The Book Shopper - Atlanta

MARTA Book Club #19: Yes, It Exists

The other day I was reading Gabriel Zaid's fine book about the pitfalls of author-as-celebrity worship, The Secret of Fame: The Literary Encounter is an Age of Distraction (2008), and a young man sitting next to me stares unabashedly at the cover of my book. I look up and I was slightly taken aback, because in book spotting, there is a unwritten rule of viewer discretion. So the man says to me, “I am always interested in finding out what people are reading.” I show him the Zaid book and told him that there is a secret brotherhood and sisterhood of readers and riders called The MARTA Book Club.

 “Really, you mean there is a MARTA book club!?!” he asked.

I gave him the website address, (just type MARTA Book Club in Google) and you can find us. The only membership requirement is to read a book while riding Atlanta public transportation.There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no dues. Very convenient.

 What We Have Been Reading

It's been a couple months since our last MARTA Book Club compilation (see the links category for all the lists) and there is much reading on the train to report. We regret since we cannot determine the title, electronic books are not tabulated. Here's the last offerings:

Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger

Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences (Inside Technology) by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

Agent X by Noah Boyd

Living Crazy Love: An Interactive Workbook for Individual or Small-Group Study by Francis Chan and Mark Beuving

Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Finding the Favor of God: A Discovery That Will Change Your Life by Ronnie W. Floyd

The Bill: How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill by Stephan Waldman

Research Methods in Information by Alison Jane Pickard

Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood

Schism and Continuity in an African Society a Study of Ndembu Village Life by Victor Turner and Bruce Kapferer

God Speaks to Me: Stories of Triumph Over Tragedy from Women Who Listened to God by Valerie Love

It by Stephen King

Structure in Architecture: The Building of Buildings by Mario George Salvadori

Susanna's Choice by Sara Luck

Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star by Kitty Kelley

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (thanks Emily Britt)

The Boss's Survival Guide by Bob Rosner, Allan Halcrow and Alan Levins

MARTA BOOK CLUB #18: What Atlanta is Reading

For where there is innovation, there is no security -- Procopius*

Are you looking to join the Atlanta book reading community without actually having to be involved? Then the MARTA Book Club might be the organization for you.

The MARTA Book Club is a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no dues. Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation, which for most riders seems to be a steep admission price.

What We Have Been Reading

It's been a couple months since our last MARTA Book Club compilation and there is much reading on the train to report. We regret since we cannot determine the title, electronic books are not tabulated.

 The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The Rogers & Littleton Guide to America's Douchiest Colleges by H. L. Rogers and Peter Littleton

Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson* (I am currently reading this book at home because carrying it on the train is cumbersome and I don't e-book. So far, I think the book is much more interesting because it chronicles the early days of the personal computer industry. Jobs' obnoxiousness, brilliance and manipulative nature is of secondary interest to me. Hats off to Issacson's readable narrative. Issacson prose seems effortless, which is usually means a lot of hard work into it.

 Infinite Jest by David Wallace

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel or was it Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog (both) by Garth Stein (not to be confused My Life as a Dog by Reider Jonsson and Eivor Martinus, which was made into a fine movie by the director Lasse Hallstrom of Chocolat and Gilbert Grape fame).

 Successful Public Meetings: A Practical Guide by Elaine Cogan

 Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan J. Douglas

 Divine Inspiration: A Home Kelly Mystery by Jane Langton

 AIDs, Opium, Diamonds, and Empire by Nancy Turner Banks

 Just for You (Arabesque) by Doreen Rainey

 The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White

 Up to No Good by Carl Weber

 A Highlander Christmas by Janet Chapman

 No Disrespect by Sister Souljah

 The Black Panther Party (Reconsidered) by Charles E. Jones

 The Georgia Commercial Driver's License Manual (it's thicker than you think)

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson. My personal contribution to the book club. I heard him speak (he's both authoritative and humble) at the Decatur Library a few years ago when he was promoting the paperback release of The Day of Battle which is Part Two of his Liberation Trilogy. Atkinson writes in a narrative style that reminds me of Shelby Foote. The war in Italy is often pushed into the distant background, but it was a sad and bloody campaign and did serve a strategic purpose. (Rome fell a day before the landings in Normandy). Atkinson gives homage to those who bravely fought there and calls out both the good commanders and the shamefully incompetent ones.

