Audio Books: More Than Mere Learning Tools

Audio books have made our lives easier by giving education through listening. They can be great entertainers for kids. They give us the comfort of listening to them anywhere and anytime. These electronic books can become our best companion. Apart from allowing us to listen to latest books, they entertain us in many ways. Whether you are driving your car or shopping in a mall, these books can be used anytime. They are available in the form of audio cassettes and CDs. These inexpensive equipments can be downloaded free from various websites. The consumer can easily order an audio book online. They are much more than just learning tools. They can be found in a vast range of subjects like classics,fiction, etc. While listening to these books, one can easily perform other tasks too.Parents can now encourage their children to listen to these books and children would also happily agree to it. This is the best way to enjoy a story. One can increase his learning skills and gain more knowledge by listening to them. When our kids start growing, their schedules start becoming more hectic. Sometimes they feel bored after studying books. With these electronic books, they would rather enjoy their studies. They can also listen to various stories to refresh their minds. No doubt, these books are a convenient way to listen to classic stories. They are also beneficial for the blind people. They are a great learning material for us as they provide a totally dramatised edition of the printed books. They are sometimes called as talking books as they offer background sound effects to entertain us and they can hold hours of sound recording. You can become more efficient in your work while listening to these books. They are downloadable and can be copied to your hard drive, MP3 player or CD.In the area of education, audio books have become an amazing way to impart knowledge. You can also take an audio book while you are on a holiday. They are lightweight devices which come complete with a battery and earpieces. While listening to them, if you feel like taking a break, you can pause it and then resume listening to them again from the exact place you left the story. They have become an astounding way of entertaining ourselves with interesting stories.

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The Top Five Epic Fantasy Series of All Time

There are a lot of massive epic fantasy series out there. And many of them are simply great. They introduce us to complex and rich new worlds. And the experience we have with them can itself last for years because each series has multiple novels and some are still being added to. Here are the top five.The Shannara series by Terry Brooks - There are currently twenty books in the Shannara series and they are roughly broken down into trilogies. It all began in 1977 with the release of the first book The Sword of Shannara. This series of books is often heralded as the rightful heir to the Lord of the Rings. I have to agree :) I read the first book when it came out and fell in love with the series. The books all take place in Shannara but cover a lot of time and a lot of different characters. If you are considering an adventure into Shannara you should start with the first book of the first trilogy The Sword of Shannara. The second book is The Elfstones of Shannara which is currently being made into a major motion picture. The third book of the trilogy is The Wishsong of Shannara.The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan - This is a series of books that currently number eleven. The twelfth and final book is scheduled to be out in the Fall of 2009 and Robert Jordan passed away while working on it but he had done extensive interviews and work with Brandon Sanderson who will complete it for him. It's a wonderful series of books and is extremely large! The page count of each book goes anywhere from 700 to 1100 pages. I personally devoured the first five books in the series one right after the other. After reading the first I ordered the second and so on right through the first five. Well written and very complex. Nice stuff but does get some criticism for tending to keep you hanging all the time (and for its massive page count). I would say this series is a bit more serious than the Shannara series. The First book is The Wheel of Time and the Second Book is The Great Hunt.The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind - The first book in this series is Wizards First Rule. I have read the first three books in this series and thoroughly enjoyed them. I will get to the others eventually. The Very first book is just phenomenal. It was released in 1994 to much critical acclaim. You may want to get the box set of the first three novels. You are going to burn through the first one pretty quick. The Sword of Truth Books 1-3: Wizard's First Rule, Blood of the Fold, Stone of Tears are all masterfully crafted books.The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever – There are currently eight books in this series and the first book is being made into a major motion picture. - Of all the series I have read this is my absolute favorite. I have read through the whole series twice. This world stands apart from the others for a couple of reasons. True it is a fantasy work with all the usual things like magic, wizards, big battles and well you know. But it is also very sharply balanced by a peculiar main character - Covenant. He is a leper and a bit of an anti-hero. For a portion of the story he doesn't believe what is happening and he doesn't want to be the hero. There is a very strong internal conflict in him and it goes nicely with the external conflict. The first book Lord Foul's Bane was released in 1977 The most recent book in the series is Fatal Revenant and it was released in October of 2007 so this is a nice current series with another book coming. A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin - This is a series of currently four books and the first book A Game of Thrones was published in 1996. There are three more books planned for the series and several prequel novellas. The fifth book in the series (A Dance with Dragons) is scheduled to be released in Sep 2008. This series of books is more contemporary than the other series; it was started in 1996 and it tends to have much more of a Medieval Europe flavor to it. Political intrigue and the maneuverings between various factions play a big part in the story.There are lots of great epic fantasy sagas that span many pages and many volumes. If you want to stick with something that is tried and true then any of these five would make a great choice. No matter which one you choose you are in for many hours of wonderful adventuring in strange and new fantasy worlds.

