The Book Shopper

Unexpanded - MARTA Book Club #34

It’s been a year since the last MARTA Book Club posting, which is why you may not remember that the MARTA Book Club is metro Atlanta’s premier transportation book club. Membership is easy. All you need to do is read a book while riding a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority bus or train. There are no meetings, and no one determines which book everyone must read. Very individualistic.

Here’s a list of what members have been reading while riding MARTA in recent months:

The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Michael Duncan

Galapagos: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut

The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke

Trouble Brewing by Susan Page Davis

White Death by Clive Cussler

Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins and Peter Mallouk

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan

85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy by Jules Witcover and Senator Edward M. Kennedy

The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia by Robert Hughes

In a Sunburned Country (Australia) by Bill Bryson

Early Riser by Jasper FForde

D-Day Illustrated Edition: June 6, 1944: The Climatic Battle of World War II by Stephen E. Ambrose

The Seventh Babe by Jerome Charyn

The Solace of Monsters by Laurie Blauner

Year One by Nora Roberts

Fidel: A Critical Portrait by Tad Szulc

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

The Bible

Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Guards! Guards: A Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett

There is a healthy selection of books, but we are disappointed when nearby Gwinnett County voted down an opportunity to join the MARTA Book Club by 54 to 46 percent margin last Tuesday. We would have welcomed them to the fold, but we guess short-sighted residents there prefer sitting in never-ending traffic and contributing to the deterioration of the environment with their fossil fuel consumption.

But one of best strategies to combat ignorance is to read, (and think) and that’s what MARTA Book Club does.

(This posting appears on both The Book Shopper Blog: Personal Musing About Books and Down and Outbound; The Hub a blog about the transit culture. To peruse the previous 33 MARTA Book Club postings visit here.)

MARTA Book Club #33: In Praise of the Tattered Paperback

This is a shout out to that tattered paperback --- a yellowed time capsule that continues to be in circulation while withstanding the onslaught of E-books and the proliferation of audio books. Unlike more modern fanfare, these evocative paperbacks can bring back memories of our reading youth, do they not?

For my mass transit reading, I prefer the light, feathery disintegrating paperback that is easy to hold like a news magazine or a newspaper. As one who is recovering from carpal tunnel surgery and has developed some chronic ligament damage in the wrist, I have all but abandoned heavier book fare  on my MARTA  (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) commute.

For example in my contributions to this edition of the MARTA Book Club, the club whose sole participatory requirement is to read a book while riding MARTA, I recently finished the ultra- thin Albert Camus' classic, The Stranger (1942) which may be light physically, but a heavyweight in its existential indictment of humanity. And currently I am reading a mass market paperback copy of  John Hersey's A Bell for Adano (1944). This is my third Hersey book in the past few years. His writing career expanded over 50 years and  he's very underrated as a 20th century American writer.

Another mass market paperback classic that I saw someone reading was Robert Pirsig's The Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry in Values (1976). Not surprising, I recognized the book from its almost sepia colored back cover of man, son, and motorcycle all gazing meaningfully at a mountain in the distance. 

Other books spotted recently while riding MARTA include:

The Windup-Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. 

Rooster Bar by John Grisham

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Over Parenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach of Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

In the Garden of the Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

 The Romanovs, 1613 -1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Heavy book - you could bludgeon somebody with the 800 page hardback edition)

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit. This is a trade paperback that I just finished. Solnit has some fascinating insights about how people and communities really react to disasters in contrast to the misleading portrayals propagated by the movies and the media. Admittedly, it could have used a little editing, because Solnit seemed to bludgeon the topic, but maybe it was lack of this reader's commitment to engage in "heavy reading."

For the previous 32 MARTA Book Club postings, visit here.

 

 

 

MARTA Book Club #32: Buried Yet Alive

It’s been awhile since we posted anything from the MARTA BOOK CLUB, Atlanta’s Premier Public Transportation Reading Club, whose only membership requirement is to read something while riding the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.  There are no club dues, nor discussion groups and reading tastes can run the entire spectrum. Here’s a book

spotting list of what people have been reading:

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah.

Since we Fell: A Novel by Dennis Lehane and Julia Whelan

A Guide to Those Left Behind in Georgia by Amelia Pohl

The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance by Edward Gaines

How to Retire Happy by Stan Hinden.

