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Title: Secrets of the Red Box

Author: Vickie Hall

Narrator: Susan Eichhorn Young

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-27-13

Publisher: Vickie Hall

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Bonnie has secrets to keep - secrets with the potential to destroy lives, including her own. Running from her destructive and pain filled past, she recreates herself, believing she has escaped the damning evidence hidden in the red box. When her former life is revealed by a cruel twist of fate, Bonnie faces losing everything, including Glen, the only man she's ever loved. But, is Bonnie the woman he thinks she is? A psychological suspense set against the backdrop of the 1940s, Secrets of the Red Box is sure to keep you guessing to the very end

Members Reviews:

Secrets Can be Such a BURDEN!

Where does Secrets of the Red Box rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

I listen to books all day as I drive to my accounts during the work week, so I have many books to compare Secrets of the Red Box to. I loved listening to Vickie Hall's book, it's full of intrigue, tension, betrayal, and yes even romance.Keep the great reads coming Vickie, you have a great talent!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bonnie of course, though Glen runs a close second.

What does Susan Eichhorn Young bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Susan reads so smoothly that you forget she's reading to you and the book becomes a movie running through your mind as you live the lives of the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I experienced such tension, and wanted to know what drove Bonnie to do what she was doing. What on earth could she have in that box that would rule her life so completely?

I smiled as I felt like I was actually living in the past, and cried when there was heart ache and also an emerging love at last between Bonnie and Glen.

Any additional comments?

Any reader will enjoy this suspenseful, captivating book.

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Title: Note to Self

Author: Alina Simone

Narrator: Aimee Castle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A witty, keenly observant look at our Internet-obsessed culture. Anna Krestler is adrift. The Internet has draped itself, kudzu-like, over her brain, which makes it even more difficult to confront the question of what to do when she is dismissed from her job as a cubicle serf at a midtown law firm. Despite the exhortations of Leslie, her friend and volunteer life coach, Anna seeks refuge in the back alleys of Craigslist, where she connects with Taj, an adherent of a nebulous movement known as Nowism that occupies the most self-absorbed fringes of the art world. Art, Anna decides, is what will provide the meaningful life shes been searching for and knows she deserves. She joins Tajs crew and is drawn into his grand experimental film project. But making art is hard and microwaving pouch foods is easy. Soon enough Anna finds herself distracted by myriad other quests: remembering to ask Leslie How are you?, reducing her intake of caloric drinks, and parrying her mothers insistence that she attend hairdressing school. But when Annas 27-year-old roommate - a terminal intern named Brie - announces her pregnancy, it forces Anna to confront reality, setting off a chain of events that lead to a horrifying climax of betrayal.

Alina Simones Note to Self is a shrewdly perceptive, hilarious, moving tale about friendship, art, and the search for a meaningful life in an era of rampant narcissism.

Members Reviews:

Vapid, but the actress who read it was great

The 37 year old main character looses her job and has no direction or plans for the future. It reads like sex in the city, except you just don't like the character. I was waiting for resolution, and didn't get it.

Original and quirky look at social media

Would you consider the audio edition of Note to Self to be better than the print version?

Given that I am legally blind, I can only listen to books.

What other book might you compare Note to Self to and why?

Perhaps some of the better British chick lit books, but this is not necessarily a chick lit book.

Have you listened to any of Aimee Castles other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I was impressed by the reader and will look for more by her.

Who was the most memorable character of Note to Self and why?

Anna. You just fall in love with her and want to know more. She is not a boring character.

Any additional comments?

I hope this author will write more and perhaps it could become a series. It is not so unlike Sophie Kinsella's shopaholic series, but the focus is on social media. Well done.

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Title: The Drowner

Author: Robert Drewe

Narrator: Paul English

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-01-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the warm alkaline waters of the public bath a headstrong young engineer accidentally collides with a beautiful actress. From this innocent collision of flesh begins a passion that takes them from the Wiltshire Downs to the most elemental choices of life and death in the Australian desert. Their intense romance is but part of the daring story that unfolds.

Mingling history, myth, and technology with a modern cinematic and poetic imagination, Robert Drewe presents a fable of European ambitions in an alien landscape and a magnificently sustained metaphor of water as the life-and-death force.

Critic Reviews:

"Drewes writing is cinematically immediate, and crackles with an intensity of senseThis is a mesmeric and utterly addictive book. At the end youll be left with many questions, one of which will be: why on earth isnt Robert Drewe better known in this country?" (Maggie OFarrell, Independent on Sunday)

"Myth, magic and melody coalesce in a fertile delta of imagination. Spellbinding." (Sunday Times)

"One of the best books of the year." (New Statesman)

Members Reviews:

Historically Disappointing

You have to be into romantic novels to appreciate this work. Although the Coolgardie goldfields pipeline is the backdrop, the pipeline doesn't have prominence. O'Connor is not accurately portrayed and much of the pipeline account is fictionalised. Really, a tale of outback romance, circa 1900.

