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 2023 reading challenge, join our buddy reads or book club on Instagram, or sign up on Patreon!

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Aug 3, 2022
3 min

Graphic Novel Recs for Young Readers

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Hi! It's been quite a while since I shared some thoughts and recommendations on a Bookish Fave. It's been a crazy year for me personally and for my family, but I'm hopeful that the fall of this year will bring calmer times. One genre I've really enjoyed discovering and reading over the past few months is graphic novels. The ones I'm recommending in today's Bookish Fave are all appropriate for young audiences - I've read these

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Apr 6, 2022
2 min

224: Book-to-Film Adaptation Discussion: Karen M. McManus's ONE OF US IS LYING

In this episode, Jen and Sara discuss Peacock's adaptation of Karen M. McManus's One of Us Is Lying (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org). They discuss the pilot episode--what they liked, what they didn't, and their overall feelings about the adaptation. Check it out and let us know what you think! Bookish Check-in Jen - Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) Sara - Angie Thomas’s Concrete Rose (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org) Give Me One . . . Recent Movie You'd Recomme

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Jan 19, 2022
9 min

213: Looking Forward to New Book Releases in 2022

What are you excited to read that comes out in 2022? Each year, we love sharing just a few of the MANY books we're excited to read in the new year! Bookish Check-in Ashley - Uzma Jalaluddin’s Ayesha at Last (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) Jen - Sarah Adams’s The Enemy (Bookshop.org) Sara - Sarah Morganthaler’s Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) New Releases in 2022 We Can't Wait to Read Ashley's Picks Alexis Hall’s Husband Material - 8/2/22 (Bookshop.org) B.B. Alston

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Oct 5, 2021
5 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! October 4, 2021 featuring Mbalia, Clayton, and Colbert

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Kwame Mbalia's Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Description from Publisher: "Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the finale of Kwame Mbalia's trilogy, in which Tristan Strong faces off with his archenemy, King Cotton, once and for all. "'Imagine if you combined Anansi the Spider, John Henry, and Marvel into, like, one book.'--New York T

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Sep 6, 2021
3 min

2021 Fantasy Series Recommendations — Escape into Other Worlds

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Last week, we released an episode recommending some favorite fantasy and dystopian reads. (You can check it out here.) So, I thought I'd zoom in on fantasy for this week's bookish fave. Fantasy is one of my go-to genres. It's there when I need a comfort read, when I want to escape, when I want to challenge myself. Often, fantasy authors are taking on real-world issues under the guise of leaving the real world. While the list of fantasy books I

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May 12, 2021
14 min

177: Dive into Fairy Tale Retellings with These Unabridged Recommendations

In this Unabridged episode, we discuss a favorite genre that is also a category on the Unabridged Reading Challenge 2021 list -- fairy tale retellings. We recommend a few favorites including Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark and Lonely, and Erin A. Craig’s House of Salt and Sorrows. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Chanel Cleeton’s The Last Train to Key West (Amazon | Bookshop.org) Jen - Jenny Lawson’s Broken (In the Best Possible Way) (thanks to Libro.fm) (A

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Apr 19, 2021
3 min

Favorites Reads by Auto-buy Authors

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) In this Wednesday's episode, we're discussing some of our favorite authors that we consider to be auto-buy authors. We talk in the episode about what we mean when we say auto-buy authors, and for me, it often means that I will read everything new that the author produces. We each share some of our personal auto-buy authors. Here are a few examples of books I loved so much that I knew when I read them that the author would bec

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Feb 12, 2021
2 min

Tracy Deonn's LEGENDBORN - A Brilliant Balance of Fantasy and Reality

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) "Everything has two histories. Especially in the South" (230). It has been a while since I read a book like this one that so perfectly bridges a brilliant fantasy world with immediate, super-resonant social issues. Tracy Deonn's Legendborn is a masterpiece. Bree Matthews is 16 and trying to move on from her mother's death. She's built a wall to contain her grief and has escaped with her best friend Alice to an early college program at UNC. On

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Jan 19, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 19, 2021, featuring Cashore, Hall, Lo, and Okorafor

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are four books coming out today that I'm excited to read (I couldn't resist one more than our usual three!). Kristin Cashore's Winterkeep Description from Publisher: "For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to the closest nation there: Winterkeep—a place where telepathic foxes