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan. This was my contribution which I wrote about in depth for the Tropics of Meta blog.

Annihilation: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1 by Jeff VanderMeer and Carolyn McCormack

Antarctica (Continents) by Leila Merrell Foster

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Fires and Furies by Lauren Groff

Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama by David Garrow

Dear Ijeawele or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Fodor’s Florence & Tuscany: with Assisi and the Best of Umbria

Working by Studs Terkel

No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein

A lot has happened since our last posting in October of 2016.  During the I-85 Bridge collapse there was a brief uptick of riders and readers, but that surge evaporated with the re-opening of the bridge. Also, the resignation of MARTA of CEO Keith Parker comes as a shock.

The MARTA Book Club will miss Mr.  Parker, who once gave the MARTA Book Club a commuter trophy for it contributions to public transportation culture. We also appreciate how Mr. Parker stopped the financial hemorrhaging of the system after he took control in 2012. Service had been on the decline in terms of train frequency and we appreciate that the trend was reversed under Parker’s tenure. Personally,   my biggest regret is that I never found a way to get a copy of my book, Down & Outbound: A Mass Transit Satire into his hands. I stalked him once at the Peachtree Station, but he gave me slip. Nevertheless, Mr. Parker, if you see this posting send me your mailing address, I still have a book with your name on it. You look like a guy who can appreciate a good chuckle.

MARTA Book Club #31: Reading Revival

It's  almost been ten months since our last book club posting (MARTA Book Club #30) and a few of you have asked:

A.) Is anyone reading on  Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) buses and trains any more,  or B:) has the  secretary of the MARTA Book Club become too lazy to record what people are reading while they are riding public transit?

Quite frankly, it has been a combination of the two. For a while, I just didn't see people reading much in the way of books.  E-readers like Kindle seemed to have disappeared from the platforms as well. Time spent watching videos on phones seems to have increased though I don't quite see the pleasure of watching a dazzling dance number complete with stage lighting and gyrating music on a two by three inch screen.

Combine this media consumption trend to my lack of investigative fortitude and you can understand why there has been  dearth of titles and subsequent postings.   

One has plenty of time to read when the next train is 1408  minutes away

But enough of the excuses. I have made a concerted effort lately. So here's a list -- a small resurrection, if you will, of what people have been reading in Atlanta the past few weeks:

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis and Michael Meyer.

Selected Commercial Statutes for Secured Transactions by Carol Chomsky and Christina Kunz (This month's winner of the Hefty Book Award).

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (second place winner of the Hefty Book Award).

 

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.

Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening Mysterious World of Transportation by Edward Hume.  This was my offering. In this book, Hume reveals the intricate and tenuous nature of our transportation network from shipping containers  at the Port of Los Angeles to home delivery. He writes about the economic costs, the human costs (16 pedestrians are killed each day in the U.S.) and the environmental costs. Saying our infrastructure needs to be rebuilt is one thing, but doing it is something entirely different. One can start by reading this book.

Flash Point: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis.

Outcast, Vol. 3: A Little Light by Robert Kirkman and Elizabeth Brietweiser.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. (of course, considering it's just been released as a movie)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Game of Thrones by George W. Martin

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls

Perhaps this is not much of a effort compared  past lists but you can can contribute by adding a book in this posting's comments section.

 

MARTA Book Club #30: Going Rogue

I really can't explain it, but as the traveling secretary of the MARTA Book Club in charge of tracking what people are reading while riding buses and trains on the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, I have little to report since my last installment. I think I saw someone reading Herman Hesse's Siddhartha and a Michael Pollan book, but that was about it.

Is it my laziness? Are people reading less? Or was I just too absorbed in my own books to pay attention to anyone else. It could be the latter since I just finished Rebecca Solnit's absorbing collection of nearly 30 essays, Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness (2014). In this book Solnit travels throughout the world and gives accounts of some of the ecological crises and political upheavals that we hear about, but rarely know the inside story. Solnit is not a reporter per se, but she seems able to find those activists and other people on the front line who give us the perspectives that we need to know about. Sometimes this is depressing; sometimes uplifting. But always thought provoking.

