It was a road trip like any other (when three of the four travellers work for Canadian publishing houses). We hit the road to North Bay at 5 p.m. on a Friday, packing swimsuits, sunscreen and a good amount of reading material. The car radio didn’t work but we had other things to entertain us. Some of us were enjoying manuscripts from work while others became preoccupied with the latest US Weekly magazine but soon (as it usually does) the conversation turned to books and to forecasting this Fall’s bestsellers. (Yes, we’re a bit of a dorky crowd.)

Suspecting that we might spend some significant time on highway 400 getting out of Toronto, I had decided to pack an ARC of Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) and it did not disappoint. We found it a highly addictive book, decided it will sell many copies and could not stop talking about it for at least forty-five minutes (which, sadly, was how long it took us to get from the 401 to Canada’s Wonderland).

Traffic proved to be one of those books so full of fascinating details and insightful observations about everyday habits—all presented in a highly entertaining narrative—that you can’t help but read extended passages aloud to your friends in the car! We passed the ARC around sharing “Traffic reports” with our driver. Eventually she had to call an end to what became a rather heated debate about drivers who tap their brake lights frequently—are they nervous, unpredictable hazards on the road or cautious, repsonsible highway navigators who should be given a wider berth?—because it was distracting her from the road. We agreed to stow Traffic in the trunk (at least until the next Tim Horton’s pit stop).

Traffic goes on sale July 29. Michelle goes to North Bay as often as possible.