I love to read, yet I cannot do this while I am driving. So I have found a great way to get my read on while doing a number of mundane tasks like driving, working out or house work. Daa daa dee dumm…. The Audio book.
There are several ways to get audio books, but one of my favourite is to download them for free from the library. First you need a library card from your local library. Then you go online and search for digital audio books from your local Library Network. With a little searching using Google you should be able to find the digital books and media tab within your local library’s website. Then create an online account.
With download media available 24/7, your library is always open. Many libraries use the overdrive media software to download these books onto your computer. You can only “borrow” the book from your library for a short period of time, anywhere from 1 – 3 weeks before the book expires from Overdrive media and is no longer available. However, once you transfer the book from Overdrive media to your Ipod, it is available for an indefinite period of time on your Ipod and it does not expire. Just be sure your Ipod is set up to manually manage music on your Itunes.
Once this is done you can add and remove books at your leisure. Please note you can usually only have five digital books signed out at a time, so it is a good idea to have numerous books on your ipod so you are never without a good book to listen to. Also, high demand books are not always immediately available, but you can request them and with a little foresight, you will always have something good available.
I find the selection through the library is extensive, even if it is not all encompassing.
Another method is through Audible.com, which is an Amazon company. You can join with a gold membership and receive your first book free when you sign up and then if you choose to continue, you can receive one audio book per month for the first 3 months for a monthly fee of $7.95 and thereafter it is $14.95 per month. You have the option to cancel at anytime, so this is another great method when you consider that most audio books usually go for over $20.
Question to ponder: Do you listen to audio books, if so what is your experience with them and why do you listen instead of read?