What Does Your Subway Reading Style Say About You?

Public transportation is a boon to the avid reader, allowing you a certain amount of (relatively) uninterrupted time to spend with a book during your weekday commute. Granted, reading on the subway is nothing like curling up in your favorite easy chair—it requires cunning and dexterity to accommodate seats, poles, straps, fellow passengers, and their baggage. If you’re a daily subway or train commuter, chances are you’ve had time to discovered your preferred in-transit reading style. So what does your subway reading style say about you?
Style: The Standing Strap-Hanger
You’re well aware that if you let go of that trusty strap while the train is moving, even for a moment, there’s a chance that a sudden jerk will send you tumbling into some unsuspecting commuter’s lap—but you’re willing to take that risk. (Or, you’re secure in your Cirque du Soleil skills and ability to leap, catlike, to safety and appreciative applause.)
What this says about you:
You’re daring, confident, and more coordinated than most. You’re also committed to getting your read on, and you aren’t about to let a lack of seats or elbow room keep you from your book.
Recommended Reading:
eReaders are a boon to the strap-hanger, facilitating a seamless, one-handed page-turn. If you’re reading a hard copy you might want to make it something with dense prose you can really savor, like Ulysses, Gravity’s Rainbow, or the assembly instructions that came with your new printer stand. Just make sure you aren’t so absorbed that you miss your stop.
Style: The Pole-Wrangler
There you stand, your feet widely planted, with the pole cradled in the crook of your elbow. Or else you’re leaning your entire back against it, taking up valuable pole-estate, oblivious to those who might like the chance to hang on with at least a finger or two.
What this says about you:
You’d rather be seated. But when seats aren’t available, the stability of commandeering an entire pole can’t be beat. I try not to pole-hog, but I’ll admit that I understand the motivation: It’s just so comfortable to lean against a pole, and looping your arm around it just feels more sanitary, since you’re not gripping approximately eight hundred billion lurking pole germs (which I always seem to recall that I’ve done only once I’m licking my fingers after eating a slice of pizza. We’ve all been there, right? Right).
Recommended Reading:
How about a nice audiobook, my pole-clutching friend? This way you’ll enjoy a hands-free reading experience and be able to share pole space with other grateful riders. The best part? You can keep on listening even after you get off at your stop. Some of our favorite audio book narrators can be found here.
Style: The Door-Leaner
We’ve all been inadvertent door-leaners during rush hour, when we couldn’t cram ourselves any further into the train. It doesn’t lend itself to deep, uninterrupted reading time, unless you’ve managed to figure out that during your commute the doors only open on one side of the train for several stops.
What this says about you:
If you’re a door-leaner by choice, chances are you like your privacy. You’re also a bit of a thrill-seeker, since there’s always a chance that the doors will malfunction and open suddenly behind you while the train is moving (or maybe I’m the only one who worries about this). Finally, I suspect you also like to flout the rules, since as you door-lean, you’re probably standing directly beneath a sticker on the doorway above you sternly telling passengers not to do that.
Recommended Reading:
The main benefit of a good position in front of the door is the fact that if your book cover is hidden or you’re reading on a NOOK, no one can easily sneak a peek at your reading material (see: The Snoop). Why not take advantage of this and finally jump on the Twilight bandwagon? Or see what all that Fifty Shades of Grey fuss was about? And if you haven’t yet read Flowers in the Attic, you’re missing out on a great guilty pleasure.
Style: The Snoop
Perhaps you’re between books or not that into the book you have; maybe this train ride is taking longer than you anticipated and you didn’t come prepared. Either way, you’re not above stealing a glance or five at the reading material of the passengers around you, staring up at the book cover of the reader standing above you, or finding yourself intrigued by the buttoned-up businessman sitting on your left, who appears to have a pretty steamy scene going on in his nondescript paperback. Did you just catch the phrase “Viking lover”? Better lean in closer.
What this says about you:
You’re a friendly and curious sort, always wondering what other people are up to, even mysterious train strangers. I have to admit that glancing around at my fellow commuters has given me ideas for intriguing new books I might not otherwise have discovered—and in the case of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, it’s even encouraged me to actually pick up a book I’d been meaning to read for years, after a period of seeing at least one person reading it on every train I rode.
Recommended Reading:
How about putting your snoopery to good use with the following experiment: Try reading the next book you see a fellow commuter absorbed by on the train. It might not lead to the creation of the G Train Book Club, but it’s bound to be an interesting experience…and you might just discover a new author.
Style: The “I Swear I’m Reading Proust on My Smartphone and Not Playing Candy Crush”er
You’re staring intently at your Smartphone or tablet, but you also take great pains to flash it around occasionally to ensure that everyone can tell the screen is filled with text, and not crushing candies or angry birds.
What this says about you:
Frankly, methinks this Serious Reader doth protest too much. It’s OK to take a break from your book every once in a while to play a few mindless games. It’s your commute. You don’t have to spend every minute of it reading great literature if you’re not in the mood. None of us are judging you. (Well, most of us aren’t. And that Viking book person definitely isn’t.)
Recommended Reading:
How about I give you some suggestions right after you beat the next level of Fruit Ninja? I’ll wait right here.
What kind of subway reader are you?