The Unread Shelf with Whitney Conard - Curate that Unread Shelf and Actually Get Them Read

In this episode, we had the wonderful experience of interviewing Whitney Conard from The Unread Shelf. She joins us for our bookish check-in (we're big Camille Pagán fans!), shares the origin story of The Unread Shelf Project, and offers tips to help all of us pare down those burdensome stacks of unread books. We round out our discussion with our "Give Me One" segment, talking about our favorite teas.
Bookish Check In
Jen - Camille Pagán’s Forever Is the Worst Long Time (on audio; narrator Timothy Andrés Pabon)
Sara - Knox McCoy’s All Things Reconsidered
Ashley - Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test
Whitney - Camille Pagán's This Won’t End Well
 
Other Mentions
The Popcast
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Persephone Books
The Little Free Library program
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Anne Cleeves - The Long Call
The Unread Shelf
Whitney's Email Course
Whitney's Post about Bookish App Recommendations
Join Whitney on this Journey - # theunreadsshelf + the year
Anne Bogel's podcast What Should I Read Next? - The life-changing magic of clearing your unread shelf
Madeline with Top Shelf Text on Instagram
 
Whitney's Top Tips for Your Unread Shelves
Count your unread books
Put all of the unread books in one place
Prioritize the top reads for you
Figure out your barriers and figure out how to overcome them
JUST READ!
 
Give Me One - Favorite Teas
Sara - Harney & Sons’ Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea (Black Tea with Orange and Sweet Clove), Herbal Element tea company
Ashley - Chai (Equal Exchange Organic Chai, 20-Count - Pack of 3)
Jen - Peppermint tea when sick
Whitney's recommendations - Irish Breakfast or Assam blend for coffee drinkers, Simpson and Vail tea company's author line (especially Jane Austen blend), Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
Check out our Merch Store! Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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 All the Light We Cannot See
 
Other Mentions
 
Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading
Anne Bogel's Reading People
Our episode about Anne Bogel's other two books
 
Give Me One - Favorite Distraction
 
Ashley - Calm app / Cute animal videos
Sara - TV (Top Chef, Project Runway)
Jen - Romance novels (check out Jen's post of romance faves!)
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Kevin Wilson's NOTHING TO SEE HERE - Learning by Fire

For our March Unabridged Book Club discussion, we're focusing on Kevin Wilson's excellent Nothing to See Here (which was also a Book of the Month pick!). Listen to catch up with what we're reading now and to hear why we chose to pair books like Ninth House, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and Young Jane Young with Wilson's novel. Finally, we're thinking about movies from our childhood in our Give Me One segment.
Timeline
Bookish Check In: 00:00 - 05:40
Book Club Discussion: 05:45 - 33:46
Our Pairings: 33:47 - 47:25
Give Me One: 47:25 - end
 
Bookish Check In
Jen - Pierce Brown's Dark Age (Red Rising Book 5)
Ashley - Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl
Sara - Megan Angelo's Followers
 
Our Pairings
Ashley - Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Jen - Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House
Sara - Gabrielle Zevin's Young Jane Young
 
Give Me One - Movie from Childhood
Jen - E.T.,The Extra-Terrestrial
Ashley - The Secret of NIMH
Sara - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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 of Stars
Sara - Axton Betz-Hamilton’s The Less People Know about Us
Ashley - Brittney Morris’s Slay
 
Books Mentioned
Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Daniel T. Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom
 
Give Me One - Best Books for Book Club Discussions
Jen - Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
Sara - Ruth Wariner’s The Sound of Gravel, Tara Westover’s Educated, Bryn Greenwood’s All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Ashley - John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down, Bryn Greenwood’s The Reckless Oath We Made
 
Resources - Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers materials
Book Flight Guides - Police Brutality, Fairy Tale Retellings
 
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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 classes and also the role we think it can play more generally within the classroom setting.
Bookish Check In
Sara - Axton Betz-Hamilton's The Less People Know about Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity
Ashley - Mark Oshiro's Anger Is a Gift
Jen - Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's A House in the Sky: A Memoir (@readwithtoni buddy read)
 
Other Mentions
Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones
S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders
Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games series
David Baldacci's Wish You Well
Bob Greene's Be True to Your School: A Diary of 1964
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Stephanie Meyers's The Twilight Saga
Katherine Paterson's Jacob Have I Loved
A. S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants
R. J. Palacio's Wonder
Elie Wiesel's Night
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give
Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre
 
Give Me One - A YA Lit Favorite
Ashley - Emily X. R. Pan's The Astonishing Color of After
Jen - Alix E. Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Sara - John Green's Turtles All the Way Down
 
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

2020 Love Is in the Air - The Protagonist's Name is in the Title

In our 2020 Love Is in the Air episode, we're talking all things romance. In this episode, we discuss some of our favorite romance novels, including Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over, Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, and David Yoon’s Frankly in Love just to name a few. While we have varying degrees of expertise in this genre, we all have some recommendations to share with you!
 
