
Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Clare Corbett
-
By:
-
Clare Pooley
About this listen
Nobody ever talks to strangers on the train. It’s a rule. But what would happen if they did? From the New York Times and Globe and Mail 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-Constant-Reader 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.
©2022 Clare Pooley (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
Nora Goes Off Script
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same.
-
-
Not enough smut for me
- By Anonymous User on 07-26-23
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
-
So incredibly boring
- By Rhonda Morrison on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Matchmaker's Gift
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.
-
-
Delightful
- By Little Ms Fun on 04-04-23
-
The Big Finish
- By: Brooke Fossey
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Duffy Sinclair, life boils down to one simple thing: maintaining his residence at the idyllic Centennial Assisted Living. Without it, he’s destined for the roach-infested nursing home down the road. So, he keeps his shenanigans to the bare minimum with the help of his straight-laced best friend and roommate, Carl Upton. But when Carl’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window with booze on her breath and a black eye, Duffy’s faced with trouble that’s sticking around and hard to hide.
-
-
SO GOOD!
- By Berit☀️✨ on 04-17-20
By: Brooke Fossey
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
Nora Goes Off Script
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same.
-
-
Not enough smut for me
- By Anonymous User on 07-26-23
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
-
So incredibly boring
- By Rhonda Morrison on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Matchmaker's Gift
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.
-
-
Delightful
- By Little Ms Fun on 04-04-23
-
The Big Finish
- By: Brooke Fossey
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Duffy Sinclair, life boils down to one simple thing: maintaining his residence at the idyllic Centennial Assisted Living. Without it, he’s destined for the roach-infested nursing home down the road. So, he keeps his shenanigans to the bare minimum with the help of his straight-laced best friend and roommate, Carl Upton. But when Carl’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window with booze on her breath and a black eye, Duffy’s faced with trouble that’s sticking around and hard to hide.
-
-
SO GOOD!
- By Berit☀️✨ on 04-17-20
By: Brooke Fossey
-
The Humans
- A Novel
- By: Matt Haig
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The critically acclaimed author of The Radleys shares a clever, heartwarming, and darkly insightful novel about an alien who comes to Earth to save humans from themselves. When an extraterrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this weird species than he has been led to believe. Eventually, the narrator sees hope and redemption in the humans' imperfections and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.
-
-
Light Sci-Fi Fare--You'll Love It!
- By Kathy in CA on 06-29-18
By: Matt Haig
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster!
-
-
Engaging story but not well written
- By Rachel A. on 08-16-19
By: Abbi Waxman
-
Remarkably Bright Creatures
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
-
-
Hidden gem, incredible narration!
- By Christine T on 05-17-22
By: Shelby Van Pelt
-
The Burnout
- A Novel
- By: Sophie Kinsella
- Narrated by: Bessie Carter
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall. Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn.
-
-
Classic Kinsella story
- By Mike b. on 10-21-23
By: Sophie Kinsella
-
Someone Else's Shoes
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Daisy Ridley
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because Sam Kemp—in the bleakest point of her life—has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag—she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat.
-
-
Bad language
- By Kerbear on 02-25-23
By: Jojo Moyes
-
Mother-Daughter Murder Night
- A Novel
- By: Nina Simon
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.
-
-
Don’t waste your money
- By Audrey Russell on 09-14-23
By: Nina Simon
-
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- By: Gail Honeyman
- Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office.
-
-
Please be warned
- By N. Thompson on 06-20-17
By: Gail Honeyman
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
-
Book was great, performance terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-23
By: Ann Napolitano
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- A Novel
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus, Pandora Sykes
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
Making my 3 adult daughters read this
- By Teresa H. on 04-07-22
By: Bonnie Garmus
-
None of This Is True
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Ayesha Antoine, Louise Brealey, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
-
-
Victim shaming a teen girl?
- By Lisa & Travis on 08-11-23
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
- A Novel
- By: Annie Lyons
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world - all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At 85, she isn’t going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets 10-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order.
-
-
Just what I Needed
- By Angela Adams on 02-04-21
By: Annie Lyons
Critic reviews
“A soothing story where bad things happen yet are overcome, and friendship leads the way to personal acceptance and rebirth.”
