<p>The advent of audio books has made life a whole lot more meaningful for book lovers who long for a dose of good reading every day and do not have the time for it. Audio books, which can be listened to during a walk or while commuting, have become quite popular thanks to the explosion of personal media players like iPods, portable mp3 players and mobile phones which can play media files. <br /><br />The record-breaking sales (5,75,000 copies) of ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ on audio cassette and CD is a testimony to the soaring popularity of audio books. <br /><br />The primary reason for the rising popularity of downloadable digital audio books among book lovers is the ease with which these can be downloaded and transfer-red to personal medial players, almost immediately. <br /><br />Another convenience is that access to a comprehensive library of titles, a wide variety of book genres covering every category, well almost. <br /><br />Though sometimes the search for audio books could prove gruelling, it is exciting because you can come across a couple of gems by sheer chance! Here are a few websites for you to check out; most of them offer downloads for free.<br /><br />At Booksshouldbefree.com you can check out the top 100 audio books downloadable in mp3 or iTune format, mostly classical literature with reviews and a preview. <br /><br />The NewFiction.com website offers a novel service, ‘iSoaps’ or fictionalised stories, delivered in episodes daily. You can subscribe to these episodes, narrated by trained actors, either play them online or download them to your PC or your portable device (iPod, cell phone etc). <br /><br />ThoughtAudio.com has quite a collection of classical works. You can either listen to them online or download them in segments. You can also view and download the text of some of these books in PDF format. <br /><br />LibriVox.com — readers might recall a review of this website earlier in these columns — is a repository of free audio books in the public domain. You can search the collection using the ‘Catalogue Search’ on the site. An ‘Advanced Search’ option is also available. <br /><br />LibriVox is a volunteer-driven endeavour by enthusiasts who record freely-available books and make them available as mp3 downloads or podcasts. If you wish, you can volunteer too — no qualification other than an audible voice is necessary. <br /><br />Podiobooks.com, like NewFiction.com, offers episodic audio rendition of free audio books as podcasts. These podcasts can be received as RSS feeds or you could download them directly. This audio book site offers 400 plus titles.<br /><br />At Open Culture.com, audio books are just a part of the services offered. The main focus is on educational content garnered from other sites. You can download free courses from universities in mp3 format, language lessons, and a variety of others which encompass subjects like technology, travel, music, and science. <br /><br />LearnOutLoud.com has a large collection of audio books. Its catalogue has 25,000 audio and video titles in a mixture of paid and free content. Just click on the tab marked ‘Free Stuff’ to access and download the free audio books. <br /><br />The Project Gutenberg, the grand daddy of all the endeavours to digitise and archive cultural works in the form of eBooks, works in co-operation with websites like LibriVox and AudioBooks ForFree for creating audio books. The vast collection is alphabetically listed, by author and title. Audio books are available in a number of languages, too. <br /><br />Storynory.com hosts audio books that would appeal to children like ‘A Christmas Carol’, fairy tales, Aesop’s Fables, educational stories, and others. A free audio story can be downloaded, every week. <br /><br />Librophile.com may not offer audiobooks at its website, however, it’s a very handy tool to search for eBooks. Librophile collects and displays eBooks mostly from LibriVox and Audible. Go over the thumbnails to access a sketchy summary and proceed to download the free audio books as a ZIP file. If you prefer, you can play it in the browser, or check it out as a readable eBook. Clicking on a title takes you to the Audible or LibriVox website. <br />Indian websites, such as Chillibreeze at http:// www. chillibreeze.com/ebooks/list.asp and Indian Audio Books at www.IndianAudio Books.com, offer audio books with an Indian flavour. <br /><br />Just about any book can be found in the audio book format. Many of the audio books include a full cast of characters acting out the story to fire your imagination. Log on to discover what an experience listening to an audio book can be.</p>
<p>The advent of audio books has made life a whole lot more meaningful for book lovers who long for a dose of good reading every day and do not have the time for it. Audio books, which can be listened to during a walk or while commuting, have become quite popular thanks to the explosion of personal media players like iPods, portable mp3 players and mobile phones which can play media files. <br /><br />The record-breaking sales (5,75,000 copies) of ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ on audio cassette and CD is a testimony to the soaring popularity of audio books. <br /><br />The primary reason for the rising popularity of downloadable digital audio books among book lovers is the ease with which these can be downloaded and transfer-red to personal medial players, almost immediately. <br /><br />Another convenience is that access to a comprehensive library of titles, a wide variety of book genres covering every category, well almost. <br /><br />Though sometimes the search for audio books could prove gruelling, it is exciting because you can come across a couple of gems by sheer chance! Here are a few websites for you to check out; most of them offer downloads for free.<br /><br />At Booksshouldbefree.com you can check out the top 100 audio books downloadable in mp3 or iTune format, mostly classical literature with reviews and a preview. <br /><br />The NewFiction.com website offers a novel service, ‘iSoaps’ or fictionalised stories, delivered in episodes daily. You can subscribe to these episodes, narrated by trained actors, either play them online or download them to your PC or your portable device (iPod, cell phone etc). <br /><br />ThoughtAudio.com has quite a collection of classical works. You can either listen to them online or download them in segments. You can also view and download the text of some of these books in PDF format. <br /><br />LibriVox.com — readers might recall a review of this website earlier in these columns — is a repository of free audio books in the public domain. You can search the collection using the ‘Catalogue Search’ on the site. An ‘Advanced Search’ option is also available. <br /><br />LibriVox is a volunteer-driven endeavour by enthusiasts who record freely-available books and make them available as mp3 downloads or podcasts. If you wish, you can volunteer too — no qualification other than an audible voice is necessary. <br /><br />Podiobooks.com, like NewFiction.com, offers episodic audio rendition of free audio books as podcasts. These podcasts can be received as RSS feeds or you could download them directly. This audio book site offers 400 plus titles.<br /><br />At Open Culture.com, audio books are just a part of the services offered. The main focus is on educational content garnered from other sites. You can download free courses from universities in mp3 format, language lessons, and a variety of others which encompass subjects like technology, travel, music, and science. <br /><br />LearnOutLoud.com has a large collection of audio books. Its catalogue has 25,000 audio and video titles in a mixture of paid and free content. Just click on the tab marked ‘Free Stuff’ to access and download the free audio books. <br /><br />The Project Gutenberg, the grand daddy of all the endeavours to digitise and archive cultural works in the form of eBooks, works in co-operation with websites like LibriVox and AudioBooks ForFree for creating audio books. The vast collection is alphabetically listed, by author and title. Audio books are available in a number of languages, too. <br /><br />Storynory.com hosts audio books that would appeal to children like ‘A Christmas Carol’, fairy tales, Aesop’s Fables, educational stories, and others. A free audio story can be downloaded, every week. <br /><br />Librophile.com may not offer audiobooks at its website, however, it’s a very handy tool to search for eBooks. Librophile collects and displays eBooks mostly from LibriVox and Audible. Go over the thumbnails to access a sketchy summary and proceed to download the free audio books as a ZIP file. If you prefer, you can play it in the browser, or check it out as a readable eBook. Clicking on a title takes you to the Audible or LibriVox website. <br />Indian websites, such as Chillibreeze at http:// www. chillibreeze.com/ebooks/list.asp and Indian Audio Books at www.IndianAudio Books.com, offer audio books with an Indian flavour. <br /><br />Just about any book can be found in the audio book format. Many of the audio books include a full cast of characters acting out the story to fire your imagination. Log on to discover what an experience listening to an audio book can be.</p>
