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

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

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

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

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

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. "

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

​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​

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

We'll let you guess just which one of us went shopping in her Kindle closet . . . and then cheated to share an extra book (or two . . . or three!) on this episode. Well, actually, we ALL cheated because we have SO many books coming out this fall that we're eagerly anticipating. As a sneak peek, we're including Peter Heller’s Celine, Rainbow Rowell’s Wayward Son​, and Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. Take a listen to our TBR lists, and then let us know what books you look f

​ Back in January, we shared the books that we planned (or hoped?) to read this year. Now, it's time to share our progress. Have we read all of them? Nope. But we've made a valiant effort. (Or at least an effort.) What was on your TBR list for 2019? How are you doing? We'd love to hear about your successes and failures, the books you've loved and the ones that have disappointed you, over on social media. Check us out on Facebook and everywhere else @unabridgedpod. Books We've

The Unabridged crew took time in our most recent short episode (#unabridgedshorts) to recommend books to each other, which was fun . . . and a little scary! (It's weirdly vulnerable.) Check out what we chose to recommend for each other, and let us know if you have other books you think we'd would appreciate (or, of course, if you think we got something really wrong!). Jen’s Recs ​For Ashley - Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s Fruit of the Drunken Tree Sujata Massey’s The Widows of Mal

We at Unabridged are SO. Excited. About summer! As unrepentant bookworms, we have been plotting and planning which books we can fit in over our summer break. We are therefore happy to share our Summer TBR lists with you (and with each other) in this #unabridgedshort. What's on your summer TBR? Let us know on social media (@unabridgedpod). Books Mentioned Jen's TBR List Stephen and Owen King’s Sleeping Beauties Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On (to prep for the sequel!) Harry Potter s