On Monday, we hit up the new wine local shop, and in addition to a brief lesson on the proper serving temperature of Sauvignon Blanc (hint: take it out of the fridge and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes before drinking), we caught a glimpse of Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut on the counter. Monkey House is a collection of short stories, including Harrison Bergeron, a creepiest and most dystopian reading to ever be assigned by an 8th grade language arts teacher. And with that, Adam’s Wines and Liquors has won our loyalty and booze-buying dollars.
After the jump, we return to the subways to seek out other bookworms.
A copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in an older gentleman’s hand made us curious — was he catching up on the books he skipped in high school? New to the country and curious about its history? We so rarely see adults reading the stuff of AP English or Literature 101, it always makes us wonder what’s behind those choices.
Less surprising is the adult commuter clutching a young adult or even middle-grades book. YA books rock, and Harry Potter made them social acceptable for grown-ups, so it was perfectly normal to see a woman on her way to the office with The Lightning Thief , intended for grades 5 through 9 according to Library Journal.
Other books we spotted this week seemed like standard subway fare: The Five People You Meet in Heaven , The Associate , The Yankee Years , and The Power of Now .
Then there was a copy of some sort of manual by L. Ron Hubbard, accompanied by a carefully-tended notebook. That’s way scarier to us now than Harrison Bergeron was when we were 13.