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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
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 AudioCritic 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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,426
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,118
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,112
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,705
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,464
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,460
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?'
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 675
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 639
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 639
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,077
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 960
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 242
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,426
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,118
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,112
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,705
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,464
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,460
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?'
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 675
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 639
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 639
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,077
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 960
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 242
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully plotted
- By Patty Says on 02-28-24
By: Olivia Ford
-
The Bookshop of Second Chances
- A Novel
- By: Jackie Fraser
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 848
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 768
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 765
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Childish
- By Elizabeth Miller on 11-13-21
By: Jackie Fraser
-
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,264
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,911
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,895
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!
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 727
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 691
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 691
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Small town attitudes
- By Maureen Teague on 08-26-24
By: Kirsten Miller
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,877
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,449
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,429
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Must Read (Listen)
- By Patricia on 06-03-21
By: Marianne Cronin
-
Britt-Marie Was Here
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Joan Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,436
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,259
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,229
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Gem
- By Sara on 05-12-16
By: Fredrik Backman
-
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
- By: Lori Nelson Spielman
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Kathleen Garrett, Lori Nelson Spielman
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,063
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,055
A trio of second-born daughters sets out on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside to break the family curse that says they’ll never find love, by New York Times best seller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You Will Not Be Disappointed
- By Lynn on 12-17-20
-
The Downstairs Girl
- By: Stacey Lee
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 981
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 975
By day, 17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie". When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
inaccurate historic details
- By kmh on 12-31-19
By: Stacey Lee
-
The Correspondent
- A Novel
- By: Virginia Evans
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful cast and story
- By Iteachart on 05-16-25
By: Virginia Evans
-
The Phoenix Ballroom
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Hogan
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Hope, renewal,
- By Jennifer A Hayes on 04-12-25
By: Ruth Hogan
-
The Matchmaker's Gift
- A Novel
- By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 446
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 408
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 405
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delightful
- By Little Ms Fun on 04-04-23
-
The Lost Ticket
- By: Freya Sampson
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Helen Lloyd
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, brokenhearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 that he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like hers. They made plans for a date at the National Gallery art museum, but Frank lost the bus ticket with her number on it. For the past 60 years, he’s ridden the same bus trying to find her, but with no luck.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Some nice surprises
- By Kristyn Rose on 05-31-23
By: Freya Sampson
-
How to Read a Book
- A Novel
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 656
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 625
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 625
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book wrecked me!
- By BlaneClark on 05-27-24
By: Monica Wood
Stories - something for everyone
Life - is short, find the meaning moments & right people (and animals) & make the most.
Fun and touching
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Delightful!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Also, the narrator was AMAZING! The differentiation between the men’s voices and women, children…whomever, she nailed it! Well done!
Perfect mix of a light read with twists & turns!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such fun!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I adore Iona and her friends
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Love this book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Something for everyone- and more
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.