After finding a paperback novel strewn on an airport bench with the note: “To whomever finds this book—please read it, take it somewhere, and leave it for someone else to find it” written inside, J.J. Abrams became fascinated with the “romantic idea that you could leave a book with a message for someone.”

Abrams partnered with Doug Dorst to produce “S,” a novel that includes the notes of two readers in the margins, as well as postcards, photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, and a map written on a napkin from a coffee shop.