It has been some time since I read this book ...

It has been some time since I read this book. I recollect is as quirky, well-written though not particularly memorable.

Fine work

Imaginative and empathic writing. More than just 'historical fiction' - you are really transported to the places and times, and taken inside the characters.

Just short of terrific

I read "The Drowner" a couple of months ago, enjoyed it immensely, recommended it to my wife, and planned to write a glowing review. But, now, I have to think hard to remember it. As I think about it, details come back, and I smile remembering (what's a "drowner?", the idea of the aquaduct, that French guy!). A great book imprints itself, so one recalls it without effort, and this book isn't there. But it's a fine novel nonetheless, certainly much better than most of the bestselling tripe available -- it's just not quite as good as I'd hoped it would be.

"The Drowner" appears to be unavailable to the US audience today, and that's a shame. It's probably not worth a whole lot of effort to track down; but, if you run across a copy, it's worth picking up. Then, tell me I'm wrong.

I enjoyed this book immensly

I have read Robert drewe's work before,and this book is beautifully composed. I have actually taken the waters of Bath so it also brought back some happy memories.As a period piece,which is among my favorite's,it is informative,touching,and romantic,without being to sentimental.I loved the characters,especially Hammond even though he was a rogue,the characters they came across in Australia were wonderfull,a good cross section off imigrants to Australia,sensitive,touching,informative,I am looking forward to Robert Drewe's next book

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Title: Our Lady of Greenwich Village: A Novel

Author: Dermot McEvoy

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-22-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Dermot McEvoy sweeps his listeners into the midst of one of the most heated political races in New York City history, where an unlikely player decides to make her presence known. First it hits the papers that the Virgin Mary has appeared to Jackie Swift, an affable G.O.P. congressman with a couple of nasty habits. She then appears in a dream to Wolfe Tone O'Rourke, a liberal political consultant who is still haunted by the ghost of Bobby Kennedy, whose death he feels responsible for.

Swift uses the Virgin, soon styled "Our Lady of Greenwich Village", to put a strong anti-abortion spin on his current run for office, which immediately polarizes Greenwich Village. O'Rourke, beset by his many demons, sees something familiar in the Virgin's dancing eyes and the line of her smile and decides to run against Swift with the campaign slogan "NO MORE BULLSHIT". With help from unlikely characters like Cyclops Reilly, a one-eyed newspaper columnist for the Daily News, and Simone "Sam" McGuire, O'Rourke's pretty, no-nonsense assistant, Tone is sent on a transcontinental journey that forces him to confront his own ghosts and dig deep into his family history, all to answer one burning question: What does Our Lady of Greenwich Village really want him to do?

Editorial Reviews:

Filled with beautiful prose and biting social commentary, Our Lady of Greenwich Village tells the story of a heated New York political race in which it seems the Virgin Mary has taken an interest. This is a decidedly American novel packed with political intrigue and sharp cultural satire. Performed adeptly by Stefan Rudnicki, Our Lady of Greenwich Village is both fast paced and insightful. Rudnicki particularly excels at bringing out the beautiful bits of Irish flavor that color McEvoy's prose.

Members Reviews:

You don't have to be Irish...

to enjoy this book (though it helps). I confess to giving most fiction the speed-reading treatment, but the finely crafted and richly textured prose here, along with the large cast of offbeat characters, calls for leisurely savoring. I was reminded of Frank McCourt (who gives the book a blurb and makes a cameo appearance in it).

The political satire is laugh-out-loud funny, again and again. McEvoy hilariously skewers hypocrites of all ends of the political spectrum, including shock jocks, Foxnews bullies, and posturing "family values" pols. Some characters are disguised just enough to avoid libel suits, and many real people are glimpsed from a distance (Rudy Giuliani gets an especially delightful treatment). This is a very New Yorky book: it's been years since I was in the city, but it brought back lots of memories (including such almost-forgotten items as the smell of the Hudson Tubes). The last third of the narrative veers away from biting satire into Irish sentimentality, but by that time I was interested enough in the characters that I didn't mind!

A marvelous story

I tend to read all things Irish and I picked up this book in our local library. I read the first chapter and was hooked. I am normally a very fast reader, reading about two books per week. It took me two weeks to read this book. It requires your attention. Because the language is pretty explicit, I wasn't even sure that it was a book intended for the female audience. I am so glad that I kept on reading.

