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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Nov 1, 2020
3 min

Featured Books for November 2020

November Double Feature In November, Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air will be both our Book Club pick AND our Buddy Read choice. You can join us for our leisurely Facebook discussion at the end of the month or for two, more fast-paced Instagram chats . . . or both! Want to look ahead? Scroll down to see our December picks! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: "The story that I thought was my life didn’t start on the day I was born "Amal Shahid has always been

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Oct 30, 2020
3 min

Claudia Rankine's JUST US: AN AMERICAN CONVERSATION - A Book I'll Re-Read

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Claudia Rankine’s Just Us: An American Conversation in exchange for an honest review. The book is available for purchase. I will need to read Claudia Rankine’s Just Us again. I think it is brilliant and important and thoughtful, but I know that there’s more to absorb, more to contemplate. I read it too quickly this time, wrestled with the format of the e-book (I’m definitely going to buy it i

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Oct 27, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 27, 2020, featuring Staebler, Paoloni, Maniscalco, and Washington

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I can't wait to read! Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and illustrator Thibault Balahy's Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band Description from Publisher: "Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of West Coast rock 'n' roll pioneers Redbone. "You've heard the hit

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Oct 20, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 20, 2020, featuring Kakutani, West, and Pan and Suma

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Michiko Kakutani's Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread Description from Publisher: "In the introduction to her new collection of essays, Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread, Michiko Kakutani writes: 'In a world riven by political and social divisions, literature can connect people across time zones and zip codes, across cultures and religions, national boundaries and h

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Oct 13, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 13, 2020 featuring Harrow, Favilli, and Roanhorse

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Alix Harrow's The Once and Future Witches Description from Publisher: "In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in a Hugo award-winning author's powerful novel of magic amid the suffragette movement. "In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witchi

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Oct 3, 2020
4 min

Featured Books for October 2020

October Books In October we're excited to share an amazing novel, Tommy Orange's There There, our Book Club pick, and Brandy Colbert's YA novel The Voting Booth, our Buddy Read choice. Check out our Book Club discussion on episode 146—it releases on Wednesday, October 7—and let us know if you'd like to join our new Book Club Group on Facebook or our Buddy Read chat on Instagram discussing The Voting Booth! You can DM us @unabridgedpod. Here are synopses from the publishers fo

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Sep 25, 2020
3 min

Lindy West's SH*T, ACTUALLY: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Omg. This book came at THE most perfect time for me. Both Jen and Ashley have talked about Lindy West's work on the podcast and in our bookish off-mic conversations, but I have never read one of her books. Shit, Actually, has made me a forever fan. First, Lindy West is not afraid to tell it like it is. She doesn't care if she offends you (or me) or if you don't agree with her. And I. Am. Here. For. It. In Shit, Actually, West delves into so

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Sep 21, 2020
3 min

5 Things that Are Helping Me Cope Right Now

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Okay. I am here for some real talk. No, I mean it. Like, Real. Talk. If you aren't here for it, that is totally fine. Maybe skip this post. But, (I warned you.) here is some real talk from a mom, podcaster, teacher, wife, etc., etc., etc. And, spoiler alert, not all of this is bookish. Things are tough. Some days (most days?) I want to crawl into a corner and cry and sleep until 2020 is over. (Seriously, is that an option?) But, I have two k

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Sep 14, 2020
2 min

Revisiting My Favorite Teaching Books

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) After four years of working in instructional technology, I'm teaching English again, and so I'm beginning to revisit some of my favorite books about teaching (and, specifically, teaching English, reading, and writing). For those of you who are teachers—or parents or other adults helping children outside of school—here are some books to check out. Another thing to check out? Our new Teaching Tidbits episodes! We launched this new series last we

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Sep 10, 2020
4 min

Featured Books for September 2020

September Books In September, we're excited to share an amazing memoir, Chanel Miller's Know My Name, our Book Club pick, and Elizabeth Acevedo's YA novel in verse The Poet X, our Buddy Read choice. Check out our Book Club discussion, episode 141, and let us know if you'd like to join the Buddy Read chat on Instagram discussing The Poet X! You can DM us @unabridgedpod. Here are synopses from the publishers for these two books. Scroll down to see our October picks! Know My Nam