Take the Cannoli: Essays from the New World by Sarah Vowell

 Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life: Unleash the Healing Power of Fresh Juices and Cleansing Diets by Cherie Calbom and John Calbom

 

MARTA Book Club #17: Welcome Clean Air Commuters

If you're visiting because of the newsletter article from the Midtown Alliance you have come to the right place. I appreciate the shout-out for the MARTA Book Club even though I am kicking myself for not trimming my beard for the photo opportunity. I guess I fit the stereotype of the scruffy reader. (Photo credit: John Cann)

If you're a commuter and you read on the bus or train, I hope you'll let add to the list via comment and sign up for blog updates at facebook.com/thebookshopper. If you want to see all the MARTA book club postings (and fully comphrehend the madness ) just click on the link in the right column.

 Here's a list of book spottings since the last posting.

 Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson

Thinking in Systems by Donna Meadows

Choices: Discover Your 100 Most Important Life Choices by Shad Helmsetter

Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber

The 5 Lessons Millionaires Taught Me About Life and Wealth by Richard Paul Williams

The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefield's: Discovering Hallowed Ground by Jeff Shaara

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

The Purpose Driven Life by Rich Warren

MARTA Book Club #16: Money to Burn

Even though mass transit fares are going up on October 2 for a second year in a row with single fares rising from $2 to $2.50 (25% increase), 30 day trip passes rising from $68 to $95 (40 % increase), and 20 trip passes rising from $34 to $42.50 (25% increase), the annual dues for MARTA Book Club remain the same – nil.

 For those unfamiliar with the group, the MARTA Book Club is a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no dues. Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation, which for most riders seems to be a steep admission price.

If rising fares weren't enough, have you seen the movie “Contagion” where this mysterious virus spreads throughout the world killing millions? Did you see how the virus spread? Through human contact on public transportation (and Gwynth Paltrow's adulterous character eating some snacks while sitting at a bar). Oh yeah!

Nevertheless, the MARTA book club marches on just as it always has. We just don't burn our card in protest and quit riding public transportation, (which is what the civic leaders want, judging from the oppressive rate hikes), we just get on that train or bus, put our nose in a book, and read.

 What We Are Reading

 Either our main book spotter hasn't been doing his job or the admission price to belong to the club is becoming too high, but the latest offering is a noticeably short list of what we have seen people have been reading since the last posting: (See link on the right for a history of MARTA book club postings)

Characters of Lust by Karlyn LeBlanc

Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

The Hiding Place by Carl Weber

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

American Corrections by Todd Clear

A Road More or Less Traveled by Stephan Otis and Colin Roberts

Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running by Danny and Katherine Dreyer

Norton Anthology of World Literature

Small Business Management: An Entrepreneurial Emphasis by Justin Longenecker et. al

Novels by George R. Martin, John Grisham

Next Assignment: Keep reading, get to work on time, watch for wet spots (of all kinds) and send us your book contributions and observations via comment or visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/thebookshopper.

 

MARTA Book Club #15: When You Can't Go to the Beach and You Need a Vacation from Your Life*

“You read too, but you aren't an exhibitionist.” -- Tayari Jones, Leaving Atlanta

  For those unfamiliar with the group, the MARTA Book Club is a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no special fares. Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation.

Since we cannot determine the title of a book from a Kindle, they are not tabulated even though more and more electronic readers are being seen on the trains.

What We Are Reading: The list seems a little on the light side even though MARTA provides plenty of unscheduled opportunities for additional reading time. If you want to see all the past MARTA Book Club postings, just visit the MARTA Book Club link on the right side of this web page.  Here's what people are reading since our last posting:

Native Tongue by Carl Hiassen

Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagen (Thanks, John)

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Deception Point by Dan Brown

Freakanomics by David Leavitt and Stephen Dubner

Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Expect to Win by Carla A Harris

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA by Terry Reed

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

First Offense by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

What's His is Mine by Daaimah S. Poole

The Dog of the South by Charles Portis.

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones (see earlier posting)

MARTA Book Club #14: Green and Read Metropolis

For anyone remotely interested in regional transportation issues check out the MARTA  Book Club's Book of the Month, David Owen's Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability. Now that Oprah's Book Club will soon be sunk into anonymity, the MARTA Book Club – a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation – is ready to fill the void.

