What I’ve Been Listening To While I Work (Podcasts and Audio Books)
I’ve mentioned a few times lately that when I work on my home-related projects, I keep myself entertained by listening to podcasts and audio books. Every time I mention that, I have a few people request a post where I share what I’ve been listening to. Since I just finished up a good audio book last night, I thought this would be a great day to share!
I thought it might be fun to make this a regular thing (maybe monthly), so I can share what I’ve been listening to, and y’all can give me suggestions for the next month. My favorite genre of podcasts is true crime, but I don’t like the gory stuff. So white collar crime, scammers, and those types of things are my favorites. As far as audio books, I’m pretty open, but I do like suspenseful stories, stories with an unexpected twist at the end, etc. I’m a bit harder to please with audio books than I am with podcasts. For some reason, I find podcasts so much more enjoyable. So here’s what I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks.
Podcasts
The Moth podcast is one of my all-time regular favorites. If I’m between podcasts or audio books, I’ll always go back to The Moth and listen to episodes I’ve missed. It’s a podcast where people tell their personal stories in front of live audiences. Some people are born storytellers and know instinctively how to captivate a crowd. For others, it may be their first time speaking in front of a crowd, so you can tell they’re nervous. Some stories are funny, some are heartwarming, and some are real tear-jerkers. But I just love hearing real people’s real stories from their lives. The one starting at the 20-minute mark in this episode is one of the most memorable stories I’ve ever heard. I have a weakness for true crime shows, podcasts, and stories, and this story was a good one. At the end, my jaw was on the floor. If you listen to it, listen all the way to the end.
Scamanda a fascinating podcast about a woman who scammed people not only in her own church and community, but also online. After allegedly being diagnosed with cancer, she started a blog to share her journey of living with cancer, cancer treatments, etc. Her blog was being read by people all over the country, and also throughout the world. She regularly asked for money to help with medical costs and related costs, and people generously gave to help meet her needs. She went on unchallenged until an investigative reporter received an anonymous tip urging her to look into this woman’s claims. You can probably see where this is going, and it’s just unimaginable that she was able to keep this scam going for as long as she did.
Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen is a podcast about FBI special agent Robert Hanssen who became a spy for the Soviets during the Cold War, and then for Russian intelligence after the fall of the Soviet Union, handing over classified documents from the late 1970s until he was caught in 2001. The Department of Justice called his actions “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history,” and his espionage led directly to the torture and deaths of many people, including many assets in Russia. How he evaded suspicion for so long is amazing and fascinating and infuriating, especially when there were signs, as well as people trying to bring attention to some of his questionable behavior. One of those people included his own wife.
Surviving El Chapo: The Twins Who Brought Down A Drug Lord is about identical twins Jay and Pete Flores who worked directly for El Chapo and were the biggest drug traffickers in North America until they decided they wanted out of the cartel, out of that lifestyle, and wanted to turn themselves in to the American government and cooperate to bring down their employer and associates. This podcast isn’t just about them, but it’s done in an interview style with these two men and their wives. They not only tell about their lives as drug traffickers, but also about their years (a decade) of working with the government, their incarceration, and their post-incarceration life. Listening to them tell about the moment they escaped Mexico (especially the wives and family members, who did not have the help of the American government to escape) was one of the most interesting, hair-raising, edge-of-my-seat moments of the podcast.
Books
Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel by Gillian McAllister is about a woman who helplessly watches through the window of her house on Halloween night as she sees her 18-year-old son murder a man on the street who she believes to be a complete stranger, and the journey back in time that she goes on to right this wrong. It has time travel, mystery, and intrigue. It’s a very good book, definitely worth the read (or listen).
The Women by Kristin Hannah (affiliate link) is my favorite book that I’ve listened to in the last few weeks. It takes place during the Vietnam War, and the story focuses on one woman in particular. Francis “Frankie” McGrath was raised by wealthy parents in Southern California, but when her brother went to fight in Vietnam, she decided that she also wanted to serve her country by going to Vietnam as a nurse. The story follows her time in Vietnam, as well as her very rocky transition back into civilian life after her service, and the aftermath of how all of that affected her mind, her life, her decisions, etc. It’s a very real, raw, emotional story, and although it’s fictions, it was apparent to me that the author did a lot of research in writing the story.
That’s what I’ve been listening to lately. How about you? Do you have any book or podcast recommendations for a gal who loves true (non gory) crime and stories with intrigue and surprise twist endings?
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I just finished reading The Women. I agree, it’s excellent.
Me too. I was going to suggest it when I first saw the blog topic, until I saw she had “read” it. It’s by far my favorite book of the year.
I have been obsessed with thinking about your gym floor!! I am so worried! I truly hope your next post will update that situation.
Foundation guy came Friday, and the plumbers are here right this moment. I’ll have an update soon.
Hi Kristi! I hope that you do indeed make these recommendations a regular feature. My husband and I listened to “Scamanda” on a long car trip last year and were so fascinated by it! I guess it’s a testament to how much you can get away with if you’re utterly brazen and shameless. I plan to give the McAllister novel a try. Thank you!
