn's THE MERMAID OF JEJU - Love and Bravery in a Time of War

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) This beautiful historical fiction novel explores the situation in Jeju during World War II as Japanese occupation ended and American soldiers came to occupy the island. Many thanks to Libro.fm for access to the audio of Sumi Hahn's The Mermaid of Jeju, which just came out in December! I loved this audiobook, but I am sure I would have enjoyed the print version as well. This book opens with the present time and shows Junja's m

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Mar 12, 2021
3 min

Taylor Jenkins Reid's THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO - Secrets Revealed After a Life of Fame

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) "Relationships are complex... People are messy, and love can be ugly. I'm inclined to always err on the side of compassion" (254). I've been wanting to read Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for quite a while, and I borrowed it ages ago intending to read it right away, but it turns out that this winter was the perfect time for it, and I'm so glad I read it when I did. If you haven't read this one, it's

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Jan 29, 2021
4 min

T. J. Klune's THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA - A Beautiful Story about Finding Your Home

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) This phenomenal book, T.J. Klune's fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea, was one of my favorite reads from 2020. I was thrilled to see that this one also just won an Alex Award as one of the ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences with the Youth Media Awards from the American Library Association. Linus Baker lives a quiet, routine-oriented life with only his curmudgeonly cat, Calliope, for company. As a low

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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

Unabridged Podcast

Casey McQuiston's ONE LAST STOP - A Twisty Love Story Full of Fascinating Stops

Kacen Callender's KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES - Finding Your Own Way

ONCE UPON AN EID - A Beautiful and Sweeping Collection Celebrating the Joy of Eid

Stephen Graham Jones's MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW - An Ode to Slashers with a Twist

Jasmine Warga's OTHER WORDS FOR HOME - A Beautiful Portrayal of Coming from Syria to America

B.B. Alston's AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS - A Thrilling, Magical Middle Grade Read

Jennifer Saint's ARIADNE - An Exploration of the Role of Women in Greek Mythology

Steven Rowley's THE GUNCLE - A Book about Melting Our Hearts

Aiden Thomas's LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS - A Dark and Twisty Peter Pan Retelling

Nicola Yoon's INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING - Celebrating the Beauty and Complexity of Love

Yaa Gyasi's TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM - A Close Examination of Addiction and Its Impact on Family

Sumi Hahn's THE MERMAID OF JEJU - Love and Bravery in a Time of War

Taylor Jenkins Reid's THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO - Secrets Revealed After a Life of Fame

T. J. Klune's THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA - A Beautiful Story about Finding Your Home

Sofía Segovia's THE MURMUR OF BEES - A Beautiful, Whimsical Story about the Power of Love

Kate J. Baer's WHAT KIND OF WOMAN - A Beautiful Poetry Collection about Being a Woman and a Mother

Virginia Soenksen's THE TITAN STRAIN - A Compelling Science Fiction Read

Alexis Hall's BOYFRIEND MATERIAL - More than Meets the Eye

Tayari Jones's AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE - A Close Examination of Relationships

Sandhya Menon's 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PINKY - The Attraction of Polar Opposites

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