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I didn’t believe it the first time I heard a friend of mine say - “I benefit from the reading of 50 books each year… in my spare time”.

Knowing how demanding her time was because of her top position in her job and because she is a single mom, I was certain she was lying and I told her so.

Smiling, she insisted that it was the truth. I would have continued arguing with her until she pointed out to me that she didn’t have to physically “read” them, but they were “read” to her while she listened… in her spare time.

Not giving me any opportunity to argue, she went ahead and played an audio book on her CD player for my perusal.

She explained that this was how she had almost any book she wanted read to her as audio books while she prepared for work in the morning, while she prepared her daughter for school, while she did her exercises each day, while she commuted to and from work and any free time she had on hands that didn’t involve using her mind.

I was surprised, to say the least, that I could have been doing the same thing in my spare time, instead of just commuting to and from work doing nothing.

You see, my work is one that requires a lot of my time involvement. I have to leave home quite early, spend over an hour on the road because of the constant heavy traffic and when I get to work, I work all day until break time and closing time.

From what this friend of mine explained to me, I knew I had to give audio books a try.

I did and was very impressed.

Now, I can proudly say I also benefit from the reading of up to 50 books each year.

Still don’t think it’s possible?

Fine, let’s do the math:

For an audio book that takes 4 hours, you can have it read to you in just two days - 1 hour each day while preparing for work in the morning and 1 hour each day while commuting to and from work. That’s 4 hours in 2 days.

So, if it takes you 2 days to have one audio book read to you, that will be 365 days in a year divided by 2. That will equal about 133 books each year!

That’s over double the original 50 audio books we were targeting, right?

Audio books are indeed the secret formula that many people use to get the value from the best books they want to read. With audio books, you can forget the frustration you always had whenever you force yourself to read any book.

For the bookworms back in college that want to continue reading but can’t afford the time anymore, you now have a solution in audio books.

Whether you want to use your PC, cassette tape player, CD or even any PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), it is now possible and within your reach for peanuts.

To check out how you can listen to some of the #1 best seller books, visit www.merlionaudio.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate, we offer attractive commissions, you can visit www.merlionaudio.com

No I am not giving you a piece of my mind, do not worry! I really mean “Listen up”, that is, to increase the number of times you listen to books. How you may ask? Let’s take a look at the “why” of listening to books before I tell you how to do it.

Many adults have a major problem and that is time. Most of us are busy with work, business, family, kids and more. If we have a choice we would want to sit down, relax and read a good book but we simply do not have our own personal time set aside to do it due to our various obligations and commitments.

However, it should not be use as an excuse to stop enriching our knowledge through books nor forgo deserving breaks from our daily routines. One secret why successful people are busy and yet can accomplish so much is the way they manage their time.

Successful, busy people are constantly looking for ways to make the most use of their “dead time” — such as the time they spend commuting, working out in the gym, doing house chores, running errands, jogging, gardening etc

If you have been struggling to find time to enrich your knowledge from business management gurus, biographies of notable people and other best selling non fiction titles, you can give audio books a try.

All you need is an mp3 player. You will be amazed at how entertaining and fulfilling they really can be when you can make use of your commuting time to enrich your knowledge at work or in school.

With the growing trends in mp3 and digital technologies where most household have fast internet access, you can easily find someone walking along the street with a headset on their ears.

If you are an avid reader, you will quickly realize the power of acquiring knowledge via audio books! Any regular Joe who reads about 10 printed books a year will most likely be able to listen to many more audio books in the same period!

Many successful business people are self-motivated individuals who strive to improve and create better opportunities for themselves. It is not unusual for them to be early adopters of audio books. In the past, audio books were available in the form of audio tapes. With technological advancements, audio books are made available as audio CDs, downloadable files from the Internet and even podcasts.

Some individuals even study a foreign language from audio books. It is less stressful and less tedious as compared to enrolling in a course with boring textbooks because you can get into the “lecture room” anytime you want at your convenience and do away with all the commuting to and fro a physical language school.
You can be a knowledge learner like them. A good way for you to get started listening to audio books is to visit Merlion Audio which offers you one of the largest selections of downloadable audiobooks and spoken word material anywhere on the Internet - and it’s growing daily!