About the author:For a guide to lots of great information about fantasy: http://fantasyguide.stormthecastle.com The Fantasy Guide website – Your guide to Fantasy For a more creative and intellectual approach to epic fantasy visit: http://www.epic-fantasy.comEpic-Fantasy.com - The webs only epic fantasy site.

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Online Book Stores: Expanding the Horizon of Book Reading

Books are the best friends of human being. It realizes us the power of knowledge, helps our understanding of different subjects and makes us a better person. It also improves our communication skills and our overall personality. There is nothing more exciting than reading a book and losing yourself in the characters present in the book and being a part of twists and turns of a great story. You go to the nearest book stores to find your favourite books. It has been the convenient way of reading books so far. Although it is very common to go to these stores but now it is very difficult to get time to visit the store. Even if you go there, you don’t find the books you were looking for. Also, many times the traditional book stores don’t offer you a host of options to shop. Keeping all these factors in the mind, many new concepts and ideas are coming into the market. Readers are getting the joy of reading whole book on their PC with a reasonable pricing option. It really sounds good if you are looking for comfort with no compromise in services. With the increasing use of internet and its applications in our daily life, the concept of online book store is getting a huge popularity. People love to see, read the summary and post their requirements of books through online process. It is more comfortable and convenient. This concept was first used in schools, colleges and universities in order to provide their students a better choice of gaining knowledge. All the libraries in these places were made online within the local area networking system. Later on, this innovative idea was absorbed by the internet savvy persons and they developed online book stores. All these have not only benefited to the readers but also to the authors since they receive more royalty now mainly because of increased sales globally. Consequently, it also helps the price of books putting down and making the availability more convenient. The online book shops are becoming famous for its variety too. It gives a list of the renowned authors and their books. You can also find the not so popular authors here and enjoy the novels. It gives a number of choices to the users to find exclusive book lists, hard to find novels and the price range with a simple click. For example, if you are looking for a Harry Potter book, you can simply type the name in search box and you will get the required details within no time. These stores also deliver your booked stuff to your residence. There are some other lucrative services offered by the online stores. If you are not a person who loves reading books, you can find the DVD and CD version of your favourite books here. The price of this multimedia stuff is kept affordable for you. Now, enjoy reading or watching the fictions or Non-fictions in a most innovative way. There are many sites where you have to get yourself registered and they will be informing about the latest books and offers through e mail. Hence, you will be updated with the happenings in the book world. The fame of online book portals is obvious in the UK. Some of the biggest book stores in the world come from the UK. The renowned book chain Waterstone is one of them. The fact remains same with the online version of the stores. It is the best place to lure the book worms with a number of online bookstores UK. The online bookstores Ireland, London are also very popular among the book lovers with its huge variety of reading materials. Amazon.co.uk, Rupizcompare.co.uk, etc are some of the leading sites that provide the wide variety of books at the affordable price. You can also find the attractive offers and deals on the sites. It gives an exciting shopping experience to you.