Well at least as close of a friend as an app on your phone can be.

I mentioned the other day in the first blog post of my year-long challenge, that I have “read” over 100 books in the last five months and about 95% of them have been audiobooks. For many years I exclusively listened to podcasts. But I decided to give audiobooks a try and I really love them.

One breakthrough for me was finding out about Libby and other Overdrive apps that are connected to your local library card membership. Once you download the app and connect, 1000’s of audio and e-books are available to listen to and read for free! Let me give you a small tour to share how I have learned to get the most out of the Libby experience. See the images below.

• Search for a book and if it’s available you can borrow it immediately. If there is a wait then you can place a hold and when it’s available you will get a notice. They only have so many copies of each book at any one time, just like physical books.

• Based on my experience with the Austin Public Library, you can borrow up to a max. of 10 books at one time and have 7 on hold. You can tag books to keep track of them if you use up all of your holds.

• Books can be borrowed for 21 days. Some popular books might take many weeks to be available.

• You can save Bookmarks & Highlights as you listen. I’ve made a habit of going back to type out and save quotes from books that resonate with me, which I can then refer back to and study once I’ve returned the book.

• Sometimes there are multiple versions of a book with different narrators. That can make a big difference. You can sample 5 minutes of any book to check the sound. When you are listening for many hours, the right voice can make a huge difference.

Not all of the books you want to listen to are going to be available from the library so I also have an Audible account. I get one credit for one book each month for around $16. You can also buy extra credits at a discount. Audible actually just launched their Plus Catalog which has a lot of free books, some of which I’ve already enjoyed. So I bounce back and forth between the two apps depending on what I’m in the mood for and what’s available.

Most of my listening time is while driving but also at home when I’m cooking or doing something elsewhere I don’t need to concentrate. One thing that has really helped me is listening at a faster speed. The one that I find most comfortable is usually around 1.4X times. Here’s a link to a handy calculator to tell how long it will take you to listen to your book at a certain speed. A 10-hour book can be reduced to just over 7 hours. Makes those long books much less intimidating.

Here is my current book list on Goodreads that I update as I finish a book. Follow along if so inclined. If you have any questions about any of the books I’ve read or want to know more about them feel free to post a comment or send me an email.

In future blog posts, I will be sharing quotes, reviews, and thoughts about books that I’ve enjoyed this year. It’s interesting because I’ve been obsessed with books almost my entire life, but mostly just collecting them and also the lure and promise of some life-changing wisdom, inspiration, or the answer to success and happiness. But for some reason, I often didn’t read all of those books and they sat on the shelf, looking pretty.

Don’t get me wrong I’ve read a few books in my lifetime. But something definitely changed 5 months ago, and listening has allowed me to get through many more books than I ever would just sitting down and reading a physical book. At least at this point in my life with the time and job I have. And I honestly can’t say for sure audiobooks are any better or worse when it comes to comprehension and retention. Either way, I’m having a great time and feeding my mind something good.

I highly recommend giving audiobooks a try. Happy listening/reading!