WORD UNDER THE STREET
You know when you see a stranger on the subway immersed in a book and you’re dying to know what they’re reading? Well, May Warren asked for you Ellen Choi, 35, PhD candidate
Book: Quiet Leadership, by David Rock
Station: High Park Choi said she has been “raving” about this non-fiction book for a while. It’s about “leadership strategies and ways to interact at an interpersonal level to get the most out of people you work with,” she said. As she’s doing her PhD in mindfulness, she wanted to see what the author’s approach to the topic was. She likes Rock’s “gentle” approach, and finds he’s able to break down concepts into “easily digestible” bits. “He’s not shoving neuroscience down anyone’s throats,” she said. Troy Powell, 31, non-profit worker
Book: Deviant Globalization: Black Market Economy in the 21st Century, by Nils Gilman (editor), Jesse Goldhammer (editor), Steven Weber (editor)
Station: St. Andrew This collection of essays on the “dark side of capitalism and globalization” piqued Powell’s interest after he saw a Ted Talk on the subject by Gilman. “It just highlights what’s going on beneath our noses,” said Powell, who lives in Brampton and said he always has a book on the go while on the subway. “Things that you wouldn’t normally think about.” Carly Brown, 27, restaurant worker
Book: Dance with the Devil: A Memoir of Murder and Loss, by David Bagby Station: College Brown picked up this true-crime thriller after watching a Netflix documentary based on the same events called Dear Zachary. Author Bagby’s son Andrew was murdered in Pennsylvania by his own wife. She then fled to Newfoundland and killed both herself and their unborn son. Brown called the book “a super horrible story” but has really enjoyed the book so far. “I’m just really into true crime. I find those are the most interesting stories,” she said. Suzanne Bamber, 72, retired
Book: The Golden Son, by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Station: St. George Bamber would thoroughly recommend this novel about a young man coming of age in a large family. It’s set in India, a country Bamber has visited and “loved.” “I read the first page and was hooked,” she said. She also likes that there’s a local connection: the author was born and raised in Toronto.