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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9 YA Books from 2021 to Celebrate Pride Month

Jun 14
12 min

9 YA Books from 2021 to Celebrate Pride Month

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) This week's episode focuses on some YA Lit Recs, which made me think back on my reading over the course of 2021 so far. As I started making lists of my favorite YA reads, I noticed that I've actually read several books that are just perfect for Pride Month. If you're looking to do some intentional celebrating of Pride this month, here are some of my 2021 reads I'd definitely recommend. (For each one, I'm sharing the reviews I posted on IG.) Fa

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Featured Books for June 2021

May 29
4 min

Featured Books for June 2021

June Book On May 5, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Laura Taylor Namey's A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, which will also be our Buddy Read pick. On June 14th and 28th, we'll have IG chats about the novel. DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow "For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at

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Pub Day Shout-Outs for May 25, 2021, featuring Bellefleur, Williams-Garcia, and Yoon

May 25
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for May 25, 2021, featuring Bellefleur, Williams-Garcia, and Yoon

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! And be sure to check out our review of Remy Lai's Pawcasso (Amazon | Bookshop.org) later today @unabridgedpod—this sweet graphic novel is also being published today! Alexandria Bellefleur's Hang the Moon (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Brendon Lowell loves love. It’s why he created a dating app to help people find their one true pairing and why he’s convinced

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176: Ocean Vuong's ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS - May 2021 Book Club

May 5
16 min

176: Ocean Vuong's ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS - May 2021 Book Club

In this Unabridged episode, we discuss our May book club pick, Ocean Vuong's novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. We discuss the powerful, heartbreaking, lyrical novel, and then we share our pairings, including Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, Lisa Ko’s The Leavers, and Mira T. Lee’s Everything Here Is Beautiful. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Jen - Glendy Vanderah’s The Light through the Leaves (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Sara - Laekan Zea

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Featured Books for May 2021

Apr 25
4 min

Featured Books for May 2021

May Books On May 5, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. We'll have a Book Club chat on IG about the novel on May 17 at 8:00 PM EST. Then, on April 10 and 24, we'll have IG chats about Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite’s Dear Haiti, Love Alaine. DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publishers: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for April 20, 2021 featuring Zauner, Quindlen, and Nyamayaro

Apr 20
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for April 20, 2021 featuring Zauner, Quindlen, and Nyamayaro

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart Description from Publisher: "From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. "In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and

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Featured Books for April 2021

Mar 27
3 min

Featured Books for April 2021

April Books On April 7, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Eric Gansworth's Apple: Skin to the Core. Then, on April 12 and 19, we'll have IG chats about Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, and on April 26, we'll discuss the Netflix adaptation!. DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publishers: Apple: Skin to the Core "Apple: Skin to the Core, is a YA memoir-in-verse. Eric Gansworth tells the story of his life, of an Onondaga family living

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

Mar 12
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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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for March 9, 2021, featuring Khan, Hibbert, and Mans

Mar 9
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for March 9, 2021, featuring Khan, Hibbert, and Mans

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) This is a great pub day including a couple of favorite authors! Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read. Hena Khan's Amina's Song Description from Publisher: "In the companion novel to the beloved and award-winning Amina’s Voice, Amina once again uses her voice to bridge the places, people, and communities she loves—this time across continents. "It’s the last few days of her vacation in Pakistan, and Am

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Featured Books for March 2021

Feb 27
3 min

Featured Books for March 2021

March Books On March 3, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Mira Jacob's Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. We'll also have an IG Book Club chat on March 15 at 8:00 PM EST. Then, on March 8 and March 22, we'll have IG chats about Akwaeke Emezi's Pet. DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publishers: Good Talk "Mira Jacob's touching, often humorous, and utterly unique graphic memoir takes readers on her journey as a first-gener

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Featured Books for February 2021

Jan 30
4 min

Featured Books for February 2021

February Books On February 3, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, a retelling of the Austen classic. (This book was chosen by our Unabridged Ambassadors!) We'll also have an IG Book Club chat on February 15. Then, on February 8 and February 22, we'll have IG chats about Emily Henry's A Million Junes (voted on by our followers). DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publisher: Prid

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

Jan 29
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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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 19, 2021, featuring Cashore, Hall, Lo, and Okorafor

Jan 19
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 19, 2021, featuring Cashore, Hall, Lo, and Okorafor

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are four books coming out today that I'm excited to read (I couldn't resist one more than our usual three!). Kristin Cashore's Winterkeep Description from Publisher: "For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to the closest nation there: Winterkeep—a place where telepathic foxes

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 15, 2020, featuring Jackson, LaCour, and Yang

Sep 15, 2020
3 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 15, 2020, featuring Jackson, LaCour, and Yang

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three(-plus!) books coming out today that I'm excited to read. Tiffany D. Jackson's Grown Description from Publisher: "Award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines mystery that exposes horrific secrets hiding behind the limelight and embraces the power of a young woman’s voice. "When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous sing

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 25, 2020, featuring Khorram, Lozada and Lörincz, and Taussig

Aug 25, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 25, 2020, featuring Khorram, Lozada and Lörincz, and Taussig

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Before I share three books coming out today that I'm excited to read, I wanted to highlight two that I've already read. You can read my reviews of Kristina Forest's Now that I've Found You and Daisy Johnson's Sisters at jenlovesbooks.com. Now, on to three brand-new books I haven't read yet! Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Deserves Better Description from Publisher: "In this companion to the award-winning Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius su

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112: 2020 Love Is in the Air - The Protagonist's Name is in the Title

Feb 12, 2020
2 min

112: 2020 Love Is in the Air - The Protagonist's Name is in the Title

In our 2020 Love Is in the Air episode, we're talking all things romance. In this episode, we discuss some of our favorite romance novels, including Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over, Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, and David Yoon’s Frankly in Love just to name a few. While we have varying degrees of expertise in this genre, we all have some recommendations to share with you! Jen's Picks Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals ser

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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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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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Welcome - Introduction and Overview

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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