Audiobooks see boom in digital, multitasking age

New York

CURLING up with a paperback may be a forgotten luxury for many thanks to today's busy lifestyles, but listening to a book on the go, while shopping or jogging, is fast becoming the new norm.

Gone are the cumbersome cassette sets that could cost three times as much as an old-fashioned book and often featured only excerpts to cut down on costs.

Now, audiobooks are just a click away and can be uploaded onto a smartphone for the same, if not lower, price as the print edition.

Mary Beth Roche, president and publisher of Macmillan Audio, says their reader feedback suggests many use audiobooks as a "multitasking tool", a way to "consume books when their eyes are busy". For others - whose work lives may involve long stretches at the screen - they ar…