One of my goals for the remainder of 2025 is reach my 35 book reading goal on Goodreads. I set this goal for myself back in January. It is ambitious goal for me. Last years goal was 30 books and I met that mark, so I decided to go bigger, but maybe in retrospect, this was a little too big for me. Still, I plow forward.
To accomplish this goal, I have some plans. For starters, I am going to read or listen to all four books that remain on my book club’s calendar for 2025 (The Frozen River, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Gentleman’s Agreement, and A Christmas Memory). I am going to read them even if I don’t think that I am going to like them, because it can be fun to talk about books even if they aren’t your style.
I would also like to finish some books that I started earlier this year but did not finish. I have a few sitting on my nightstand (The Wild Robot, Verity). I also have a few books in mind that I borrowed on Libby and did not finish, so have placed holds on them again so I can read (Dare I Say It, Frozen River).
Outside of that, I am looking forward to new releases this fall by: Elizabeth Gilbert, Phillip Pullman, and Margaret Atwood (A Memoir of Sorts). I am curious about these two new memoirs: If You Don’t Like This I Will Die and Awake: A memoir.
I also have a book that am almost finished reading, a tell-all by a former Facebook employee called Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. It likens the experience of working for Facebook to the shark attack that she experienced as a 13 year old girl living in New Zealand. I highly recommend!
How am I doing with my goal? Yesterday, I finished an audiobook that I was working on so now I am up to 19 books. Then, if I finish the Facebook tell-all, I will be up to 20 books. With 15 books to go after that, I still have my work cut out for me.
Which brings me to another topic: People have been asking me, what about running? Are you still running?
The answer is: Occasionally. I have been running when the mood strikes. This summer I made myself busy with Dorney Park and camping and after Tracker was rehomed, I stopped walking all the time.
Now I have a little more time to myself. Since the boys have been back in school, I have been trying to walk every day. Some days when I walk, I talk on the phone, but lately, I have been listening to audiobooks while I walk.
This past week, I have been listening to an audiobook that I got from Audible* earlier this year that I never finished. The book, called A Touch of Jen, was a slow burn. After returning to it though, I found it to be pretty entertaining. I finished it yesterday, and I found myself feeling glad that I finished it. The book itself was similar to a plotline on the show The X-Files, which I was a big fan of. Plus, I like the feeling of finishing something that I previously abandoned.
Meeting my Goodreads goal. Walking. Finishing my abandoned books and audiobooks. These ideas are were all swirling around in my head. These ideas probably made me notice an article that I saw in the curated list of results that my Google Pixel shows me every morning when I look at my phone in bed..
The article was in the Washington Post. It was about an audiobook walking club in Washington D.C. called Book It Around DC. The article is paywalled so I could not read all of it. But I did some searching and found other articles on this particular audiobook walking club. This club is co-lead by youth services librarian Kit Ballenger, who I am familiar with from her Kids Place radio segment called Kit On Lit, where she provides book recommendations for kids. As a former children’s librarian, I have been a a big fan of her for a while now.
After reading articles about the club, I felt inspired. I love the idea of an audiobook walking group. It can be a way for people to exercise together, feel community, and listen to some great books. It hits all the notes for me. This club also has a social hour after their walks.
Right now, I am not necessarily thinking of proposing that my library start this type of programming. However, I am going to continue taking my audiobook walks. What I am thinking for the time being, is that if anyone would like to join me and walk and listen to audiobooks, I would be glad to meet up with them. ( I would also walk socially without listening to audiobooks, but the audiobook component provides a certain novelty factor for me).
Also I would be open to the idea of body doubling during my audiobook walks. Body doubling, is an ADHD technique where if you want to accomplish something but you are having a difficult time getting started you can text friend or family member. The two of you can plan to do the same activity at the same time, but in a different place. Afterward, in body doubling, you can text each other or call each other when you are finished to check-in or have fellowship. This technique can work great, especially if you only have a limited amount of time for an activity and cannot get together physically.
So if you are interested in walking or body doubling, let me know.
Here are some places to get audiobooks to listen to:
Libby (get free books with your library card)
Hoopla (also a library service)
CloudLibrary (also a library service)
NetGalley (a “free” service that provides advanced readers copies to teacher, librarian, and influencers in exchange for reviews)
Audible* and other pay services, find by Googling: “Audiobooks” under the shopping tab
*[Note about Audible: I do not work for Audible. However, I found that once a year, I can take advantage of a free month of Audible. By doing this over the years, I have gotten more free books than you would except this way. Occasionally, I do pay for a few months of service because it is a more cost effective way, I have found, than buying individual books on Audible. ( I sometimes if I can’t find the books that I need for my book club on Libby. . .There are other audiobook services though so it never hurts to search a title online before purchasing].