My favorite pieces were about  post-tsunami Japan, the water crisis in the American West, "carnival" resistance in New Orleans, urban gardening and one that does strike close to home to someone in the MARTA Book Club -- "The Google Bus: Silicon Valley Invades." In this essay, Solint writes about the ramifications of a private bus exclusively used by high-tech employees. It includes an anecdote about an Apple bus driver who decided he had had enough:

 More Solnit

This is not the first time I have written about Solnit. Here's some blog links to other books of hers that I have read and posted something about:

 Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas (2010)

Wanderlust: A History of Walking (2000)

Hope: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities (2004)

River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technical Wild West (2003)

A Field Guide to Getting Lost (2005)

MARTA Book Club #29: Dark Streets; Enlightened Minds

Lately I have been somewhat of a slacker as the self-designated official secretary of the MARTA Book Club* but I am not going to apologize. In addition to my recording duties as club secretary, I have been reporting to officials the street lamp outages throughout the metro area. I will spare you the painful details. 

I have been reading some Noam Chomsky lately, so I know that I must keep complaining about the lights near the MARTA stations to affect change. For example, all three lights at the busy 10th Street Techwood intersection (shown in the photo) are out. Such poor visibility  makes it more likely that Atlanta drivers will not see pedestrians, especially during these daylight-shortened months. 

Now back to our regular MARTA Book Club meeting notes.

What People on the Move Are Reading

Now just in time for holiday gift giving is a list of what people have been reading on public transportation since the last posting. And keep in mind this list is just as suitable as any retailer's similar list of end-of-the-year book recommendations.

Southern Wildflowers by Lucille Parker

Dead Doctors Don’t Like by Joel D. Wallach and Ma Lan

Truro: The Story of a Cape Cod Town by Richard F. Whalen

The Crossing by Michael Connelly

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

Is Elvis Alive? By Gail-Brewer-Giorgio

Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

The Water is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

The Psychology of Selling by Bryon Tracey

The Martian by Andy Weir

Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides

Like Sheep Gone Astray by Leslie J. Sherrod (The Steamiest cover)

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Berlin by Erik Larson

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky and David Barsmian. As mentioned, this is one of my contributions. Though written in 2005, it's relevance has not diminished especially in light of the political maelstrom that has followed the attack on Paris. 

Lucky Alan and Other Stories (2014) by Jonathan Lethem

Why Women Love Jerks by Patrick King

Mission Accomplished by Oliver North

Aging Backwards: Reverse the Aging Process and Look Ten Years Younger in 30 Minutes a Day by Miranda Esmonde-White.  Note: Be cautious who you would gift this book to.

 

Books by Tom Clancy, Dennis Lehane, Lemony Snicket, Cormac McCarthy

 

 *This premier club is open to anyone who reads a book on a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority bus or train. For a complete history of the club, visit the MARTA book club category link of the blog.

 

 

 

 

MARTA Book Club #28: Views of Atlanta

The award winning MARTA book club*, Atlanta's premier public transportation reading club continues its civic duty of reflecting life in the city by tracking what people are reading on the trains and buses of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

The list begins with a book that I have reading during my commute City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis (2015) edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb of the n+1 literary magazine out of Brooklyn. This collection of dispatches (not really essays; not really articles) about life in different cities are often either personal (“Miami Party” Boom by Emily Witt) or more analytical like Dan Albert's history of interstate highways cutting through cities. This discontinuity gives the collection a kind of unevenness instead of something more cohesive.

Three of the articles have metro-Atlanta connections.

One dispatch is Shawn Wen's account of the the Jennifer Wilbanks disappearance on the eve of her wedding back in 2005 near Lawrenceville. Basically, Wilbanks got cold feet (and later returned unharmed) but to Wen, her “kidnapping” and the reaction to the kidnapping was a sign of the changing times in suburban Atlanta. In 1970, Duluth had a population of 2000, of which was 95 percent white. In 2010 that population has increased to 26,600 with a 40 percent white population.

The second piece is Lawrence Jackson “Christmas in Baltimore” about going back to a funeral in his hometown of Baltimore. Jackson, who is a professor at Emory University begins his intensely personal story when he is robbed at gunpoint in Atlanta. 

