Penguin is hiding free books around Australia for Valentine’s Day

Penguin Random House will be dropping 500 little parcels of love in the form of books by local and international authors on trains all over Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Darwin and Launceston. Plus, in NSW, packages will also be placed in more than 50 street libraries from Paddington to as far as Nowra on the south coast, giving residents a chance to find something new to read.

Each book is wrapped in Penguin’s signature shade of orange and the title is obscured, encouraging people to pick up a book they wouldn't normally choose to read for themselves. 

You have no idea what book you’re getting as, according to Penguin, the idea is to “challenge pre-conceived notions about authors, genres and even cover work, and let people enjoy great stories" on Valentine's Day.

Penguin Random House is distributing the books in collaboration with Street Libraries Australia, which encourages communities to create free honour-system libraries in public places, and Books on the Rail, whose “Book Ninjas” leave books on trains in the hope people will put down their phones and pick up page-turners.

Follow Penguin for updates on its social media channels.