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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Apr 8, 2020
24 min

120: Find Your Way Back to Reading with Comfort Reads

In this episode, we talk about what kinds of reads are bringing us comfort during these challenging times. Sara shares her love of cookbooks like Michelle Smith’s The Whole Smiths Good Food Cookbook, Ashley shares her love of poetry including the grief anthology Kevin Young’s The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing, and Jen shares some great fantasy reads that she's loving including Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood. We'd love to know what you're reading that is

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Apr 7, 2020
3 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! April 7, 2020 - Alvarez, Carr, War

I (Jen) had a really hard time narrowing my choices today to just three--so if you scroll down, you'll find that I cheated and recommend a few extras (sorrynotsorry). Julia Alvarez's Afterlife Description from Algonquin Books: "Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted b

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Apr 3, 2020
2 min

Ada Calhoun's WHY WE CAN'T SLEEP - This Book Speaks to Me! - Jen's Review

I cannot tell you how many photos of Ada Calhoun's Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis I texted to Ashley and Sara, accompanied by exclamations like "This book is speaking to me!!!" and "I started Why We Can't Sleep and have been compelled to book dart 7 times. I'm on page 6." I do not KNOW the last time I have identified so strongly with a book. I put Why We Can't Sleep on hold at the library immediately after hearing Calhoun's interview with Roxanne Coady on the

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Mar 30, 2020
1 min

Roots of INTERNMENT: Perspectives on Internment during World War II

Samira Ahmed's Internment was our Unabridged Buddy Read for March and Book Club Pick for April. Our episode releases this Wednesday, April 1. In the novel, the protagonist and her parents are taken--in the near future--to an internment camp for Muslim citizens of the United States that is located near Manzanar. Frequently, Ahmed references WW II internment camps like Manzanar as historical context for her novel. Here are other sources--some own voices and some not--that provi

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Mar 11, 2020
1 min

116: Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT - I Always Have the "Over" Problem

In this episode, we have fun discussing Anne Bogel's Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life and its application to our lives. Although we don't go in depth about her other books, I'd Rather Be Reading and Reading People , we enjoyed reading and discussing those way back in episode 43. Bookish Check In Jen - Stuart Gibbs’s Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation Sara - Jessica Simpson’s Open Book Ashley - Anthony Doerr’s A

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Mar 9, 2020
2 min

Nine Great Audiobooks for Your Ear Enjoyment

In this bookish fave, we're talking all things audiobooks! These are some amazing audiobooks that I (Ashley) thoroughly enjoyed. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six and Brittney Morris’s Slay both have a cast of narrators for the different characters' perspectives. All of the others, including Michelle Obama’s Becoming and Angie Thomas’s On the Come Up, both of which were highly recommended to me as audiobooks, have single readers. I loved all of these books! Which bo

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Feb 27, 2020
3 min

Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT: There's Still Time! - Ashley's Review

Phew! Anne Bogel’s amazing new book, Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life, left me with a lot to think about and plenty to celebrate as I reflect on the tips learned and consider what is most important. Thanks to #partner Netgalley for my early ebook copy; publication date is March 3, 2020. There’s still time - don’t forget to preorder now to support Anne Bogel and to improve your quality of life! What I loved Friend

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Feb 26, 2020
2 min

114: Read Alike Ideas and Lit Circles - I Think the Risk Is Worth the Reward

In this episode, we're discussing the benefits of using Read Alikes within book clubs and within the classroom. We touch on some of our favorite YA lit books, such as Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, as well as classics like Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. We talk about strategies for making read alikes work and ways to manage the difficulties in order to reap the rewards of exploring a variety of books centering around one theme. Bookish Check In Jen - Jojo Moyes’s The Giver o

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Feb 25, 2020
3 min

Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT: Procrastinate No More! (and Pre-Order Today) - Jen's Review

Thanks to partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Anne Bogel’s Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life. The book releases on March 3. I learned so much from Anne Bogel’s new, brilliant book Don’t Overthink It. (One thing I learned is the likely reason I have procrastinated writing this review: as a perfectionist, I want my review to be perfect, and since I know I can never fully communicate just how relevant and powerf

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Feb 19, 2020
2 min

113: Why Teach YA? - There's Nothing I Want More than for Kids to Love What We're Doing

In this episode, we focus on classroom teachers and talk directly about how and why we incorporated Young Adult literature into our classrooms. We talk about series we saw our students loving like Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, and Veronica Roth's Divergent, and we talk about seeing our students fall in love with books. From classics like S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders to A.S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants, we talk about using YA lit in our clas

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Feb 10, 2020
4 min

Best Reads of 2019--Sara's Picks

You are going to notice right away that my "Best of 2019" list isn't nearly as long as my counterparts. Honestly, 2019 was just not a great year of reading for me. I read a lot of books, but there just weren't a ton that really stood out to me. However, the ones that I did read, made a huge impact. I will say that I have read way more non-fiction this year than I have in other years AND OVER HALF (!) of the books on my list are non-fiction! My fingers are crossed for a more s