—Kirkus
“Why don't I ever meet people this delightful on a train? This feel-good ensemble story will bring joy to readers who loved Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine—not to mention fans of quirky London-set fare such as Ted Lasso. Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting is a warm, fun pick-me-up of a book.” —Mary Laura Philpott, bestselling author of I Miss You When I Blink and Bomb Shelter
“Pooley's grasp on the constraints and longings of the human condition proves immensely entertaining. Readers will be charmed by this uplifting, hopeful story rife with tender insights. Traveling with Iona Iverson is a literary journey well worth taking!” —Shelf Awareness
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
How to Age Disgracefully
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
-
-
Aging imperfections
- By Susan Love on 08-07-24
By: Clare Pooley
-
Sylvia's Second Act
- A Novel
- By: Hillary Yablon
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When sixty-three-year-old Sylvia finds her husband in bed with the floozy of their Boca retirement community, she’s shocked and furious . . . at first. By the time her head stops spinning, Sylvia realizes that actually, this isn’t what she wants anymore anyway. So she enlists her best friend, the glamorous older widow Evie, to join her in setting up a new life in Manhattan. Sylvia’s ex-husband may have lost her life savings, but Sylvia and Evie are scrappy and determined, unopposed to pawning jewelry and roughing it in tiny apartments.
-
-
Wonderful Listen
- By Iteachart on 06-26-24
By: Hillary Yablon
-
The Words We Whisper
- By: Mary Ellen Taylor
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus, Carlotta Brentan, Tim Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees - despite strained family relationships. Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind. She’s fixated on finding something long forgotten, and she immediately puts Zara to work cleaning out the attic. Amid the tedium of sifting through knickknacks and heirlooms, Zara also reconnects with a man she’s attracted to but whose complicated past makes romance seem impossible.
-
-
When you stay in the car to keep listening...
- By JCM on 09-14-21
-
Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame
- A Novel
- By: Olivia Ford
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes. Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago.
-
-
Beautifully plotted
- By Patty Says on 02-28-24
By: Olivia Ford
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
How to Age Disgracefully
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards. The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
-
-
Aging imperfections
- By Susan Love on 08-07-24
By: Clare Pooley
-
Sylvia's Second Act
- A Novel
- By: Hillary Yablon
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When sixty-three-year-old Sylvia finds her husband in bed with the floozy of their Boca retirement community, she’s shocked and furious . . . at first. By the time her head stops spinning, Sylvia realizes that actually, this isn’t what she wants anymore anyway. So she enlists her best friend, the glamorous older widow Evie, to join her in setting up a new life in Manhattan. Sylvia’s ex-husband may have lost her life savings, but Sylvia and Evie are scrappy and determined, unopposed to pawning jewelry and roughing it in tiny apartments.
-
-
Wonderful Listen
- By Iteachart on 06-26-24
By: Hillary Yablon
-
The Words We Whisper
- By: Mary Ellen Taylor
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus, Carlotta Brentan, Tim Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees - despite strained family relationships. Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind. She’s fixated on finding something long forgotten, and she immediately puts Zara to work cleaning out the attic. Amid the tedium of sifting through knickknacks and heirlooms, Zara also reconnects with a man she’s attracted to but whose complicated past makes romance seem impossible.
-
-
When you stay in the car to keep listening...
- By JCM on 09-14-21
-
Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame
- A Novel
- By: Olivia Ford
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes. Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago.
-
-
Beautifully plotted
- By Patty Says on 02-28-24
By: Olivia Ford
-
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster!
-
-
Engaging story but not well written
- By Rachel A. on 08-16-19
By: Abbi Waxman
-
Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
- A Novel
- By: Kirsten Miller
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.
-
-
Small town attitudes
- By Maureen Teague on 08-26-24
By: Kirsten Miller
-
The Matchmaker's Gift
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.
-
-
Delightful
- By Little Ms Fun on 04-04-23
-
The Bookshop of Second Chances
- A Novel
- By: Jackie Fraser
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thea Mottram is having a bad month. She’s been let go from her office job with no notice - and to make matters even worse, her husband of nearly 20 years has decided to leave her for one of her friends. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn’t know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs.
-
-
Childish
- By Elizabeth Miller on 11-13-21
By: Jackie Fraser
-
How to Read a Book
- A Novel
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the award-winning author of The One-in-a-Million Boy comes a heartfelt, uplifting novel about a chance encounter at a bookstore, exploring redemption, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.
-
-
This book wrecked me!