The premise of Owen's book is that the greenest city in America is New York City, because the population density and smaller domiciles coupled with the availability of alternative methods of transportation makes it --- based on energy consumption per capita – a model metropolis (in terms of its environmental sensibilities) . Owens looks at cities throughout the world (including Atlanta), talks about the paradoxes of green consumerism and that the real solutions are relatively simple, except they require a change in mindset of a planet and their relationship with the automobile (not so simple).

If you read this book while riding MARTA you will feel very good about yourself and you will be eligible to join the MARTA Book Club. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no special fares. Very convenient.

What We Are Reading: Here's what other people just are reading since our last posting. We regret since we cannot determine the title of a electronic book they are not tabulated. If want to see all the MARTA Book Club postings, just visit the links to the category MARTA on the right side of this web page.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Whole World Over by Julia Glass

Grace (Eventually) Thought on Faith by Anne Lamott

Debt Cures They Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau

Wolf Hall: A Novel by Hilary Mantel

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.) by Barbara Kingsolver

Doo Hickey: A Novel by Pete Hautman

The Lost by J.D. Robb, et.al

MARTA Book Club #13: Atlanta Reads

For those unfamiliar with the group, the MARTA Book Club is a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no special fares. Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation.

Since we cannot determine the title of a book from an electronic reader they are not tabulated, but we have notice an increase in their use.

What We Are Reading: Either our data collection skills have improved or people just are reading more  since our last posting. Here's the list:

Creative Community Builder's Handbook by Thomas C Borrup

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

The Velvet Rope by Brenda Thomas

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (twice)

Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind (courtesy of Emily Britt)

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

The King of Torts by John Grisham

Life by Keith Richards and James Fox. Someone told me they picked a copy up of the Richards autobiography at Goodwill for a couple bucks.

The Freud Reader by Sigmund Freud and James Gay

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabell Wilkerson

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

Anthill by Edward O. Wilson

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis

Utopia by Lincoln Child

Sex & Sensibility by ??? (unsure which author: but it's a popular catchy title)

In Between Men by San Culberson

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (First book spotting for the Emory Writer in Residence)

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Hamlet's Blackberry A Practical Guide for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age

A Preacher's Passion by Lutisha Lovely (looked more interesting than what I was reading)

Snow by Orhan Pamuk. My contribution to the club this month. Good book from the Turkish Nobel Prize winner, but not much sex.

Hot to Touch by Kimberly Kay Terry (Again, more interesting than what I was reading.)

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand

Still Guilty by Pat Simmons

Recipe for Love by Shamara Ray

The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle
The Glorious Cause by Jeff Sharra 

Underworld by Dom Delillo

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Liar's Club by Mary Karr

Catch 22 by Joesph Heller

Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

 

MARTA Book Club #12: Tunnel of Readers

  For those unfamiliar with the group, the MARTA Book Club is a loose— very loose— confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no special fares. Very convenient. The only requirement to be a member of MARTA Book Club is to read a book while riding public transportation.

(Note: The Huffington Post recently posted a similar book spotting piece. See it here. And if you're visiting from Huffington, thumb through this blog you'll see we've been posting Atlanta's offerings the past year.)

What We Are Reading: Either our data collection skills (the furtive glance) have diminished or people just aren't reading as much since last month's posting, but MARTA book club offerings are a little thin this month.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 

Testimony: A Novel by Anita Shreve

CPT 2009 Standard Edition (CPT/ Current Procedural Terminology) by the American Medical Association. (The woman was carrying two volumes of these phone-book sized reference tomes.)

The Bible. A standard for the MARTA faithful

KnockOut by Catherine Coulter

Haunted Pensacola by Alan Brown

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun. This is my contribution this month to the book club. Frank Reiss from ACappella Books brought Mun to Atlanta a couple years ago. I didn't go then, but later in the year I met her briefly at a book event in Cleveland where I picked up a copy of Miles. I finally got around to reading this novel about the life of a Korean-American teenager who lives on the streets in the Bronx in the 1980s. Not the cheeriest of subject matter. I felt Mun's gritty portrayal of the mindset of the people who flip in and out from life on the street and squatting in abandoned buildings to finding a way for a better life (“ a mailbox and a toaster” ) was authentic and worth reading. It is an especially relevant book for regular MARTA riders who see the homeless on a daily basis.

