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, Geoffrey Vendeville asked for you

Sameer Mawani, 35, works for a non-profit Book: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera Stop: Bloor-Yonge The modern classic about love and politics in Communist Czechoslovakia has spent a lot of time on Mawani’s list of recommended books on Goodreads.com. “It’s really good in terms of talking about human beings and life and when you have to make one choice,” he said. The story of the womanizing Tomas is captivating, he said. “He loves her but he never wants to commit to anything in life, not his parents or his family.” Rafal Ramzi, 27, administrative assistant Book: Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder by Gabor Maté Stop: Union Maté, a family doctor, theorizes that ADD isn’t just a hereditary disorder, but that its origins may be complicated. “I do not think,” he says, “it is a matter of bad genes or bad parenting, but I do believe it is a matter of genes and parenting.” Ramzi said she finds Maté’s viewpoints interesting, although she remains skeptical. She’s reading it because she has symptoms of ADD herself, she said, including difficulty focusing. “His perspective is different,” she said. “It’s definitely very insightful but he has his perspective, his thesis and he pushes it very hard. Some people might be turned off by that.” Frances Scovil, 65, event planner Book: Steal Away Home by Karolyn Smardz Frost Stop: College Full disclosure: Scovil says she’s been friends with the author since high school. Historian Smardz Frost tells the true story of Cecelia Jane Reynolds, a woman born into slavery in 1831 who, as a teenager, sought freedom in Canada. Smardz Frost found Reynolds’ letters in the records of a historical society in Louisiana. “I’m quite enthralled,” Scovil said. “It’s building the history of the Underground Railroad and the lives of black Canadians in the 1840s and the 1850s. What’s nice about it is that it gets down to the little details.” Jethro Prinston, 21, researcher Book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling Stop: King “My phone died so I had nothing else to do,” said Prinston, holding a copy of the first Harry Potter book. He started reading it in a children’s lit course but didn’t get to the end. “It’s an unusual children’s book because one of the main characters, Harry, is rebellious,” he said. “In most children’s books, the main character listens to authority figures and stuff, right? But Harry Potter sometimes follows his own rules.”