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!

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Nov 4, 2022
3 min

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado's IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN - A Must-Read Memoir about Climbing Everest

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Silvia Vasquez-Lavado's In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) chronicles the author's journey as she attempts to summit Mount Everest. This memoir, read on audio by the author, is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. I listened to this one thanks to Libro.fm and their ALC program. In this beautiful and raw personal exploration, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado moves seamlessly b

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Sep 28, 2022
4 min

238: Madeline Miller's THE SONG OF ACHILLES - September 2022 Book Club

Do you enjoy retellings of the epics? Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) is a retelling of Homer's The Illiad. Jen and Ashley share our thoughts about this book club pick, and we share our pairings including Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Looking for more Unabridged content? Join us on Patreon, where we release an additional episode each month. Bookish Chec

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Aug 5, 2022
3 min

Alexis Hall's A LADY FOR A DUKE - Historical Romance with a Twist

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Alexis Hall's A Lady for a Duke (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Longtime listeners to the podcast may remember how much I (Ashley) loved Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material. (Check out my review of that one here.) I am eagerly anticipating reading Husband Material (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), which just came out on Tuesday! I saw this one, Alexis Hall's A Lady for a Duke, come out in spring of 2022, and I couldn't wait to dive in! I l

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Feb 11, 2022
3 min

Casey McQuiston's ONE LAST STOP - A Twisty Love Story Full of Fascinating Stops

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Friends, I did not see what was coming in Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop, and let me tell you - I was here for it! Longtime listeners know that I was a huge fan of Red, White, and Royal Blue, and I still think of that one as one of my most favorite romances ever! While there are some traits that are present in both books -- heartfelt characters with rich personalitie

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Jan 21, 2022
3 min

Kacen Callender's KING AND THE DRAGONFLIES - Finding Your Own Way

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachinigtheapolcalypse) Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies This book, Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), captivated my attention from the second I started it, and I was so compelled to find out what was going to happen. I listened to this one on audio, and the narration by Ron Butler was outstanding. This was a strong five-star read for me, and as I write this, I'm regretting not including it on my list

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Sep 13, 2021
4 min

Unexpected Joy - 7 YA Lit and Middle-Grade Book Recs that Deliver More than You Expect

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) On Wednesday, we'll be sharing book recommendations for books we've read that surprised us in the best possible ways and turned out to be more than we expected. In keeping with my recent bookish fave posts featuring YA lit and middle-grade recommendations, I wanted to hone in on a few young adult lit and middle-grade books that also brought me unexpected joy because they were more than I anticipated when I started them. B. B.

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Aug 28, 2021
3 min

Featured Books for September 2021

September Books On September 29, we'll release our Book Club episode focusing on Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe (Amazon | Bookshop.org), but before that releases, we'll have two IG chats on September 13 and 27 (this is also our September Buddy Read pick!). Stay tuned @unabridgedpod for announcements and updates. Here is the synopsis from the publisher: "A Texas teen comes face-to-face with a cousin's ghost and vows to unmask the murderer. "Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an

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Aug 6, 2021
3 min

Steven Rowley's THE GUNCLE - A Book about Melting Our Hearts

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I knew I wanted to read Steven Rowley's The Guncle (Amazon | Bookshop.org) from the first moment it came out, but it turned out to be much more than I expected. I loved Patrick from the moment the book began, and I quickly came to appreciate and empathize with his perspective on his niece and nephew, both of whom he adores but whom he's never had to care for in any central way. When their mom, his beloved friend and his broth

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Aug 2, 2021
4 min

Looking for a Book You Can't Stop Reading? Try These Recs!

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) On Wednesday, we're sharing our recommendations for books we couldn't stop reading. Be on the lookout for our book recs when that releases Wednesday! That episode got me thinking about other books that I've found irresistible and that I couldn't stop reading... here are a few that felt that way for me! This is a bit of an eclectic mix, but what they all have in common is that I could not stop reading them! I loved all of thes

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Jul 31, 2021
4 min

Featured Books for August 2021

August Books On August 25, we'll release our Book Club episode focusing on Balli Kaur Jaswal's Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (Amazon | Bookshop.org), but before that releases, we'll have an IG chat mid-month. (We're working on shuffling our episode order for Season 5!) We'll also have two IG chats about our Buddy Read pick, Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's YA novel What If It's Us (Amazon | Bookshop.org). Stay tuned @unabridgedpod for announcements and updates. Here ar

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Jun 27, 2021
5 min

Featured Books for July 2021

July Books On July 7, we'll release our Book Club episode focusing on Jacqueline Woodson's Red at the Bone (Amazon | Bookshop.org), and we'll have an IG chat mid-month. We'll also have two IG chats about our Buddy Read pick, Laekan Zea Kemp's YA novel Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet (Amazon | Bookshop.org). Stay tuned @unabridgedpod for announcements and updates. Here are the synopses from the publisher: Red at the Bone "Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Wood

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Jun 25, 2021
2 min

Leah Johnson's YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN - An Uplifting YA Lit Novel You'll Want to Hug

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I've been looking forward to reading Leah Johnson's You Should See Me in a Crown (Amazon | Bookshop.org) since it first released. In this young adult lit novel, we meet Liz Lighty, a remarkable teenager who is navigating her way through high school with big plans to study music in college. As the story opens, Liz learns that she has not received a scholarship to the college of her choice, which will make it impossible for he

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Jun 14, 2021
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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May 29, 2021
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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May 25, 2021
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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May 5, 2021
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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Apr 25, 2021
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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Apr 20, 2021
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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Mar 27, 2021
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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Mar 12, 2021
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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