In this episode, we consider books that we'd recommend to students as great choices to read independently. As the world around us has drastically changed and continues changing, we decided on this topic and talked about some of our favorites, including R. J. Palacio's Wonder , Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before series, Nicola Yoon's books, and anything by Jason Reynolds, as well as some other favorites. We focus our discussion on books we think students can access without teacher supp...
Mar 25, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 118
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 Timo...
Mar 18, 2020•41 min•Season 3Ep. 117
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 Can...
Mar 11, 2020•35 min•Season 3Ep. 116
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 Pair...
Mar 04, 2020•54 min•Season 3Ep. 115
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 - Axt...
Feb 26, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 114
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...
Feb 19, 2020•39 min•Season 3Ep. 113
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 - ...
Feb 12, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 112
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 In...
Feb 05, 2020•55 min•Season 3Ep. 111
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 Se...
Jan 29, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 110
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 Readi...
Jan 22, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 109
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 *Li...
Jan 15, 2020•15 min•Season 3Ep. 108
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...
Jan 08, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 107
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 socia...
Dec 30, 2019•41 min•Season 3Ep. 106
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 (72:2...
Dec 23, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 105
The Unabridged debate over what makes a holiday movie gets a little contentious as Jen and Sara face off (primarily) about Love Actually. Poor Ashley serves as moderator (sorry, Ashley!). What do YOU think makes a Christmas movie? Does it have to be ABOUT Christmas, or is it enough to be set during the holiday season? Let us know what you think @unabridgedpod! movie mentions * Love Actually * Elf * Christmas with the Kranks * Deck the Halls * Jingle All the Way * Notting Hill * The Polar Express...
Dec 18, 2019•18 min•Season 3Ep. 104
Unabridged is back with more unpopular opinions! For our second Unpopular Opinion Alert, we take on Where the Crawdad Sings, Verity, and The Female Persuasion. What books did everyone else love that you . . . well, that you don't? Head over to our social media to share your opinion in a safe space. Move past YOUR trepidation to let us know what you REALLY think. And let us know what you think about our unpopular opinions, too. works mentioned *Ashley's Pick - Meg Wolitzer’s The Female Persuasion...
Dec 11, 2019•14 min•Season 3Ep. 103
Friends, for our Unabridged Book Club book this month, we're reading Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb's epistolary novel Last Christmas in Paris . This book, set predominantly during World War I, unveils the relationships of two characters, Evie and Tom, through the letters they write to each other and to friends and family. Through the lens of their very personal letters, readers also gain an understanding of other concerns of the time, including the growing role of women in Great Britain, conce...
Dec 04, 2019•49 min•Season 3Ep. 102
The three of us had an amazing conversation with RuthAnn Deveney about ways that everyone can combat human trafficking every day. We discuss Dressember (find Ashley and Sara on social media to support their Dressember campaigns) and about how to talk to kids of all ages about human trafficking and how to make a difference. We also share an array of book recommendations for all ages, including Girl Rising by Tanya Lee Stone, Tell Me by Joan Bauer, and Sold by Patricia McCormick. Starting on Dece...
Nov 27, 2019•58 min•Season 3Ep. 101
