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.

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Jan 14
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,

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Jan 7
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

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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

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 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

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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

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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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Oct 1, 2021
2 min

Maureen Johnson's TRULY DEVIOUS Series - A Satisfying Mystery Trilogy . . . Plus One

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I don't know the last time that I was drawn into a book the way Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious (Amazon | Bookshop.org) drew me in. I quickly got through the rest of my "have-to" reads to devour the next two books in the trilogy (Amazon | Bookshop.org). Truly Devious runs through two timelines. In the historical timeline, it's 1936, and we're with millionaire Albert Ellingham whose wife and daughter have been kidnapped from their home on the c

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Sep 24, 2021
3 min

Danielle Walker's Food Saved Me - An Inspiring and Insightful Memoir

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Danielle Walker's Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding Health and Hope through the Power of Food (Amazon | Bookshop.org) I have talked about how much I enjoy reading about food and also learning about food sources and how what we eat affects our bodies and health. I have been following Danielle Walker for many years and have all of her cookbooks. So, I was so excited to read her recently released memoir, Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding

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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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Sep 10, 2021
2 min

Zoraida Córdova's THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUÍDEA DIVINA — A Magical Book Anchored in Reality

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC of Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Amazon | Bookshop.org) in exchange for an honest review. The book is now available for purchase! Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina begins with a letter. Orquídea Montoya is dying, so she calls her relatives to her home in Four Rivers to claim their inheritance. She’s lost touch with most of them, having d

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Sep 3, 2021
3 min

Hestor Fox's THE WITCH OF WILLOW HALL - A Spooky Autumn Read

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Today, I am sharing a book that I thought was a spooky fall read. I found Hester Fox's The Witch of Willow Hall (Amazon | Bookshop.org) compelling, bizarre, and surprising, with a spookiness that caught me off guard. The protagonist, Lydia, is a likeable character, and I enjoyed the witchy elements that she brought to the story. Catherine, the eldest sister, and foil for Lydia is a haughty, cruel person and reminded me a bit of Kate from Ea

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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 20, 2021
3 min

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's CERTAIN DARK THINGS - A Gritty, Noir Vampire Reimagining

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partners NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital ARC of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Certain Dark Things (Amazon | Bookshop.org) in exchange for an honest review. The book will be available for purchase on September 7, 2021. Certain Dark Things is full of things I already knew I loved: Vampire stories? Check. (I’m such a sucker for them all. Pun belatedly intended.) Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s ability to transfer her fabulous, gritty writin

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Aug 13, 2021
3 min

Ruth Wariner's THE SOUND OF GRAVEL - Page-Turning Nonfiction

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) If you listen to the pod, you know I love a good memoir. We have talked about Ruth Wariner's The Sound of Gravel (Amazon | Bookshop.org) several times on the show, and I thought I would share my complete review of this fantastic memoir. In fact, I would say that this book is the book that lit the fire for my love of memoirs and my compulsion to read as many as I can get my hands on. Written by Ruth Wariner (known predominantly as Ruthie in

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