Introduction to Free Online Audiobooks

Sometimes (OK usually) I come a little slowly to the benefits of new technology. Its not that I don’t understand how it works, it just takes me a while to really see how it will make my own life better. Take MP3s for instance. Sure, I thought, handy little device, no more CDs to get scratched and you can take it anywhere. But I’m not a teenager who has to constantly be listening to music. In fact, I’m a stay at home mom so when I want music I turn on the radio. Why would I need an MP3 player?


Then one day I got an audio book that I wanted to listen to repeatedly. Unfortunately, not everyone in the house felt the same way. So I figured I would pick up an inexpensive portable CD player and all of my problems would be solved.


Well, it didn’t quite work that way. Every time I moved, the player would skip. And since I was usually cleaning while listening, there was a lot of skipping. This of course was too annoying to tolerate. My first plan was to buy a better quality CD player. But then it hit me.


Why not rip the sound tracks to mp3 files and load the whole book onto an MP3 player. (Aren’t I a genius?) The advantages seemed pretty appealing – no more worrying about scratched CDs, no more having to switch CDs in the middle of the book, no more skipping and the player would be a lot smaller to carry around. Small enough to fit in a pocket or on a handy armband. They cost a bit more than I really wanted to spend, but the advantages made it seem more than worth it.


Yep I finally realized how this new technology would benefit me personally. So I convinced my husband that I needed one for my birthday.


For a while, everything was great. In fact, it was so nice that I found myself listening a whole lot more. And after a while I wanted something new to listen to. Boy was I in for a shock. Sure there were a few audio books out there for around $10, but most were in the range of $25-40. Being a one income family with three kids to keep in clothes, shoes and sporting gear, that was a pretty hefty expense for me. Even if I was “improving my mind”.


So off I went on a journey to figure out how I could get more content without depriving my kids of new shoes. And I found so much great stuff that I wanted to share. After all, everybody should be able to improve their mind while still getting their kids new shoes!