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 discussion, we start with a bookish check-in: Ashley shares about Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Jen talks about Life on a Little-Known Planet: Dispatches from a Changing World by Elizabeth Kolbert (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm).

From there, we dig into Raja the Gullible, talking about Raja’s unforgettable narrative voice, the novel’s nonlinear structure, and the way humor and tragedy coexist on the page. We explore Raja’s complicated, tender relationship with his mother, the impact of memory and trauma across decades, and how personal stories are shaped by larger national and historical forces. We also share book pairings, give this one a resounding five bookish hearts, and wrap up with a couple of Unabridged favorites.

If you’re participating in the 2026 Unabridged Reading Challenge, this book fulfills the category “book from an awards list.” If you read this one, we’d love to hear what you thought!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Want to support Unabridged?

The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop. Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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 Reading Challenge, walking through all 12 categories and sharing a few ways we hope the challenge will feel flexible, fun, and community-centered as you read along with us this year. We’re excited to kick off another reading challenge for the new year and can’t wait to have you join us. For more about the 2026 reading challenge, check out this info on our website. 

If you’re joining our challenge (or tackling another one), come tell us what you’re reading on Instagram @unabridgedpod!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Want to support Unabridged?

The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop. Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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

In this special encore episode, we’re bringing back our December 2021 Book Club episode (Ep. 207), featuring Jean Meltzer’s The Matzah Ball (Libro.fm | Bookshop.org), her delightful debut. We loved revisiting this one: it’s funny and festive, but it also has surprising depth as Meltzer thoughtfully explores chronic illness and the power (and weight) of keeping parts of yourself hidden. We also talk about the rich portrayal of Jewish traditions, the book’s strong family dynamics, and the second-chance chemistry between Rachel and Jacob.

If you’re new to Meltzer, this is a perfect place to start, especially since she’s also written another holiday romance we adore, The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We hope you enjoy this cozy throwback, and we’d love to hear what holiday reads you’re loving this season!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Want to support Unabridged?

The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop.

Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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 Cape Fever (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Ashley talks about A. R. Abbott’s Founded on Blood and Magic (Bookshop.org).

From there, we get into all things Three Holidays and a Wedding. We talk about the way Maryam and Anna’s unlikely friendship becomes the heart of the story, the charm of the Snow Falls setting, and the beauty of seeing Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas all woven into the same timeline. We also share book pairings, including Ali Brady’s Merry Little Bookshop (Bookshop.org) and Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and wrap up with our bookish heart ratings and a couple of Unabridged Favorites.

This is our final new episode of 2025, and we’ll be back soon with a re-release of a past book club discussion before we head into a new year of reading together. Also be sure to check out our 2026 Reading Challenge as we turn toward the new year! 

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Want to support Unabridged?

The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop. Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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 beginning to the way nature, friendship, and “a bit of earth” transform both Mary and Colin over time. We also spend time on the harder pieces that haven't aged well despite the hopeful story at the center of the novel.

For pairings, Ashley recommends Sharon M. Draper’s Out of My Mind (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Jen brings Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) into the conversation. We wrap up with our Unabridged Favorites for this month. We’d love to know your thoughts on The Secret Garden and any pairings you’d suggest, so come chat with us on social media @unabridgedpod and let us know what you think.

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Want to support Unabridged?

The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop. Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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.

We revisit unforgettable conversations and reads, including Dopesick by Beth Macy (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) paired with Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s graphic memoir Hey, Kiddo (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm); a joyful return to Anne of Green Gables (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm); and the lasting impact of Tommy Orange’s There There (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) (plus a nod to Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We share favorite memories like our spirited “Is Love Actually a holiday movie?” debate, book-festival fangirl moments, and the pre-lockdown Podfest trip that re-shaped our podcasting lives. We close with a Lit Chat prompt about the childhood series that made us readers.

Whether you’ve listened to one episode or all 300, thank you for being here. Come celebrate with us, and tell us your favorite Unabridged memory or the series that hooked you on reading! You can always join the bookish conversation on Instagram.

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

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 (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). 

Then we dive into The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. We talk about the layered storytelling structure, including journals, interviews, and found documents, and we discuss how Jones uses horror to explore history, violence, and accountability. 

We wrap up with our pairings: Jen recommends Dan Simmons’s The Terror (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), and Ashley shares Emelia Hart’s Weyward (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm), plus we both shout out other Stephen Graham Jones books. 

We’d love to hear what you thought of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Come tell us your take on Instagram @unabridgedpod.

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

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.

We start with our Bookish Check-in: Ashley is listening to Thorn Season (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) by Kiera Cass, and Jen’s revisiting Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Then we each bring a fall pick to the table: we share about Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) and Adriana Mather’s How to Hang a Witch (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). Both picks have ghosts, magic, and just enough spookiness to feel seasonal without being nightmare fuel.

Just a reminder that if you purchase books using our affiliate links for Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, or if you shop on Bookshop using our Unabridgedpod shop, we get a small percentage of those sales, which supports us and the companies.

We wrap things up with a Lit Chat question about DNFs: do you finish every book you start? We share a little honesty about how hard it can be to stop reading something once it’s begun. Join us, and let us know on Instagram what your favorite spooky reads are (and whether you’re a completionist or a proud DNFer)!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Have you read Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic or seen the musical adaptation? In episode 297, our September Book Club pick takes us into Bechdel’s layered, brilliant graphic memoir about family, identity, and the stories we use to make sense of our lives.

We kick things off with a bookish check-in (Ashley’s listening to Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s The Ruling Class; Jen just started Angeline Boulley’s Sisters in the Wind) and then dive into Fun Home. We discuss Bechdel's literary references and her stark honesty, the grief and humor, and why this one is so often challenged. We’d love to hear your thoughts and favorite moments from the book. Come join the conversation!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Have you ever hesitated to pick up a buzzy book because you weren’t sure it would live up to the hype? In Episode 296, Jen and Ashley kick off Season Nine with a chat about the books that absolutely do.

We start with our Bookish Check-in: Jen’s reading Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy, and I share thoughts on Elana K. Arnold’s What Girls Are Made Of. Then we each bring a hyped pick that worked for us (hello, Susan Choi’s Flashlight and Allison Espach’s The Wedding People). We wrap with a card from Book Riot's Lit Chat Game about which fictional journey we’d tag along for.

Join us, and tell us on Instagram which hyped reads delivered for you!

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

Which books are going in your beach bag this summer? In today’s episode, we’re sharing a few great picks for your next vacation—or just your next relaxing afternoon in the sun. From fast-paced thrillers and twisty YA mysteries to a heartfelt rom-com set in the world of podcasting, we’ve got something for everyone.

We're heading into a summer break for Unabridged soon and wanted to make sure we'd shared some fun picks for summer before we pause.

For our beach bag picks, Ashley recommends Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, a compulsively readable thriller set on a remote island during a glamorous wedding weekend. Jen shares Back After This by Linda Holmes, a thoughtful, feel-good rom-com about podcasting, heartbreak, and second chances.

We wrap up with a Lit Chat question: What’s a book or series you think is overrated?

Let us know what you thought about this one! Remember that you can support us on Patreon if you're interested in contributing to the podcast.

Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.