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Feb 3, 2020
1 min

Best Reads of 2019 - Jen's Picks

Oh, friends. I gave 51 books five stars in 2019, so this was tough for me! Ultimately, I settled--somewhat arbitrarily--on a top 15, ranging from middle-grade reads like Kelly Yang's Front Desk to Michelle Obama's brilliant memoir Becoming to a stunning multi-genre novel in Valeria Luiselli's Lost Children Archive (which I really need to re-read!). Anyway, here are 15 of the books I loved in 2019, in COMPLETELY random order (you can find reviews for all of them on Instagram,

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Jan 31, 2020
3 min

Nick Bilton's AMERICAN KINGPIN: High-Suspense Narrative Nonfiction - Sara's Review

Oh, boy! Do I have a book for you. This book is a true-crime, narrative nonfiction, and it is fabulous. It is Nick Bilton’s 2017 Bestseller American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road. So, here’s the thing, if you don’t like true crime, you still might want to give it a go. If you don’t like nonfiction, you might still want to give it a go. If you read John Carreyrou’s 2018 New York Times bestseller Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon

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Jan 27, 2020
5 min

Best Reads of 2019 - Ashley's Picks

2019 was a great year for reading for me. Many of these books were not written in 2019, but they were new to me this past year, and they were phenomenal. From Michelle Obama's Becoming that I read in right at the beginning of the year to John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies, which I read very close to the year's end, I definitely read some keepers this year that I will be recommending and revisiting for a long time to come. These were all five bookish hearts books for me

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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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Jan 20, 2020
3 min

Read This! (Non-Book Edition)

Here are some of my (Jen's) favorite things to read: Book Riot is my favorite bookish site--I devour their articles every day, I listen to more than one of their podcasts, and this year, I’m taking on their Read Harder challenge.Their stated mission is to “innovate fresh content and services to [their] readers amplify marginalized voices, and challenge [themselves] and [their] community to be inclusive," which is right up my alley. Two Bossy Dames sends out a weekly newslette

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Jan 12, 2020
3 min

Nonfiction Focus: Memoirs on Audio Read by the Author

Selected Reviews Saeed Jones’s How We Fight for Our Lives - Saeed Jones's memoir How We Fight for Our Lives is brilliant and brutal. The story centers on Jones life as a young, black, gay man growing up in the American South and on his relationship with his single mother. Listening to Jones (who narrates the audiobook--I listened on Scribd) describe the ways that he defined his identity within and against Southern culture is fascinating and moving. Though he makes many delibe

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Jan 6, 2020
2 min

(More than) Just the Facts: Favorite Nonfiction

Dave Cullen's Parkland: Birth of a Movement - I was so moved by Dave Cullen's Parkland. As he did in Columbine, he takes on the events of a tragic school shooting. In this case, though, he focuses solely on what happens after that day, with an exploration of the March for Our Lives movement led by Parkland's survivors. The book is both sad and hopeful. I must admit that I was simultaneously looking forward to this book and absolutely dreading it: events like this one bring ab

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Dec 23, 2019
2 min

Nonfiction Focus: Celebrity Memoirs

Selected Reviews Ali Wong’s Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life - I was about two minutes in to listening to Ali Wong's Dear Girls (I listened on Scribd) when I realized this would be an earbuds-in production. Raunchy and real, Wong's memoir goes full on with words that I hope my boys don't say. I loved it!!!! Wong is writing here to her daughters, sharing her life experience and advice for her girls as they grow. She addresses every

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Nov 27, 2019
2 min

101: Human Trafficking Awareness with RuthAnn Deveney, Dressember Advocate - Fresh-Squeezed Freedom

The three of us had an amazing conversation with Ruth Ann Deveney about ways that everyone can combat human trafficking every day. We discuss Dressember (find Ashley and Sara on social media to support their Dressember campaigns) and about how to talk to kids of all ages (both in and out of the classroom) about human trafficking and how to make a difference. We also share an array of book recommendations for all ages, including Girl Rising by Tanya Lee Stone, Tell Me by Joan

Unabridged Podcast

120: Find Your Way Back to Reading with Comfort Reads

Pub Day Shout-Outs! April 7, 2020 - Alvarez, Carr, War

Ada Calhoun's WHY WE CAN'T SLEEP - This Book Speaks to Me! - Jen's Review

Roots of INTERNMENT: Perspectives on Internment during World War II

116: Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT - I Always Have the "Over" Problem

Nine Great Audiobooks for Your Ear Enjoyment

Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT: There's Still Time! - Ashley's Review

114: Read Alike Ideas and Lit Circles - I Think the Risk Is Worth the Reward

Anne Bogel's DON'T OVERTHINK IT: Procrastinate No More! (and Pre-Order Today) - Jen's Review

113: Why Teach YA? - There's Nothing I Want More than for Kids to Love What We're Doing

Best Reads of 2019--Sara's Picks

Best Reads of 2019 - Jen's Picks

Nick Bilton's AMERICAN KINGPIN: High-Suspense Narrative Nonfiction - Sara's Review

Best Reads of 2019 - Ashley's Picks

Welcome - Introduction and Overview

Read This! (Non-Book Edition)

Nonfiction Focus: Memoirs on Audio Read by the Author

(More than) Just the Facts: Favorite Nonfiction

Nonfiction Focus: Celebrity Memoirs

101: Human Trafficking Awareness with RuthAnn Deveney, Dressember Advocate - Fresh-Squeezed Freedom

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