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Title: National Provincial

Author: Lettice Cooper

Narrator: Heather Wilds

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-20-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When she steps off the London train at Leeds (known in the novel as Aire) Mary Welburn is returning to the world of her childhood. But while she attempts to settle back into her family, Mary strikes up new relationships and learns how the North, in 1938, is reacting to a confused and threatening world.

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Title: Essentially Yours

Subtitle: Tall Pines Book 2

Author: Aaron Paul Lazar

Narrator: Hannah Seusy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-11-13

Publisher: Aaron Paul Lazar

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Marcella's first love has been MIA for eighteen years. Callie, her best friend and Sky's sister, flips out when a mysterious package from Sky arrives on her doorstep. Inside his old backpack are bottles of precious essential oils, a memory stick, and a bag of emeralds. Are these his final effects? Or is Sky alive? When Marcella's husband Quinn hears about it, his jealousy spikes.

He and Marcella have been married for seven years, and he's not about to let some punk from the past mess that up. Drug company goons want the data on the memory stick, because it links a newly discovered essential oil with a leukemia cure. They kidnap Callie, hoping to lure Sky into the open. Marcella and Quinn track her to the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains, where against all odds they fight to save Callie and preserve the proof that could change the world.

Critic Reviews:

"...Aaron Paul Lazar's novel Essentially Yours will keep you feverishly turning pages not only to find out what happens next, but to bathe in the sensuality of his vivid descriptions that draw you into his story and keep you there through all the excitement and fear and romance." (Joan Hall Hovey, author of The Abduction of Mary Rose)

Members Reviews:

Tall Pines Series by Aaron Paul Lazar...AWESOME!!!

Tall Pines; whether you listen to them on Audible, or read, they will keep you caught up in the storylines and make them very hard to put down!!! They work, well as standalone stories or...start with the very first one!!! These books make me want to visit the lakes regions in Upper New York, to see for myself, the beauty as described! I really loved listening to Hannah Seusy narrate, Essentially Yours!! She sounded just like what I though Marcie would!!!

Sexy, suspenseful, sensitive, smart

Aaron Paul Lazar heats things up for Marcella Hollister (and the reader), as her long-lost hottie boyfriend brings several varieties of danger back to town with him. Essential oils furnish a clever hook for the suspense plot. I'm not a huge fan of the mystic crystal vision stuff, but it was all entertaining.

Lazar's characters always command center stage, and he gives us some beauties to root for and revile in this book. For example, if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook while I was driving, I would have stood up and cheered when Marcella realized she was only dreaming about-- Well, you'll have to find that out for yourself. Then my cheers immediately switched to boos when it turned out she was actually in the sleazy clutches of-- Sorry, don't want to spoil it. I was back to cheering when she-- Oh, buy the book and enjoy it all firsthand! :)

Adding the cherry on top of Lazar's terrific writing, Hannah Seusy's gutsy narration practically yanks you by the ears into Marcella's mind and heart.

Well done all around!

A Different Kind of Story

Until now, I've only read Aaron Lazar's Gus LeGarde novels, which I really enjoy. Essentially Yours is a departure from the quiet, family-oriented LeGarde, but it's well done and held my interest from the beginning.

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Title: The Drowning

Author: Rachel Ward

Narrator: Paul Chequer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

What happens if you've done something terrible? But you can't remember what. And you don't know how to put it right...

When Carl opens his eyes on the banks of a lake, his brother is being zipped into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember And when he glimpses a beautiful girl he thinks he recognises, she runs away.

Suddenly he knows he must find her - because together they must face the truth before it drowns them.

Members Reviews:

Prose full of stylistic risks, but not the most thrilling story

Rachel Wardâs THE DROWNING revolves around --- surprise, surprise --- a drowning, namely that of protagonist Carl Adamsâ older brother Rob. Awash with jealous rage and murderous intent, Rob lures his girlfriend Neisha Gupta to their townâs lake. But, thanks to the heroics of his younger bro, Rob, not Neisha, finishes the day belly-up.

Now, as an amnesic, Carl flounders amid the aftermath of his brotherâs sudden death. Meanwhile, Rob hatches a plan for revenge. Still eager for Neishaâs death, Robâs ghost lurks in water, transforming even the slightest bit of moisture into pulse-pounding terror for Carl. Rain, leaky faucets, black mold --- they all constitute a hideaway for Rob, and, consequently, all represent a threat to his increasingly hydrophobic victims. Will Carl defeat his brotherâs ghost, or will Robâs homicidal plot finally come to fruition?

