My colleague Anna Chen asked readers the other day what they were reading while on transit.

Glad you asked!

I commend Anna Chen for “Night Shift” by Stephen King. That’s old school! And I encourage her to dive deeper into the King canon. I’d start with “Christine” about a Plymouth Fury that lives up to its name, one of King’s better books.

And with the sequel to “The Shining” about to be released, it would be a good time to revisit that masterpiece. Yes, Jack Nicholson made the movie fun. I perhaps am in the minority of those who believe the book was better and scarier.

Glad you asked about what’s recently inhabited my iPad while riding the Metro:

“Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Global Pandemic” by David Quammen. A gifted science writer who knows how to write for normal people, Quammen gets inside viruses and explains their evolutionary habits, how they spread and, specifically, how they jump from species to species. Warning: if you read while on transit, bring a couple of buckets of hand sanitizer.

“World War Z” by Max Brooks. A nice, long tale about the zombie virus going global — the perfect follow-up to the Quammen book on real viruses. I never paid much attention to this book when it first came out but I liked the movie adaptation and thought I’d tackle the book. The movie really only has a few kernels from the book, which provides everything you really need to know about the zombie wars.

“This Town” by Mark Leibovich. A complete and total takedown on the intersection of government, lobbying and media in Washington D.C. The gist of it: there’s often little distinction between government, lobbying and media in D.C. with players from all three constantly jumping between jobs — that is, when not attending parties or funerals (which can be indistinguishable) with one another.

And, now, to repeat Anna’s question: what are you reading when traveling on transit? Any recommendations? Comment please.