Enjoy Driving With Audio Books

Did you know that A trucker working to the legal limit in the U.S. can rack up to 3,432 driving hours a year—nearly 10 times that of the average New York commuter or enough to listen to the unabridged audio book version of Bill Clinton’s My Life 77 times? (Publishing Trends, Market Partners International, September 2005).

Think of the way audio books could optimize your time management. Audio books can turn the day to a 26 hours day. Yes, audio books can add extra two hours each day. Still not convinced?

Did you know that The average rush hour driver will spend an additional 62 hours stuck in traffic—at standstill—each year and that More than 97 million workers drive alone to work each day.

Well, enough with that pile of useless data, Think about yourself – what have you been doing while driving - Listening to the radio? Making unnecessary calls with your mobile phone? Wasting valuable time?

Now close your eyes and imagine you could read the last edition of the New York Times, Read the last Harry Potter book or learn Chinese – all simultaneously while driving your car. Now open your eyes and stop dreaming, you can do it all now. The only difference is that you are going to use a new method of reading – listening to audio books.

And it is so easy: You may get audio books in different formats from books on tapes and audio books on CD to downloadable audio books. You can get it from different sources – libraries, book and music stores and online audio book sources. You could buy audio books, rent audio books and even get free audio books.

According to eBrain Market Research survey, 71% of the audio book listeners listen to them on long car trips.

Believe me; I couldn’t wait getting into the heavy morning traffic listening to the audio book “IT” by Stephen king. In fact, I couldn’t resist listening to it at home after work. I love audio books.

Classical for Beginners

Now and then, people ask me for advice on where to begin with the daunting world of classical music recordings. They've heard bits here and there, they're curious, they imagine they'd probably enjoy it once they got involved, but they wouldn't know where to look if they walked into -- oops, I mean logged onto eMusic.com and started poking around. My strategy is always to offer a handful of suggestions, in as wide a variety as possible. "Try these," I say. "See what grabs you, and we'll work from there."

That's the idea behind this Dozen. Here are 12 recordings selected to entice people who have had little exposure to classical music, but who know they want more. I've carefully contrived the list to cover a wide range of colors and styles, instruments and moods, shapes and sizes. Some pieces are light, some heavy; some charming, some imposing; some dramatic, meditative, amorous, tragic, lofty, goofy. All in all, the selections encompass 1,200 years of music history -- and they've all been chosen to make a good first impression and whet your appetite. They're "gateway" works, if you will. I'd be surprised if there were anyone who couldn't find something on this list that pleasured and intrigued them. Think of it as a sampler, a tapas menu: if you don't care for the stuffed olives/Renaissance Mass, try the garlic shrimp/20th-century string quartet.

Are these the twelve greatest works ever? No, though some of them could justly claim a place on such a list. Most of these are works I actually have suggested to people, and which have gotten a favorable response. Others I have seen appeal to newbies in ways I never expected. Others are just a few personal favorites which I proselytize for whenever possible.

Gregorian Chant For Easter
Artist: Capella Antiqua, Munich
Release Date: 2006

The recorded history of "classical" music in the Western "art" tradition (so many of these terms are so problematic) begins in the medieval period with music composed for church use -- settings of sacred texts in Latin for choirs singing in unison, just one note at a time. The serene meditativeness of Gregorian chant (named for liturgical reformer Pope Gregory, 540-604, who launched the practice according to legend) has made it popular in recent years, usable as a backdrop for anything from yoga to post-rave chilling. There are plenty of chant CDs out there, some with hipper packaging, but these performances by the male voices of Capella Antiqua, Munich, surrounded by a cathedral-like halo of reverb, are stately and gorgeous.





Ockeghem: Requiem
Artist: Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès
Release Date: 1993

A friend of mine, also a musician, has played a number of classical pieces for his infant son, and reports that Allen seems to like the music of Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410-1497) best. It could be the way this Renaissance composer weaves voices together to create a sort of ear-blanket. Or perhaps this music's low gentle murmuring reminds him of sounds in utero. Either way, the Ensemble Organum's performance of this Requiem (a Mass to honor the dead) is spacious and calm, but also possesses a sort of authoritative, virile resonance.

