I saw a heartwarming scene on the London Underground yesterday (and that’s not something fellow Northern Line passengers might ever have experienced). Two passengers reached into their bags, pulled out a book, and settled for a read. Half way into ‘sit back and ignore the world position’, they realised they’d pulled out the same book. It was a hefty tome, Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn. They smiled at the coincidence, and commenced an animated discussion about a novel The Times describes as ‘The latest piece of sorrowful artistry from a master novelist, a worthy successor to Henry James”. I’ve read Brooklyn too, and was dying to leap in with my pennyworth, and create the Northern Line’s answer to the book club. Reticence overtook, but I eavesdropped all the same, and overheard the phrases, “Can’t put it down”, “I’m originally from Ireland, and the descriptions at the beginning of the book are spot on” and “Beautiful, beautiful!”

I found the scene profoundly moving. The reading couple wasn’t one you’d imagine having anything in common. He, a businessman in his late thirties with a briefcase; she a woman of a very certain age, toting a wipe-clean shopper and wide-fitting ankle boots. They chatted for around three stops, before settling back, with a smile, for a good read.

What better illustration of the power of a good book? So I thought I’d start a mini ‘book pass’. Years ago, while Interailing, I’d run out of stuff to read. An American guy and I got chatting, and we swapped books. He got John Fowles The Magus, I got Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King. I hadn’t heard of Bellow, he didn’t know Fowles, but I hope he enjoyed his new book as much as I was entranced by mine.

So, if you’d like a scruffy, dog-eared much-enjoyed copy of Margaret Atwood’s latest novel The Year of the Flood, leave a Yes Please! in the comment box below (and don’t forget to include your email address – it won’t be publically shown). I’ll pick one name at random, and post the copy to you. If you enjoy it, pass it on. And you never know, if you read it in public, you might even make a new friend while on a bus or the tube.

I’d also love your recommended reads. If we get enough of them, we can start a book club without having to brave the underground, or even leave our homes!