Alex Sayf Cummings who wrote the lengthy “Atlanta's BeltLine Meets the Voters.”  about the controversial BeltLine, the comprehensive transportation and economic development plan, which encircles the city. The project includes parks, trails, new housing and a proposed 22 miles of light rail connecting 44 Atlanta neighborhoods. (Boy, will that boost MARTA book club membership!)

Cummings makes every attempt to be fair minded about the BeltLine and goes to great lengths to explain its funding mechanism that is intertwined with financial support for the Atlanta Public Schools.  Gentrification or improving areas has had negative effects on working class and African American families, although there are efforts in the works to provide some affordable housing around the BeltLine. Cummings shows how Atlanta's urbanization problems are not much different than other cities and how Atlanta is a “helpless giant, tied down by suburban Lilliputians on all sides.” **  (In the photo taken during their recent reading at the Carter Center, Jackson is on the left and Cummings is on the right.)

What People Are Reading

And now back to our regular programming where we list what other books people are reading while riding MARTA – another view of the city, so to speak. Even though it has been hot and humid as hell on the platforms and sweat is running down and stinging our eyes, commuters are still reading:

Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung

Underworld by Dom DeLillo

The Surfing Lesson by Elin Hilderbrand

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Client by John Grisham

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel

Consider the Lobster (and other essays) by David Foster Wallace

Wanderlust by Danielle Steele

The Bible (not just any Bible, but one of those humongous King James Bible  with a zipper and Jesus quotes in red letters.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy by John Davis

NYPD Red by James Patterson

Smokin' 17 by Janet Evanovich

 

Books by Margaret Atwood, Maya Angelou, and Dean Koontz

 

If you are interested in past lists visit here, otherwise keep reading and get to work on time.

 

MARTA Book Club #27: Acceptance Speech

  

Since the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority  (MARTA) Book Club is a finalist for the Georgia Commute Options' Road Warrior of the Year award it seems only appropriate as its founder that I post something to acknowledge its nomination.  Little did I know when I began the club in 2009 as a spoof on book clubs in general that it would rise to any level of recognition.

I plan on being at the award ceremony on the behalf of the club on April 29th, but I think the chances of winning are highly unlikely. Even though Vegas has the odds at 500 to 1, why not prepare an acceptance speech just in case?

The Short Speech

The MARTA Book Club, which is open to anyone who reads a book while riding public transportation, has served two main purposes.  The 27 postings which lists all the books I have seen people read over the years (I call it "bookspotting") reflects the makeup of those who ride whether they read Bibles, romance novels,  textbooks or the occasional outlier such as Plato's The Republic. 

The second purpose is more personal.  I have used the book club to comment and sometimes rant on the MARTA experience and policies -- whether it was complaining about rate hikes, changes in service, or satirizing the Code of Conduct.  Coincidentally (or maybe it did a little good),  MARTA has improved over the six years and ~10,000 miles I have been riding, although it still does have its bad days. What is a bigger problem is the safety of those on foot and bikes. Being a pedestrian crossing the 10th Street  bridge from the Midtown Station has the danger equivalence of rock climbing.

But the MARTA Book Club turned out to only be the beginning. As a writer and a rider, I began to use my experiences and observations of commuter life as an inspiration to write stories, which I am putting together in a book entitled Down & Outbound: A Mass Transit Satire, which will be published sometime this year. 

So as you can see, my relationship with MARTA is more than as a daily commuter or even a -- shall I dare hope -- a Road Warrior. It has influenced me also, not only by the books I read riding to work but by the ways in which it connects me to this city. 

Why MARTA, you sound like you're my muse.

 

 

What We Are Reading

Here's a list of books being read since the last posting. If you are interested in visiting all the MARTA Book Club postings, go here. 

The Fall: Book Two of the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole

Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II by Belton Cooper and Stephen Ambrose

Double Cross by James Patterson

Sonography: Introduction to Normal Structure and Function (textbook)

The Master and Margarita by MiKail Bulgakov and Diane Burgin

Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk: The Turning Point of World War II by Dennis Showalter

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon

 Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

 Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

 Undercover User Experience Design (Voices that Matter) by Cennydd Bowles and James Box

Borderlands LA Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua

The Republic by Plato

NYPD Red 2 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp

The Alchemist by Paula Coelho

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Nine Days by Fred Hiatt

 

 Next Assignment

Keep reading, get to work on time, and watch for puddles on the platform.