Bach: Six Concertos for the Margrave of Brandenburg
Artist: Trevor Pinnock
Release Date: 2008

Incomparably joyous and sparkling, these six pieces can claim to be both the greatest of baroque instrumental works and, with the possible exception of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" concertos, the most popular. Composers in the baroque era (roughly 1600-1750) prioritized a musical skill called counterpoint, the practice of combining independent instrumental or vocal lines into a complex whole. Johann Sebastian Bach had no rivals (and surely never will) in this art, giving every section of the orchestra something rewarding -- and fun -- to do. He built structures of grandeur and irresistible energy. Each of these concertos are scored for a different combination; if you'd like a taste, try the first movement of the Concerto no. 2, in which four bright-toned soloists (violin, flute, oboe and trumpet) dance festively around the accompanying string orchestra, or the fleet finale of the Concerto no. 3, a whirlwind showpiece for strings alone.

MOZART: Overtures
Artist: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

After Bach and his contemporaries had brought Baroque counterpoint to its peak, composers of the next generation reacted by lightening the texture of their music. The melody line dominated, and the middle and bass instruments were entrusted with harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment rather than with independent lines of their own. This new style, though, was no less bubbling and energetic -- see the overtures (instrumental preludes) which Mozart (1756-91) wrote for his operas. Brilliant attention-getters, arresting but never too pompous, full of catchy tunes, cheeky wind solos and stirring trumpet-and drum passages, these overtures are played with great verve by Capella Istropolitana.






CHOPIN: Etudes Opp. 10 and 25
Artist: Freddy Kempf
Release Date: 2004

Frederic Chopin's music, full of innovations in nuances of harmony and delicate coloristic effects, pushed the boundaries of what a piano could do. In these two sets of etudes (completed in 1832 and 1836), he also pushed piano technique, making unprecedented demands of virtuosity in works that are still among the most richly dazzling ever written. Not all the pieces are finger-tanglers, though; some are studies in sensitive touch and singing melody. Though pianist Freddy Kempf's technique is precise, these etudes are for him poetry first; in op. 10 no. 3 in E or op. 25 no. 1 in A-flat, he phrases the surface melody with the expressivity a great vocalist might bring to it.

Pearl Fishers and Other Famous Operatic Duets
Artist: Various Artists

It occurred to me that an album of duets might make an even better introduction to opera than one of solo arias -- even though those big diva/divo moments are what the general public thinks of when they hear the term opera. Duets, of course, display the character interplay that the dramatic side of opera is all about: love, conflict, friendship -- or betrayal, as in the searing finale to Act II of Verdi's Otello, when Iago falsely swears loyalty to the title character. Two rapturous and justly popular duets recorded here come from French operas, the rest from Italian. Complete recordings of many of these operas are also available on eMusic, so if these excerpts whet your appetite, you can move on to explore the entire work.


Dvorak / Haydn / Shostakovich: String Quartets
Artist: Quartetto Cassoviae
Release Date: 2000

Contained on this disc is a mini-history of the string quartet itself: an elegant, buoyant piece (1799) by Franz Josef Haydn, a pioneer of the form; a fragrantly tuneful example (1893) by Antonin Dvorak, written under the influence of American folksong; and a bitter, semi-autobiographical work (1960) by Dmitri Shostakovich, reflective of his state of mind during a life lived under Soviet oppression. The Quartetto Cassoviae's performance of this last quartet is perhaps the disc's most impressive: it's taut, wiry, grippingly expressive and even a little nightmarish.
 
Alexander Borodin: Symphony No.2 - Conducted by Carlos Kleiber & Erich Kleiber
Artist: Kleiber
Release Date: 2003

I chose this symphony because I clearly remember my sister, eight or nine at the time, dragged to one of my school orchestra concerts and, at its conclusion, telling me she liked this piece best. The brusque gesture that launches Alexander Borodin's Second Symphony (1876) is definitely one of the more arresting openings: glowering, passionate and Russian, Russian, Russian. Compare it to the sinuous oboe melody that comes later, and you hear the two sides of Borodin's musical personality: barbaric vs. sensuous, both tinged with the exotic folk colors of ancient Asian tribes. This disc is also the only one I know that offers father-son performances of the same work, by Erich (1890-1956) and Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004).

STRAVINSKY: 125th Anniversary Album - The Rite of Spring / Violin Concerto (Stravinsky, Vol. 8)
Artist: Jennifer Frautschi

When Igor Stravinsky got a commission to write music for a ballet depicting ancient fertility rituals, did he intend from the start to revolutionize musical history? He filled his colorful score (completed in 1913) with pounding, asymmetrical rhythms and harsh dissonances -- unprecedented elements at the time; he's one of the many composers in the first few decades of the 20th century who tossed a bomb into the middle of Romantic-era assumptions about what music could be. This earthy, viscerally intense showpiece still startles audiences -- especially those who see classical music as something stuffy and genteel. Think of it as heavy metal classical. Robert Craft, a longtime colleague of the composer, conducts a particularly gutsy and un-pretty performance.

