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 2022 reading challenge, join our buddy reads on Instagram, or sign up on Patreon!

Learn More

Support Unabridged

Oct 12
4 min

239: Interview with Barrett Holmes Pitner, Author of THE CRIME WITHOUT A NAME

In this episode, Ashley talks with Barrett Holmes Pitner, author of The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Pitner shares some thoughts and perspectives on what ethnocide looks like in American history, where we are culturally today, and what we can do to look toward a more fulfilling future tomorrow. In addition to being an author and journalist, Barrett is founder of The Sustainable Culture Lab. You can connect wi

15 views0 comments

Sep 21
4 min

5 Nonfiction Books about Nature and the Environment

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) This year's Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge includes the category "Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) that addresses nature or the environment." This has been a goal of mine recently, as well, both because of my current teaching position at a school with an environmental science focus and because this is an area that feels increasingly important. Here, I'm sharing five nonfiction picks (plus some extras in the writeups!); I'll share some

15 views0 comments

Aug 17
3 min

5 Nonfiction Audiobooks Perfect for the Unabridged Reading Challenge

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) While I'll listen to almost anything on audio, I often find that nonfiction is my favorite . . . and, since I sometimes veer more towards fiction when I'm reading print, it's a great way to fit in more nonfiction. Over the summer, I listened to some amazing audiobooks that I thought I'd share—if you're working on the Unabridged Reading Challenge, these offer some fantastic options! Eliot Schrefer's Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural

11 views0 comments

May 6
3 min

Kathryn Miles's TRAILED - A Compelling Blend of Memoir and True Crime

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Kathryn Miles's Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Thanks to partners NetGalley, Libro.fm, and Algonquin Books for the ARC of Kathryn Miles’s Trailed in exchange for an honest review. The book is available for purchase! My interest in Kathryn Miles’s Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders was piqued for two reasons. First, I lived very close to the setting since 1994—in 1996

17 views0 comments

Apr 20
4 min

226: True Crime Recs to Dive Into This Year

Are you a true crime fan? Lucky for you, we have a wide range of opinions on this genre, so our recommendations include picks that would work for any reader depending on your interest and preferences. Our picks include Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff’s Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, and John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Mi

13 views0 comments

Apr 18
6 min

5 Backlist Beach Reads on My TBR for This Summer

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Summer is upon us!! I don't know about you, but I feel like I need summer more than ever this year. What about you? My family is taking vacation early in the summer, and I am already thinking about the stack of books I am going to pack to take with me. I always take WAY too many, but you know, that's how I roll. You are never going to find me without book options. This year, I want to focus my attention on some backlist titles written by wom

11 views0 comments

Apr 4
4 min

5 Memoirs I'd Recommend for Your TBR

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Last week, we released our Unabridged Podcast Book Club episode featuring Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a fabulous memoir in which Lawson shares the extreme highs and lows of her life. In honor of that episode, I wanted to share a few other memoirs I've read and enjoyed recently. Jenny Lawson's Broken (in the Best Possible Way) (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) I loved this one, too—it's

13 views0 comments

Mar 29
4 min

New Book Releases Featuring Kosoko Jackson, Dylan Marron, and Jesse Q. Sutano

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Jesse Q. Sutano's Four Aunties and a Wedding (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe—even the mafia—in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties. "Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now

6 views0 comments

Mar 28
6 min

Five Food Books On My Radar

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Okay. Let's get real. At the moment, all I want to read is food-centered books. I have read several lately, and all I want to do is read more. Are they my comfort reads? Maybe. Am I sorry about that? Absolutely not. So, here are six books I cannot wait to read--they are on my immediate TBR. Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) Description from publisher: "When Molly Wizenberg's father died of cancer, everyone told her

15 views0 comments

Mar 25
4 min

Book Review of Stanley Tucci's TASTE: MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Stanley Tucci's Taste: My Life Through Food (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) If you listen to the pod, you know I adore food books–cookbooks, food fiction, food memoirs. You name the food book, and I’ll put it on my TBR list immediately. When I heard Stanley Tucci wrote a memoir, I was very interested. I think he is an incredible character actor, and just a true delight. When I heard his memoir was food-centered, I pushed all my chips in. I couldn

8 views0 comments

Feb 15
4 min

New Book Releases Featuring Cohoe, Lindemann, and Nazemian

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Samantha Cohoe's Bright Ruined Things (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Description from Publisher: "Forbidden magic, a family secret, and a night to reveal it all… "The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the island’s magic and its spirits. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper fa