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Sep 7, 2020
6 min

5 Books to Inspire Girls (and Boys!)

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) As a mother to a daughter, I am really interested in finding books that promote strong females. Luckily, there are more and more books being published to meet just this need. Here are some of my (and my daughter's!) favorites: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli From the publisher: "The New York Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a children's book p

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Sep 2, 2020
11 min

141: Chanel Miller's KNOW MY NAME - September Book Club

In this Unabridged Book Club episode, we discuss Chanel Miller's memoir, Know My Name. We discuss the powerful impact of Chanel Miller's words and the way that she is changing the world through sharing her story. In our book pairings, we talk about Laurie Halse Anderson's SHOUT, Jon Krakauer’s Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, and Jason Reynolds’s and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material Jen - Nat

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Aug 25, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for August 25, 2020, featuring Khorram, Lozada and Lörincz, and Taussig

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Before I share three books coming out today that I'm excited to read, I wanted to highlight two that I've already read. You can read my reviews of Kristina Forest's Now that I've Found You and Daisy Johnson's Sisters at jenlovesbooks.com. Now, on to three brand-new books I haven't read yet! Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Deserves Better Description from Publisher: "In this companion to the award-winning Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius su

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Aug 19, 2020
28 min

139: Great Book Recommendations - Our Season 4 Recs for Each Other

In today's episode of the Unabridged Podcast, we each do our best to recommend a book that our friends and co-hosts will love. Be sure to listen to our Bookish Check-in and our Give Me One, where we pick a favorite karaoke song. We'd love to know what books you'd recommend for each of us! Bookish Check-in Ashley - Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again Jen - Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic (@bookishladiesclub buddy read) Sara - Lori Gottlieb’s Maybe You Should Talk to

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Aug 18, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! August 18, 2020, featuring Kisner, Hamby, and Dunn

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I am excited to read! Adrienne Kisner's Six Angry Girls Description from Publisher: "Raina Petree is crushing her senior year, until her boyfriend dumps her, the drama club (basically) dumps her, the college of her dreams slips away, and her arch-nemesis triumphs. "Things aren’t much better for Millie Goodwin. Her father treats her like a servant, and the all-boy Mock Trial team votes her out, even

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Aug 12, 2020
33 min

138: Dive into Nonfiction Reads

In this Unabridged podcast episode, we talk all things nonfiction, and we each make recommendations for nonfiction reads to dive into that we've loved. We talk about Kirkland Hamill's Filthy Beasts, Kiese Layman's Heavy, Knox McCoy's All Things Reconsidered, and Phuc Tran’s Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In. As always, we find ways to talk about more books, too, and have lots of fun during our discussion. If you're interested in

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Aug 10, 2020
4 min

Grit in Kid Lit -- Picture Books that Encourage Resilience

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) As we find our way through this challenging time in our world, I've been thinking a lot about how books can help us and our kids as we navigate hard times. In this compilation, I share a few favorite authors, including Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Peter H. Reynolds, but I also pull in some authors who are new to me, including Troy Cummings and Ashley Franklin. I also include picture books by Chelsea Clinton, Juan

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Aug 7, 2020
3 min

R. Eric Thomas's HERE FOR IT - Hilarity Ensues

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) I picked up R. Eric Thomas's new book, Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, Essays (on both audio and e-book) after hearing rave reviews about it. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I am not an easy customer when it comes to essay collections. Often, I find it hard to stay engaged in essay collections, and more often than not, an essay collection takes me a LONG time to finish. This is not the case with Here for It. I

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Aug 5, 2020
41 min

137: Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi’s STAMPED: RACISM, ANTIRACISM, AND YOU - August 2020 Book Club

In this Unabridged Book Club discussion, we talk about Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. This amazing book is a remix for young people of Kendi’s original Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, and we all felt that it was a phenomenal read and is such a great fit for the classroom. Bookish Check-In Ashley - Tiffany D. Jackson’s Monday’s Not Coming Jen - Robert Kolker’s Hidden Valley Road: Inside t

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Jul 30, 2020
6 min

Featured Books for August 2020

August Books In August, we're excited to share two books featuring the work of Jason Reynolds: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, written with Ibram X. Kendi, our Book Club pick, and All American Boys, written with Brendan Kiely, our Buddy Read choice. If you'd like to hear more about Reynolds' work, check out the re-release of this episode where we discuss three of his books. Let us know if you'd like to join the Buddy Read chat on Instagram discussing All American Boys!

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