(Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
It’s no surprise that Seattle has a lot of book clubs. We are consistently named among the most literate cities in the U.S.
Seattle has a lot of passionate transit riders, too. And one of the biggest perks of riding the bus, or any form of transit, is the freedom to relax and read a book while on your way to work or school.
So it makes sense that there is now a book club for Seattle-area bus riders, too.
Called “Books on the Bus,” the new program will h
…
(Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
It’s no surprise that Seattle has a lot of book clubs. We are consistently named among the most literate cities in the U.S.
Seattle has a lot of passionate transit riders, too. And one of the biggest perks of riding the bus, or any form of transit, is the freedom to relax and read a book while on your way to work or school.
So it makes sense that there is now a book club for Seattle-area bus riders, too.
Called “Books on the Bus,” the new program will highlight a new book every three months for transit riders to share and discuss.
The goal is to strengthen what are already unique benefits about transit — the mobile, diverse community it creates and the incidental and sometimes meaningful interactions that happen between people who might never otherwise see each other, said Carla Saulter, book club organizer and membership manager for Transportation Choices Coalition.
The hope is to spur more interaction and enrich the transit experience, all the while supporting local authors.
“This is just a piece of making transit what it should be, in my eyes,” said Saulter, better known as “Bus Chick” — the name of her popular blog about life on the bus.
Most of the selections will be works from Pacific Northwest authors. The first selection is Hotel Angeline: A Novel in 36 Voices. “A project of the Seattle7Writers group, Hotel Angeline was written live on stage as part of a weeklong collaboration among 36 Pacific Northwest authors,” according to a news release.
At the end of every reading period, Transportation Choices will host an event to celebrate and talk about the book, possibly with the authors. But the hope is that people also will stop to talk while on the bus or waiting at a stop.
The book club itself is free, although participants may have to purchase the book. Half of the proceeds from sales of Hotel Angeline will go to support local literacy nonprofits — Powerful Schools and 826 Seattle, according to a news release.
Partnering with Transportation Choices are King County Metro, Richard Hugo House, the King County Library System and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. More information on how to sign up is here.