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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Mar 1
5 min

9 Middle Grade March Book Recommendations

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) We know many of you are excited about celebrating Middle Grade March by reading lots of middle grade book picks! While I'm not a middle grade expert by any means, I've read quite a few middle grade picks over the last few years, and I'm excited to share some recent favorites with you all. Middle Grade Book Recs Perfect for Middle Grade March Reading Jerry Craft's New Kid ( Libro.fm | Bookshop.org): Despite hearing so many gre

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Oct 5, 2022
5 min

7 Deliciously Witchy, Supernatural, and Magical Books Perfect for This Spooky Season

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Longtime listeners know that these days, I'm not usually big on spooky reads or horror books. However, I do love atmospheric reads, and I (perhaps contradictorily!) am a big fan of seasonal reads for the fall. The books I included here, all of which are middle grade or YA lit, are perfect for readers who enjoy a great seasonal book but who aren't looking for the kind of story that gives you nightmares. If you're looking for m

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Aug 10, 2022
2 min

235: Great Middle Grade Recs for 2022

In this episode of the Unabridged Podcast, Ashley and Jen share some middle grade recs by authors of color perfect for anyone working on the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. Kacen Callendar's King and the Dragonflies and Varsha Bajaj’s Count Me In would both be fantastic additions to your TBR. We round out our book discussion with our Bookish Check-in and share some favorite pet stories. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Maureen Johnson’s The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4)

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Aug 3, 2022
3 min

Graphic Novel Recs for Young Readers

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Hi! It's been quite a while since I shared some thoughts and recommendations on a Bookish Fave. It's been a crazy year for me personally and for my family, but I'm hopeful that the fall of this year will bring calmer times. One genre I've really enjoyed discovering and reading over the past few months is graphic novels. The ones I'm recommending in today's Bookish Fave are all appropriate for young audiences - I've read these

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Apr 19, 2022
4 min

New Book Releases Featuring James Bird, Sajni Patel, and Sascha Rothchild

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Sascha Rothchild's Blood Sugar (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Description from Publisher: “'I could just kill you right now!' It’s something we’ve all thought at one time or another. But Ruby has actually acted on it. Three times, to be exact. "Though she may be a murderer, Ruby is not a sociopath. She is an animal-loving therapist with a thriving practice. She’s felt empathy and sy

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Feb 28, 2022
4 min

3 Books that Solidified My Love of Reading As a Youngster

By Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) When I think about what was transformative in my experience as a reader, I think about three specific books. Some readers I talk to cannot remember ever not being a reader--he/she/they walked into kindergarten ready and eager to read. This was not me. I don't really remember reading voraciously until the fourth grade. My wonderful fourth grade teacher, Ms. Newland, handed each child in my class a wrapped gift the day we left for winter break

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Feb 14, 2022
6 min

5 Books I Wanted to Hug When I Finished Reading

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Today is Valentine's Day. Instead of making a list of romance books, I thought I would do something a little different. You know that feeling you get after reading a book that is just so satisfying that you want to hug it at the end? (Maybe it's just me, but you get my point...) Well, today, my list is going to be five of those books for me. These books aren't necessarily romance books, but they are books that hit the spot and were everythin

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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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Dec 3, 2021
3 min

ONCE UPON AN EID - A Beautiful and Sweeping Collection Celebrating the Joy of Eid

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) I absolutely loved this beautiful collection of short stories, Once Upon an Eid (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org), edited by S. K. Ali (author of Saints and Misfits) and Aisha Saeed (author of Amal Unbound, a podcast favorite!). I listened to this one on audio, and the narration was outstanding! This collection is a gorgeous middle-grade work, and it conveys a wide array of different experiences, all of which center on Muslims celeb

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Oct 12, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 12, 2021 featuring Andreen, Chambers, and Ursu

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Anne Ursu's The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "If no one notices Marya Lupu, is likely because of her brother, Luka. And that’s because of what everyone knows: that Luka is destined to become a sorcerer. "The Lupus might be from a small village far from the capital city of Illyria, but that doesn’t matter. Every young boy

