Unabridged: A Book Podcast

What books have stayed with you because you read them in a classroom, or because you had the chance to teach them yourself? We’re kicking off season 10 with episode 316 and a conversation about books we love to teach. Jen shares why Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) has been such a meaningful text for her students, and Ashley revisits Zor...

Can a story about extinction still leave room for hope? In episode 315, we’re discussing Charlotte McConaughy’s Migrations (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), our June 2026 book club pick, a haunting climate fiction novel about grief, survival, and the fragile beauty of the natural world.

We start with a bookish check-in: Jen is listening to Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Bookshop

Looking for a few romances to add to your summer reading list? In this episode, we’re sharing romances that would make great beach reads, with stories full of second chances, complicated friendships, family expectations, emotional depth, and plenty of momentum.

During our bookish check-in, Ashley shares Jessica Parra’s Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm

What book has broken your heart in the best possible way? In episode 313, we’re discussing Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), our May 2026 Book Club pick. Before we dive into this moving novel inspired by the life and loss behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet, we share our Bookish Check-in.

In our discussion of Hamnet, we talk about Maggie O’Farrell’s stunni...

Are cozy mysteries one of your favorite comfort reads, or are you looking for a place to start? In episode 312, we’re sharing a couple of cozy mystery recommendations that surprised and delighted us in very different ways. Before we dive into mysteries, we kick things off with our Bookish Check-in: Jen shares Edward Humes’ Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World (Bookshop.org |

Have you ever read a historical novel that shines a light on a perspective you hadn’t considered before? We’re discussing Sherri L. Smith’s Flygirl (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), our April 2026 Book Club pick, which tackles the role of women pilots in WWII.

Before we dive in, we share our Bookish Check-in: Jen talks about Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us (Book...

Have you ever been surprised by how powerful a story about an animal can be?

In this episode, we’re sharing book recommendations for the “books about animals” category of our 2026 Reading Challenge.

We start with a quick bookish check-in: Ashley is reading Pugs and Kisses by Farrah Rochon (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Jen is listening to With Love from Harlem by ReShonda Ta...

What happens when a book captures both the hardest parts of life and the possibility of hope? In episode 309, we’re discussing John Schu’s Louder Than Hunger (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), our March 2026 Book Club pick. Before we dive into this powerful middle-grade novel in verse, we share our Bookish Check-in: Ashley talks about Annie Hartnett’s The Road to Tender Hearts (

Have you discovered a nonfiction audiobook that completely drew you in? In this episode, we’re sharing some of our favorite nonfiction audiobooks as part of the 2026 Unabridged Reading Challenge.

Before diving into our recommendations, we start with our bookish check-in. Then we turn to nonfiction audiobooks we’ve loved. Jen recommends Hannah Ritchie’s Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to...

Do you believe love is written in the stars, or is it something we shape for ourselves? We’re discussing our February Book Club pick, Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Before we dive in, we start with a quick bookish check-in: Jen shares about What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), a speculative lit...

Have you ever loved an author so much but then realized you’ve barely scratched the surface of their backlist? In episode 306, we’re talking about the “Book from a Favorite Author’s Backlist” category from the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge and why exploring earlier works can be such a rewarding reading experience.

Before diving into our backlist picks, we kick things off with a bookish check-in. ...

Have you ever finished a book you absolutely loved but found hard to explain?

In this episode of Unabridged, we’re discussing our January 2026 Book Club pick, National Book Award winner The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), which is brilliant in ways that are sometimes hard to articulate.

Before diving into the di...

Are you the kind of reader who loves a little structure, or do reading challenges make you want to run the other way? 

In Episode 304 (our first episode of 2026!), we’re ringing in the new year with a conversation about reading challenges, reflecting on what worked for us in 2025, what didn’t, and how we’re thinking about setting reading intentions for 2026. 

Then we dive into the 2026 Unabridged Podcast R...

Have you read Jean Meltzer yet, and are you in the mood for a holiday romance with real heart?

Do you love a good holiday story that brings different traditions, and unexpected friendships, together in one cozy, snowed-in town? We’re diving into our December Book Club pick, Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Before we get into the book club chat, we start with a bookish check-in: Jen shares about Nadia Davids’s ...

Have you read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), or maybe watched one of the adaptations, and wondered how it holds up today? In Episode 301, Jen and Ashley dive into this beloved classic as our November Book Club pick. We start with a Bookish Check-in before diving into our discussion. We talk about what surprised us when revisiting The Secret Garden, from Mary’s truly contrary begin...

Have you been with us since the early days, or are you just finding your way to our bookish corner? In Episode 300, we celebrate a huge milestone with a very special guest… our beloved former co-host, Sara! We kick things off with a Bookish Check-In, then look back at standout reads and moments from eight years and 300 episodes of Unabridged.

Have you picked up Stephen Graham Jones’s The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) yet? We dig into this brilliant work in our October book club discussion. We start with a Bookish Check-In: Jen’s reading Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Ashley just started V. E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil ...

Do you like spooky reads, or do you tend to steer clear of anything too creepy? In Episode 298, Jen and Ashley share our favorite books for the season, and we talk about what makes the perfect fall read.