The South West Trains Book Club!

Following on from my Harry Potter blog entry, it has started me thinking about what makes a good commuter book and a bad commuter book.

I think that travelling on the train to work daily and relying on reading a good quality book to get me through the journey has actually modified my reading habits in a couple of ways.

1.it has transformed me into more of a prolific reader. I now read about 2 or 3 books a month rather than 1 book every 2 or 3 months.

2. it has made me impatient with books that don’t grab my attention easily in a train journey. With things going on around me such as tannoy announcements, people sitting down next to me, listening reluctantly to people’s conversations, ticket conductors etc, it makes it harder to concentrate on the literary prowess of the book in hand

Point 1 is undoubtedly a positive thing that has come from my train commute.
Point 2 on the other hand, is not. I now necessitate a book that will grip me and is relatively undemanding to read.

So, no classics, no booker prize novels, no orange prize for fiction novels. I now need to veer more towards the Richard and Judy Book Club. Sometimes there is a cross-over between the two. But more often than not, there isn’t.

I don’t mind this. In fact, I rather enjoy the novels recommended to me by this celebrity-married couple. But it makes me alert to how the train has made me intolerant to a book that requires a morsel of thought. A bit of concentration.

I am currently reading Harry Potter (see below). I have recently read the following:

The Dice Man: Luke Rhinehart (not one for the train, a little sluggish in parts)
Perfect Match: Jodi Picoult (average. effortless for the train though)
Saturday: Ian McEwan (easy to read and somewhat engaging. Perhaps it is because this is a short book)
Jules et Jim: Henri Pierre Roche (a bit of a haphazard choice actually. Not one for the train. Perhaps more for French film buffs!)
A Sparrow Falls: Wilbur Smith (recommended by the BF. Perfect for the train. Easy to read, good hearty family saga type thing.)
The Glass Palace: Amitav Ghosh (another good read, although copious Indian/Malasian names make it hard to follow in parts)


Next on my list once I have finished Harry Potter is to be Daphne Du Marier’s ‘Rebecca’. Something tells me this will not be a particularly good ‘train read’, but I really want to read it all the same!

If anyone has any good suggestions for good commuting books, I would love to hear them.

Harry Potter and The South West Train Journey

I fell into a deep sleep this morning on the train.

I have 58 minutes to get comfortable, warm, and dozy and then fall into a beautiful slumber. I generally fall asleep about 20 minutes into the journey. I do my best not to. Honest. I don’t think it looks professional to turn up to work with bleary red eyes and, just maybe, a smear of dribble on my chin. But sometimes, no, in reality mostly, I just cannot resist that tender rocking of the train as I snuggle into my thick, warm winter coat.

I find it also depends on the book I’m reading as to how long it takes for me drift away into DreamLand.

I am presently reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I used to be a huge Harry Potter fan almost three years ago. I was one of those who got into it late and then manically read the first four books in one week. I then waited eagerly for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to be released. When it did, I read it whilst sunning myself on a beach as I was working in South West France at the time. Life was first-rate! In fact, I didn’t pay all that much attention to the book. I just kept being sidetracked by that damn beautiful sea. And there was the end of my Harry Obsession.

Before that, I once had a birthday party to celebrate my 22nd year with a Harry Potter themed bash. It was wonderful. I bought the soundtrack. I bought the piano score. For the party I invented an odd Sorting Hat game. I read the books in French while living in French Canada (hey, it was an excellent language exercise!) and then in English (again).

But the fifth book was long, dark, and too adult-like! So I only read it once (!) and somewhat instantly forgot the plot. Apart from remembering who died.

So now I’m onto the sixth book. I have to say I am enjoying it immensely after a three year break from all Harry Potter books. Although I struggle to remember the intricate plot details from Book 5.

In any case, Harry Potter 6 is one of those books that should, in theory, prolong my falling asleep on the train. Purportedly I am too engrossed in the book to think about feeling tired and warm. Although that didn’t work this morning.

J.K Rowling, you need to work on this!