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Nov 24, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! November 24, 2020, featuring Ng, Cline, and Black

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Holly Black's How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories Description from Publisher: "An illustrated addition to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince, from award-winning author Holly Black. "An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame. "Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue. "

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Nov 17, 2020
5 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for November 17, 2020, featuring Obama, Kuang, and Yoon

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Barack Obama's A Promised Land Description from Publisher: "In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his

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Jun 29, 2020
4 min

Fiction by Black Authors - Some Recent Favorites

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Looking for amazing fiction reads by Black authors? Here are a few of my recent favorites, all of which are adult fiction by Black women. These span a lot of genres and styles, so see the details below to find one (or more) for you! Brit Bennett's The Mothers - I'm here for anything Brit Bennett writes. This powerful story (realistic fiction) comments on the complex relationships between women and the way that women's relatio

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Jun 13, 2020
32 min

Bonus: Re-release of Jason Reynolds Highlight with LONG WAY DOWN, GHOST, and WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST

In this bonus episode, we wanted to share a re-release of an episode highlighting three novels by Jason Reynolds, one of our favorite Black authors for young people and for the classroom. We feel his body of work has applications across many age levels and grades. You can check out his body of work here. We tried to go very light on the spoilers in this episode, but a few minor spoilers were hard to avoid as we revealed what we loved about these books. Timeline Introduction a

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Apr 13, 2020
2 min

Comfort Reads: The Long List

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Last week, we released episode 120 in which we recommended books that could be Comfort Reads for you during this very stressful time! Check out my long list of recommendations, and let us know what books you'd recommend to round out these lists. What other books are bringing you comfort? Books to Escape Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone Elana K. Arnold’s Damsel Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark

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Mar 31, 2020
3 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! March 31, 2020 - Chang, Hadlow, Mafi

Here are three books coming out today that I (Jen) am excited to read! Alexandra Chang's Days of Distraction Description from HarperCollins: "The plan is to leave. As for how, when, to where, and even why—she doesn’t know yet. So begins a journey for the twenty-four-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. As a staff writer at a prestigious tech publication, she reports on the achievements of smug Silicon Valley billionaires and start-up bros while her own request for a rais

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Feb 17, 2020
3 min

Love Is in the Air: Even More Romance Recommendations!

Last week, on episode 112, we talked about some favorite love stories, including Alyssa Cole's A Princess in Theory and Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over. I (Jen) could not, however, bear to stop there. As an avid romance reader, I didn't want to leave out contemporary romance authors like Penny Reid or historical romance favorites Lisa Kleypas and Courtney Milan (who also writes contemporary romances!). So, here are a few more recommendations for your TBR stack! Selecte

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Jan 29, 2020
1 min

110: Winter Books - If I Read a Good Thriller, I'm Thrilled

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we are sharing about a favorite topic of ours, seasonal reads. We discuss some favorite reads that revolve around winter in some way, including Fredrik Backman’s Beartown, Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child, Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray, and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. Our Recommendations Ashley - Fredrik Backman’s Beartown Neil Gaiman’s American Gods Sara - Megan Collins’s The Winter Sister Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Ch

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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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Oct 16, 2019
1 min

95: Rainbow Rowell Rocks: You Have to Read It! You Have to Read It!

For this short episode of Unabridged, we are talking all about Rainbow Rowell and our love for her books. While we each have unique favorites of her work, we can agree that we are all fans, and there are some things that run through her writing that we enjoy. And as Jen says, "Rainbow Rowell is an auto-buy for us!" the hosts' favorites Ashley’s Pick Rainbow Rowell's Carry On Jen’s Pick Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl Sara’s Pick Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park Other Mentions

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Aug 30, 2019
2 min

Dhonielle Clayton's THE EVERLASTING ROSE - Ashley's Review

Thank you to Partner Netgalley for my advance copy of this novel. I loved The Belles and was so excited to read the sequel, The Everlasting Rose. Set in the dystopian world of Orléans , this novel reveals the way that quests for beauty and power can spiral out of control as the quest to become the most beautiful and most powerful gets in the way of compassion, equity, and all forms of understanding. The Belles opens in a world where most people are born gris, meaning that the

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