You can find everything from the latest best-selling audio books from major publishers such as the BBC, Brilliance, Harper-Collins, Simon & Schuster and Time Warner through to innovative audio theatre productions from around the world. Titles by any best selling authors and top business gurus like Jack Welch, Peter Drucker, Zig Ziglar, Jack Canfield, Robert Kiyosaki and Robert G. Allen are good audio books you can start with.

Audio books will provide a new way of learning for busy individuals and professionals who want to enrich their knowledge in a multi-tasking environment. This is an increasingly popular mode of knowledge acquisition. Are you ahead of the pack?

To check out how you can listen to some of the #1 best seller books, visit www.merlionaudio.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate, we offer attractive commissions, you can visit www.merlionaudio.com

It’s indeed incredible that not many people pay a great deal of attention to what gets into their minds. You see, the mind is the single most important factor in determining who you are and what you do as an individual.

If your mind is positive and creative, you can become all you ever dream of becoming.

Most of the highly successful people you see in the news today took a great deal of time to work on improving their minds.

Positive and negative thinking are both contagious. All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference and through body language.

People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive persons and shun negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive. They dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.

Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment.

Always visualize only favorable and beneficial situations. Use positive words in your inner dialogues or when talking with others. Smile a little more, as this helps to think positively. Disregard any feelings of laziness or a desire to quit. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks.

We develop our minds by what we put into it. If we are continually putting negative information into our minds, this results to negative thoughts and ultimately negative actions.

So, if you want the opposite creative thoughts, it is pertinent to always get the right kind of information into your mind.

The most common way to do this is by reading the right kinds of books.

Sadly, because of the great demand on our time, only few people still read lots of books, especially after college.

We mostly only have time to read the newspapers and magazines. And guess what? Most newspapers only end up giving us bad news that further increase our negative state of mind.

In order to turn the mind toward the positive, inner work and training are required. Attitude and thoughts do not change overnight.

Read about this subject, think about its benefits and persuade yourself to try it. The power of thoughts is a mighty power that is always shaping our life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but it is possible to make the process a conscious one.

Thankfully with the advent and popularity of audio books, anyone can get the right information into his or her mind without having to “read”.

You can enjoy the benefits of audio books while exercising, commuting to and from your work, etc.

For those who don’t know exactly the audio books to go for, below are some of the 10 best audio books to improve your mind.

1. Build Your Self Esteem Author: Glenn Harrold Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

2. Awaken the Giant Within Author: Anthony Robbins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

3. Develop a Powerful Memory Author: Glenn Harrold
Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Author: Stephen
R. Covey Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

5. How to Win Friends & Influence People Author: Dale
Carnegie Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

6. Awaken the Giant Within Author: Anthony Robbins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

7. Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway Author: Susan Jeffers
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

8. The Power is within You Author: Louise L. Hay Publisher: Hodder Headline Audio books

9. Creating Inner Peace and Calm Author: Glenn Harrold
Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

10. Get Up and Do It! Publisher: BBC Books
Even if the idea seems strange give it a try, as you have nothing to lose, but only to gain. Ignore what others might say or think about you, if they discover that you are changing the way you think.

To check out how you can listen to some of the #1 best seller books, visit www.merlionaudio.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate, we offer attractive commissions, you can visit www.merlionaudio.com

In as much as the audiobook phenomenon isn’t too new, there are still lots of people that don’t know certain things about it.

I must confess that I was also ignorant about certain aspects of audiobooks myself.

During my early days of audiobooks, I had to ask certain questions and today I hear a lot of people asking the same such questions.

Who knows, you might also have such questions and you really want to find the answers to them.

If yes, then below are some of these questions and their answers:

What is an audiobook? An audiobook is simply a book in audio format. Instead of receiving a physical hardcover or paperback book that you have to read, you will be able to have someone reading the book to you when you download the audiobooks online in MP3 format.

What is an MP3 audio book? MP3 is simply a compression technique that makes it possible for reduction to be made to audio books so that they use less space (sometimes as little as 80%) compared to that of cassettes or CDs.

