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Below you’ll discover five exceptional books that I probably wouldn’t have read. How did they end up on my reading on-deck circle? Thanks to roughly two hours a day I spend commuting on WMATA buses and trains! I wear a big “I 💗 Love My Library” button, so chats with fellow commuters often turn to books. I tell them that if the DC Public Library catalog carries their favorite book, I’ll read it and write about it. I hope this is the first of many commuter recommendation blogs. And if you see me on the Metro or bus, let’s talk!
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
It started when a man and I chatted on the A8 bus. “Whatever you do,” he said, “you’ve GOT to read The Coldest Winter Ever!” So, I did. And I ate up every page. Here’s this brilliant, drop-dead-gorgeous Black teen, Winter Santiaga, who’s got the whole world figured out—except when she doesn’t. Hey, it only took me 25 years past publication and a bus ride to find my way to this bestselling classic of temptation and grace. How many riveting reads, I wondered, were tucked inside the minds of people I pass on my way to and from work?
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I figured reading How to Win Friends and Influence People would be as gripping as the driver’s manual. Then a man on Metro’s Green Line told me how much it changed his life. Thirty simple principles first published in 1936 provide tools for empathy, curiosity for people's differences, spreading joy and so much more. I instantly felt like an archeologist finding the roots of self-help civilization as we know it. Dale Carnegie’s charming stories, which namecheck everyone from Julius Caesar to PT Barnum, are winning and influential. But DUH! What else would you expect from a book with that title?
I’m a reading omnivore, but sci fi is hit or miss for me. Octavia Butler and Cixin Liu make my hit parade. And now, thanks to a sister commuter, so does Martha Wells. Can a cyborg slacker security unit who binge watches entertainment shows like The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon save a high-value scientific space expedition from enemy attack? That’s the premise of All Systems Red, the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. It’s sheer pleasure to rattle around inside the universe-weary brain of this part-human-part-machine who’s weighed down by a colossal fatal mistake in his past.
You know that classic Washington DC feeling when you pass someone on the sidewalk and think, “Ooooo, who's that?” Believe me, I’d love to know more about the guy on the L’Enfant Plaza station platform who said the best book ever is I.S. Berry’s spy novel The Peacock and the Sparrow. The crackling details in this CIA operative’s mind are so precise and convincing, you feel like just reading this bestselling thriller violates the Espionage Act. How can the author conjure such a three-dimensional ripped-from-the-headlines world? Do yourself a favor and resist reading the author's bio until you’ve devoured every page.
Let me stipulate that I know romance novels aren’t for everyone. But I absolutely get why a commuter told me that Before I Let Go is her all-time favorite book. This first novel in Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland series is a compulsively readable tale of love submerged by tragedy. It makes you ache for the relatable Yasmen and Josiah Wade and pray for them to find their way home. The dialogue, especially the girl talk, purrs. The surprise bonus is how Ryan, without an ounce of preachiness, ably interweaves a plotline about the value of therapy for traumatized men and boys.
About the Author
Barbara Cornell is a Library Associate at the William O. Lockridge Bellevue Neighborhood Library. She grew up in Michigan, where the public library across the street from her house was a first taste of independence. Since then, she has lived in five countries and always finds a home in books. She has two grown sons and lives with her husband in Washington, DC.