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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Favorites Reads by Auto-buy Authors

Apr 19, 2021
3 min

Favorites Reads by Auto-buy Authors

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) In this Wednesday's episode, we're discussing some of our favorite authors that we consider to be auto-buy authors. We talk in the episode about what we mean when we say auto-buy authors, and for me, it often means that I will read everything new that the author produces. We each share some of our personal auto-buy authors. Here are a few examples of books I loved so much that I knew when I read them that the author would bec

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Featured Books for April 2021

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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Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie - Historical Fiction that Resonates

Mar 26, 2021
3 min

Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie - Historical Fiction that Resonates

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC of Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, March 30. I jumped on the chance to read an early copy of Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie. I read her first book, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, for the 2016 Tournament of Books, and I thought it was a phenomenal work with a core of historical fiction: it’s thoughtful and thoug

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Featured Books for March 2021

Feb 27, 2021
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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Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere - Backlist Excellence

Feb 26, 2021
3 min

Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere - Backlist Excellence

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Are you looking for some great backlist reading? Well, do I have a suggestion for you. I read Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere a while ago, and thought it was amazing. More recently, I watched the limited series on Hulu. I enjoyed the series, but there is no standing in for Ng's words on the page. First, Ng's masterful writing is truly something to behold. She has the ability to capture a feeling in words that I just haven't found in a l

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Featured Books for February 2021

Jan 30, 2021
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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Five of Ashley's Favorite Reads from 2020 (Part 2)

Jan 25, 2021
7 min

Five of Ashley's Favorite Reads from 2020 (Part 2)

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I was lucky to read so many amazing books this year! Consequently, I had a really hard time with coming up with my list for this post. It's a good problem to have, I suppose, but I'm realizing that it's really tough for me to pick out "winners" for the year when it comes to reading. Like Jen, I tried to pick books that represented the range of the kinds of reading I have done this year, and that is part of what I considered w

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160: Unabridged Podcast Book Awards for 2020

Jan 13, 2021
12 min

160: Unabridged Podcast Book Awards for 2020

In this episode of the Unabridged Podcast, Ashley, Jen, and Sara offer up their book awards for 2020. After sharing their Bookish Check-ins, they each present their award categories and their book picks, which include adult and young adult titles. They end the episode with Non-Bookish Awards. What 2020 books have stood out for you? Bookish Check-in Ashley - Talia Hibbert’s Take a Hint, Dani Brown Jen - Lisa Ko’s The Leavers Sara - Liz Moore’s Long Bright River Our Book Picks

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Featured Books for January 2021

Dec 26, 2020
2 min

Featured Books for January 2021

January Double Feature In January, Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Is Not Okay will be both our Book Club pick AND our Buddy Read choice. You can join us for the episode that releases on Wednesday, January 6, or participate in our two Instagram chats . . . or both! Want to look ahead? Scroll down to see our February picks! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: "Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He'

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Katherena Vermette's THE BREAK - A Multi-Generational Family Saga

Nov 27, 2020
3 min

Katherena Vermette's THE BREAK - A Multi-Generational Family Saga

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Katherena Vermette's The Break, which was the focus of the most recent @readwithtoni buddy read, is a brilliant novel set in Winnipeg and centered on a tragedy at the heart of a Métis family. The novel begins with a family tree, and that was definitely a sign of things to come. The narration alternates between ten characters—mostly women—whose connections aren't immediately clear. As the book unfolds, Vermette reveals gradually the subtle thre

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Featured Books for November 2020

Nov 1, 2020
3 min

Featured Books for November 2020

November Double Feature In November, Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air will be both our Book Club pick AND our Buddy Read choice. You can join us for our leisurely Facebook discussion at the end of the month or for two, more fast-paced Instagram chats . . . or both! Want to look ahead? Scroll down to see our December picks! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: "The story that I thought was my life didn’t start on the day I was born "Amal Shahid has always been