How can MP3 audio books be played? MP3 audio books can be played on any new version of CD players that support the MP3 technology - mostly those that can accept a 4.75 diameter disk. They can also be played on any PC that has Microsoft’s Windows Media Player or other related music software such as Real Media Player. Lastly, they can also be played on any mp3 player such as Creative Zen or Apply iPod.

What is an unabridged audio book? An unabridged audio book is one that was narrated word for word. In such an audio book, nothing was removed from the printed book. It has the exact content with that of the printed book, albeit in audio format.

What is an abridged audio book? An abridged audio book is one that is shortened and doesn’t contain the exact word for word narration as the printed book. Instead, it contain the main and most important points of the original book. In short, it is more concise and straight to the point.

What is a dramatized audio book? A dramatized audio book, as the name implies, is a dramatized “play-life” version of the printed book, with usual full cast, music and sound effects.

How can I find the audio book I would like online? You can visit audio book store and search for the particular title you need.

What are the more popular online book store available? There are a few online book stores with huge collections, please do a search using keywords “Audio Book store” from your favorite search engine

Are these audio book expensive? On the contrary, they are cheaper as there is no physical product or delivery. Most online book store allow user to download it directly.

To check out how you can listen to some of the #1 best seller books, visit www.merlionaudio.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate, we offer attractive commissions, you can visit www.merlionaudio.com

There are some disadvantages to having audio books available in so many different formats, such as tapes or CD. It is much more desirable to have downloadable audio books in digital formats, as these eliminate the problems that come with buying them on CD, such as cost, delivery time and physical storage. The opportunity to purchase downloadable audio books in digital format is much more convenient and less costly than buying books on tape or CD.

Pros of Downloadable Audio Books in Digital Format
You get audio books immediately when downloaded
They are much cheaper
You can get the latest produced audio books

Cons of Audio Books in CD or Cassette Format
The cost is higher
You have to wait for them to come in the mail
They take up physical storage space

There are far more advantages to buying an audio book online where you can download it immediately. You can get an audio book right away as opposed to waiting for it to be produced on cassette tape or CD. It is much more convenient, easy to do, costs less for you and the producer, as well as saving you time as you do not have to wait for an audio book to come in the mail. You can listen to it on various devices (PDAs, MP3 players, on your computer, and more) where and when you want to and as soon as it downloads.

However, it does take time to find an audio book, especially if you are searching for one in particular. You might find that it is not available at your favorite online audio book store and have to search elsewhere. Also, if you have a slow internet connection, it can take a long time to download an entire audio book. You might choose to download it at your office, local cafe or library.

Even with these minor disadvantages, they can all be solved. You can check out other online audio book stores, or even do a search of your own with your favorite search engine. However, if you do not know the name of the author or the title of the audio book, your search will certainly take a bit longer than it would if you already know them.

Even with these disadvantages, buying your downloadable audio books at an online store is still more desirable than buying your audio book on cassette or CD. The pros certainly outweigh the cons in getting your online audio books in a downloadable digital format.

Helen Wall is the author of this article. Visit http://www.AudioBooksBonanza.com to download audio books from an extensive range of titles from top publishers. Join the free newsletter now and get to know about the latest hot off the press titles, receive time limited special offers and discounts, before anyone else.

I am sure that you have heard that listening to something when you are sleeping, increases your chances of retaining that information.

That can be true, because when you are sleeping (or otherwise not really paying attention to what you are hearing), your subconscious is doing the work of taking in the information. Your conscious mind knows right from wrong and files information into different categories. However, your subconscious is completely different. It will take in the information no matter what is right or wrong.

A large number of people believe that the audio book was a very recent invention, but it is not! The Royal National Institute For The Blind created the first audio book in the 1920s. They were listened to on those old record players that you might see in a museum. They have a large horn and a crank handle. Back then, you had to turn the handle in order for the record player to be played and listened to. The audio book has come a long way since then.

You can now listen to audio books on CDs, MP3s, on your PDA and more. You can download an audio book and pay for it on the Internet in as little as a few minutes.

