iPods have helped take the audio book off its dusty shelf and made audiobooks (yes, one word now) a lifestyle choice for the download-and-go generation. Not an alternative to reading necessarily, but an additional way to take in information on the move, multi-task and just make more use of your available time.

If you already own an Apple iPod you probably think that you just download audiobooks straight to your iTunes folder and that would be that. Unfortunately it's not quite so simple. Due to the 'audio books digital rights management protections' there are a few more steps involved. But it is very easy, when you know how.

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1. To circumvent the file protection, you'll first need to burn your audiobook onto an audio CD. (For step-by-step instructions on 'How to Burn Audiobooks to CD' - see Useful Links on the right).
2. Then open iTunes and you'll see an Audio CD icon under Devices. Click it once, and you'll see a small button in the lower right-hand corner called ‘Import CD'. Click it and it will rip the entire CD to Apple's AAC format, saving it in the iTunes library, and enabling it to be moved to your iPod.
3. You can create a tab called ‘My audiobooks' in your iTunes Playlist so you can put all your audiobooks in one place. (Just go to File and New Playlist).
4. Sorting by ‘Date added' is a useful way of locating your recently added files.
5. Before synchronising it to the iPod, rename the track to something more meaningful. Then just drag the title over to your ‘My audiobooks' playlist. Provided you have automatic synchronisation set up in iTunes, your files will transfer automatically to the iPod the very next time you synchronise.

Now, all you need is a good audiobook... telling a good story, with a good narrator...

There are a number of sites that offer free audiobook downloads. But remember, you get what you pay for - and for downloadable audiobooks you won't get much if it's free. However, it is a good way to try out the download and transfer process to your iPod. See Audiobooks: Useful Links (above).

LibriVox is one of the better websites providing free audio books. Note the distinction - these are ‘audio books' not the professional produced ‘audiobooks'. LibriVox uses volunteers to read chapters from books that are available in the public domain. It is a useful website to explore and a good place to get some free recordings.

audiobookpods is a site that stocks over 10,000 quality audiobooks from top publishers. These can all be easily downloaded to an iPod, or other MP3 player, and burnt to CD.

And there's a friendly customer support service to help you if something goes wrong with your audiobook download.

The Audiobook Catalog (Fiction) is a PDF that you can download to your computer for easy reference.

The Fiction sub-categories are: Classics, Detective, Historical, Thriller, Espionage and Crime. Each title shows a book cover, author, reader, and price, together with a short description. Click on the title that interests you and you will be taken straight to the audiobookpods website where you can make a purchase.

Audiobooks are not just stories that are read aloud. A wide variety of categories are available:

• Arts & Drama • Biography • Business • Crime & Thrillers • Fiction • Health - Mind & Body • History • Humor • Kids & Teens • Learn a Language • Radio Shows • Religion & Spritual • Self Help • TV & Film

Here are some samples:

If you want to become a lifestyle entrepreneur, you need to listen to this audiobook. Learn how to kill your job and design a new life. How to have goals rather than dreams, and how to get more out of the time you do make available to 'work'. Work only four hours a week and the rest of your time you will have free to do what you want with your life.

This highly recommended audio uses inaudible pulses of sound combined with selected works of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Bach and other masters on different tracks to trigger your brain to experience different states: sleep, deep relaxation or to feel invigorated.

This is the story of a world that has been destroyed by plague. Every man, woman, and child who has survived has become a vampire - except one, Robert Neville. As the last man alive on Earth, how long can he survive when everyone is after his blood?

You can go from whereve you are in your life now, to where you want to be. John Assaraf is a multimillion dollar entrepreneur who was the 'street kid' who started with nothing. He narrates this audiobook himself to tell you how he did it and shares the powerful lessons on how you too can create greater happiness and long lasting success. The audio includes printable pdf worksheets with practical exercises.