Jen's Picks
Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over
Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series; Book 1 - A Princess in Theory
 
Ashley's Picks
Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue
Brigid Kemmerer’s A Curse So Dark and Lonely
 
Sara's Picks
David Yoon’s Frankly in Love
Elin Hildebrand’s The Blue Bistro
 
Give Me One - Favorite Romantic Getaway or Date Night
Jen - movie marathon, trip to NY
Ashley - breweries downtown and local restaurants (Boboko, Cuban Burger, Food Bar Food, Pale Fire Brewing, Three Notch'd, Brothers Craft Brewing)
Sara - Dinner and a show at home, trips to local vineyards
 
Other Mentions
NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast
Nicola Yoon (author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star)
Brigid Kemmerer's A Heart So Fierce and Broken
 
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Bryn Greenwood's THE RECKLESS OATH WE MADE - Challenging, in the Best Way

In this Unabridged Book Club episode, we discuss Bryn Greenwood's The Reckless Oath We Made. We discuss our overall impressions, what worked and didn't for us in the novel, and some memorable quotations, before getting into our pairings, including Peter Heller’s The Painter, Tracey Garvis Grave’s The Girl He Used to Know, and Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer. We also share our thoughts on whether this is a keeper for us and how much bookish love we each give it.
 
Timeline
Introduction and Bookish Check Ins: 0:00 - 4:50
Main Discussion: 4:51 - 41:10
Our Pairings: 41:10 - 48:30
Bookish Love: 48:31 - 51:36
Give Me One: 51:37 - end
 
Bookish Check In
Jen - John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany; buddy read with @readwithtoni on Instagram
Sara - Paul Pen's The Light of the Fireflies (see Episode 35, Books We Don't Recommend but are Dying to Discuss!)
Ashley - Madeline Miller's Circe
 
Our Pairings
Sara - Tracey Garvis Grave’s The Girl He Used to Know
Jen - Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer
Ashley - Peter Heller’s The Painter
 
Give Me One - A brand/ item/ place to which we're loyal
Jen - Apple products
Sara - Emily Schromm
Ashley - Wild Wolf Blonde Hunny beer
 
Other Mentions
Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles
Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Broadchurch series
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
 
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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 Child
 
Jen -
Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray
George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series
 
Other Mentions
Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea
American Gods - the TV series
The 100 - the TV series
Game of Thrones series
Modern Mrs. Darcy - Anne Bogel's blog
What Should I Read Next - Anne Bogel's podcast
 
Give Me One - Favorite Cold Weather Activity or Drink
Ashley - sledding and hot chocolate
Sara - visiting a local vineyard
Jen - making snow cream
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.

2020 Reading Goals and Reading Challenges - I Can Share My Spreadsheet with You

In this episode, we're facing the new year (and new decade!) and considering our reading lives and goals. We've also each signed up for a different reading challenge including Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge, the Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge, and The Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge for 2020. We're talking all things goal and resolution-oriented, and we're making grand plans for how our reading lives will look this year. Will they work out? We'll keep you all posted.
 
Our Reading Challenges
 
Jen - Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge with @bookriot
Sara - Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge from @novelknight along with The Unread Shelf Project 2020 with @theunreadshelf
Ashley - The Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge with @annebogel
 
Other Mentions
 
The Morning News Tournament of Books
Marie Kondo
# 20backlistin2020 on Instagram
 
Give Me One - New Year's Resolutions
 
Jen - Updating the house, clearing out the clutter
Sara - Monitoring consumption
Ashley - Simplifying and focusing on clear goals
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.

Our 2020 TBR Lists - Round-Robin Style

In this episode, we're discussing some books we can't wait to read in 2020, including Brigid Kemmerer’s A Heart So Fierce and Broken, Bianca Marais’s Hum If You Don’t Know the Words, and Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years. We also talk about Sarah J. Maas's works and end our episode talking about some of our favorite places to eat.
 
Ashley’s Picks
Brigid Kemmerer’s A Heart So Fierce and Broken - January 7, 2020
Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great Is Not Okay
Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive
 
*Listen to Jen’s comments about this one on our “All About the Journey” episode
 
Jen's Picks
Bianca Marais’s Hum If You Don’t Know the Words
Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City series) - March 3, 2020
Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed’s When Stars Are Scattered - April 14, 2020
*Colby Sharp's tweet
 
Sara’s Picks
Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years - March 3, 2020
Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
Cara Wall’s The Dearly Beloved
 
Other Mentions
Rebecca Serle’s The Dinner List
Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl
Sarah J. Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses (book 1 in series) and Throne of Glass (book 1 in series)
 
Give Me One - Our Favorite Type of Food
Taste of Thai in Harrisonburg
Taj of India in Harrisonburg
Corgan’s Publick House of Harrisonburg
 
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
 
Want to support Unabridged?
 
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.​
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.