Unabridged: A Book Podcast
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.
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Episodes
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
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.
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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.
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
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.
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
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.
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
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.
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
Wednesday Jan 29, 2020
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.
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
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.
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
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.
Wednesday Jan 08, 2020
Wednesday Jan 08, 2020
In this Unabridged Book Club (#unabridgedpodbookclub) episode, we discuss Mary Beth Keane's Ask Again, Yes, the amazing multigenerational novel examining two families in a planned community. We make connections to Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, John Boyne’s The Heart's Invisible Furies, and Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House, and we thoroughly discuss the intricacies of relationships over time and through generations as they are explored in the novel.
Timeline
Introduction - 00:00 - 01:35
General Discussion - 01:36- 39:48
Our Pairings - 39:50 - 46:15
Classroom Connections - 46:16 - 49:52
Our Pairings
Ashley's pick - Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere
Sara's pick - John Boyne’s The Heart's Invisible Furies
Jen's pick - Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House
Classroom Connections and Other Mentions
Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You
Mira T. Lee's Everything Here Is Beautiful
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Children's author Kate DiCamillo on the What Should I Read Next? podcast (episode 213)
Give Me One - Favorite Mixed Drink
Sara - Amaretto Sour or Mimosa
Ashley - Negroni
Jen - Margarita
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.
Monday Dec 30, 2019
Monday Dec 30, 2019
The hosts of Unabridged once again gathered to reflect on our year of reading and to choose some of our favorites. While Jen (as is typical) wanted to talk about all the books, Sara and Ashley did a much better job reining it in. Check out the episode to hear us talk about The Song of Achilles, Good Talk, and The Heart's Invisible Furies. We revisit favorites from the podcast and share some of our favorite books for kids.We'd love to know about your favorites of the year! Head over to social media to boost your picks.
Our Individual Awards
Jen
*Best Reinterpretation of a Classic - Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles
*Most Tear-Jerking YA Novel - Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great Is Not Okay
Ashley
*Poignant, Hilarious, and Brilliant Graphic Memoir with a One-of-a-Kind Style - Mira Jacob’s Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
*Gripping Story that’s All about Sports, Except that It’s Really All about Life - Fredrik Backman’s Beartown
Sara
*Best Non-fiction that Reads like a Thriller - Nick Bilton’s American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
*Best Book of My Year and on My Top 5 of All Time - John Boyne’s The Heart's Invisible Furies
Children's and Young Adult Books
*Ashley - Most Affirming Story about Accepting Oneself - Grace Byers’s I Am Enough, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo
*Sara - Best Graphic Novel I Have Read and Also Got to Meet the Author - Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Hey Kiddo
*Jen - Best Series to Re-read - J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
Not My Cup of Tea
*Ashley - Alafair Burke’s The Ex
*Jen - Elizabeth McCracken’s Bowlaway
*Sara - Stephanie Land’s Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Favorite Book from the Podcast
*Ashley - Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
*Jen - Ibi Zoboi's Pride
*Sara - Beth Macy's Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
Give Me One - A Fact People Might Be Surprised to Know about Us
*Jen - studied biology and loves science
*Sara - has an MBA and used to work in banking
*Ashley - was a white water rafting guide
Other Mentions
*Anne Bogel's What Should I Read Next? podcast
Check out what's coming up next.
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.
Monday Dec 23, 2019
Monday Dec 23, 2019
In this special holiday episode, we're wrapping up 2019 with 3 recent favorites. Stay tuned next week for our 2019 Unabridged Awards!How would you wrap up YOUR year? What are some of your 2019 favorites? Let us know on social media!
timeline
Click the episode title to access show notes:
*Introduction (0:00 - 2:01)
*Episode 87, "Get to Know the Hosts" (002:10 - 28:00)
*Episode 86, "Favorite Audiobooks" (28:10 - 50:11)
*Episode 91, "Book and Song Pairings" (50:22 - 72:13)
*Give Me One (72:23 - end)
give me one - favorite pizza topping
*Ashley - Bacon
*Jen - Ham and Pineapple
*Sara - Extra Cheese
Check out what's coming up next.
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.