Although THE DROWNINGâs morbid title and rather eerie cover art evoke the likes of Ira Levin, Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King, Ward centers her novel around character relationships rather than suspense and gore. Much of the bookâs tension arises from Carlâs somewhat rocky --- but always genuine --- relationship with his mother, as well as his much less satisfying, on-again, off-again fling with Neisha.

Throughout THE DROWNING, Wardâs natural, often amusing dialogue buoys the reader through a rambling plotline, and the sweet talk exchanged between Carl and Neisha attains the perfect balance between curt and sappy. Although their romance presents the outward appearance of authenticity, however, Neishaâs passivity, vapidity and extreme mood swings fail to justify Carlâs near-obsessive interest in her. The entire novel is centered around Carlâs quest to protect Neisha, yet Neisha never really struck me as someone worth protecting. Consequently, I never became emotionally invested in Carlâs struggle against his brother.

Carl, however, manages to both charm and frustrate readers, which lends his character relatability and depth. Although Carlâs primary goal, protecting Neisha, is unarguably a noble one, he enacts a few less-than-virtuous plans while trying to secure her safety. In analyzing Carlâs character, I canât help but think of Jay Gatsby; though Gatsbyâs honorable end may not have justified his shady means, it certainly humanized them. Furthermore, while both Carl and Gatsby devote themselves wholeheartedly to Neisha and Daisy, respectively, 200-plus pages seems like an awfully long time to waste chasing such awfully superficial people. Iâm reminded of author John Greenâs assertion that, âGreat men [especially] need to be careful of what they worship.â

I do, however, applaud Ward for taking stylistic risks with her prose. Throughout THE DROWNING, she uses expected verbs in unexpected ways.

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Title: The Secret Life of Walter Mott

Author: Kal Wagenheim

Narrator: Roy Wells

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-30-13

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Freedom! Security! This serio-comic novel, set in 1959, dramatizes the conflict between two human yearnings. Walter Mott, a shy, lonesome bachelor, lives secretly in his office, in order to save money, retire early, and travel the world. But life gets complicated when he falls in love with a young coworker. Oh, and after a late-night fling with a striptease dancer, he winds up giving the crabs to hundreds of his coworkers!

Members Reviews:

skip this ones

I'm sure there are those who would enjoy this book. I was not one of them; I only read it because it was a book club pick.

A true background life

"Men, the company is faced with a crisis; a serious threat to the well-being of every employee and every employee's family. But before I reveal the nature of this crisis, I must remind you that this is a top secret matter; a matter of the utmost delicacy, which, if ever made public, could besmirch the good name and future of the company." "Men," he boomed again, "at some unascertained time in the recent past, someone in this building became infested with a certain species of body louse, more commonly known as ... crabs!" "Men, I assume this happened because some individual - presumably one of the company's employees - although I find it difficult to believe - became infested. I also haven't discounted the possibility that some subversive elements in our society, possibly in cahoots with the Soviet Union, are responsible, in order to demean and discredit our democracy and our free enterprise system. It seems a strange coincidence - very strange - that this crisis should befall us, just at a time when the Soviets have launched the first missile to reach the moon." "Either way, this thing is catching and very prolific.... This morning, after visual reconnaissance, I would estimate that perhaps twenty-five percent of our five thousand, eight hundred and thirty-five employees are casualties, and it could jump much higher in the next few days."

To quote an old saying from a TV show... "Did I Do That?" In the past 10 years Walter Mott has lived secretly in his office, had an ongoing friendship with a woman named Stormy, who actually started this 6 legged infestation allowing him to infest hundreds of his coworkers, infested the money he has saved by not having to pay rent and utilities and ended up acquiring himself a small fortune. Oh yeah, he has also met a young lady named Scarlett, named after the character in Gone With the Wind.

The Secret Life of Walter Mott is set in the fifties, while Eisenhower is president and Castro is still just a young Cuban rebel leader. Drive-ins are a thing of the day, or should I say night, and the biggest fantasy in life is to work hard so that one day you can retire. But Walter Mott has decided to speed this process up and retire at 40. To take his fortune and see the world. To never have to work another day for the "man" but enjoy life while he's still young. But as with all plans, there are pitfalls. Walter's biggest will come when he meets Scarlett.

While reading The Secret Life of Walter Mott I found myself laughing so hard at times that I actually had tears in my eyes.

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Title: The Yips

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Nicola Barker

Narrator: Jenna Berk

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-24-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Storm clouds are gathering above the bar of the less-than-exclusive Thistle Hotel.

