Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a book lover. I love books, and I love to read whenever I get the chance. As a child, having my parents read me stories was one of my favorite things, but it wasn't until I made the time as a young adult to open a book, that I rediscovered the joy that books and stories could bring. Although I didn't discover my love of reading until my early twenties, I now have an incredible passion for books, and reading is something that I do, not because I have to, but because I love to do it! My passion is so strong, that I have even converted my wife who is a self confessed non-reader, to a book lover. And now that we have children of our own, I make it a point to instill in them the love for reading that my parents tried to do for me.

Reading to my children has become my role as a parent during our bedtime routine. I have to admit however, that while I tried to make it a habit to read to my kids EVERY night before bed, no matter how tired I was it didn't always work that way. Sometimes life got in the way, and I would entertain the kids, not with the story I was reading, but the snoring that came from me instead when I fell asleep in the middle of the story, exhausted from the day. Although I had big plans to read to my children every night, more often than not it just wasn't possible, but it was still very important to me. I needed to find an alternative plan. In fact, I considered finding a new job that didn't demand as much time from me.

Of course, I continued at the job that I was at, and even found myself getting a promotion which meant that I had even less time to spend reading to my children. I couldn't ask my wife to take over the reading duties; she was already completely overburdened with family life. Despite all of these obstacles, I was still not willing to give up on my plan to instill a love for reading in my children, but it had become clear that I needed another solution. And then, it came to me, the solution to my growing problem had all but smacked me in the face like the proverbial one thousand bee stings. Audio books!

The solution to my problem that not only gave me a remedy but gave me my life back! Let me tell you how much my life has changed since I learnt about audio books! Not only have I gained back the two to three hours a day that my new job position demanded of me, but I have gained many more hours to my life because of audio books.

How have I done this?

Simple! This is how I've maximized my time every day. With the extreme portability of Mp3 players, I have taken the hour that I get ready for work in the morning and turned it into quality listening time, all while I'm getting ready for the day. For the hour it takes me to commute to the office in the morning, every day, I enjoy the latest business audio book on my car CD player, keeping up to date on the current business trends and putting me in the right frame of mind for a productive day at the office.

During my hour lunch break everyday I switch on my Mp3 player for a few chapters of an interesting biography in order to broaden my life knowledge a little bit. For the hour commute home, I switch CD's and listen to a comedy audio book that gives me the chance to decompress, leaving my work at the office, allowing me to effectively deal with the traffic and it puts a smile on my face by the time I get home to my family.

The total time that I have gained back by discovering audio books is at least three hours during what would normally be considered wasted time. I have discovered how to maximize my time enjoyably by listening to audio books. Don't get me wrong, just because I have discovered audio books, does not mean that I don't enjoy reading books anymore. I do read, but audio books allow me to enjoy a much wider variety of books, and many more books than I would normally have the time for if I limited myself only to paper books. The second great way that I use audio books is with my children.

Now, instead of trying to cram some reading time in when I'm exhausted, I play an audio book for them every second night instead. By doing this I have discovered that the kids prefer the audio books to my reading (snoring) and now they devour books like never before! The benefit to the children has been enormous! Not only are they broadening their knowledge base by listening to a wide variety of audio books, but we have noticed an incredible difference in their conversation as well. Not only are they using words that are far beyond their years, but they are using them in the right context with the proper pronunciation! It is really fantastic to see. I mean?hear!

Yes, I am an absolute convert... audio books are wonderful! If you are like most people in today's busy world, you have had similar issues trying to find enough time to fit everything in. Well, I am here to tell you that you can get your life back, and take back that wasted time! Expand your horizons, and fill that empty space by taking advantage of the amazing value of audio books. What use to be a domain only for sight impaired people, has now exploded into all of the best-selling titles being converted to audio book format. Much of this is thanks to the advances in technology and the shear brilliance of mp3's.

Why waste anymore time? Get started now by going online to search for the audio version of that book that you have been dying to read. You may be surprised to find the incredibly wide selection of titles in all genres and age categories that are available. Take it from me, you will only have to listen to one audio book and you will be hooked for life!