What did you learn from your foundation specialist?
She answered me, above, that a plumber is involved and will post an update.
Podcasts I’ve listened to lately that I think you might like: The Jinx (also watched the show they made after listening), White Devil, The Wedding Scammer, The Coco Berthman Story. A couple of audio books that I’ve enjoyed lately: Remarkably Bright Creatures, This Will Be Funny Later, Tom Lake (and anything else by Ann Patchett).
We read The Women earlier this year in my book club. By far the best we have read. Just finished The Measure by Nikki Erhlick. It was excellent. Everyone in the world wakes up one morning w a box on their doorstep. It is inscribed with, The measure of your life lies within. Inside are strings of varying length. The length tells you how much longer you will live. Do you open the box? How do you measure your life? What would you do if you knew how long you had left? Would the world treat you differently? The story follows multiple people as they embark on this journey. Excellent book!!
The Rose Code (WWII codebreaker/spy network novel) and Project Hail Mary Project (sci-fi) were both exceptional listens. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed Project Hail Mary – I run hot/cold on sci-fi but this audio book really grabbed me. When I’m looking for brain candy I turn to anything by Jodi Taylor. I’ve listened to each of her novels 2-3 times, partly because I love Zara Ramm’s voice. Same goes for anything narrated by Wil Wheaton (from Star Trek). I’ve listened to Ready Player One/Ready Player Two multiple times, as well as the Battle for Forever series by Edward Savio, narrated by Wheaton. I don’t like gory books either, but a couple of Stephen King’s novels translate very well into audio books. Fairy Tale is a masterpiece of classic fairy tales skillfully intertwined into one story; and Duma Key was utterly enthralling despite it being a very dark novel. Mr. Flood’s Last Resort by Jess Kidd was a unique but good novel (I’m a sucker for British and Irish voices) and The Postman, by David Brin sucked me in and held my attention to the end. There are others but I’ll stop here. I just looked through my Audible library and realized how many books I’ve purchased and not listened to yet. Yikes. I may need a 12-step program for that, lol!
Loved The Rose Code. She has a great novella in the same universe called “Signal Moon.” Well worth a read.
I highly recommend Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I suggest you listen to it via audible as the author reads it. Story after story….fascinating!
If you haven’t read it yet, The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah is also excellent. WWII era story of two sisters – my whole office read it and loved it!
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn was a good audio book listen for me. It follows two women–a female spy for France in WWI and an American woman searching for her cousin in 1947–it was very good with great narration.
I also like the Chief Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny. Excellent narration and great whodunit stories with likable characters. These are relaxing books to me, interesting stories and I want to know who did it…but I don’t find myself physically tense or *INVESTED* in what comes next. And there are a whole bunch…I love me a good long series that doesn’t go downhill.
I dont do audio books. I don’t get much out of listening to others read. I need to read it for myself. I love reading books, but lately I’ve been off reading. Been playing more brain games than anything. Lol
I loved this getting a different view of your life and interested. A couple new ones for me to follow up on.
First Lie Wins is an excellent thriller. Remarkably Bright Creatures is another great one.
I looked up Wrong Place Wrong Time on Amazon because I love anything with time travel. The first review was by the author I was going to recommend to you – Lisa Jewell – like you, I enjoy listening to podcasts and books while working and since discovering her, I bought every single one of her audio books. She is an amazing writer – great stories, characters, and intriguing plots with lots of twists and turns. Try one and I guarantee you’ll be hooked….
Wrong Place Wrong Time is a must read if you like time travel! The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is also excellent. It’s not time travel precisely, but plays around with the same concepts.
Loved The Rose Code. She has a great novella in the same universe called “Signal Moon.” Well worth a read.
I have really enjoyed listening to the NBC Dateline true crime podcasts, such as “The Thing About Helen & Olga.” They are about murders/crime, but they are not graphic or gory in the way podcasts and media can be about these things.
Buried Bones is a podcast about unsolved crimes, mostly from the 1800s alto she does go to other time periods. The format is interesting and entertaining and the crimes and forensics from the past challenging to say the least. The hosts are a professor and investigative journalist (from Texas) and the detective who solved the Golden State serial killer case. Give it a listen …
I’m working on a book now that has it all: true crime (non-gory), codes, mysteries, solutions, parallels, answers, explanations, hair-raising secrets, science, history… all put together like you’ve NEVER heard it before. It’s called “Learn the Bible in 24 Hours”, by Chuck Missler. It is indeed just over 24 hours. It has me (and any of my kids listening in!) on the edge of my seat. I cannot recommend it too highly!
Commenting on an older post, so hopefully you’ll see this.
I just finished listening to Listen for the Lie. It’s a cross between a thriller and podcasts, and it’s fantastic. I’m not an audiobook listener typically, but I heard this was superior as an audiobook, and they were right! So good.
I just added it to my wish list!