Summer is in full swing now with baseball games and beer gardens overflowing with people on summer vacations!

As someone who still works throughout the summer, I find my getaways through podcasts and books. I am always open to suggestions and have taken notes and bookmarked several lists, including: celebrity reading groups/book clubs, the New York Times book review, travel blog suggestions and so on.

NYTimes thriller map suggestions

Condé Nast travel suggestions

I have a tendency to let books pile up, library books expire before I finish occasionally and podcasts stop downloading because I haven’t caught up. I have taken it upon myself this last month to really try and get through items that I can without overfilling my plate.

I’ve already caught up on multiple podcasts (Lore, Lore Extras, Unexplained, Criminal, and more!) and even downloaded a few new ones (if you listen to Lore, have you begun Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities?!).

I recently finished an audiobook about a girl trying to fit in and gaining access to a whole new social world. What would you do if your so-called new friends were introducing you into a glamorous and high-speed lifestyle and taking you off the track of stability? How long could you play along? That’s just what unwinds in Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton.

In early July, I finished Big Little Lies for book club and am hosting the next book club. I chose a book that I began reading years ago and never finished : Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. So far, it is hilarious as well as educational. It’s a bit off the path of our previous choices of books over the last few years, but it’ll prove for great conversation and a wider knowledge of historical anatomy. What better topic to discuss while we paint clay pots during a book club?!

Cats make delightful reading companions.

I have also taken to pulling suggestions from friends on the Goodreads App. It’s so easy to find inspiration from friends as everyone has different tastes in art and books.

I have a deadline for bookclub, but perhaps I should create deadlines for other books or podcasts? Any suggestions for how you stay up to date with your extracurriculars?