Clare Pooley

Nobody ever talks to strangers on the train. It's a rule. But what would happen if they did? From the New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project, a heartwarming novel about unexpected friendships and the joy of connecting. Every day Iona, a larger-than-life magazine advice columnist, travels the ten stops from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station by train, accompanied by her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname: Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm and Terribly-Lonely-Teenager. Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do. Then one morning, the man she calls Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader chokes on a grape right in front of her. He'd have died were it not for the timely intervention of Sanjay, a nurse, who gives him the Heimlich maneuver. This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people with almost nothing in common except their commute discover that a chance encounter can blossom into much more. It turns out that talking to strangers can teach you about the world around you--and even more about yourself.

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

Grace

All his previous dates were with women he'd met at college, work, or on a dating app where they'd exchange banter for days, tentatively swapping nuggets of personal information, before ac- tually meeting IRL. This was old-school, and it was terrifying. There was a reason why no one did this anymore.

Your anxiety is the other side of the coin of your empathy. Isuspect that's why you're such a good nurse. But there must be a way of finding a healthier balance to care deeply about your patients while still protecting yourself. Remember the saying You need to fit your own oxygen mask before you can help anyone else fit theirs

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting quotes

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