Strauss: Symphonia Domestica / Eine Alpensinfonie / Oboe Concerto / Duett-Concertino
Artist: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Release Date: 2006

This disc shows the two sides of composer Richard Strauss. In the Symphonia domestica (1903) and Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony, 1915), he capped the tradition of German romanticism with two of the grandest and most opulent orchestral works ever; in his two nostalgic concertos (one for oboe from 1945, the other for clarinet and bassoon from 1947), he revived the spirit of Mozart in slender, tuneful, but autumnal pieces for a (much) smaller orchestra. Oboe soloist Jonathan Small, in particular, plays with ravishing fluency, and conductor Gerard Schwarz is especially adept in this soaring, sweeping music.

Daughters Of The Lonsome Isle
Artist: Margaret Leng Tan
Release Date: 1994

Just by inserting screws, rubber erasers and other tidbits between a piano's strings, John Cage (1912-1992) was able to turn the instrument into a miniature percussion orchestra. This was just one of the avant gardist's many innovations. On this disc, keyboardist Margaret Leng Tan, the world's foremost toy piano virtuoso, pays homage to Cage's experiments, his rhythmic vitality and the Zen-inspired spirit that led him to ask profound conceptual questions about music. But even as Cage challenged traditional notions of music, it's not hard to find great beauty, wit, depth and spiritual gentleness in his work. It's scarcely possible, for example, not to fall in love with Cage's pulsing, gnomic Bacchanale or the elegiac In the Name of the Holocaust, which proves that the instrument he called a "prepared piano" was just as capable of stark intensity.

Reich: Different Trains
Artist: The Duke Quartet, Andrew Russo & Marc Mellits

As a child in the early '40s, composer Steve Reich used to travel across the U.S. by train each year. In thinking about the very "different trains" he could have been riding as a Jew had he grown up in Europe, Reich was inspired to compose this powerful work for string quartet and tape. Snippets of recorded interviews with actual railroad employees are woven among the urgently churning string parts, with their licks echoing the speakers' vocal inflections. Also included here is Reich's 1967 Piano Phase, which was a groundbreaking early work that used a compositional technique that caught his imagination: complex rhythmic effects achieved by subtle shifts in temporal coordination between musicians, creating a trance-like rippling effect.

Audio Book Myths Or The “Audio Book Phobic“ People

Audio books are becoming more and more popular. Yet, there are a lot of individual people that are afraid of trying audio books – they are the “audio book phobic” people.

I have interviewed some of them recently and collected the so called reasons that separate them from the audio book world. I have proven to each one of them that those reasons are only myths and even succeeded in persuading some of them to try those threatening audio books. Here are the main myths I have encountered:

1. I believe audio books are expensive – wrong. In fact, there are free downloadable audio books online. Audio books on mp3 files are usually cheaper than the same title in its book version. Audio book on Cd and books on tape could cost more but are still not expensive.

2. I think that audio books will never be a good substitute for the “real” books – Right. Audio books’ publishers do not see audio books as potential books substitutes. They are only an extension for the book concept. You can learn foreign languages or learn history by listening to audio books – You will enjoy it more this way than reading a book about it. Audio books are intended for the times of the day when you can not read books.

3. I have no time to listen to audio books – Wrong. Most of the people listen to audio books driving, cleaning the house, jogging etc. You can not read books in these times. Did you know that the average annual delay due to traffic congestion has more than tripled since 1982 and that More than 19 million commuters travel more than 45 minutes each way to their jobs. In fact, More than 97 million workers drive alone to work each day;

To sum up, to all of you “audio book phobic” people who claim they can not afford audio books. Listen to me; you can not afford not listening to audio books.

Apple Mp3 Player: If You Are Traveling Abroad!

Mp3 technology has taken off since its debut in 1995. Desired by teenagers and respected by adults, the mp3 format’compression allows for large audio files to be utilized without using large amounts of storage space.

Apple iPod Nano

One of the most exciting Apple mp3 player models introduced by Apple Company lately is the Ipod namo 4GB mp3 player, which is considered as the tiniest color iPod in the market today. This tiny Apple mp3 player is smaller than a #2 pencil and could store up to 1,000 songs! This means that if you have the Apple iPod nano 4GB mp3 player, you can enjoy up to 14 hours of non-stop music wherever you are.

