Can the iPod Shuffle play audio books?

Yes. If you're using iTunes, ten chapters of an audiobook will go under the "Book" section. For chapters after ten, you have to look at your playlists. Since I frequently listen to books with 14 or 15 chapters, I often hook back up to iTunes midway through the audiobook and delete the first 6 chapters, then sync my shuffle so that the rest of the chapters are in the Book section. Hope that helps.