The Lebanese Canadian entrepreneur was at the world's largest publishing industry gathering at the weekend, the Frankfurt Book Fair, to discuss the steady growth of his Dubai based online audio book platform Booklava, and the commercial potential of audio books in the region. Since launching more than a year ago online and with a mobile app, Booklava has steadily progressed as a producer of a growing array of Arabic audio books from regional authors and translations of international works. Scan through the tidy Booklava application, which can be accessed after signing in through your email, Facebook or LinkedIn accounts, and you will find more than 200 Arabic audio books professionally produced by the company through its main recording studios in Lebanon - more titles will be released regularly. Expect more movement on the latter, Bolbol says, as Booklava recently reached agreements with a group of US publishers, including the heavy weight Harpers Collins, to distribute their English audio books on the platform. It is these kind of strides that are making Booklava such a trail-blazing enterprise in the region, in addition to earning Bolbol plaudits in the UAE and abroad. Booklava was highlighted last year by the Arab Conference at Harvard University as one of 10 promising start-ups founded by Arab entrepreneurs as well as being shortlisted by the Arabian Business Start-up Awards, while, Bolbol was selected as an Arab Youth Pioneer by the Prime Minister's office of the UAE and the Arab Youth Center. He says the communal nature of Arab societies means that less time is being spent on reading, and audio books could help those pressed for time. Upon signing up you get a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay $9.99 per month to get access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. Read more