If you are traveling on the road on your own, you will never be bored with this Apple mp3 player around. The Apple ipod nano 4GB mp3 player is a state of the art gadget. It is USB and FireWire compatible so you can easily download music from your computer into this Apple mp3 player.

If you are one of those people who usually purchase music online, you can just download everything into your Ipod nano anytime. Aside from giving you very clear digital sound, this newest member of the Apple mp3 player family also gives you audiobooks, podcasts and built-in games. If you are traveling long distance and would like to take a short break, you can just
pull up at a rest stop and play some games in your Apple mp3 player. Some of the popular brands already on the market are: Apple, Microsoft, Creative

Labs, iRiver and SanDisc. An internet search for mp3 players can boggle the mind with the brands, prices, reviews, features and accessories available. One of the most important features to consider in an mp3 player is storage space. The amount of storage on an mp3 player is advertised in GB or MB.

Now for the math lesson

A 1 GB mp3 player has one gigabyte of storage which is equal to 1024 megabytes-abbreviated MB. One megabyte is equal to 1,048,576 bytes and a byte is equal to eight bits. Bit is a combination of two words: binary and digit. A bit is defined as the smallest unit of information in a media storage device and is represented as a 0 or 1. Are you confused yet? Remember 'The Matrix'?

The characters could read that code of zeros and ones at a glance and form a picture in their minds. That is essentially what a computer or mp3 player does and then passes that "picture" on to you in the form of your favorite song or audio book.

Choosing a byte

Choosing how many megabytes or gigabytes you will need in an mp3 player depends on what you are going to store and how much. An mp3 player can be used to store audio books for listening on the go. Audio book lovers may require a higher level of storage. The most popular use of mp3 players is listening to music.

Choosing a storage size for music files depends mainly on how many songs you want to store on your mp3 player. A 1 GB mp3 player is a good choice for anyone who is unsure about how much storage will be necessary. Most 1GB mp3 players hold about 240 songs at an average song length of four minutes.


A 1GB mp3 player may cost $80 to $180, depending on the brand and features desired. A review of available brands is easily found online to help you choose. If you prefer the good old fashioned, face to face shopping approach, most sales persons in your local electronics store can answer any lingering questions you might have.

While mp3 players are available with storage sizes of mere megabytes to 60GB and above, the 1GB mp3 player is a good starting point for the music enthusiast.

If you are traveling abroad, your Apple mp3 player could keep you keep track of the time at home and any other parts of the world. Since your apple mp3 player is equipped with a built-in world clock, you will never have any trouble tracking the local of other places around the globe.

Furthermore, your mp3 player can also help you remember your appointments. This tiny apple mp3 player has a calendar and daily appointment menu where you can easily store and review your daily appointments. With its vivid color display and touch sensitive click wheel, you can just choose the functions that you like with so much ease.

Audio Books – What’s Hot For 2006?

2006 is already here and many ask me what we should expect of the emerging interesting market of Audio Books. Audio books have been here for over 20 years and they have become so popular in the last couple of years but yet I claim that the audio books revolution has just begun.
Find out the hot trends in the audio books market for 2006:

1. Less audio books on CD and cassettes and more downloadable audio books – MP3 audio books and other formats of digital audio books will become cheaper and more reachable, While audio books on CD and books on tape are much less convenient and user friendly. The amount of podcast listeners who download audio books from the internet to listen on their mobile devices such as iPod will rise significantly.

2. Audio book rental services will become the most common method of listening to audio books – Similar to the DVD market, most audio book listeners will prefer renting audio books instead of buying them. This trend will be the strongest for downloadable audio books but also true for audio books on CD and books on tape.

3. Free audio books – More online audio book services will offer low cost and free audio books by free trials and special sales.

4. Audio books will invade Europe – While the audio book market in the United kingdom is developed and have reached a turnover of 124$ million in 2004, The market in Germany is constantly rising and have already reached a turnover of 120$ million in 2005. The audio book market in the whole continent is expected to rise in about 20% during 2006.

Sony has also recognized the emerging market of digital audio books and has recently announced of a new audio book mobile player. The new product will let the users store and listen to digital audio books and is predicted to gain the same popularity as the “iPod”.

Audio books will be a part of everyone’s life. Join the audio book revolution

Audio Books – 10 Frequently Asked Questions – Part 1

My friends and colleagues consider me as the audio books expert. They tell their friends that they know an audio books expert and the outcome is that I keep getting dozens of audio books questions and inquiries each day. I have decided to gather the most frequently asked questions for everyone’s benefit.

