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.

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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

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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 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 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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Aug 13, 2021
3 min

Ruth Wariner's THE SOUND OF GRAVEL - Page-Turning Nonfiction

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) If you listen to the pod, you know I love a good memoir. We have talked about Ruth Wariner's The Sound of Gravel (Amazon | Bookshop.org) several times on the show, and I thought I would share my complete review of this fantastic memoir. In fact, I would say that this book is the book that lit the fire for my love of memoirs and my compulsion to read as many as I can get my hands on. Written by Ruth Wariner (known predominantly as Ruthie in

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Aug 9, 2021
3 min

My Reading Challenge Made Me Do It

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) I am so excited to talk about some of my favorite reads from my Beyond the Bookends Reading Challenge, the challenge I picked in addition to our Unabridged Reading Challenge. The thing I love about reading challenges is that they challenge (imagine that!) me to read outside of my comfort zone. My 2021 reading has gone SO much better than my 2020 reading. Here are some of my favorites from my reading challenge so far. Holly Whitaker's Quit Li

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Jul 30, 2021
4 min

John Green's THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED - A Rating of a Book of Ratings

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I knew before I started reading that I would be giving John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet (Amazon | Bookshop.org) five stars. How did I know? I've been a long-time John Green fan. I started with The Fault in Our Stars (Amazon | Bookshop.org), in 2012, as the book was becoming a sensation. I picked up the novel, not suspecting the effect it would have on me, and didn't put it down until I finished it, ugly

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Jul 27, 2021
5 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for July 27, 2021, featuring Chiaverini, Craig, and Widder

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Jennifer Chiaverini's The Women’s March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini returns with The Women’s March, an enthralling historical novel of the woman’s suffrage movement inspired by three courageous women who bravely risked their lives and liberty in the fight t

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Jul 26, 2021
6 min

Some of Sara's Favorite Reads of 2021 (so far)

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) My reading has been going much better in 2021 than in 2020. I have read quite a few books (for me) in this first part of the year, and I have read some that I truly adored. If you look back at my post from last year at this same time, my reading was not going well. At all. I love sharing the books I love, so I wanted to highlight these five books that have been some of my favorites of the year (so far). These aren't necessarily books that we

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Jul 20, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for July 20, 2021, featuring Glatt, Downing, and Water

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! John Glatt's Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite Description from Publisher: "New York Times bestselling author John Glatt tells the true story of Thomas Gilbert Jr., the handsome and charming New York socialite accused of murdering his father, a Manhattan millionaire and hedge fund founder. "By all accounts, Thomas Gilbert Jr. led a charmed life. The son of a wealthy

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Jul 19, 2021
7 min

Some of Jen's Favorite Reads of 2021 (so far)

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) As usual when I set out to create a concise list of something, I struggled with this task, with creating a list of five favorite books that I've read so far in 2021. I've read a LOT of amazing books this year, and I want to tell you about them ALL. But, fear not, I've restrained myself, and I've come up with a list. I won't say that it's the definitive list because there's a great chance that tomorrow, I'll have regrets and wish I'd chosen one

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Jul 13, 2021
5 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for July 13th featuring Guillory, Nolan, and Ge

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Jasmine Guillory's While We Were Dating (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Two people realize that it’s no longer an act when they veer off-script in this sizzling romantic comedy by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory. "Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, fam

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Jun 28, 2021
3 min

Favorite Reads from Sara's 2021 Reading Challenge Picks So Far

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) On last week's episode, we all share mid-year updates on our reading challenges for 2021. Ashley shared some of her reading challenge favorites in her Bookish Fave last week, so I thought I would follow up with mine! My reading challenges are going SO much better than my 2020 challenges, which if you remember were abysmal. So, I am elated to share with you some of the books that I have loved from my Unabridged 2021 Reading Challenge (which y

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Jun 15, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for June 15, 2021, featuring Diamond, Michaelides, and the Nanuas

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) There are SO many good books coming out today, but here are just three books that I'm excited to discuss! Cheryl Diamond's Nowhere Girl: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "By the age of nine, I will have lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities. I’ll know how a document is forged, how to withstand an interrogation, and most important, how to disapp

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Apr 6, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for April 6, 2021 featuring Bowman, French, and Kemp

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Erin French's Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story Remaking a Life from Scratch Description from Publisher: "Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner an

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Apr 5, 2021
7 min

6 Nonfiction Reads by Strong Women

By Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) If you have been listening to the podcast, you know that I am have been reading a lot of non-fiction this year, with a focus on reading strong female voices. Today's Bookish Fave is a list of several strong female voices in nonfiction. What I love about these women is that they speak their mind unapologetically. While I don't always agree with everything they say, I respect and appreciate what they are bringing to the table. I am finding the

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Mar 31, 2021
12 min

171: Update on Our Season 4 Book Recs to Each Other

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we circle back to the books we recommended to each other in episode 139. Each of us got a recommendation from each of our co-hosts, and we read those books and are reporting back about how we felt about them! Be sure to check out episode 139 if you'd like to hear more about why the books were recommended. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything (Bookshop.org | Amazon.com) Jen

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