App Crack: OverDrive

True story: When I was a kid, I was such a bookworm that I routinely tried to get away with sitting at the dinner table holding whatever book I was reading at the time with my left hand, while eating with my right hand.  Until my parents would tell me to stop being anti-social and made me put the book down to take part in whatever the dinner conversation happened to be that day. Which was never as interesting as what The Baby Sitter's Club or Sweet Valley Twins were up to (sorry, guys), but was an important part of keeping me connected to my family.  Eventually books got banned at the table completely, but up until that time I remember many dinners spent fighting for my right to party (ie. read at the dinner table). 

I was a total wild child, can't you tell?

And not much has changed over the years.  I still love getting lost in books, and would certainly rather be reading than doing half of the other mundane things I have to do around the house.  Which is why I'm so totally, crazy in love with my latest app addiction: OverDrive.

I'm pretty sure that OverDrive has been around for awhile, but I just found out about it within the last few months.  It lets me borrow library books on my iPhone and Kindle for free.  And not only book books, but also audio-books!  

I first became interested in audio-books decades ago, when my Nana and Pop Pop would listen to them on their loooong drive to Florida....

Now I'm really making myself sound cool, using the habits of my grandparents to explain my current day interests :) 

...but they are expensive, and the selection at my local library leaves something to be desired.  Plus, they're on CD's...which aren't exactly portable.  But now that I can get audio-books that I actually want to listen to  on my devices so easily, I love using them to keep my mind occupied while I'm doing all sorts of things around that house that would normally be boring.

 Especially yard work. And those million of hours that I spent sanding down the closets.

  I've long been a fan of music during these tasks, but getting lost in a book is an even better escape!  I just pop in my headphones and am content for hours.  

It's the best.

Whatevs.

So how does it work?  Well, once you download the free app, you'll need to link it to a participating library in order to browse and borrow from their collection.  If you live in PA, I recommend using the Free Library of Philadelphia (PA residents can apply for free here), which has a fab collection of current books.  

How fab?  Here's a sampling of what I've read (or listened to) through OverDrive lately:

Side Note:  If you read Andy Cohen's book, which you totally should if you're a fan of Andy, the Housewives, Watch What Happens Live!, or basically any element of pop culture, I highly recommend that you listen to the audio-book.  It's read by Andy himself, and his tone and inflection totally makes the experience.

Cracked. Me. Up. 

Pretty great, right?! I'm on hold for a bunch of other titles that I've been wanting to read, but didn't want to pay for on the Kindle store, and find that waiting times are usually a few weeks for new books, and non-existent for books that have been out for a while.  

Have you made the conversion to e-books?  I was so against it, but obviously my opinions have changed!