Here are the top five frequently asked questions about audio books (and the answers of course):

1. Are there free audio books? How do I get them?
In one word: NO. In two words: Not exactly. Depends of the type of audio book you are looking for (downloadable audio book are cheaper than the other types), and the audio book title (new audio books cost more), you could find low cost audio books.

I believe that one should pay for each product or service he gets. Yet, you could find free audio books mostly by signing up for the free trials most of the online audio book services give you.

2. What is better – Audio books rental or audio books buying?
I personally prefer audio books rental. Mostly because of the price – I read a lot of audio books and it will simply cost too much to buy them all. However, audio books that I really like, Ones that I want to listen to time after time, I buy and keep them on my audio books library.

Yet, I have friends who are more possessive – they are not willing to rent audio books and they must hold a remarkable huge audio book library.

3. What do you suggest – downloadable audio books, audio books on CD or books on tape?
Well, that’s a tough question. Basically, I believe that the most worthy audio books format nowadays is downloadable audio books. You must own a media player (e.g. Ipod) to listen to it. Yet, it costs less than the others and has a better quality.

However, the widest collection of audio books could be found on the audio books on CD format. If you want to listen to old books you will find them only on CDs.

I do not recommend getting books on tape (also known as audio books on cassettes). They are expensive, low quality and not user friendly.

4. When can I read audio books?
The answer is - Anytime and anywhere. Here are a few examples: While cooking, cleaning the house, exercising, running, walking, driving, flying, before going to sleep, commuting, working etc.

5. Are audio books expensive?
Audio books are not expensive at all. In fact, Downloadable audio books are very cheap – they cost much less than real books and renting them is the most worthy deal. Audio books on CD cost about the same as real books and books on tape are the most expensive ones.

Audio Books – 10 Frequently Asked Questions – Part 2

The audio books era is already here. I keep hearing phrases like: Audio book rental, free audio books, audio book club, audio books on CD, online audio book rental services etc.

Here are the next five frequently asked questions about audio books (and the answers of course):

6. What kinds of audio books do you recommend to listen to?
Listen to audio books that you would read. Meaning, if you like thrillers, listen to thriller audio books, if you are looking for children books, get children audio books etc.

Yet, I suggest you get to know more other successful audio books kinds such as language tutorials and motivation audio books.

7. Are the old fashioned books going to disappear?
I don’t think so. In fact, I still prefer reading books before I’m going to sleep. The experience is a different one, and some people still prefer the old books. Yet, I believe that the reading habits of most of the world’s population will change in the next century thanks to audio books.

8. Can I find any book in an audio book format?
Unfortunately not any book could be found as an audio book. Yet, almost any new book and any bestseller from the last century are getting published as an audio book. Most of the old books could be found in the format of books on tape and the new ones as downloadable audio books and audio books on CD.

9. How can I listen to downloadable audio books?
You could listen to downloadable audio books using a media player on your desk top or your note book computer. However, most people use audio players like iPod to listen to downloadable audio books.

10. Where should I get my audio books?
The best place to get audio books from would be one of the online audio book services.

Audio Books For Disabilities

Audio books for disabilities are amazingly satisfying for anyone with a disability. They can be very educational and interesting for those with handicaps like vision impairments, limited use of limbs and many other things that make reading normal books more difficult, even for people who have difficulty reading like the elderly, or people who are sick and bed ridden or in hospital, it is a great way to pass the time, and is a great way to expand your mind at the same time. Audio books for disabilities are generally aimed at those with visual impairments who cannot read without someone actually reading to them.

Audio books for disabilities open up a whole new world of wonder, to the adventures that can be found in books, and a myriad of information that is out there waiting to be learned. This technology has helped to bridge the separation between those with disabilities and those who are able bodied, and has allowed many disabled people to extract a huge amount of pleasure from these books.

There are so many benefits to audio books for disabilities that have opened so many people’s eyes. It just shows how it is always possible to overcome barriers, no matter how large they seem. Nowadays even the vision impaired can enjoy sitting down in a comfy lounge chair and getting stuck into a good book as a favourite past-time, which is something that was just not possible in the past unless there was the aid of someone else reading it out.

People who are blind, or those with vision impairment are generally accustomed to using brail to read anything, however the collection of brail books is limited and it is not easy to find the books you want written in brail. This has been overcome and made much simpler with the introduction of audio books for disabilities. It makes reading a much more simple and enjoyable task for those with this impairment. It is much simpler than reading brail, takes less time, and makes it easier to concentrate on what is being said.