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 27, 2020, featuring Staebler, Paoloni, Maniscalco, and Washington

Oct 27, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 27, 2020, featuring Staebler, Paoloni, Maniscalco, and Washington

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I can't wait to read! Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and illustrator Thibault Balahy's Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band Description from Publisher: "Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of West Coast rock 'n' roll pioneers Redbone. "You've heard the hit

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146: October Book Club - Tommy Orange's THERE THERE

Oct 7, 2020
8 min

146: October Book Club - Tommy Orange's THERE THERE

In this Unabridged Podcast book club discussion, we talk about Tommy Orange's There There. We all discuss this masterpiece, and then we share our pairings, including Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine, Akwaeke Emezi’s The Death of Vivek Oji, and Tanya Talaga’s Seven Fallen Feathers. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians Jen - Julie C. Dao’s Broken Wish (from NetGalley, out October 6) Sara - Lindy West’s Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objecti

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Featured Books for October 2020

Oct 3, 2020
4 min

Featured Books for October 2020

October Books In October we're excited to share an amazing novel, Tommy Orange's There There, our Book Club pick, and Brandy Colbert's YA novel The Voting Booth, our Buddy Read choice. Check out our Book Club discussion on episode 146—it releases on Wednesday, October 7—and let us know if you'd like to join our new Book Club Group on Facebook or our Buddy Read chat on Instagram discussing The Voting Booth! You can DM us @unabridgedpod. Here are synopses from the publishers fo

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! September 29, 2020 featuring Lu, Menez, and Igharo

Sep 29, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! September 29, 2020 featuring Lu, Menez, and Igharo

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Marie Lu's Skyhunter Description from Publisher: "A broken world. "An overwhelming evil. "A team of warriors ready to strike back. "#1 New York Times-bestselling author Marie Lu is back with an adrenaline-laced novel about the lengths one warrior will go to fight for freedom and those she loves. "Talin is a Striker, a member of an elite fighting force that stan

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Susan Abulhawa's AGAINST THE LOVELESS WORLD - Gorgeous, Fast-Paced Literary Fiction

Aug 21, 2020
3 min

Susan Abulhawa's AGAINST THE LOVELESS WORLD - Gorgeous, Fast-Paced Literary Fiction

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. I requested Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World after absolutely loving her novel Mornings in Jenin. This one is, for me, even better. Nahr, the protagonist, is complicated. She’s by turns selfless and selfish. She tells her story from The Cube, a “moder

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Tayari Jones's AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE - A Close Examination of Relationships

Aug 14, 2020
3 min

Tayari Jones's AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE - A Close Examination of Relationships

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) "Marriage is like grafting a limb onto a tree trunk. You have the limb, freshly sliced, dripping sap, and smelling of springtime, and then you have the mother tree stripped of her protective bark, gouged and ready to receive this new addition" (110). Wow, friends, this was a phenomenal book. I was totally captivated by the story. In Tayari Jones's An American Marriage, Celestial and Roy, who live in Atlanta, are still early

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Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 11, 2020, featuring Boyne, Tidhar, and White

Aug 11, 2020
3 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 11, 2020, featuring Boyne, Tidhar, and White

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I am excited to read! John Boyne's A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom: A Novel Description from Publisher: "From the bestselling author of A Ladder to the Sky—'a darkly funny novel that races like a beating heart' (People)—comes a new novel that plays out across all of human history: a story as precise as it is unlimited. "This story starts with a family. For now, it is a father and a

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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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Pub Day Shout-Outs! June 30, 2020, featuring Basu, Clarke, and Moreno-Garcia

Jun 30, 2020
5 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! June 30, 2020, featuring Basu, Clarke, and Moreno-Garcia

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I am excited to read! Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic Description from Publisher: "From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, a story about an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico—and the brave socialite drawn to its treacherous secrets. "He is trying to poison me. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me. After receiving a frantic

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