In today fast-paced, multi-tasking environment most people can ill afford the luxury of spending hours relaxing beside an open fire with a good book. Most neither have the time nor the inclination to spend precious hours devoted to one particular task. For this reason, audio books have taken the marketplace by storm.

Audio books are recordings of the contents of a book provided either on tape, CD or in digital format. Their popularity is increasing daily as more and more people take advantage of the high performance capabilities of combining book reading with physical activity. Wireless recording and playback devices, like iPod and MP3 have opened up a whole new, virtual world to literary works and information data never before experienced.

Unabridged (word for word), abridged (some editing done) or fully dramatized with award winning soundtracks and professionally portrayed characters, audio books are gaining more and more acceptance by busy people who want to use the time spent exercising, standing in line or commuting from one place to another more productively.

Audio books, with their capabilities of providing full text self-help guides, biographies, niche-market information and even fully scripted novels are filling a gap for many busy people, proving them with the opportunity to become pleasantly distracted from some of the more routine, tedious tasks that eat away their days.

The latest, technologically advanced concept of downloading digital files to portable devices has added tremendously to the popularity and functionality of audio books. With minimal effort and basic equipment, everyone can easily take advantage of the many perks of books on tape.

Fitness aficionados are rapidly jumping on the audio book bandwagon. In addition to offering sometimes hard to get incentive for actually beginning a fitness regime, audio books via wireless devices are so captivating in some cases that people find themselves spending a little longer on the treadmill - just so they do not have to stop listening to their favorite tapes in mid- chapter.

Conversely, audio books offer a more casual pace for reading than the printed word. Typically, most readers comprehend text at a rate of about 400 words per minute, whereas most audio is provided at about 100 words per minute. This leisurely pace of absorption appeals to many people because it allows for a more easily attained artist-listener interaction. Audio interpretation of the printed word allows listeners to develop their own visual interpretations on characters and plot, thereby increasing reader enjoyment.

Although audio books are wonderful tools for providing information or respite to on-the-go people, they also take us back to a more nostalgic time when storytelling was definitely a two-way street between orator and listener.