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Oct 8, 2021
3 min

Jasmine Warga's OTHER WORDS FOR HOME - A Beautiful Portrayal of Coming from Syria to America

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Friends, I absolutely LOVED this brilliant middle-grade novel in verse. I had seen recommendations from several bookish friends (including multiple Unabridged Ambassadors!) who read this and had great things to say about it, and I was eager to try it out. (Also, I seem to be on a middle-grade kick here! I haven't really read that many middle-grade books this year, b

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Sep 21, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 21, 2021, featuring Oshiro, Gorman and Long, and Sayman

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Mark Oshiro's The Insiders (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Three kids who don’t belong. A room that shouldn’t exist. A year that will change everything. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead and Meg Medina, this debut middle grade novel from award-winning author Mark Oshiro is a hopeful and heartfelt coming-of-age story for anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’

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Sep 20, 2021
3 min

5 Versatile Authors to Check Out Now

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) On Wednesday, we'll be sharing authors who write either for multiple age groups, genres, or both. We discussed several of our favorite authors on the episode. Here are some other authors who we love who write broadly! Jason Reynolds: It is no secret that here at the podcast, we adore Jason Reynolds. He has a myriad of books written for both upper elementary/middle grade readers and young adult readers. Some of our favorites include The Track

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Sep 17, 2021
3 min

B.B. Alston's AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS - A Thrilling, Magical Middle Grade Read

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) B. B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers I absolutely loved this brilliant book, B. B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers (Amazon | Bookshop.org), so much! It was fast-paced and compelling with excellent world building and an outstanding protagonist. I loved Amari right from the start, and I found her motivation, her desire to find her older brother Quinton who had disappeared, to be powerful and authentic. When the boo

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Sep 15, 2021
13 min

195: Unexpected Joy - Books that Surprised Us in Excellent Ways

In this Unabridged episode, Jen, Sara, and Ashley share book recommendations for book picks that surprised us and brought unexpected joy. Our recommendations, including Rebecca Stead’s The List of Things that Will Not Change (Amazon | Bookshop.org), Patrik Svensson’s The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World (Amazon | Bookshop.org), and Tiffany Haddish’s The Last Black Unicorn (Amazon | Bookshop.org), are very different

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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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Sep 7, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 7, 2021, featuring Morrow, Rooney, and Streep

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Today is such an epic book release day that I'm afraid I can't limit myself to highlighting only three books. So, be sure to scroll to the end to check out the books I can't help shouting out. Bethany C. Morrow's So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in So Many Beginnings, a warm and powerful YA remix of the classic novel

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Aug 31, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 31st, 2021, featuring Halle, Levithan and Niven, and Stone

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! David Levithan and Jennifer Niven's Take Me With You When You Go (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Subject: You. Missing. "Ezra Ahern wakes up one day to find his older sister, Bea, gone. No note, no sign, nothing but an email address hidden somewhere only he would find it. Ezra never expected to be left behind with their abusive stepfather and their neglectfu

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Aug 23, 2021
4 min

All about Culture: 6 YA Lit Books that Bridge the Generation Gap

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) This Wednesday, we share our thoughts about our August Book Club pick, Balli Kaur Jaswal's Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. (You can join our discussion on Instagram on August 30th if you'd like to talk about that one! Just DM us or email us!) That book had so many amazing threads woven together, but one of them that really resonated with me was the way that generational and cultural differences can be overcome. One of the

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Aug 18, 2021
17 min

191: Expand Your Reading with Our Latest Graphic Novel Recs

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we talk all things graphic! We share a graphic novel, a graphic memoir, and a graphic nonfiction pick, all of which would work well for the Unabridged Reading Challenge 2021. Listen in to hear what we have to say about our picks including Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?, Gene Luen Yang’s Dragon Hoops, and Jerry Craft’s Class Act. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Rebecca Stead’s The List of Things that Will Not Change (Amaz

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