Zibby Mag

By Alice Berman

Ah, exercise. I love it. I hate it. I love to hate it. Perhaps you are one of those rare souls who springs from bed, alight with joy at the thought of working your muscles. Maybe you defy all odds and exercise in the evening, the point at which I have melted into a puddle. Personally, I like to complain about working out, dread it excessively, beg people to do it with me so that I don’t skip it, and then spend the entire time counting down the minutes until it’s done. Lately, however, I’ve been tying my cardio to something I enjoy, which means spending my 60 minutes on the treadmill listening to books. Here are four favorites to keep you going even when you feel like it’s time to throw in the towel!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Just when you think, surely Emily Henry can’t write a better book, she does. For those of you who don’t know this beloved author, she is the queen of the current rom-com, with pithy narrators, classic setups, and some of the funniest comebacks you’ll ever read. Although set in North Carolina, Book Lovers is a love letter to New York. With the premise of Meredith from The Parent Trap finding her soulmate, watching city slicker Nora Stephens navigate heels on a muddy lane and falling in love against her better judgment is the most fun you’ll have while getting your steps in. It’s also such a well-paced story that you’ll keep walking just to find out what happens next.

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

The genius of this pick is twofold: it’s a series (there are eight books so far, with another expected in 2023), and it’s so deftly plotted that you absolutely cannot wait to find out what happens—not just chapter to chapter, but book to book. Set in contemporary London, Slow Horses (adapted for film and streamable on Apple+) follows the rejects of the British intelligence service, all working under one roof. Herron does an incredible job of weaving in bits of the past with breakneck action so that you’re deeply entrenched in the world of his incredibly real characters. These are spy novels for people who don’t like spy novels (and for people who do); they’re character driven, beautifully written, hysterically funny, and so well-drawn that you’ll half expect to step outside and encounter River Cartwright in the flesh.

The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J. Mazzeo

Working on the assumption that it would be motivating to listen to success stories, I went through a long phase of listening to biographies while working out. I’m not sure that my theory panned out, because the Widow Clicquot definitely wasn’t hopping on the elliptical before conquering the world of champagne and creating the liquor market as we know it today, but I found this book completely fascinating. It’s a rollercoaster of constant stress. I wondered how she will save the company and continue to hold power at a time when most women couldn’t legally own land. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year, and listening to it while exercising distracted me so much that I actually stopped checking the clock.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

I like to laugh (who doesn’t?) when I’m exercising, and Mindy Kaling delivers a line that will make you giggle in nearly every paragraph. Ostensibly a recounting of her life, this book is really like sitting down to chat with one of the funniest people you’ve ever met. It’s fascinating to hear her take on love, Fleetwood Mac, what to wear, her time at Dartmouth, and any of the other topics that Kaling manages to cover while still maintaining a narrative thread. I don’t recommend this book if you’re going fast on the treadmill, because you will genuinely laugh out loud, and, if you’re like me, you’ll end up sputtering and coughing and having to assure everyone that you’re perfectly fine even though you’re still chortling.

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Alice Berman is a New York City-based author whose first Audible Originals book, I Eat Men Like Air, was published in September 2019. Alice also sold her book Lost Boys and Technicolor Girls to ABC, where it is currently in development to become a show with Freeform. Hailing from a political family in Washington, D.C., Berman attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, winning the Gibson Peacock Award for creative nonfiction. Berman has lived in London and Los Angeles, where she co-founded the app Shopfeed and served as Creative Director for Pop & Suki.

Find her on Instagram at @alicecanaryplum.