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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Feb 3
3 min

Benjamin Alire Sáenz's ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE: A Must-Read Book

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Oh my goodness, this must be a season of both re-reads and reading series books for me, and I'm loving both reading experiences. I re-read this one, Benjamin Alire Sáenz's Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), for our January Unabridged Buddy Read, and I fell in love with this brilliant, powerful, moving book all over again. In fact, I loved it even more the second time. We had a

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Jan 6
3 min

Carlos Hernandez's SAL AND GABI BREAK THE UNIVERSE - A Magician with a Special Trick

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) When I was scanning the TBR tag I've made on my Libby app (another feature I plan to use more actively this year as I work on being more strategic about my upcoming book selection - see more about that here...), I came across Carlos Hernandez's Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), which is a middle grade book in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. I remember Sara talking about this one way back in episode

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Dec 9, 2022
2 min

Zoraida Córdova's THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUÍDEA DIVINA - The Power of Family Magic

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I listened to Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) thanks to Libro.fm's ALC program, and I was so captivated by the story. This was the first book I'd read by Zoraida Córdova, but it will not be my last! Richly woven with a complicated mystery at its center, this is a beautiful story that unfurls over decades and generations all tied together by fate and choices made early on in the l

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Sep 10, 2021
2 min

Zoraida Córdova's THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUÍDEA DIVINA — A Magical Book Anchored in Reality

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to partners NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC of Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Amazon | Bookshop.org) in exchange for an honest review. The book is now available for purchase! Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina begins with a letter. Orquídea Montoya is dying, so she calls her relatives to her home in Four Rivers to claim their inheritance. She’s lost touch with most of them, having d

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May 3, 2021
4 min

8 Retellings of Greek Epic Poetry

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) One of the categories I've been loving for the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge is "Retelling of a Classic." Though I'm no expert on Greek epic poetry, I enjoy retellings of it SO. MUCH. Here are some I'd recommend: 1. Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles - Here's my review from 2019: "I love this book SO. MUCH. Miller crafts a brilliant story rooted in mythology and in the gritty reality of love. Her interpretation of the story of Achil

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Jan 18, 2021
8 min

Five of Jen's Favorite Reads of 2020 (Part 2)

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Oh, friends, making book choices never gets easier for me. I had shared so many excellent books in my 2020 mid-year post AND on our 2020 Unabridged Awards Episode that I thought I would have narrowed the list from which to choose. Wow, was I wrong! (Be sure to check our mid-year posts: here's mine, Ashley's, and Sara's.) I read 345 books in 2020, and of those, 28 earned five stars from me, and 92 earned four-and-a-half stars. So, even with the

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Dec 18, 2020
4 min

Sofía Segovia's THE MURMUR OF BEES - A Beautiful, Whimsical Story about the Power of Love

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Wow. This one will definitely be one of my top reads of the year. I chose this, Sofia Segovia's The Murmur of Bees, as my book in translation pick for the Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge, which is the reading challenge I participated in this past year. Segovia is a Mexican author writing in Spanish, and her work was translated by Simon Bruni. (Check out our reading challenge episodes from the beginning of 2020 where we shared our

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Nov 23, 2020
5 min

9 Books Considering Culture: Coming of Age as Children of Immigrants

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) In this bookish fave, I wanted to share some of my favorite middle grade and young adult lit recommendations that comment on the experience of children of immigrants. While each story is unique and their life experiences are all quite different, these books have common threads, such as an examination of the different facets that create identity and an exploration of the periodic tension between the parents' native culture and

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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 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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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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Mar 4, 2020
1 min

115: Kevin Wilson's NOTHING TO SEE HERE - Learning by Fire

For our March Unabridged Book Club discussion, we're focusing on Kevin Wilson's excellent Nothing to See Here (which was also a Book of the Month pick!). Listen to catch up with what we're reading now and to hear why we chose to pair books like Ninth House, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and Young Jane Young with Wilson's novel. Finally, we're thinking about movies from our childhood in our Give Me One segment. Timeline Bookish Check In: 00:00 - 05:40 Book Club Discussion: 05:4

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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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Aug 21, 2019
1 min

87: Get to Know the Hosts - A Great Story of Friendship

There's a little bit about books and a whole lot about us in this Unabridged Short episode. Learn what books we loved to teach, what scares us, and what we do outside of reading. (This is more of a stretch for some of us than others!) Feel free to share other questions for us on social media! And let us know: what's the scariest thing YOU've ever done for fun? what are your hobbies (outside of books)? what's your favorite podcast or social media follow . . . that's not book r

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