Unabridged
Unabridged is a bookish podcast hosted by teachers. We release episodes twice a month, including a monthly Book Club episode and other bookish topics full of recommendations for your TBR list. Join us for bookish fun at our website unabridgedpod.com, on social media @unabridgedpod, or via email at unabridgedpod@gmail.com.
Episodes
September 13, 2023 • 30 mins
Do you enjoy book recommendations from friends? In episode 249, Ashley and Jen each picked a book for the other to read, which is one of the categories for the Unabridged Reading Challenge this year.
To kick off season 7 of the podcast, Jen and Ashley circle back to the books we've recommended for each other, and we share our thoughts after having read the books.
If you're looking for a recommendation from a bookish fri...
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June 28, 2023 • 45 mins
Are you looking for a serial killer thriller with profound social commentary? Michael Bennett’s Better the Blood (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) is propulsive and leaves the reader with many things to consider.
For our June Unabridged book club, we're discussing Better the Blood, which is perfect for the 2023 Unabridged Reading Challenge, where it can cover categories including a mystery novel, a book by an indigenous author, and a...
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June 14, 2023 • 31 mins
Are you looking for the perfect summer read? As we head into summer vacations and beach time, Jen and Ashley are sharing some of the latest books we can't stop reading.
Featuring Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Angie Thomas’s Nic Blake and the Remarkables (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), we'll be sure to share with you some picks that will keep your reading momentum going wherever you fi...
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May 24, 2023 • 28 mins
Are you looking for a compelling reimagining of The Little Mermaid? For our May 2023 Unabridged Book Club pick, we're discussing Natasha Bowen's Skin of the Sea. Jen and Ashley share our thoughts about this YA lit fantasy book.
We share our book pairings, including Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Rivers Solomon's The Deep, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes (Bookshop...
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May 10, 2023 • 32 mins
Have you read any essay collections that you enjoyed? In this episode, Jen and Ashley are sharing essay collection recommendations for books we loved, which are perfect for the 2023 Unabridged Reading Challenge. You could also choose a poetry collection or a short story collection to complete the category!
Ashley recommends Jessi Klein’s I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Jen...
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April 26, 2023 • 39 mins
Are you looking for a food book to complete your Unabridged Reading Challenge for 2023? This memoir is a great pick for that category!
For our April Book Club pick, we're discussing Ruth Reichl’s Save Me the Plums (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We also share our pairings, including Kim Fay’s Love and Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life through Food (Bookshop....
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April 12, 2023 • 26 mins
Are you looking for historical fiction books to add to your TBR list? In today's episode, Jen and Ashley are revisiting this popular topic with our latest recommendations for historical fiction books based on our recent reads.
If you're looking for more historical fiction recommendations, listen in to episode 230 where we shared some recs, and check out Jen's Bookish Fave sharing 7+ Middle Grade Historical Fiction Recs.
Wa...
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March 22, 2023 • 46 mins
Are you looking for an amazing classic by a Black author? James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) is a perfect fit for the Unabridged Reading Challenge.
We're discussing it as our March book club pick, and we also share our pairings including Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm).
If you're loving the podca...
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March 8, 2023 • 24 mins
Do you love reading books that your friends recommend? Jen and Ashley celebrate the joy of recommendations from friends on this year's Unabridged Reading Challenge with a category dedicated to that topic.
On today's episode, we're sharing our specific recommendations for each other, which we'll both read for the 2023 reading challenge category. Our picks include Aiden Thomas’s Lost in the Never Woods (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)...
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February 22, 2023 • 37 mins
Are you looking for an uplifting romance that's full of sweet moments but also powerful social commentary? Check out this month's Unabridged Book Club pick, Chencia C. Higgins’s D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Listen in to hear Jen and Ashley discuss this one and share our pairings including Alexis Daria’s You Had Me at Hola (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Sophie Gonzales’s Never Ever Getting Back Togeth...
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February 8, 2023 • 23 mins
Are you looking for romance books to read this season? Jen and Ashley are back with our annual Love is in the Air episode, sharing some of our latest favorite romance books with you.
We share our picks, Julia Whelan’s Thank You for Listening (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Mariana Zapata’s From Lukov with Love (Bookshop.org).
These romance recommendations are from recent reads, but if you're looking for more recommendations,...
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January 25, 2023 • 53 mins
Have you read this propulsive near future dystopian novel by podcast favorite Celeste Ng? To kick off the new year, we're pleased to share our thoughts on our first book club pick of 2023, Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We also include our pairings, Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Veronica Roth’s Poster Girl (Bookshop.org).
We're discussing this one on Instagram ...
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January 11, 2023 • 38 mins
Have you found a 2023 reading challenge yet? We're excited to share our 2023 Unabridged Reading Challenge, which we discuss on today's episode.
Jen and Ashley also share our reflections on our 2022 reading challenges as we look back over the year, and we share our other reading challenge plans for 2023. Jen plans to do the #23backlistin2023 challenge, the ToB reading list, and her own Jane Austen reading challenge (#readausten2...
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December 28, 2022 • 32 mins
Looking for a fun, illuminating holiday-centered read? Check out Sonya Lalli's A Holly Jolly Diwali (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), our December Unabridged book club pick.
In this episode, Jen and Ashley discuss thoughts about A Holly Jolly Diwali and share our book pairings including Jean Meltzer’s The Matzah Ball (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Thrity Umrigar’s Honor (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm).
Are you interested in more content f...
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December 14, 2022 • 42 mins
In this annual episode that causes us much consternation, Jen and Ashley share some special books we've read during 2022. We reflect over the year, and we each create and give awards to some of our top reads from our 2022 reading lists. It's so hard each year to choose!
For a few more picks, join us on Patreon for an extra bonus episode featuring additional bookish awards. (We just couldn't fit them all in here!) For $5 a month...
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November 23, 2022 • 42 mins
Looking for an amazing children's book that is perfect for many audiences? For our November book club pick, Jen and Ashley discuss Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We offer our pairings, including Tae Keller’s When You Trap a Tiger (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Melissa Albert’s Our Crooked Hearts (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We wrap up by talking about our feelings about whether we are morning o...
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November 9, 2022 • 25 mins
On today's Cozy Reads 2022 Recommendations episode, Ashley and Jen share some recent books they've loved that fall into the cozy reads camp. We share about Alexis Hall’s Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and Sarah Addison Allen’s Other Birds. (Ashley would like to note that her pick has some cozy components but is an open door romance!)
As we mention in the episode, Libro.fm is doing Credit Bundles for the holidays, and we're happy...
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October 26, 2022 • 49 mins
Oh my goodness, drop what you are doing and read this book! Spoiler alert: Jen and Ashley both loved Tiffany D. Jackson's The Weight of Blood (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) so much, and there is a ton to discuss. This one just came out in September.
In the episode, we also offer a couple of other spooky reads perfect for the fall reading season including R. J. Jacobs’s Always the First to Die (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Faridah Àb...
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October 12, 2022 • 77 mins
In this episode, Ashley talks with Barrett Holmes Pitner, author of The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Pitner shares some thoughts and perspectives on what ethnocide looks like in American history, where we are culturally today, and what we can do to look toward a more fulfilling future tomorrow.
Want to Connect with Barrett Holmes Pitner?
In addition to being...
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September 28, 2022 • 43 mins
Do you enjoy retellings of the epics? Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) is a retelling of Homer's The Illiad. Jen and Ashley share our thoughts about this book club pick, and we share our pairings including Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm).
Looking for more Unabridged content? Join us on Patreon, where we release a...
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