A paper book has an imaginative ability to transport the reader into the events of the novel or the story. How many times have you traveled to the farthest countries of the world while sitting in your bed? And how many times have you fought tyrannical dictators as you turned the pages of a book?

However, this type of book has begun to retreat in front of the power of audio books. The trends show a booming growth of the audiobook market in different countries, and a steady rise in its sales profits. In the United States of America, sales of audiobooks in 2019 increased by 18% compared to 2018, to reach $1.2 billion. In Canada, sales of audiobooks in 2019 constituted 5% of total book sales, compared to 3.6% in 2018. As for the Arab market, it varies to varying degrees, but all indicators indicate that the popularity of audiobooks is increasing.

Advantages of audiobooks:

• Improve your pronunciation and conversation
• Helping people with language or visual problems and improving mental health
• Easy listening

The advantages of reading books:

• Reducing mental wandering and enhancing memory performance
• Achieving fun and facilitating the memorization of complex and difficult information
• It takes less time than audiobooks

The Corona pandemic played a pivotal role in promoting this type of books, despite its emergence during the past decade. It has become the only recourse in front of closing international publishing houses and libraries. Will it be the solution for Lebanese readers who suffer from the high cost of paper books, and from the hustle and bustle of crowded daily problems?