Experts say that listening to audio books can actually improve listening and communication skills, increase vocabulary and can teach the correct pronunciation of words.

How about catching up on your home work? Whith a busy high school or college schedule, listen to your book while on the bus commutung to school

Audio books can be a great study tool. Many books required for English courses can be found as audio books. The same is true for language courses, audio books are a great way to practice and study languages

Or how about for the sheer pleasure of listening to a good, well narrated book

Northern Lights (released in the US and Canada as The Golden Compass)is the first book of His Dark Materials trilogy, is a breathtaking epic adventure spanning a multitude of worlds, sees Lyra and her shape-changing daemon embark on a dangerous quest. In Oxford, Lyra learns that children are being kidnapped by the mysterious Gobblers. When her friend Roger vanishes she determines to find him, and is given a powerful alethiometer which can reveal the truth in all things. After discovering that the adults around her are not what they seem, Lyra and Pantalaimon join forces with a band of gyptians. Travelling north they encounter witch-queens and armoured bears, before being captured and taken to Bolvanger, where children are being used in terrible and secret experiments.

Gripping, full of suspense and often funny, this Northern Lights BBC Radio 4 dramatisation has an all-star cast including Terence Stamp, Emma Fielding, Bill Paterson, Kenneth Cranham, and Ray Fearon.

Penny, The Jenny Blake has a theory about life: big decisions often don't amount to much, but little decisions sometimes transform everything. Her theory proves true the summer she's 14, when she makes the decision to pick up a penny embedded in asphalt and consequently ends up stopping a robbery, getting a job, and meeting someone who changes her life forever--Miss Shaw.

Together they form a friendship that dares both of them to confront secrets in their pasts that threaten to destroy them. Jenny helps Miss Shaw open up to the community around her, while Miss Shaw teaches Jenny to meet even life's most painful challenges with confidence and faith. This unexpected relationship transforms them both in ways neither could have anticipated, and the ripple effect that begins that summer goes on to bring new life to the people around them, revealing how God works in the smallest details even in something as small as The Penny.

The narrator's voice is probably the most important when looking for an audio book. This will vary from person to person, so if you can, listen to an excerpt from the audio book to make sure you like the voice. Audio books are often narrated by the author or a professional actor with music and sound effects to go with the story. Some audio books are narrated by a full cast portraying all the characters.

Good, high quality narration brings the stories alive so you can listen with great pleasure and attention.

Unabridged is read word for word - staying true to the book, whereas abridged means the book has been condensed or shortened.

Summer in Tuscany Gemma Jericho is an overworked New York doctor with a handful of a teenaged daughter and a meddlesome mother.

So when her mother receives a letter of a mysterious inheritance in Tuscany, Gemma sees her chance. She throws caution to the winds and the three leave for Italy. She hopes that a change of scenery will bring back the closeness she used to share with her daughter and give her mother something to worry about beyond Gemmas social life.

What they encounter in Tuscany is a crumbling old villa and a town divided. Half the residents believe that Ben Raphael, another American, is the rightful inheritor of the villa. As cultures clash, gossip soars, and intrigue unfolds, Gemma is caught up in the most disturbing and delicious trouble shes ever had.

Deception Point (Unabridged) When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory-a victory with profound implications for NASA policy and the impending presidential election.

To verify the authenticity of the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic scholar Michael Tolland, Rachel travels to the Arctic and uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery-a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before she can warn the President, Rachel and Michael are ambushed by a deadly team of assassins. Fleeing for their lives across a desolate and lethal landscape, their only hope for survival is to discover who is behind this masterful plot. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all.

Kite Runner, The Set in pre-Taliban and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,

The Kite Runner is a thrilling story about fathers and sons, sin and atonement, injustice and the human yearning for redemption.

There are so many audio books for teens to choose from. First I look for an author I am familiar with, then a catchy title and an interesting description. If I can, I listen to an exerpt from the audio book -is the narrators' voice nice to listen to and appropriate for the type of audio book, is there music or sound effects, is the book read by a cast, do their voices suit the characters.

It is kind of like choosing a book and a movie at the same time, what is it about and who are playing the characters.

You can find audio books at your local library, at book stores and online. Prime audio books is my favourite source. The instructions for downloading are very clear and simple and you don't need extra software. I personally download the audio books and then burn them to a cd so I can bring them in the car. They can also be down loaded to an mp3 player or iPod depending on what system you use and where you want to listen to it.

You can listen to audio books every where and any where! The whole family can listen to audio books in the car for short drives or long drives, or individually on personal mp3 players. Listen to audio books while out walking or execising. When you're home sick, play an audio book to help sleep or to be entertained. When you need quite time. When you are doing crafts or baking or any activity where you can listen to the audio book in the back ground. The possibilities are endless!