In my current COVID haze, I almost forgot that today is the Between the Lines galleyversary🗽💛 I’m so grateful to everyone who told me their story and to my team @simonandschuster for empowering me to share my work in print. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, pick up Between the Lines: Stories from the Underground at your local indie bookstore!! 📷 @kamauware

I talked to Claire the founder of @subwaysocialclub at Clinton—Washington station about The Power of Strangers by @mrjoekeohane (I’m actually in that book which Claire of course didn’t know—only the subway gods can plan this kind of match made in heaven). xo @theubc

NEW YORK — Xochitl: “I am a lifelong Brooklynite, author of the novel Olga Dies Dreaming, and I’m a lifelong subway rider. I have to say that the subway has seen better days. I used to think of the subway as a mangy lover that you could at least rely on. It wasn’t the nicest looking, but at least it was there. Infrastructure-wise, our Mayor has not been the best friend to commuters — he has been the mangiest of all lovers — but here we are, at the dawn of a new era, who knows (laughs). The book I’m reading is ‘My Government Means to Kill Me’ by Rasheed Newson. It comes out in August and this is an advanced copy. It takes place in the 80s in New York and follows a queer, Black man named Trey who leaves a family of privilege to move to the city. It’s his coming-of-age story as an openly gay man during the AIDS crisis and I love that it weaves the personal and the political together. Trey also takes us to the bathhouses, the Chelsea Hotel, and so many places that were part of the fabric of New York that have kind of been erased. In the 90s, I worked for a gallerist who, when he couldn’t pay me anymore, horse-traded me to the framing store next door and eventually I became a luxury wedding planner. I was barely making $5 but we’d go to this restaurant L’Orange Bleue where Heath Ledger would hang out. It was a wild and interesting time. The best part about being a wedding planner was that I met all these amazing people, like Manny, my old delivery guy, and I got this understanding that the ecosystem was actually quite flat. The power brokers needed their vendors. What is so emotionally hard about COVID is to see how all the local businesses are impacted and which workers are put most at risk. It’s a good thing to keep in perspective. Where am I headed today on the subway? I’m going to the Container Store. I have these disorganized closets filled with dog food and I need to get them in order. This year I’m taking major steps toward smaller ambitions. I’m aiming for low-level mastery at adulting.” @xochitltheg #mygovernmentmeanstokillme #rasheednewson #subwaybookreview #newyorkcity 🎤📷 @theubc

My Sunday Routine is in the @nytimes !! Music for Plants, Books for Humans! Go 2022, go!! Thank you Kaya Laterman for this fire write up @nazriahi for the loving introduction and @juanarre for the bomb photos and spending the day with me 🍀🗽💚🍾

NEW YORK — Michael: “It’s Sunday, it’s raining, and I’m headed to the Upper East Side to get drinks. I started a new job at a law firm and I’m trying to fight off the Sunday scaries because I don’t know what I’m doing yet (laughs). I’m 28 and just finished three years of law school. Originally I wanted to work in politics but that’s a little dirty. I’m doing corporate law now and hopefully I won’t be defending anyone sketchy and I can sleep at night. I’m fifty pages into Anxious People and it’s quite funny. It’s about a bank robber who attempts to rob a bank but doesn’t actually do it and instead chaos ensues. Given the title, I assume that the cast of characters are anxious people in the way they go about life. I’m an anxious person. I just moved back to New York, I just started a new job, I’m waiting for the subway, time is always moving, I’m always late. How do I deal with my anxiety? I run a lot to work off all the drinking (laughs). My advice is to run as fast as you can.” @M_billotti #AnxiousPeople #FredrikBackman #subwaybookreview #newyorkcity 📝📷 @theubc *Michael only briefly removed his mask for the photo. Stay safe, mask up 🗽

NEW YORK — Saffeya: “Right now what’s on my mind is becoming rich and free. I work in the city, I do real estate, and I’ve been in the business for six years. What does being rich and free look like? I can travel and go to the beach whenever I want, I have a nest egg and I can retire. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and play piano. I am classically trained and love playing Mozart, Debussy and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. To me that’s pure wealth, having control over your time. I’m only a quarter of the way into Harris Rules and what I have learned is that 1) success doesn’t happen overnight 2) you gotta have a goal and something you’re striving for and 3) once you get there don’t forget the people who have helped you along the way — and definitely read. The more you know, the more you grow.” @saffeya_h #harrisrules #abundance #happynewyear #newyorkcity #subwaybookreview cc @nytimes #sundayroutine 📝📷 @theubc *Saffeya only briefly removed her mask for the photo. We mask up on the subway 🗽

