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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Sep 28, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 28, 2021, featuring Aoki, Gray, and Hanson

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki's Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts. "Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the

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Sep 27, 2021
4 min

10 Books by Indigenous Authors

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) This Wednesday, we'll release our Book Club episode focusing on Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe (Amazon | Bookshop.org). This amazing YA novel focuses on Elatsoe, a member of the Lipan Apache tribe, and blends fantastic world building with a compelling mystery, along with some great paranormal touches. Reading Elatsoe made me reflect on my reading year and some other amazing books I've read. (Be sure to read through the end for some additional

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Sep 24, 2021
3 min

Danielle Walker's Food Saved Me - An Inspiring and Insightful Memoir

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Danielle Walker's Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding Health and Hope through the Power of Food (Amazon | Bookshop.org) I have talked about how much I enjoy reading about food and also learning about food sources and how what we eat affects our bodies and health. I have been following Danielle Walker for many years and have all of her cookbooks. So, I was so excited to read her recently released memoir, Food Saved Me: My Journey of Finding

Unabridged Podcast

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

226: True Crime Recs to Dive Into This Year

5 Backlist Beach Reads on My TBR for This Summer

5 Memoirs I'd Recommend for Your TBR

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

Five Food Books On My Radar

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

New Book Releases Featuring Cohoe, Lindemann, and Nazemian

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

Five New Releases to Pre-order for 2022

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

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

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

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

Recent Nonfiction Favorites to Add to Your TBR

200: Our 2021 Memoir Recommendations

5 Books to Help With Life

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for September 28, 2021, featuring Aoki, Gray, and Hanson

10 Books by Indigenous Authors

Danielle Walker's Food Saved Me - An Inspiring and Insightful Memoir

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