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These days nobody seems to have any time to read, especially with family, careers, schoolwork, athletic teams, any everything else pressing for you time. If you do have a spare moment, it's nice to relax in front of the television, take a nap, or even repaint the front porch. None of those things are especially stimulating, but after a long day of crunching numbers, the last thing most people want is to think.Even though many people even have bookshelves filled with books that they picked up because they looked interesting, or bought in college for a course or book club, it's rare that they ever pull something off the shelf and sit down to read it. Sometimes it seems that those books have sat unread on the shelf for at least a decade.That is where audio books come in. Audio books are the perfect way to read without reading. Similar the children's television shows in the nineties, like Wishbone, or Reading Rainbow, the effort of sitting down, and actually flipping through pages is left to someone else, but you can still benefit. Audio books can be listened to in the car as you drive to and from work, school, or soccer practice. This is ideal because driving leaves your hands and eyes busy, but leaves you to think. You can listen to audio books in the car instead of the radio, or silence, and a normally unproductive period of time becomes a treasured time to relax, think and read.Many audio books can be downloaded off the internet and transferred to an mp3 player, or burned to a CD. This is especially convenient for those who are always doing things that don't require mental labor so much as physical labor. It's perfect for cleaning a house or an office, for repainting the guest bedroom furniture, cooking (unless you're reading a complicated recipe!), or even exercising. In fact, trying to concentrate on Jim Dale's voice as you run could be the perfect distraction from your burning legs, or heaving chest.Another reason that audio books are the perfect entertainment during activities such as the ones listed is that unlike television or film, audio books don't require actually being watched. If you're repainting the furniture, cooking (even with a simple recipe this time) or cleaning, it's easy to make a mistake if you work while trying to see what it is that the camera is pointed at. Television also has a bad habit of distracting people from their work to the extent that instead of trying to watch television while on a treadmill, people just move to the couch. Audio books, on the other hand, are almost easier to listen to on the treadmill because if you just listen to them on the couch you get bored or antsy.So next time you're at the store and a best seller is staring you in the face, promising a good read, don't waste your money on a book that you know will die on the shelf next to your bed. Instead make a stop at the library on the way home, or look online at one of the many music download sites, and get a book that you can actually pay attention to. And when your friends ask if you've read anything good lately, you can honestly say that you have. |
