Unabridged Podcast

Welcome to Unabridged! Ashley and Jen (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.

Want to get more involved? Check out our 2023 reading challenge, join our buddy reads or book club on Instagram, or sign up on Patreon!

Learn More

Support Unabridged

6 days ago
3 min

Ashley Schumacher's THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY - Bards, Princesses, and More!

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Ashley Schumacher’s The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway (Bookshop.org). The book came out this week! Ashley Schumacher’s The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway, her third novel, centers on the story of Madeline Hathaway. Maddy’s life is just a bit unusual: since she was born, she’s traveled with her parents on the Renaissance Faire circuit. She’s never attended in-person school. In

18 views0 comments

Mar 3
2 min

Bolu Babalola's HONEY & SPICE: A Brilliant Romance Exploring Social Issues

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I listened to Bolu Babalola's Honey & Spice (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a new adult romance, thanks to Libro.fm, and I absolutely loved the way that Babalola explored so many facets of relationships within the novel while also exploring social and racial dynamics within a university setting. Kiki Banjo is a Black British woman at Whitewell University, where she leads a popular university radio show called Brown Sugar, which fo

10 views0 comments

Feb 17
3 min

Priyanka Taslim’s THE LOVE MATCH - Jane Austen with a Twist

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) After my epic, #readausten22 buddy read in 2022, I’m primed for some amazing retellings of Jane Austen’s books, and Priyanka Taslim’s The Love Match (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) exceeded my expectations. Zahra Kahn is a Bangladeshi American teenager who has just graduated from high school. She lives with her mother and two younger siblings in a small apartment in Paterson, New Jersey, where they try to make ends meet after her father’s death seve

15 views0 comments

Feb 3
3 min

Benjamin Alire Sáenz's ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE: A Must-Read Book

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Oh my goodness, this must be a season of both re-reads and reading series books for me, and I'm loving both reading experiences. I re-read this one, Benjamin Alire Sáenz's Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), for our January Unabridged Buddy Read, and I fell in love with this brilliant, powerful, moving book all over again. In fact, I loved it even more the second time. We had a

9 views0 comments

Jan 20
3 min

Jen Sookfong Lee's SUPERFAN: HOW POP CULTURE BROKE MY HEART: A MEMOIR

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I listened to Jen Sookfong Lee's Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart: A Memoir (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) thanks to Libro.fm's ALC program. I'm so happy that I experienced this one via audio since the author reads it herself, communicating the tenderness, humor, and outrage she feels with great resonance. The book is a series of essays, meditations that weave together a particular pop-culture focus with the author's thoughts on different p

9 views0 comments

Jan 6
3 min

Carlos Hernandez's SAL AND GABI BREAK THE UNIVERSE - A Magician with a Special Trick

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) When I was scanning the TBR tag I've made on my Libby app (another feature I plan to use more actively this year as I work on being more strategic about my upcoming book selection - see more about that here...), I came across Carlos Hernandez's Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), which is a middle grade book in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. I remember Sara talking about this one way back in episode

11 views0 comments

Dec 23, 2022
3 min

Dani Shapiro's SIGNAL FIRES - A Novel of Possibility

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) If I'd read Dani Shapiro's Signal Fires (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) any earlier this year, it would likely be on my list of top books of 2022. Signal Fires is a book about possibility—both the ever-presence of possibility in the course of people's lives but also the ways that decisions can narrow those possibilities. It's about the ways that we understand the people who are around us and how they shape our own lives, the ways that we're all inte

12 views0 comments

Dec 9, 2022
2 min

Zoraida Córdova's THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUÍDEA DIVINA - The Power of Family Magic

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I listened to Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) thanks to Libro.fm's ALC program, and I was so captivated by the story. This was the first book I'd read by Zoraida Córdova, but it will not be my last! Richly woven with a complicated mystery at its center, this is a beautiful story that unfurls over decades and generations all tied together by fate and choices made early on in the l

9 views0 comments

Jan 14, 2022
3 min

Emma Lord's WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE - A New Book from an Auto-Read Author

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Emma Lord's When You Get the Chance (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) in exchange for an honest review. When You Get the Chance is my second book by Emma Lord. (I loved You Have a Match [Bookshop.org | Libro.fm] and have Tweet Cute [Bookshop.org | Libro.fm] on my shelf to read ASAP.) Yes, she’s now an auto-read author for me. This one focuses on Millie Cooper, a super-extroverted,

