Recommendations – Podcasts & Audiobooks

It’s happened again my friends.  For some reason I seem to stop blogging because I think I have nothing to say.  I overthink things and then just don’t write anything.  I need to go back to basics and remember why I started this blog – to connect with people and share our life up here at Bum Truck Nowhere.  So here I am, back at it and will try and keep it real.

Gosh it has been a while since we had a good chat hasn’t it.  I seem to think I need to have something profound to report on but that is bullshit, I just need to show up.  Just like with anything in life – consistency is the key.

So what have I been up to?  Well I have been listening to lots of podcasts but I seem to run out lately, I have my favourites but once they are consumed I am stuck.  If you are unsure how to listen to a podcast then THIS blog post might help explain things.

Here are my favourites – these are podcasts that drop a new episode each week, you might find something new on the list:

Two Fat Expats
Mamma Out Loud
No Filter
This Glorious Mess

I listen to all of those without fail every single week.  The following are series that I have binged and listened to the whole lot and now there is nothing left to listen to, but if you have missed one there might be a good find here for you:

I don’t know how she does it
Lady Start Up
The Well
Dr Death
How do you sleep at night?
Little Girl Lost
Mum says my memoir is a lie
Mum Stories
One fat lady one thin lady
Serial season 1
The Adoption
The full catastrophe
The Teachers Pet
This is about
You’ve gotta start somewhere

Well that is quite the list isn’t it.  I would love to hear what you are listening to, I am always on the hunt for a new podcast.

When I run out of podcasts I turn to audiobooks.

I have a lot of time to listen to things when I am cooking, mowing, cleaning or driving.  If I am doing a mind numbing job I am always listening to something, if it doesn’t require me to use my brain I am listening.  You can learn so much!  I realise many of you probably don’t have this time so a quick 30 minute podcast might suit you better.  So what have I been listening to book wise, why let me check my phone.  Ok scrolling back I can see these books…

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein – loved this one.  Not sure if I have told you about it or not.  It was a great listen, well narrated too.  The narrator really does make or break an audiobook.  This one was a very easy listen and sucked me in.  Loved it.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch – well it seems I have listened to quite a bit of this one but didn’t actually finish it, I can’t really remember what it was even about and didn’t really enjoy it.

The Dry by Jane Harper – this was a good book but I think perhaps it would have been a better book to actually read.  Not sure if  it was the narrator or what it was but I did struggle to get through this.  But having said that I did enjoy the storyline.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – loved this one.  Such an easy listen.  I really want to see the movie but wanted to read it first.  It is a yes from me, this was great.  Narrator: great

The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins – this was fabulous, just loved it.  Really motivated me.  After listening to this book I have now started putting my phone in the bathroom overnight with the alarm set and no snooze option.  This means I have to get up and turn it off and stay up.  Her simple theory is that you shouldn’t overthink things, if you start to just count backwards: 5 4 3 2 1 and just do it.  So that is what I do at 4:45am each morning.  I get up and show up.  I have a wash and don’t think about how I would like to go back to bed, I don’t think about the exercises I am about to do, I just get dressed and do it. Simple.  I really do recommend this book.  Narrated by Mel Robbins and she does a pretty good job, it is just like she is having a chat with you.

Winging It by Emma Isaacs – just finished this one and loved it too, was another great motivator.  Oh you guys, I really do have so much to tell you it turns out.  My lovely friend Ed and I are partnering up and starting a new venture called Wild Spark Rural Women’s Network.  It is all about bringing women together so they can be the best they can be no matter where they live.  It will be an online hub and also live events.  We will be launching Wild Spark at our very first event in Mt Isa on 8th March 2019.  Oh my goodness did I really just say that?  It is all super exciting.  Now, how in the heck does this relate to this Audiobook?  Well, Emma Isaacs is the founder of Business Chicks.  I have been wanting to do an event like the one I will be holding next year for about the last 3 years.  I just keep yapping on about it and not actually doing it.   Now, Business Chicks have fabulous networking events but they are all in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and just not accessible for women like me – women who live in rural, regional or remote locations.  It is just too expensive to jump on a plane to head down to one of these cities for these fabulous events.  So I thought – lets bring this sort of event to women in the bush.  OH HELL YES!!!!  Ok, I am going to stop there, I think this deserves a whole blog post, so stay tuned for that, I am getting carried away here.   So this book, yes I enjoyed it and it was a very easy listen.   Narrated by Emma Isaacs and she also does a pretty good job.

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton – I have only just started this one and I hope I love it because I have 15 hours and 2 minutes left to go.  I heard Trent interviewed on Conversations with Richard Fidler and loved listening to him, so was really interested to read this book which is based loosely around his life.  My Govie – Ruby – has just finished actually reading it and she really enjoyed it.

I also usually have an actual book on the go that I really do read with my eyes.  Just finished What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and boy – that is 3 weeks of my life I will never get back, it was such a slow burn and I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for it to get interesting and it NEVER DID!  Don’t bother with this one.  I have read most of her books and this was a killer.  But I have backed it up and I am giving her another go with her most recent release – Nine Perfect Strangers.  Much better, she has already redeemed herself and I am not that far in.

Ok wow, so this was supposed to be a bit of an update but it turns out I do have quite a lot to say, ha ha ha.  1122 words later I think I should leave you in peace.

Over to you…

What are you listening to?
What are you Reading?