 

 

MARTA Book Club #26: Reading Rules

Admittedly it's been a long while since the last installment of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Book Club, so perhaps I should provide a refresher on the rules.

The only membership requirement for Atlanta's premier, impromptu reading club is to read a book while riding public transportation. The MARTA Book Club does accept audio book and e-book submissions though I cannot easily determine what someone is enjoying as an audio book or e-book while doing my book-spotting. Moreover, one of the unwritten rules for the book club is minding your own business (along with watching out for suspicious puddles), so tapping people on the shoulder and asking what they are reading is not recommended. If alternative readers want to participate, they visit The Bookshopper Facebook Page and put their submission there. It's strictly an honor system–kind of like the MARTA Ride with Respect code of conduct.

In this posting I am also introducing the new unauthorized MARTA Book Club logo symbolizing the importance of the word while riding mass transit.

And now for the interesting part–a list of what people have been reading:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Man, God, and Civilization by John G. Jackson

The World According to Garp by John Irving

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McMullers (Hunter is this year's National Endowment of the Arts Big Read. Check the out the Georgia Center of the Book for details on local January events).

Monkey by Carl Hiassen

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan

The 4^th Hand by John Irving

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Southern Cross The Dog: A Novel by Bill Cheng

Nicolae: The Rise of the Antichrist (Left Behind) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

Secrets and Lies by ?????. It is either part of the Truth or Dare series, The Ferro Family series or the Oklahoma Brands Book 3. You get the drift...

Understanding Wood Finishing: How to Select and Apply the Right Finish by Bob Flexner

The Alibi by Sandra Brown

The End of War by John Morgan

Masters of Dragon by Chris Wraight

America by Andrew Huggins

The Coming of Sound by Douglas Gomery

Them by Nathan McCall

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. This is my contribution. I would definitely recommend Wallace's excellent book of non-fiction pieces, especially if you are thinking about taking a Caribbean Cruise.

1491 by Charles Mann

Other books spotted include novels by Kurt Vonnegut, Elizabeth George, Janet Evanovich and Stephen King.

 

 For the previous 25 entries, check out the MARTA Book Club category link on the right.

 

 

 

 

MARTA Book Club #25: The Silver Jubilee – Ruined?

Though normally I'd be celebrating the 25^th installment of the MARTA Book Club it's been hard times for Atlanta's premier, impromptu reading club, whose only membership requirement is to read a book while riding public transportation.

You may not be aware that back in November of 2013, with little fanfare, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) reduced the number of rail cars on the Blue Line from 8 to 6, which eliminated my favorite reading spot (one of lesser used cars at the tail end of the train – the caboose position). Since then, if a commuter was taking the Blue Line westbound during morning rush hour he or she was probably standing up if they boarded at the Decatur station or later. This makes it difficult if you're reading a book of any heft.

Beginning today,  trains are now running every 10 minutes instead of 15 apart during rush hour. While this is good news for some, it is making me a little apprehensive. Will this mean less time for reading while waiting for trains? Are the number of cars going to be reduced again making it a challenge to read anything, but a magazine? Electronic readers like Kindles already affect MARTA book club membership adversely. I am worried about a further decline in membership.

As you can see from my list below, either fewer people are reading these days or perhaps my observational skills have waned. Nevertheless, here's what I have spotted people reading on MARTA public transportation since my last posting.

 

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve

Stella Bain by Anita Shreve (not the same reader)

Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American by B.H. Liddell-Hart (See previous posting about this book)

A Genius for War: Life of General George S. Patton by Carlo D'Este (Fun Fact: Did you know that Patton studied Liddell-Hart's book on Sherman? )

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Nick Cave: Sinner Saint: The True Confessions, Thirty Years of Essential Interviews by Mat Snow

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (A tough book to carry on the train)

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Ditto)

Broken Harbor: A Novel by Tana French

A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story by Elaine Brown

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

The Starbuck's Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary by Joseph Mitchell

The Columbus Affair: A Novel by Steve Berry

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

The Cathedral & The Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. Raymond

Novels by Tami Hoag, Sandra Brown and Janet Evanovich

 

For those interested in revisiting the past 24 MARTA Book Club spottings, see the MARTA category link on the right