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- Sep 18, 2020
- 3 min
V. E. Schwab's THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE - An Impossible Choice
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of V. E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is the first book I’ve read by V. E. Schwab . . . I’ll definitely be reading more. What a brilliant, compelling, gorgeous novel. Adeline LaRue, born in France in 1691, is happy in her quiet life with her parents. Her dotin
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- Jul 13, 2020
- 8 min
Some of Jen's Favorite Reads of 2020 (so far)
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I love my friends, I love my friends, I love my friends. But when we were chatting and decided to do these mid-year, five-favorites-so-far posts, I knew I would be sending a little resentment their way. Only FIVE picks!?! Really? I can't choose just FIVE favorites! I want to include all the things. So, here's my methodology. I looked back at my monthly wrap-up posts in IG, and I ONLY allowed myself to jot down the titles of my five-star reads.
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- May 25, 2020
- 2 min
Building on the Classics: Middle-Grade Reads to Add to Your Shelves
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) We recently had the chance to chat with Jill Hames, director of the James L. Hamner Public Library and host of the Connections podcast. Our agenda? To think about classics--like Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, Wilson Rawls's Where the Red Fern Grows, Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and Fred Gipson's Old Yeller--and develop a list of books that we could recommend to fans of these tried-and-true options. (For the record, we endorse the
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- May 22, 2020
- 3 min
Natalie Jenner's THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY - A Warm Hug for Austen Fans*
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society in exchange for an honest review. The book releases on May 26, 2020. “I just feel, when I read her, when I reread her--which I do, more than any other author--it’s as if she is inside my head. Like music” (loc. 74). Natalie Jenner’s The Jane Austen Society, historical fiction ranging from 1932 to 1947, is about grief and recovery, greed and sacrifice, s
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- May 20, 2020
- 22 min
126: Plugging into Bookish Communities Online with @readwithtoni from Instagram
In this week's episode of Unabridged, Ashley, Jen, and Sara talk with Toni about the power of developing an online bookish community. Toni--who posts @readwithtoni--shares her own bookstagram journey, what she loves about buddy reads, and the books (like Homegoing and All the Ugly and Wonderful Things) that have resulted in some great conversations. We also each share some great, bookstagram-made-me-do-it reads. Bookish Check In Ashley - Lyssa Kay Adams’s The Bromance Book Cl
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- May 19, 2020
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! May 19, 2019 featuring Collins, Henry, Santos
By Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Suzanne Collins's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Description from Publisher: "Ambition will fuel him.
Competition will drive him.
But power has its price. "It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate
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- May 15, 2020
- 3 min
Justina Ireland's DREAD NATION--Historical Fiction with a Twist
by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Welp, this book is definitely a bit out of my wheelhouse. Justina Ireland's book Dread Nation is a young-adult, historical fiction novel with a (BIG) twist set right after the Gettysburg battle in the American Civil War. During the Gettysburg battle, something remarkable happens, and the fallen soldiers rise up from their deaths to become the undead (called shamblers in the book and are akin to zombies). The shamblers are able to infect othe
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- May 12, 2020
- 5 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! May 12, 2020 featuring Homa, Kamp, Thomas
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I had such a hard time choosing only three books to highlight today--I've included a few more at the end, but do yourself a favor and check out the full list of books being published today. Ava Homa's Daughters of Smoke and Fire Description from Publisher: "Set in Iran, this extraordinary debut novel takes readers into the everyday lives of the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global st
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- May 11, 2020
- 2 min
A Fork in the Road: 9+ Works of Alternate History
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Last week, we released our Book Club episode focusing on Katharine McGee's American Royals, a book that questions what would have happened if George Washington had accepted the offer to become King instead of President. Alternate histories like this one can be an intriguing way to explore what matters to us and what decisions in our history have been most important. (They're also just fun!) Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer - Check out my re
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- Mar 31, 2020
- 3 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! March 31, 2020 - Chang, Hadlow, Mafi
Here are three books coming out today that I (Jen) am excited to read! Alexandra Chang's Days of Distraction Description from HarperCollins: "The plan is to leave. As for how, when, to where, and even why—she doesn’t know yet. So begins a journey for the twenty-four-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. As a staff writer at a prestigious tech publication, she reports on the achievements of smug Silicon Valley billionaires and start-up bros while her own request for a rais
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- Mar 30, 2020
- 1 min
Roots of INTERNMENT: Perspectives on Internment during World War II
Samira Ahmed's Internment was our Unabridged Buddy Read for March and Book Club Pick for April. Our episode releases this Wednesday, April 1. In the novel, the protagonist and her parents are taken--in the near future--to an internment camp for Muslim citizens of the United States that is located near Manzanar. Frequently, Ahmed references WW II internment camps like Manzanar as historical context for her novel. Here are other sources--some own voices and some not--that provi
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- Feb 26, 2020
- 2 min
114: Read Alike Ideas and Lit Circles - I Think the Risk Is Worth the Reward
In this episode, we're discussing the benefits of using Read Alikes within book clubs and within the classroom. We touch on some of our favorite YA lit books, such as Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, as well as classics like Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. We talk about strategies for making read alikes work and ways to manage the difficulties in order to reap the rewards of exploring a variety of books centering around one theme. Bookish Check In Jen - Jojo Moyes’s The Giver o
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- Feb 17, 2020
- 3 min
Love Is in the Air: Even More Romance Recommendations!
Last week, on episode 112, we talked about some favorite love stories, including Alyssa Cole's A Princess in Theory and Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over. I (Jen) could not, however, bear to stop there. As an avid romance reader, I didn't want to leave out contemporary romance authors like Penny Reid or historical romance favorites Lisa Kleypas and Courtney Milan (who also writes contemporary romances!). So, here are a few more recommendations for your TBR stack! Selecte
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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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- Dec 6, 2019
- 2 min
Daniel José Older’s THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS -- Jen's Review
"They came in boats and airplanes, armed with false documents and holy terror and a grinding wariness of what they would find. . . . They came and left behind family members clutching photographs, and promises to send money and frequent letters and powdered milk or vacuum cleaners or whatever it was impossible to find that year. . . . Each brought along a cord that stretched all the way back to the island and when they slept, each prayed the cord would send along news from ho
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- Sep 19, 2018
- 1 min
39 - Global Read Aloud with LOVE, HATE & OTHER FILTERS, AMAL UNBOUND, and REFUGEE
You can find more information about the Global Read Aloud and sign up for the program by visiting the website, by following Pernille Ripp on Twitter, and by using the hashtag #globalreadaloud on Instagram. In this episode, we're discussing Samira Ahmed's Love, Hate, and Other Filters, Aisha Saeed's Amal Unbound, and Alan Gratz's Refugee. We tried to go very light on the spoilers in this #unabridgedhighlights episode, but a few minor spoilers were hard to avoid as we revealed
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