- By BlaneClark on 05-27-24
By: Monica Wood
-
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
- A Novel
- By: Marianne Cronin
- Narrated by: Sheila Reid, Rebecca Benson
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though the teenager has been told she’s dying, she still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital’s arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined. As their friendship blooms, a world of stories opens for these unlikely companions who, between them, have been alive for one hundred years.
-
-
A Must Read (Listen)
- By Patricia on 06-03-21
By: Marianne Cronin
-
The Phoenix Ballroom
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Hogan
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fifty years, Venetia Hargreaves’s world revolved around her husband. She built their life around his big career, with dinner on the table at six, a lovely home, and a dutiful son just as business-minded as his father. Now Venetia’s a wealthy widow left with a beautiful but empty home, an enviable bank balance, and a distinct feeling that she missed the boat. Once upon a time, she was a dance instructor who dreamed of opening her own ballroom school with a fellow teacher who won her heart. Instead, Venetia chose the safer path.
-
-
Hope, renewal,
- By Jennifer A Hayes on 04-12-25
By: Ruth Hogan
-
A Single Thread
- A Novel
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals.
-
-
Well-written but Not for Everyone
- By Janna Wong Healy on 04-05-20
By: Tracy Chevalier
-
Britt-Marie Was Here
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Joan Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Britt-Marie can't stand mess. She eats dinner at precisely the right time and starts her day at six in the morning because only lunatics wake up later than that. And she is not passive-aggressive. Not in the least. It's just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. But at 63, Britt-Marie has had enough. She finally walks out on her loveless 40-year marriage and finds a job in the only place she can: Borg, a small, derelict town devastated by the financial crisis.
-
-
A Gem
- By Sara on 05-12-16
By: Fredrik Backman
-
After Annie
- A Novel
- By: Anna Quindlen
- Narrated by: Gilli Messer
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie’s children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life. Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie.
-
-
Quindlen’s latest
- By Anonymous User on 03-03-24
By: Anna Quindlen
-
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
- A Novel
- By: Annie Lyons
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world - all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At 85, she isn’t going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets 10-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order.
-
-
Just what I Needed
- By Angela Adams on 02-04-21
By: Annie Lyons
-
We Could Be Rats
- A Novel
- By: Emily Austin
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal, but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.
-
-
Nothing Like I Have Ever Read
- By Joelle Trayers on 04-06-25
By: Emily Austin
What listeners say about Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pat G
- 08-06-22
A wonderful satisfying humorous book!
I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed this book! Claire’s writing is witty and sharp. Her characters are well developed and you care about everyone of them. The storyline continues to unfold to encompass and connect everyone. I was sorry when the story ended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MentorDesignerReader
- 06-08-23
Perfect Story with Humor & Happy Ending
What a delightful feel-good story of unlikely friendships and romance, and the narrator was perfect.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- sandyb
- 09-02-23
Cute Story and Wonderful Narration
I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this terrific audiobook! Highly recommend this for a good read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peggy Warner
- 10-29-23
So much fun!
The language was luxuriously playful and the characters were delightful.
Although it was rom-com predictable it was a fun ride!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeanette Pucheu
- 01-28-24
Uplifting Read in a Lonely World
I most enjoyed this novel. The characters are well developed and colorful, and I truly loved the humor and the fun literary references. ( Emily Dickinson Shakespeare, etc) This work shows us that with a little effort and kindness, one can build a sense of community. This is so refreshing in a world plagued by isolation and loneliness.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Becky Clontz
- 07-24-24
Contemporary without being preachy
I loved the story, the flow and while things ended in a tidy way for all, it was enjoyable to participate in the beginning randomness of meeting on a train. They all became friends in spite of their differences and with a story that felt realistic. Sometimes you just need a feel good book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sharon
- 07-12-24
Made me laugh and cry. Great story again!
Wonderful
Book on similar lines to her others but extremely well written. Wish they had more of her books on audible!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Quinn
- 09-23-22
Loved this book!
Believe all the great reviews; this is a very good book! Well written, beautifully narrated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kim
- 11-27-24
Iona - her weakness but more importantly her strengths.
I didn’t want it to end, I don’t know what that would be, but I wanted more
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rachel Elizabeth
- 01-04-25
Great character development
This book really makes you fall in love with the characters. They’re realistic and gloriously written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!