Books to commute by

Since I started working in Tanjong Pagar, the central business district of Singapore, my commute to and from home has become longer. Four more stops, or at least 15 more minutes, have been tacked on to my old MRT route. Sometimes I even end up taking the bus (which I don't normally do). And because my work hours are no longer always in sync with the hubby's, I end up commuting alone more than I used to

So I started reading books on the train. They sure beat the intellectual pambalot ng isda that is the local free paper. I've managed to finish five books purely while commuting. All of them are short; the longest is Ian McEwan's Black Dogs at 221 pages.

The thing with reading on the train is that I like whatever I'm reading to be light and uncomplicated. I always see people reading heavy instructional or self-help tomes on the train to work and I always wonder how they can absorb the material properly. That said, I tried to pick books that were brief and light without sacrificing quality. So if you're looking for some light reading, all these books are highly recommended!

The first book I read on my solo commutes was this one.

It was utterly perfect: one story for every day of the workweek. I would neatly end one story at the end of my commute home and begin a fresh one the next morning. And I loved that all the stories were about music. 

This book on creativity and out-of-the-box thinking would have been really inspiring and useful given the kind of work I do, but it kept reminding me about the actual work I do! I didn't find it ideal to read before or after work; maybe I'll re-read it on a sunny Saturday morning by the pool. 

In Black Dogs, I finally met an Ian McEwan book that I didn't like. I felt strangely uninterested in the characters, which made the climax of the book (close to its very end, which felt like eons to get to) much less satisfying. I had such a hard time finishing it. But I did and I still haven't lost faith in this author.

I've been a huge Vonnegut fan since I first saw a battered, yellowed copy of Galapagos in my mom's bookshelf almost 10 years ago. This used copy from Green Apple in San Francisco is my latest purchase in my efforts to own all his books. It's told from the first-person perspective of Vonnegut himself, in a fictitious attempt to use controlled near-death experiences to nab interviews with dead people. He never fails to crack me up, which can make one look a little silly on the train.

Reflecting the current state of mind (a.k.a. obsession) is Ian McEwan's Amsterdam, a city that does not make its appearance in the story until the last few pages yet holds the key to the resolution of its central conflict. I had wanted to actually read about Amsterdam from beginning to end so I could start imagining myself in it, but no matter. Highly recommended.

Do you read while commuting? Any books to recommend to a fellow commuter?