NEW YORK — Arianna: “I’m the author of ‘What Would Frida Do? A Guide to Living Boldly’ and I’m the editorial director of The TODAY Show which is a new job. It’s weird starting a new job virtually in the pandemic but it’s super exciting, too. I live in Long Island City and this time last year I got my puppy Leo because things were rough. I was living alone and it was hard to be at home 24/7. Leo came home with me on December 26th — I was the cliché person who got a pandemic puppy — and here we are, a year later. Leo travels with me everywhere, including the subway. He brings me joy, purpose, and he shakes up my routine. I recently picked up this book to re-read it because I love it so much. I’ve been reading Tia Williams for a while now and was first drawn to her books because they’re romantic comedies that are literary and star Black women. In this book, the female character is an author and I was hooked the minute I opened it. It’s about two Black authors who are kind of like archnemeses in the literary world but we find out that they have a history and there’s a love story. It’s just delicious and so well written. It’s one of my favorite books of the year. It’s been harder and harder for me to find time to read these days, and after the roller coaster that was 2021, this New Year’s Eve will find me super low key with more rom-coms like this one…and lots of wine.” @ariannagab #sevendaysinjune @tiawilliamswrites #subwaybookreview #newyorkcity 📷📝 @theubc *Arianna only briefly removed her mask for the photo. Stay safe New York.

NEW YORK — Melanie: “I’m a resourceful, scrappy, first-generation American. My family moved back to Ireland when I was twenty. It was lonely at first and I worked a lot of odd jobs out of fear that I had no safety net but being here by myself also allowed me the freedom to decide what I wanted to do next. I moved to New York where I met a lot of friends who also didn’t have family nearby. It’s comforting to take care of each other. Maria, the main character in Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays, didn’t have a community and I’m aware of how lucky I am. Maria is divorced and recovering from an illegal abortion. She is the antidote to a man saying, “You should smile more.” I think women are expected to be people-pleasers and perhaps that’s why I gravitate towards women who have cracked the code on not giving a shit. It’s powerful. I see myself in Maria’s frustration and also in her love for Kate, her daughter from her first marriage. My sister is ten years younger than me and I used to rock her to sleep and read her bedtime stories. There’s a scene where Kate wraps her arms around Maria’s legs to keep her from leaving and my sister would do the same thing. I’d have to peel each little finger of hers off my calves.“ @_girlsarentfunny #joandidion #playitasitlays #newyorkcity #subwaybookreview #repost 📝📷 @theubc

Swipe to see me glue carpet tiles in Union Square station which is something I truly never thought I would say about my life and please enjoy this chaotic @subwaybookreview bookshop appreciation post that’s a week late because it’s taken me about that long to realize that this magical little space actually existed and got to bring so much joy to so many New Yorkers. Over 12 days, the shop had 450 customers who bought 675 books. Most importantly we were able to fulfill the entire Rikers wishlist and are sending 350 books to incarcerated people who desperately need them. A huge, gigantic thank you to everyone who came by and made that possible!! A huge, gigantic thank you to my collaborators @mta @strandbookstore @nypl And a huge, gigantic thank you to @xochitltheg who wrote about the shop for the @theatlantic and whose piece titled ‘Fight Gentrification: Read a Book on the Subway’ hit me right in the heart and will stay there forever 🗽💞

Majorly excited to see Between the Lines in today’s @nytbooks !!! Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy already. If you haven’t yet, it’s an excellent holiday gift for yourself & yours 💛✨ cc @theubc @simonandschuster @simonbooks

Big news, New York!! I’m opening a pop-up bookshop at Union Square station in a former newsstand December 1st to 12th. My little shop is filled with holiday favorites and must-reads that are featured in Between the Lines. While you're there, you can also gift a book that's on the wishlist of incarcerated people at Rikers, which will be delivered through the NYPL’s Jail & Prison services. You can find me inside Union Square station: take the entrance by Whole Foods on 14th & Broadway and you’ll see me past the turnstiles when you walk towards the L train. I’m open Monday to Friday 10a to 7p and Saturday, Sunday 10a to 5p. Giant thanks to my collaborators @mta @strandbookstore @nypl for making this amazingness possible. See you underground, xo Uli *My mask was only briefly removed for the photo. I always mask up on the subway and hope you do too! 📷 @ozan_marcel cameo @kamauware

NEW YORK — Zibby: “I’m a mom to four kids and motherhood is the biggest psychological experiment of all time. I was a psychology major in college and it’s the most useful thing I’ve done because kids keep changing constantly. As soon as you’ve mastered one thing they’ve moved on to the next. There’s no complacency in parenting. I think that's why moms like to help each other because what else are we going to do with all this knowledge? I host a podcast called Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books which is a daily literary podcast where I interview authors. I have also written two anthologies, two children books, and I have a memoir coming out next summer. I'm really busy. Maybe it’s because I’m a native New Yorker but I think it’s in my genes (laughs). Before motherhood I would’ve said that I don’t like change, but I’ve been forced to like it. My trick is to just stay where my feet are and focus on the day. This book is all about change. Smile by Sarah Ruhl is an amazing memoir about losing the ability to smile after she had a traumatic birth that gave her Bell’s Palsy and froze half her face. She talks about what it’s like when you can’t show your emotions and the importance of having people to turn to who know you deep down. It doesn't matter to them what your face looks like because they know what you're feeling and thinking. Sarah’s book reminds me that life is about keeping love in your life and not prioritizing all the external stuff.” @zibbyowens #smile @sarah_ruhl_ #change #motherhood #newyorkcity @momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks #subwaybookreview 📝📷 @theubc