I’ve discovered the best new way to cut grass – listening to audio books while doing that delightful task. This actually isn’t a new discover, it’s more like a re-discovery, and this time I have a system to make it work.

Yesterday I forewent blogging because I had a meeting at work, and then I wanted to get as much grass cut as possible before a little girl that I’m watching for the week was dropped off. (Cause cutting grass with a two-year-old in tow isn’t a safe or advisable plan.)

As much as I enjoy cutting grass, it’s rather interesting to me how long the hours seem when I’m mowing. With the heat and the jostling time sometimes seems to stand still, although pleasantly, I might add. Enter an audio book though? And somehow those hours skip by much more quickly.

I find it delightful sharing tips with y’all for where to get great books, so I thought I’d mention where I get my audio books. When I first decided to go the audio book route to get “reading” in even when I couldn’t actually read, I looked into Audible. I received my first book for free, downloaded one that had been recommended, and started listening. Since I only had one free try, it was somewhat distressing when the book had content I wasn’t comfortable with, so I didn’t finish listening to it.

Since I somewhat often don’t finish books that I start, I figured that might be the case with audio books as well. Therefore I wanted an option that didn’t include me shelling out $15 each time. (Now, I will take a moment to say that although that sounds expensive, I realize that a lot goes into each audio book, therefore I’m not fussing about the price.)

Enter Overdrive. Looking back I’m fairly sure a couple of different people told me about this marvelous life-enhancer before I finally looked into it. (Don’t ask me why I didn’t jump at it the moment I first heard what it was….) And, although I don’t use Overdrive all the time, it always makes me happy when I do use it.

So, what exactly is Overdrive? The link above explains it better, but the short of it is: Overdrive is connected to your library, so as long as you have a library card you can receive a seemingly endless supply of e-books and audio books to borrow for up to 21 days. You can also place holds, which is extremely helpful.

As far as I’ve been able to tell, the bigger the library you’re a part of, the bigger your selection of books. I’ve also heard you can request books, but I’ve yet to figure out how to do that….

Have y’all ever used Overdrive? What are some audio books you recommend?