So, what exactly is an audio book?

Well, in the most simplest of explanations, audio books are just books that are meant to be listened to instead of read. Someone has to record his or her voice in a studio in order to create an audio book.

Audio books have been around for a very long time, first introduced in England in the 1920s! However, if we go even further back in time, there were audio books created by the Library of Congress in the United States. The Library of Congress was specifically created for the American Foundation for the Blind. Those audio books were distributed free of cost throughout the United States.

Believe it or not, there is one magazine published that particularly focuses on the audio book industry Audiofile, with Robin Whitten as the Founder and Editor of the magazine. According to Robin Whitten, Caedmon, which is now a subsidiary of Harper Collins Publishers,can be credited with having started the recording of literature as far back as fifty years ago.

Caedmon was a small business in New York that began recording the audio of authors and poets in the 1950s. Some of the most popular recordings at the Caedmon were of Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Fitzgerald, and others. In Caedmon, these authors recorded their own pieces of work and created records to be played. The precise history of the audio book can be argued and is a little controversial.

Of course, records turned into audio book cassette tapes during the sixties, seventies and eighties. However, the audio book gained popularity in the 1990s more than ever.

With the convenience and ease of the Internet, audio books have come a long way, from LPs, records and cassettes to CDs, MP3s, and PDAs. However, you do not have to listen to recently recorded audio books just because the formats have greatly changed over time. You can find and listen to old versions of audio books, even some of the first audio books ever created!

Copyright: Helen Wall

Helen Wall is the author of this article. Visit http://www.AudioBooksBonanza.com to download audio books from an extensive range of titles from top publishers. Join the free newsletter now and get to know about the latest hot off the press titles, receive time limited special offers and discounts, before anyone else.

People love to listen to audio books on tape or CD, but for quite some time they have been provided with alternative methods of enjoying various literary works.

Technological advancements have served to accommodate many different types of media output and more recently, downloadable audio books are becoming very popular. Complete volumes are available in downloadable format and have become a great alternative to printed books.

Audio books have been developed not only as a mainstream method of entertainment but also for providing educators with cutting edge teaching aids for both children and adults who have special needs. Recently, audio books have gained widespread popularity among multi-taskers who want to acquire particular information on a wide range of subjects while involved in other activities like commuting and exercising.

Audio books are available in various formats including unabridged (word for word), abridged (text edited out), and dramatized volumes, which include actors, musical scores and sound effects.

What Type of Audio Book is Right for Me?

As digital devices like iPods and MP3 players become more miniaturized and technologically advanced, they are readily accepted by everyone. Creators of audio books have been quick to take advantage of this trend and thousands of audio books have been developed with various techniques for downloading and retrieval of files.

There are many options available for anyone interested in listening to audio books. If you are a sedentary person and would like to enjoy your audio book from the comfort of your couch or favorite chair, cassette tapes may be the option for you.

Perhaps you spend a lot of time on your computer. As most PCs come already loaded with digital audio players, listening to audio books on your computer is simply a click away. Programs like RealOne Player are perfect for this. If, for some reason your computer does not have the program, you can download it from the RealOnePlayer website.

For those on the go, the new iPods and MP3 players allow users to listen to their favorite audio book while they walk, exercise or commute.

Just Exactly How Do I Download An Audio Book to My Computer?

Most of us have downloaded software files from the internet to our computers at one time or another. Downloading audio books is just as simple. Because audio books are digitally produced with software consisting of sound files, it is quite simple to transfer the files from an internet site that specializes in audio books right onto your home computer. For a nominal fee, your chosen audio-book site will provide you with easy to use instructions for downloading your selection. It only takes a few minutes and then you will be ready to enjoy your audio book.

From there you can either enjoy them via the speakers in your computer, burn them to a CD, which can then be played in any audio CD player or transfer directly to your PDA. The selection is vast and the choice is yours.

Copyright: Helen Wall

Helen Wall is the author of this article. Visit http://www.AudioBooksBonanza.com to download audio books from an extensive range of titles from top publishers. Join the free newsletter now and get to know about the latest hot off the press titles, receive time limited special offers and discounts, before anyone else.