Stuart Ransom, a jet-setting, supermodel-chasing pro golfer with an extravagant ego and a career nearing the end of a spectacular decline, is drinking his way through the night. Desperate for attention, he strikes up free-flowing conversations with anyone who will listen. But as he banters with Jen, the impish barmaid with a talent for telling tall tales rivaled only by Stuarts own, the night takes an extraordinary turn.

Among those caught up in the unfolding drama are a tattooist with a mad mother and a love of anything from the 1940s; a free-thinking Muslim sex therapist and his considerably more conservative wife; the mysterious Vicki, the sister of Stuarts defiant yet curiously devoted manager; and a misguided female vicar of the Church of England and her husband, Gene, the Thistles hapless bartender.

They are a highly entertaining and eccentric bunch, but theres more to them than meets the eye.

Members Reviews:

Intriguing And Challenging

There is little doubt that this book does present more than its fair share of problems for the American reader. The biggest stumbling block is that its allusions to modern day English life and its countless references to the arcane minutiae of present day English society lost on the average Yank reader.

I am reminded of Alexander Pope's The Dunciad in the sense that the girth of this tome and its many characters will challenge most readers, myself included. To be frank, it tried my patience, and I realize that this is a fault of mine.

To be fair to the book if you have an acquired taste for this type of book and a good memory it will obviously enchant you with its myriad of astonishing characters and Nicole Barker's ability to make fantastic leaps of plot and character development that will intrigue the upper brow reader.

This book was horrible.

Can't actually believe that this book won a Booker Prize. I was anticipating a good read, but this book was awful. First off I found none of the characters very believable or likable. Every character would not just shut up!! Entirely too much "noise" with this novel. I kept waiting for something to happen in the story, and it never did. A waste of money.

Strange & Funny

Barker is a weird writer, a linguistic contortionist, but very VERY funny, if you just submit to her logic, or lack thereof, and follow her down the rabbit hole you will find yourself transfixed. Although Darkmans was my favorite of her books...hello, ghost of a jester...no real plot...but you cant put it down.

UGH!

What plot? Very uninteresting ramble about. Could not finish reading it.

The book for winter

Hard to hold on to the trippy and have a separate life. An explosion, histrionic but reach-out group surrounded by pitch forks of love, lightening and selves

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Title: The Killing Doll

Author: Ruth Rendell

Narrator: Mary Kane

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-24-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A young recluse, believing in the occult power of magic, will do anything to keep her family together as they grow apart.

When Dollys mother - her only friend - dies, 23-year-old Dolly becomes a second mom to her younger brother, Pup. Socially isolated and booze-addled, Dolly believes that Pups occult power, and a talisman hes made for her, will give her the life she wants. But as Pup grows older and her father takes a new wife, her carefully constructed home begins to fall apart - and those around her begin to die. Is it coincidence, magic, or murder?

With careful plotting and unnerving ease, Rendell delves into the inner life of an outcast.

Members Reviews:

No mystery except why it got published, let alone recorded

Disappointed,to find a rambling nonsensical tale from a writer I once respected. Best to avoid

How a Badly Chosen Reader Can Ruin a Good Story

What disappointed you about The Killing Doll?

I have probably read or listened to most of Ruth Rendell's novels, so I know that some are more engaging or easier to get into than others, and I know that some reading styles are more enjoyable than others. With this in mind, I have attempted at least four times to listen to Mary Kane's rendition of The Killing Doll, hoping that once the story was under way, the irritation of the reading voice would diminish. Unfortunately, Kane's reading style is so distracting that I simply cannot get into the story, so I will have to purchase this novel in text format if I decide I really want to read it.

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I have listened to hundreds of books over the years as I drive the 50 miles or so to work and back each day, and a good reader can make even a poorly-written book worth listening to. On the other hand, a bad (or a badly chosen) reader can ruin the experience of a good book, and this is what Kane's reading of The Killing Doll succeeds in doing. Every word, it seems, has the same amount of emphasis placed on it, resulting in a monotonous string of words that quickly disengage rather than engage the listener. She inserts verbal pauses where there cannot possibly be commas in the text, a very distracting, habit that causes the listener, to feel as if s/he is in, a car with a new driver who is just, learning how to use a stick shift! And she gives the impression of wanting to get this task of reading over as quickly as possible. Another strike against this choice of reader (which is not her fault) is her very pronounced American accent, which does little to draw the listener into the setting of the novel or the conversations (both interior and exterior) of its protagonists.

Any additional comments?

In fairness to Mary Kane, I did go online to listen to other samples of her reading. While her voice still verges, to my ear, on the monotone, and while I still find her pauses within sentences unnatural, it did seem a better "fit" when reading American texts.