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 2022 reading challenge, join our buddy reads on Instagram, or sign up on Patreon!

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Some of Ashley's Favorite Reads of 2020 (So Far)

Jul 20, 2020
7 min

Some of Ashley's Favorite Reads of 2020 (So Far)

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Oh my goodness, I'm already having A LOT of trouble choosing only five books, which is the sign of a great reading year so far! (Perhaps total life chaos leads to me loving books more... I certainly suffered from a reading slump when quarantine first started, and I'm still missing audiobooks and sometimes feel distant from the books I'm reading, but I have generally gotten back into reading after the initial transition... and

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Brit Bennett's THE VANISHING HALF - A Multi-Generational Story of Searching for Identity

May 29, 2020
3 min

Brit Bennett's THE VANISHING HALF - A Multi-Generational Story of Searching for Identity

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley and Edelweiss for egalley copies of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half in exchange for an honest review. The book releases Tuesday, June 2. Brit Bennett’s debut novel The Mothers was one of my favorite reads of 2017, so I was thrilled when I saw that she had written a new novel . . . but also nervous. Could The Vanishing Half possibly live up to Bennett’s amazing first novel? I’m happy to share that it absolutely do

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Bookstagram Made Me Do It!

May 18, 2020
2 min

Bookstagram Made Me Do It!

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Bookstagram has brought me so many good things that have enriched my life... and six of them are the gorgeous books pictured above (along with the three pictured on my TBR list at the bottom...), and SO many other books! Honestly, though, it is hard to keep up with all of the books that come across my feed, and it is tough to pick and choose which ones should make their way to the top of my towering TBR stack. I've always bee

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Justina Ireland's DREAD NATION--Historical Fiction with a Twist

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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122: Bookish Turn Offs and What to Do about Them

Apr 22, 2020
30 min

122: Bookish Turn Offs and What to Do about Them

In this Unabridged podcast episode, we're discussing some bookish turn offs we each have and when it's worth it to push past those turn offs (and when to accept them and move on!). We discuss tons of books including some of our collective favorites like John Boyne’s The Heart’s Invisible Furies, Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, and Alan Gratz’s Refugee. While we each have different turn offs, we all agree that there are certainly things that attract us and repel u

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Comfort Reads: The Long List

Apr 13, 2020
2 min

Comfort Reads: The Long List

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Last week, we released episode 120 in which we recommended books that could be Comfort Reads for you during this very stressful time! Check out my long list of recommendations, and let us know what books you'd recommend to round out these lists. What other books are bringing you comfort? Books to Escape Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone Elana K. Arnold’s Damsel Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! March 31, 2020 - Chang, Hadlow, Mafi

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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Roots of INTERNMENT: Perspectives on Internment during World War II

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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118: Hopeful Books to Engage Students - What Can I Recommend to Students Right Now?

Mar 25, 2020
2 min

118: Hopeful Books to Engage Students - What Can I Recommend to Students Right Now?

In this episode, we consider books that we'd recommend to students as great choices to read independently. As the world around us has drastically changed and continues changing, we decided on this topic and talked about some of our favorites, including R. J. Palacio's Wonder, Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before series, Nicola Yoon's books, and anything by Jason Reynolds, as well as some other favorites. We focus our discussion on books we think students can access w

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Jen's Tournament of Books Brackets

Mar 16, 2020
1 min

Jen's Tournament of Books Brackets

Friends, the Tournament of Books is upon us! Though this will be no surprise, if you've been reading my (Jen's) ToB posts (here, here, here, and here) and know which books I've picked, I did want to share my pre-Tournament bracket with you. And here's how I've done so far . . . Three out of five isn't bad, right!? I'm reveling, as always, in the brilliance of the judgments. My favorites so far are Helen Rosner's discussion of Normal People vs. Fleishman Is in Trouble (even th

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Tournament of Books - Days 7 and 8 - Jen's Take

Mar 13, 2020
7 min

Tournament of Books - Days 7 and 8 - Jen's Take

Today, we have reached the final round of the Sweet Sixteen of The Morning News Tournament of Books. (If you'd like to read a little more background on what I (Jen) am up to here, check out this post.) This is not, I have to admit, my favorite section of the bracket (*hides face in shame*), but I'm making a valiant effort to share my opinions here. Day 7 (March 17) - Trust Exercise v. Overthrow Susan Choi's Trust Exercise - I recently listened to a podcast in which the guest

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Tournament of Books - Days 5 and 6 - Jen's Take

Mar 6, 2020
6 min

Tournament of Books - Days 5 and 6 - Jen's Take

Today, I (Jen) am discussing the third section of the Sweet Sixteen of The Morning News Tournament of Books. (If you'd like to read a little more background on what I'm up to here, check out this post.) I have some tough choices here, with THREE books that I really loved. And check out the end of the post, where I provide an update from the very first match-up of the competition Day 5 (March 13) - The Water Dancer v. Optic Nerve Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer - ". . . me

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Tournament of Books - Days 3 and 4 - Jen's Take

Feb 28, 2020
6 min

Tournament of Books - Days 3 and 4 - Jen's Take

All right, I (Jen) am back with the next two match-ups in the The Morning News Tournament of Books. (If you'd like to read a little more background on what I'm up to here, check out this post.) Today, I have, for me, the first TRULY difficult decision of the Tournament. Day 3 (March 11) - Lost Children Archive v. Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive in some ways defies description. On one level, i

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Love Is in the Air: Even More Romance Recommendations!

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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Best Reads of 2019--Sara's Picks

Feb 10, 2020
4 min

Best Reads of 2019--Sara's Picks

You are going to notice right away that my "Best of 2019" list isn't nearly as long as my counterparts. Honestly, 2019 was just not a great year of reading for me. I read a lot of books, but there just weren't a ton that really stood out to me. However, the ones that I did read, made a huge impact. I will say that I have read way more non-fiction this year than I have in other years AND OVER HALF (!) of the books on my list are non-fiction! My fingers are crossed for a more s

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Best Reads of 2019 - Jen's Picks

Feb 3, 2020
1 min

Best Reads of 2019 - Jen's Picks

Oh, friends. I gave 51 books five stars in 2019, so this was tough for me! Ultimately, I settled--somewhat arbitrarily--on a top 15, ranging from middle-grade reads like Kelly Yang's Front Desk to Michelle Obama's brilliant memoir Becoming to a stunning multi-genre novel in Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive (which I really need to re-read!). Anyway, here are 15 of the books I loved in 2019, in COMPLETELY random order (you can find reviews for all of them on Instagram,

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110: Winter Books - If I Read a Good Thriller, I'm Thrilled

Jan 29, 2020
1 min

110: Winter Books - If I Read a Good Thriller, I'm Thrilled

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we are sharing about a favorite topic of ours, seasonal reads. We discuss some favorite reads that revolve around winter in some way, including Fredrik Backman’s Beartown, Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child, Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray, and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. Our Recommendations Ashley - Fredrik Backman’s Beartown Neil Gaiman’s American Gods Sara - Megan Collins’s The Winter Sister Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Ch

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Best Reads of 2019 - Ashley's Picks

Jan 27, 2020
5 min

Best Reads of 2019 - Ashley's Picks

2019 was a great year for reading for me. Many of these books were not written in 2019, but they were new to me this past year, and they were phenomenal. From Michelle Obama's Becoming that I read in right at the beginning of the year to John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies, which I read very close to the year's end, I definitely read some keepers this year that I will be recommending and revisiting for a long time to come. These were all five bookish hearts books for me

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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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Daniel José Older’s THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS -- Jen's Review

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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