| It might come as a surprise to you that the concept of | | | | convenient travel center further along your route. |
| the audio book rental first became fashionable way | | | | Great system! |
| back in the 1970's. At that time, audio books began to | | | | You can see the benefit to the listener: not everybody |
| proliferate as mass distribution began to kick in. City | | | | has computer (or internet) access and so the usual |
| and town libraries were the first establishments to | | | | audio book club system is worthless as you are unable |
| offer audio books as a sideline to actually reading | | | | to download the material. Audio book rentals also have |
| books! | | | | a far wider collection of fiction and non-fiction, often |
| Gradually, those people who had recordings of their | | | | available in a variety of formats (do you remember |
| favorite novels began to branch out and look for | | | | cassettes?). |
| further recordings. New sites began to appear on the | | | | Is there a downside? Well, I guess it depends on how |
| web where folks could subscribe and then download | | | | much time you can put aside to listen to your audio |
| public domain recordings of novels and stories that | | | | book. With a downloaded audio book you can spend |
| were no longer in copyright. At first, these sites had a | | | | as much time as you want and listen at your leisure. If |
| limited choice of recordings and didn't provide modern | | | | you rent, you may not get to the end of your book |
| fiction and non-fiction. It was inevitable, therefore, that | | | | before it needs to be returned to the audio book rental |
| people would look towards audio book rentals as a | | | | club. Also, unlike downloads, you may find yourself |
| viable alternative. | | | | competing with other readers (listeners!) for popular |
| The great thing about audio book rentals (a type of | | | | titles. As a result, you may have to be put on a waiting |
| audio book club) is that you can usually get an unlimited | | | | list until the copy becomes available. Remember, |
| number of audio books, tapes, CDs, etc, to rent. Audio | | | | depending on the company, there might be limited |
| book clubs are not usually 'unlimited.' However, rates | | | | stock available so this needs to be taken into |
| can vary quite a bit and so you should shop around, | | | | consideration. However, usually this isn't such a problem |
| especially as different rental companies offer varying | | | | and audio book rentals usually take account of the |
| lengths of rental and ways of returning material. Also, | | | | needs of their customers. They will have conducted a |
| you might be lucky and get an audio book rental free | | | | great deal of market research and so can offer |
| trial in which you can assess the system. | | | | different options and services for all budgets. |
| The whole process should be familiar as many people | | | | So, audio book rentals are a great way to listen to |
| already use rental services for hiring out DVDs. As an | | | | classic literature or educate yourself with informative |
| example, some audio book rental companies focus on | | | | non-fiction. Just be aware that 'time' is an important |
| making audio books available at travel centers on | | | | factor when accessing books in this manner and also |
| major highways. Truckers and traveling salesmen use | | | | costs can vary considerably as well. |
| these services frequently to speed up those long, | | | | Give it a try and enjoy another method of accessing |
| lonely hours on the road. Once your favorite novel has | | | | interesting literature! |
| bought, you can listen to it and then return it to a | | | | |