10 views0 comments

Jan 28
3 min

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang

by Sara Voigt An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Wow! Talk about non-fiction that makes you think AND makes you want to immediately delete all social media accounts and crawl under the covers and never come out--welp, that is what An Ugly Truth did for me. Kang and Frenkel's examination of Facebook's ethical practices concerning their users and their dissemination of information to their users is

8 views0 comments

Jan 24
6 min

Five New Releases to Pre-order for 2022

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) My reading life has been up and down so far this year. However, that doesn't mean that I am not SUPER excited for several books coming out in the first half of 2022. Here are 5 books that I am ecstatic to read this (1st half of the) year: Jordan Calhoun's Piccolo Is Black: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Pop Culture (Amazon.com | Bookshop.org) Release Date: April 26, 2022 I cannot wait to read this book from Calhoun. I was fortunate enough t

23 views0 comments

Jan 17
6 min

Five of Ashley's Favorite Reads of 2021 (Part 2)

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Oh, friends, this is such a hard decision! A lot of my reading was less than fully focused during the second half of 2021 as I spent it on the go and building up a business... so while I read a lot of books I really enjoyed, I also read differently than I have in many other years. I shared more about that on our Unabridged Awards for 2021 episode that recently came out. But these five were all five-star reads for me, and I lo

23 views0 comments

Jan 10
10 min

Five of Jen's Favorite Reads of 2021 (Part 2)

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Oh, friends. We've come to that post that causes me so much joy and so much agony: a list of favorites. My problem is assembling books for a list. Oh no. My problem is narrowing that list because, really, I could go on forever. I'm quoting myself here, from last year's list of five (so far): "So, here's my methodology. I looked back at my monthly wrap-up posts in IG, and I ONLY allowed myself to jot down the titles of my five-star reads." Then

17 views0 comments

Jan 3
6 min

Five of Sara's Favorite Reads of 2021 (Part 2)

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Hello, friends! I can't believe we are here at the end of 2021. My first half of the year was definitely more robust than my last half in terms of reading, but I have been fortunate to read several books in the back half that I have really enjoyed. All of us here at Unabridged have different criteria for these posts. For me, I just look at my last half of the year and pick five of the books that stuck with me. You can find my favorites for t

8 views0 comments

Nov 26, 2021
3 min

Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading - A Perfect Book to Gift the Bookworm in Your Life

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) When I was thinking about what to review for Black Friday, I thought a book that I think makes an excellent gift would be perfect. That is why I chose to review I'd Rather Be Reading (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) by Anne Bogel. Do you know Anne Bogel?! If not, let me acquaint you. Anne Bogel is an author (Her previous book, Reading People, is great! And she also recently released a reading journal for book lovers.), a blogger--her Modern Mrs. D

6 views0 comments

Oct 25, 2021
4 min

Recent Nonfiction Favorites to Add to Your TBR

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Our episode from last Wednesday (which was episode 200!!!!) was all about memoirs, which got me to thinking about other nonfiction books I've read and loved recently. These include memoirs, essay collections, and one graphic travel diary. Although I read WAY more fiction than nonfiction, I find that a lot of the nonfiction that I read has a deep impact on me, and I enjoyed thinking about some recent nonfiction favorites! The

12 views0 comments

Oct 20, 2021
7 min

200: Our 2021 Memoir Recommendations

We always love sharing our latest memoir recommendations with you all! In this episode, Sara, Jen, and Ashley each pick a memoir that we have read or listened to recently that we loved and want to recommend! Today, our memoir recs include Jenny Lawson’s Broken (In the Best Possible Way), Ashley C. Ford’s Somebody’s Daughter, and Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart. This is a topic we love to revisit because there are always new amazing memoirs coming out to discuss; don't miss

5 views0 comments

Oct 11, 2021
3 min

5 Books to Help With Life

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Today's Bookish Fave is all about finding books to help with life. I have chosen five books that I have truly found to be SO helpful in my life. In 2021, I have tried to prioritize finding ways to educate myself to make my life easier and/or more productive. These books have helped me in this journey. Holly Whitaker's Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol (Amazon | Bookshop.org) I read this boo

Unabridged Podcast

Scroll to the bottom to listen to our latest episodes!

Find us on your favorite podcast catcher or subscribe below!