Site sells literature you can listen to

Audio books? So five years ago. All the cool kids now are downloading best sellers onto their iPods.

Which is not to say that reading the old-school way is passe. (I have to say, I run a pretty tight book club.) But reading in the car gives me a headache. And so-called “beach reads”? If the glare off the pages isn’t blinding me, then the book is blocking the sun.

Savvy readers-cum-listeners can get their lit fix another way at www.audible.com, where you can download everything from “The Da Vinci Code” to French lessons to NPR’s “All Things Considered” onto an MP3 player.

“This is the voracious reader’s way to consume even more books and magazines,” says Beth Anderson, Audible’s vice president. “We hear from people who listen while they garden or while they’re housecleaning. I’ve gotten e-mails from farmers who listen on their tractors.”

Plus, an iPod takes up a lot less room in your bag, leaving room for more important things, like your cell phone and lipstick.