Books on the Rail shares the love of reading with Melbourne commuters

IF YOU’VE recently found a book on public transport, chances are it was left there just for you — by book ninjas part of a new movement taking off.

Michelle Kalus and Ali Berg have started Books on the Rail, a movement in which people leave books on Melbourne's public transport system for unsuspecting commuters to discover, read and then leave for someone else to enjoy. Picture: Stuart Milligan

IF YOU’VE recently found a book on public transport, chances are it was left there just for you.

The Books on the Rail movement encourages people to leave novels on Melbourne’s trains, trams and buses for commuters to discover, read then pass on.

It’s the brainchild of Malvern bookworms Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus.

They started sharing their love of reading with strangers in April, leaving a copy of Paullina Simons’ The Bronze Horseman at South Yarra Station.

Since then about 300 titles — from Isobelle Carmody’s Metro Winds to Stan Grant’s Talking To My Country — have been circulated throughout Melbourne.

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“Sometimes we’ll leave books on a train and then hide behind the seat so we can see the reaction of the person who finds it — people get so excited,” Ms Berg, a copywriter, said.

While the pair started with their own books or ones purchased from op-shops, they now receive regular shipments of new novels from publishers and copies from emerging authors.

Each Books on the Rail novel is adorned with a sticker saying ‘Take a book, read it and then return it for someone else to enjoy’.

Readers can also write a location and review on a slip inside each book so people can track where their literary discovery has travelled thus far.

Ms Berg was inspired by a co-worker who started the Books on the Underground movement in London and decided to unleash the project on her hometown, which is a UNESCO City of Literature.

“I thought ‘that’s such a Melbourne idea’,” she said.

Anyone can become a “book ninja” by requesting Books on the Rail stickers and leaving novels for unsuspecting passengers.

For more information visit booksontherail.com or share your discoveries and reviews with #booksontherail.