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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Mar 14
4 min

Books in Unusual Formats for the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) One of our categories for the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge this year is to "Read a Book in an Unusual Genre" (we have since realized that we should have called it an "Unusual Format" . . . live and learn, I guess?). I absolutely love this category. I'm constantly amazed by the inventiveness of authors, by the ways that shifting into a new format can lend an immediacy to a story. Last week, we released an episode with some recommendatio

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Jun 22, 2020
2 min

Adult Nonfiction by Black Authors

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) We at the Unabridged Podcast stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. There are SO many books that we love by Black authors, and we look forward to lifting up those amazing books. We are continuing our celebration by focusing on adult nonfiction by Black authors. There's true variety here. I've included essay collections, memoirs, and multi-genre pieces. Some of these works are explicitly about race in the United States, while others are ab

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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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Feb 28, 2020
6 min

Tournament of Books - Days 3 and 4 - Jen's Take

All right, I (Jen) am back with the next two match-ups in the 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.) Today, I have, for me, the first TRULY difficult decision of the Tournament. Day 3 (March 11) - Lost Children Archive v. Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive - Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive in some ways defies description. On one level, i

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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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Dec 13, 2019
1 min

Matthew Dicks's TWENTY-ONE TRUTHS ABOUT LOVE -- Jen's Review

Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Matthew Dicks’s Twenty-one Truths about Love in exchange for an honest review. The book released Tuesday, November 19. Dan’s life is out of control. His wife, Jill, yearns to be have their first child. Dan is not so sure. He quit his job as a teacher to open a bookshop . . . which is failing. He has no relationship with the father who left him when he was a child, and he’s overshadowed by his brother, Jake Jr. He has no frien

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Sep 25, 2019
1 min

92: All about the Journey - Bump It Up on the List

For this short episode of Unabridged, we thought about journeys. Nearly every book contains some sort of journey--emotional, moral, time--but we wanted to focus on the physical journeys that often lie at the heart of novels to symbolize or catalyze something else. Our TBR lists explode (or shuffle, at the very least) as we each recommend two books with journeys at their centers. Listen to Jen remember our website's url, Sara get past not really loving journey novels all that

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Dec 5, 2018
1 min

50: Gretchen Anthony's EVERGREEN TIDINGS FROM THE BAUMGARTNERS - These Random People at Dinner

"This is me. This is my family. This is love." ~Gretchen Anthony Spoilers are inevitable throughout our discussion, so consider whether or not to listen if you haven't yet read the book, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners! Timeline Introduction and Summary of the Book: 0:00 - 01:13 Main Discussion: 01:13 - 33:43 Book Pairings: 33:53 - 43:15 Classroom Connections: 43:15 - 45:38 Book Pairings Jen - Helen Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road Ashley - Jenny Han's To All the Boy

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Nov 21, 2018
1 min

48: Graphic Novels and Comic Collections - Stay the Course and Go for It

It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.” ― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis Works Mentioned in Episode Jen - March Trilogy by John Lewis with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson Runaways by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 by Joss Whedon (Author), Georges Jeanty (Illustrator), Andy Owens (Illustrator), Jo Chen (Illustrator) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang T

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