Tunnel People by Tuen Voeten. Similiarly, I saw a man at Five Points reading this book. It appears to be a fascinating book. Check out the details here.

Babylon Revisited And Other Stories (2 Volumes) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo by Peter Andreas

Whistling Dixie: Dispatches from the South by John Shelton Reed

MARTA Book Club #11: The Warmth of Reading

It’s been a strange turn of events since the last compilation of the MARTA Book Club --- the loose confederation of people who read while riding Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation. Opportunities for book reading may been curtailed over the holidays, but last week--because of the Winter Storm of 2011--we saw quite an influx of new riders and new club members (remember the only requirement to be in the club is to read a book while riding public transportation).

Even though the trains ran throughout the week (albeit on the weekend "schedule," which means only three stops at unspecified times per hour for some routes) it wasn’t until Wednesday that I left home and returned to the rails myself.   At that point, I’d seen enough winter suffering on television, especially those pitiful sleep-deprived weather reporters assigned to the frozen guardrails at Spaghetti Junction, while the warm studio anchors quipped endlessly at the Jackass-worthy photos and video that viewers at home so generously provided.

Despite the perilous conditions, I was ready to return to the warmth of the MARTA book club (ice removal at the stations consisted mainly of yellow caution cones and conductors warning us not to fall on our collective asses), if for no other reason than to find out what books people got for Christmas.

What We Are Reading. Here’s a list of what we’ve been reading since the last posting:

The Pecan Orchard: Journey of a Sharecropper's Daughter by Peggy Vonsherie Allen
Beach Music by Pat Conroy (two spottings)
Art by Committee: A Guide to Advanced Improvisation by Charna Halpern and Adam McKay
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
Black Postcards: A Memoir by Dean Wareham
Double Pleasure, Double Pain by Nikki Rashan (a steamy cover for a cold commute…)
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Homeboyz by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
Total Eclipse of the Heart: A Novel by Zane (just one name)
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson
Plainsong by Kent Haruf 

The Apocalypse Watch by Robert Ludlum
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (submitted by Emily Britt)

MARTA Book Club #10: The Pedestrian Book Bag

Here at the MARTA Book Club—a loose confederation of people who read while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s public transportation— we are not limited to just filling our heads with book learning. The MARTA book club is now designing fashion accessories. Behold the Pedestrian Book Bag, which made its debut on the streets and trains of Atlanta this week.

Designed by BonnyBeeDesigns, the Pedestrian Book Bag is a lightweight, waterproof, single strap, over-the-shoulder, ripstop nylon bag with a reinforced bottom. The designer (my daughter) actually consulted a real urban commuter before sewing the prototype bag (shown here) and she has provided instructions on how to make one for yourself on her blog. The long thick strap won’t cut into your shoulder and it frees your hands for reading if you are forced to stand up while riding on the train (which happens more frequently after the fall budget cuts). A light zipper on the top keeps your book and lunch from spilling onto the train floor during sudden stops. The orange reflective material makes it easier for motorists to see pedestrians during the evening commute especially with the earlier onset of darkness.

The slogan “Thanks! for not running me over” can be interpreted two ways: 1.) As a thank you to the motorist who does slow down and respect the pedestrian’s right of way or 2.) As a brusque, sarcastic reminder to the motorist that does not slow down when a pedestrian exercises the right of way. For the illiterate driver, a pictograph has been included to explain the gist of the message.  

What We Are Reading: For those unfamiliar with the group, the MARTA Book Club is more than a group of well-read fashionistas. There may be no meeting times, no organizational rules, and no special fares, but we are greater than the sum of our parts.  Here’s a new list of what people are reading on the MARTA since our last posting:

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan 

Extreme Danger by Shannon McKenna

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Lamb by Christopher Moore (as reported by Emily Britt)

Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende

Lover Man by Geneva Holliday.  This month’s steamiest cover

Double Pleasure, Double Pain by Nikki Rashan A close second to this month’s steamiest cover sweepstakes.

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

Lie by Midnight by Amanda Quick

Next by Michael Crichton