Reading aloud has taken many forms throughout history; from the painting depicting a father reading aloud to his children in order to proclaim him the authority figure1, to the painting depicting elegant French Salons where the upper crust of French society would gather to pursue intellectual conversation; from the 18th and 19th century women’s sewing circles in which one woman would read an exciting new novel aloud to the other women gathered, to the modern day, where the lone traveler on a subway is listening intently to an audio book. What form has the book taken over history in order to connote its intended use to be read aloud? Today, how does the audiobook impart those same characteristics, and how is it different? What type of reading practices does the audiobook invite or encourage? In order to determine the distinction between regular books and audio books, I will examine the history of reading; specifically reading aloud, signify what uses the creators of audio books have in mind when designing them, and how audio books are perceived today.  The phrase “reading a book” conjures up a scene in my mind-being curled up on a couch, eyes swallowing up the words in a book, silently lost in a different world which is unknown to the others who would encounter this scene. However, reading silently and privately is not the only way reading has been practiced throughout the history of reading. In the year 384, a young professor, whom future generations would refer to as Saint Augustine, arrived in Milan to teach. Perhaps because he was lonely and wanted intellectual company, he would often pay visits to the city’s bishop, Ambrose. Ambrose was known to be an extraordinary reader. “When he read,” described Augustine, “his eyes scanned the page and his heart sought out the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still. Anyone could approach him freely and guests were not commonly announced, so that often, when we came to visit him, we found him reading like this in silence, for he never read aloud.” To Augustine, such reading manners seemed strange enough for him to note. This must mean that this silent method of reading was someth