> WORD UNDER THE STREET
You know when you see a stranger on the subway immersed in a book and you’re just dying to know what they’re reading? Well, we asked for you.
Kate Pavenski, 41, doctor
Book: The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman Stop: Queen It would be more appropriate to be reading a vampire book, joked Pavenski, a hematologist. Maybe she saves Dracula for the nightstand. On the subway, she was reading the last in the His Dark Materials trilogy, beginning with The Golden Compass (1995). She recently rewatched the film adaptation and was curious to know how the story ends. The sequels aren’t as good as the first book, according to Pavenski — but that may just be nostalgia talking.
The Golden Compass “was really engaging, the characters are really good and there’s a lot of personal drama whereas this is very philosophical and religious,” she said. “I almost wonder if this was meant to be a children’s book.”
Stam Monkoev, 24, accountant
Book: Super Memory Super Student: How to Raise your Grades in 30 Days by Harry Lorayne
Stop: Dundas Monkoev is out of school, but wants to bolster his memory because it has faded since he graduated and stopped cramming, he said.
Only a dozen pages into the first chapter, he couldn’t provide a full review. However, he said he was able to memorize a random sequence of words using a trick that he had learned.
Still, when asked his age, he hesitated before remembering: “24.”
Shehani Serasinghe, 25, environmental engineer
Book: Hush by Karen Robards
Stop: Queen Serasinghe has been hooked on mystery books and movies ever since she read Sidney Sheldon’s thriller, Are You Afraid of the Dark? Even now, after reading much more of his work, she doesn’t know how his stories will end.
It’s her first time reading Karen Robards’ writing and she’s been pleasantly surprised. Hush tells the story of a woman investigating the murder of her estranged husband, whose father made enemies after committing financial fraud.
At the moment, Robards’ novel is the only great mystery in Serasinghe’s life. “My life’s not very complicated right now,” she said with a laugh.
David Lamy, 40, in health care
Book: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Stop: Bathurst Lamy usually doesn’t read a book twice, but he made an exception for The Gunslinger to jog his memory before the highly anticipated movie version comes out. It’s the first of five books in King’s The Dark Tow
er series, the story of Roland of Gilead, the last of the Gunslingers, and his pursuit of a villainous “man in black.” (The film will star Idris Elba as the gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey as his nemesis, according to IMDB.)
“I don’t love the writing, but I’m finding the rhythm of it, so it’s getting a little bit more enjoyable,” Lamy said. “Either I’m evolving or the writing is evolving.”
The last time Lamy read The Gunslinger was 20 years ago. Where was he was then in life? “Younger.”