7 views0 comments

Jan 7, 2022
2 min

Jenny Bayliss's A SEASON FOR SECOND CHANCES - Romance at Its Best

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) I just devoured Jenny Bayliss’s new book, A Season for Second Chances. (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) I cannot tell you how much I adored this book. Last year, I reviewed Bayliss’s holiday romance, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, for the blog (see that here), and I really enjoyed that one too. In A Season for Second Chances, Annie Sharpe, a successful chef and restaurateur, finds her adulterous husband in a compromising position with one of the s

3 views0 comments

Dec 10, 2021
3 min

E. G. Reger's GRAVE MISTAKES - A Tender Tale of Vampires . . . and Other Beings

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) E. G. Reger's Grave Mistakes: The Story of a Podcast by the Undead, for the Living (Amazon) is one of those books that completely captivates. It starts innocuously enough: Martin, a vampire, and Quietus, a supernatural being whose exact species is uncertain, have a podcast called (of course!) Grave Mistakes. The podcast is modestly successful, but they hope for more, so when they're invited to present at PodCon, they're thrilled. What begins t

12 views0 comments

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

23 views0 comments

Nov 26, 2021
3 min

Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading - A Perfect Book to Gift the Bookworm in Your Life

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) When I was thinking about what to review for Black Friday, I thought a book that I think makes an excellent gift would be perfect. That is why I chose to review I'd Rather Be Reading (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) by Anne Bogel. Do you know Anne Bogel?! If not, let me acquaint you. Anne Bogel is an author (Her previous book, Reading People, is great! And she also recently released a reading journal for book lovers.), a blogger--her Modern Mrs. D

7 views0 comments

Nov 19, 2021
3 min

Julie Tieu's THE DONUT TRAP - A Sweet Romance Full of Heart

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I absolutely loved this beautiful story, which I listened to thanks to Libro.fm and their ALC program. I've been in a little bit of a reading funk, but this one helped me along with my progress and left me ready to pop in my earbuds to do some more listening! (I was so surprised to see that this was a DEBUT! I can't wait to read more by Julie Tieu!) The Donut Trap (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) centers 22-year-old Jasmine Tran, a

16 views0 comments

Nov 12, 2021
2 min

Alix E. Harrow's A SPINDLE SPLINTERED - A Twist on the Sleeping Beauty Story

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I picked up Alix E. Harrow's A Spindle Splintered (Amazon | Bookshop.org) for two reasons: (1) I loved her novel The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Amazon | Bookshop.org) and (2) I love a good fairytale retelling. (Check out our most recent episode, all about fairytale retellings, for more recs along these lines.) This slim book—it's only 128 pages—is a retelling or remix of the Sleeping Beauty story (one of my favorites). Here, the protagonis

11 views0 comments

Nov 5, 2021
2 min

Maggie Knox's THE HOLIDAY SWAP - A Charming Holiday Read

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Holiday reading is here! And I am all for it! I wrote a blog post on 5 holiday reads to add to your list for a Bookish Fave on Monday--you can find it here. One of the books on the that list is Maggie Knox’s The Holiday Swap (Amazon | Bookshop.org). I don’t know about you, but I love a nice, cozy holiday book that I can snuggle up and read with a nice cup of coffee or hot cocoa. The Holiday Swap did not disappoint. This charming tale is abo

7 views0 comments

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

9 views0 comments

Oct 22, 2021
3 min

Lauren Blackwood's WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS - A Creative Re-Imagining of JANE EYRE

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Lauren Blackwood’s Within These Wicked Walls (Amazon | Bookshop.org) in exchange for an honest review. The book just released on October 19! Those of you who follow me know that I love a new version of a classic, and I’m particularly a sucker for a Jane Eyre (Amazon | Bookshop.org) retelling, so when I saw that there was a Jane Eyre retelling set in Et

8 views0 comments

Oct 15, 2021
3 min

Shari Lapena's NOT A HAPPY FAMILY - A Page-Turning Domestic Suspense Novel

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) If you don’t mind a book filled with a whole lot of unlikable characters, this is the book for you. It is full of suspense, and twists and turns. Not a Happy Family (Amazon | Bookshop.org) is an excellent October read. The Merton family is a wealthy, well-known family in Breckin Hill, an exclusive, expensive neighborhood in upstate New York. Fred Merton, the patriarch of the family, has just sold his wildly successful robotics company and he

7 views0 comments

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

Unabridged Podcast

Scroll to the bottom to listen to our latest episodes!

Find us on your favorite podcast catcher or subscribe below!