Brazil encourages people to read more with ‘ticket books'

City folk often do not leave their house without a book in their bag, as city life offers a lot of spare time in lines and on public transport. However, not everybody around the world is a bookworm. Brazilians only read an average of two books a year. To promote nationwide reading and celebrate World Book Day, L&PM Editores, Brazil's biggest pocket book publisher, came up with a brilliant idea: They published a pocket book series that also acts as a subway ticket. The "Ticket Book" system was first introduced to the subways of Sao Paulo last April on World Book Day.

The pocket books feature an RFID card, readable by subway turnstile scanners, which gives the people of Sao Paulo a total of 10 free passes that they can use any time they want. When people run out of free passes, they can upload credit and gift their loved ones "Ticket Books," paving the way to book exchanges as well. Since the project has been a huge success in Sao Paulo, L&PM Editores decided to turn this project into a permanent practice and expend it to the other major Brazilian cities. Those who want to use "Ticket Books" are able to purchase them at the stalls in subways. Subway riders can choose their books from a variety of genres from romantic novels to adventure stories.

The available books are "Peanuts: Friendship, That's What Friends Are For" by Charles M. Schulz, "Garfield: Sorry" by Jim Davis, "Hundred Love Sonnets" by Pablo Neruda, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, "Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of Baskerville" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, "Murder Alley" by Agatha Christie, "Chives In Trouble!" by Mauricio de Sousa and "Quintana Pocket" by Mario Quintana. The covers of the books are also inspired from the subway map of Sao Paulo.