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Having now curated and posted photos for Beaufort and Spencer Hill social media accounts, coming up with artsy pictures and a quick caption for books is harder than it looks, so Bookstagram culture is pretty impressive. That’s why when I came across “Books on the Subway” during my first week of working as an intern here, I was immediately intrigued. There are tons of blogs and social media accounts dedicated to people reading, but my personal favorites are the pictures of people reading on the subway. From bringing fake book covers on the subway to get a rise out of the public (one cover read something silly like “How to Hold a Fart In”) to, quite honestly the best, “Hot Dudes Reading” an Instagram dedicated to good-looking men reading on-the-go, there are enough books and steamy pictures to satisfy everyone.

However, a free platform to share the books you are reading is not something you come across on a daily basis, especially through a quirky Instagram. That’s what’s so great about “Books on the Subway.” Started in 2012 by Hollie Fraser in London, originating as “Books on the Underground” and expanding to five other cities around the world, “Books on the Subway” is kind of like a public library. A public library on the metro. A public library on the metro to discover new reads and get so caught up reading you miss your stop.

Hollie and Rosy Kehdi, the originator of the New York City branch, put fun stickers explaining the idea behind the organization on some of their favorite books and leave them on subways all over the city for someone to pick up. It is like a library, a secret santa, and a wonderful surprise all wrapped into one beautiful book that is yours to cherish and read, and then return to a subway station to leave for another unsuspecting victim of good luck. Five to 20 books are left a day on the subways of this crazy metropolis and a photo of the books and their locations are Instagrammed daily.

The Books on the Subway Instagram post from January 16, at the Cortlandt Street station.

As someone who is a self-proclaimed sociologist (which is just my fancy way of saying I am an avid people-watcher) checking out what other people are reading on the subway has turned into a game practically, finding the best books to eventually read. Most of the time I am not-so-subtly trying to peer over a shoulder or twist my head to the perfect angle just to read the title of the book a passenger is enjoying. That is why when people post about books it is so much easier to check out the titles they are reading.

While “Books on the Subway” may just seem like a fun thing to check out if you find a book lying around the dingy floors of a subway station, for me it is a book lover’s dream come true, next to kindle apps and fanfiction. I take the subway at least four times a week and on these long rides on the D train, if I’m not listening to a new podcast, I’m reading. I’m usually reading books for school, which can be fun sometimes, depending on if I understand what is being theorized, but subway rides give me the opportunity to read books that I wouldn’t have time for otherwise. I read for fun, something that I haven’t been able to indulge in for a while now.

Since living here for school, New York City has become something like my own personal library whether reading in coffee shops, the NYPL Rose Room, or on the subway, which has now just gotten a little more interesting. Hopefully, my tbr list will actually be read this semester. Hopefully, I will spot a free subway book some time soon.

This is me on my commute to Beaufort! Or at least this is the book I’m reading right now.

– Amanda, Intern

This is a shared blog post for Spencer Hill Press and Beaufort Books

I have just started to work here as an intern at Beaufort and this is my first publishing job ever. Being in this environment has made me take stock of books and how they have shaped my life. Ever since I could remember books have been stacked sky high in my household. Growing up I would always see all of these old books around my house. Some books were placed on rickety shelves that were dipping due to the sheer weight of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others were stacked in strategic places around the house, piles that went all the way up to my chest. At first, the idea of reading these books was daunting. I saw them as unreadable and too complex. But, as I got older and reading became a passion, I tried to read as many books as I could. I became fascinated with these authors on my bookshelves. I learned about new authors and bought more and more books. I collected more books than I could read. But I couldn’t stop sometimes. When I patrolled the aisles of my local book stores I kept finding new books that I wanted to read. It didn’t help that some of my favorite authors would release new books some years.

Reading all of the books I have spread around my house became a task at some points, like homework. It was hard to read my books during college due to the schoolwork I had. So, every break I had, Christmas break, summer break, spring break, Easter break, Presidents weekend, Columbus Day, etc., I tried to read as many books as I could. I became disappointed when I didn’t hit a certain amount of pages some days or didn’t read as many books as I would’ve liked to. I learned that I was sucking the fun out of reading when I looked at it like this. Over this Christmas break I set out to finish a good chunk of books. I made a list of all the books and was ready to check them off. A revolving door of family members came through my house during the break. I also traveled to see others and began working at my internship. All of this hurt my prospects of checking off the books on my list. When I got to my next book on the list, Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, I realized that I might not finish by the time the semester starts. I have come to grips with this. Reading shouldn’t be a chore. I should be able to pick up a book and allow it to envelope me. I am going to come back to The Corrections throughout my semester and finish it at my own pace. I am going to pick up other books during this time and start them. I feel like I need to learn to pick up books whenever I have a chance and read any amount, whether it is five pages or a hundred pages. I also feel like I need to put down books that I am not interested in and don’t like. I shouldn’t feel obligated to finish a book; it is just a waste of time. Besides, I may come back to a ditched book and find that past me was an idiot for not liking it. I hope that this new approach will allow me to tackle more books on my reading list and most importantly allow myself to enjoy reading even more.

-Matt, intern at Beaufort Books

This is a shared blog post for Spencer Hill Press and Beaufort Books.