Stolen bus book snippets

[artemisdart]

I see a lot of people reading on the bus in to downtown in the morning. Sometimes they're reading something that's obviously for their profession, such as a software engineering book or something about the law or something about shipping logistics. Other times they're reading fiction.

Ah, fiction. I remember it well. I haven't read fiction in ... (checking watch) ... (now checking calendar) ... um, way too long. Longer than I care to admit to you. So, as is the great American tradition, I get my thrills vicariously, on the bus.

Here are some snippets of fiction I've seen over people's shoulders recently:

• "Basil was ushered into the antechamber." (I love this sentence! In this one sentence, you learn so much about the story. For one thing, that it's set in a time period and country in which people had antechambers and ushers. For another thing, that it's set in a time period and country in which people were named Basil. This must have been a historical romance, a historical drama, or a British murder mystery. Hint: If someone is named "Basil," he's most probably evil.)

• "I don't know how it all can change." (A boring sentence. I have no interest in reading this book.)

• "About that time and for almost two years our hanging out stopped [. . . ]" (I couldn't see / remember any more. This was from something with a dramatic-looking cover and the title, "The Shack." Maybe it's horror? Someone stuck out in the middle of the countryside in a remote shack, stalked by a relentless killer?)

As for why I can't read on the bus too -- my bus trip only takes 11 minutes or so. It's not long enough to merit lugging a book along with me, even a book with a tantalizing sentence like "Basil was ushered into the antechamber."

Comments

[oomingmak.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I love reading over people's shoulders on the bus. I once saw two people (complete strangers, sitting in opposite rows) reading the same book only a couple pages apart. It was oddly synchronistic.

[autumnbottom.livejournal.com]

The Shack is the Religious Fiction du jour. Don't do it.

[autumnbottom.livejournal.com]

And as for "lugging a book" along with you, come on. That's a total cop out and you know it. Pick up a mass market paperback and slip it into your purse. Better yet, revisit some of the small, lightweight (like in actual weight, not content) classics like A Seperate Peace, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, or 1984. Or something compact like Vonnegut, Kerouac, or Melville's collections of short stories.

You've got 22 minutes a day of child-free, uninterrupted reading time; Take advantage of it!

[echsdoc.livejournal.com]

Remember the old joke about how the ideal first sentence has to have royalty, sex and mystery? The result was:

"The queen is pregnant? Who did it?"