Tweeting between the lines with the Commuter Book Club

With stations broadcasting book-related tweets from passengers on digital screens, travellers have a new way to take their minds off delays. But what are you reading on the rails?

If you're lucky enough to be a rail commuter like me, you may have discovered the amusement of following your fellow passengers on Twitter. There's something strangely comforting about knowing that, in your internal commuting strife, you're not alone.

According to JCDecaux, the company that runs the big screens at train stations and airports, 81% of commuters read on their journeys every week, with 38% of these using an e-reader.

So with all that reading going on, the company has introduced something a lot more fun than snarky tweets about delays. Commuter Book Club is a Twitter-based reading group that takes selected book-related tweets and broadcasts them at stations across the country.

Instead of information boards filled with news of cancellations and delays, we'll see @BriteEyedViolet asking, "How have I not read any EM Forster before? Just finished  #ARoomWithAView – a wonderful read." Or share @neilc79's reservations about Joseph Heller's sequel to Catch-22. Though it's hard for @RailBookClub followers to avoid the reality of 21st-century rail travel. @nomadiaz writes: "Just finished Stoner by John Williams, truly moving, puts today's delays into perspective."

I'll be back on the Lewisham train later, reading Franz Kafka's Greatest Stories on the Kindle. Not that I'm expecting my journey to be too Kafkaesque ...

FictionJoseph HellerFranz KafkaEM ForsterTwitterE-readersLiz Bury
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