The collection of audio books for disabilities is ever growing, there are more and more companies bringing out audio books and completing books that have been previously published in the style of audio books for diabilities, so there is always more stories and more educational products to be listened to. With this advancement of audio books for disabilities we are bridging the separation between those with disabilities and everyone else.

Audio Books - 5 Unheard of Uses

Five Reasons to Listen to Audio Books You May Never Have Thought Of

The typical hardcover or paperback book is not going anywhere. The format shows no signs of ever dying off, even after considering the many technological advances made in recent years. It would, however, be foolish to deny the obvious and not so obvious benefits of listening to audio books. Here are some ways audio books could be put to use:
1. Do you like reading poetry? Then experience it in the way it was meant to be experienced: with your ears! Back in the good old days, it was not uncommon for poets to recite their works before a swooning audience. The great Irish poet and playwright, W.B. Yeats, was said to have written poetry in such a manner that, when vocalized, it would have a certain effect on the ears of its hearers. If you like the writings of T.S. Eliot, there is actually available a recording, on compact disc, of Mr. Eliot himself reading his own poetry. It’s obviously a fascinating investment for fans of Eliot. It’s only one in a series called The Voice of the Poet.
2. Fight road rage while listening to audio books—seriously. Statistics show that violent crime resulting from what is commonly known as “road rage” has increased tremendously over the past couple of years. If you happen to be one of those individuals with a bit of a mean-streak when behind the wheel, then don’t take to the boulevard without Waitley’s Optimal Stress Reduction in your passenger seat—or simply check out a few of the innumerable audio book titles available from an audio book rental club or in your local book store in the self-help section
3. Revisit the “Golden Age of Radio”. It is now possible to find a vast array of classic radio dramas on compact disc. Fans of The Shadow radio program have known this, and are undoubtedly pleased. Also, if you happen to like The Twilight Zone television series, then try to get your hands on a copy of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas—Lou Diamond Phillips and Adam West are among the talent contributing to these programs.
4. Struggling in child-rearing? Audio books just might be part of the solution. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a hit with the kids (just as every other Harry Potter book has been); and an obvious choice might be an audio book from the Lord of the Rings series—these classic Tolkien works are available in abridged and unabridged editions.

5. Learn another language… in your sleep. When you fall asleep your brain doesn’t just turn off. On the contrary, research has shown that the sleeping brain does receive, process and perhaps even store information. So why not use your good nights sleep effectively by listening to one of the many foreign language audio books. And while this technique may not be the only means of mastering a second or third language, it will make things a little bit easier.

If these uses don’t seem practical to you, they might put you in the mindset to think of your own ways to utilize audio books. And although some may say that listening to audio books is no substitute for reading, the growing popularity of audio book rental services such as Jiggerbug.com may eradicate paper books completely or at least come close!

Audio Books On CD For First Time Users

Audio books on CD are the ultimate modern gift for you, for your friends or family members. Audio books on CD have many benefits from optimizing your time management by listening to audio books while driving or exercising to using them as an effective method of education for children or learning languages.

But what do you have to do to start? Which audio books should you start with? Do you have to buy the audio books? Read on and find out the answers to these questions and others. Just follow the next steps:

1. Ask yourself when you are going to listen to the audio books on CD – Before going to sleep at night, while driving, while cleaning the house etc.

Depends on your answer decide which kind of audio books you would like to listen to. For example if you will listen to CD audio books while cleaning the house, you will probably want to listen to a romance or an easy listening audio book.

2. Ask yourself how often you would listen to audio books. If you will listen to audio book on CD for more than an hour a day, you should rent audio books instead of buying them.

3. Now after answering those questions you can move on to the real thing. Go to one of our recommended audio books on CD sources (You could find the link by scrolling down to the end of this document) and check if the titles you are interested in are available. The recommended audio book sources have a great selection, customer service and prices so you don’t have to check elsewhere.

4. Take the time to read the different rate plans and programs and choose the most appropriate to you. Don’t worry, all the recommended Audio books on CD sources have free trials so you could always cancel and get your money back.

5. Fill in your personal and payment details and choose the audio book titles.

6. You will get the CD audio book delivered to your house within a couple of days.

Did you know that CD sales revenue has increased from 35 percent in 2002 to 45 percent in 2003.
It is so easy to start listening to audio books on CD and it enhances your life productivity. Try it. You will not regret it.