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? Geoffrey Vendeville asked for you
Sarah Longwill, 31, program manager Book: Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon Stop: Lawrence Many years ago, Alanna:
The First Adventure led a young Longwill to imagine what it would be like to wield a sword and magic powers. Her love for sci-fi and fantasy hasn’t subsided as an adult. Her friend, a voracious reader who has floor-to-ceiling book shelves, recommended Sixty-One Nails, Longwill said. The main character, Niall Petersen, gains access to a magical world that “lies under the surface of everyday life” after suffering from what appears to be a heart attack. Before being interviewed by the Star, Longwill was entranced by Shevdon’s descriptions of London, which reminded her of the time she went there and saw St. Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. “I was pulled back to my old holiday,” she said. “I loved my time there, walking, walking everywhere.” Carol Bailey, 53, nurse Book: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth Stop: Rosedale Set in newly independent India, the novel describes a woman’s attempt to find a “suitable boy” to wed her daughter. Seth is said to be working on a muchanticipated sequel to the international bestseller, this time taking place in the present. Bailey read the 1,500-page book when she was much younger and wanted to see if her perspective would change. “I said, I must have missed something and why did it end that way, so I had to go back.” Seth’s book is as good on second reading, she said. She is paying greater attention to certain characters this time. Now older and wiser, she thinks the ending won’t be as disappointing. “Now I can understand why it ended that way and I won’t be sad,” she said.
Sarah Altenburg, 29, works in finance Book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Stop: Eglinton
The Kite Runner had been sitting on Altenburg’s shelf for years before she finally picked it up. Now, she can hardly put it down. “The suspense is building and something is going to happen, but I’m not sure what yet,” she said. The story opens in Kabul before the Soviet invasion in 1980 and deals with a friendship between a well-off boy and the son of his father’s servant, a member of the oppressed Hazara minority. Hosseini, the author, was born the son of an Afghan diplomat. He moved from Kabul to Paris before the invasion. The title of his debut novel refers to a neighbourhood kite-flying and kite-fighting tournament, he told the Star in 2003. Kite flying was banned by the Taliban, he said. “One of the first images I saw when the Northern Alliance and the United States came into Afghanistan was kids flying kites — and that brought a smile to my face.” James Johnson, 30, government researcher Book: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Stop: Union Johnson had the honour of being the first to pick the first reading for his book club made up of high school friends. They have their work cut out for them. “I always lean toward tomes whenever I choose an author,” he told the Star. It would be hard to do justice to Murakami’s epic romance, totalling almost 1,200 pages, in a short review. But Johnson says it’s “dreamlike in that there’s an Alice in Wonderland element to it.” “It changes personalities a bit and has some graphic content so it’s not for the faint of heart,” he added. He doesn’t feel any pressure or responsibility for his friends liking the book. “I’m just hopeful they actually finish it,” he said.