Originally Posted by jmail1

I had a friend flying AS today that texted me asking if it was against the rules to hold a book in bulkhead. Evidently a FA on his flight was a bit overzealous and got into an argument with a lady sitting in F reading a book before takeoff. FA told her she needed to put the book in the overhead bin for takeoff and landing. The passenger responded that they'd always read a book and never been told to put it away. The FA responded "Well they must make more than me and can afford to be fined. Put the book in the overhead." The passenger stated that she would just put it in the magazine holder in front of her, FA denies that as well saying it must go in the overhead, nowhere else.

Is this an overaggressive interpretation of the egress rules or do you technically have to put a book away?

Yes, I know "all" crew member instructions is the rule.