6 Conversation-Starting Books to Read in Public

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, by Cheryl Strayed
Author Cheryl Strayed—aka Sugar—the formerly anonymous online columnist for literary website The Rumpus, blends self-help and memoir in this slim book sure to get people talking. Strayed advises readers on topics like sex, love, family, and grief in this collection of advice from her Dear Sugar column with compassionate insight and her own heartbreaking stories. You’ll likely get the requisite, “Have you read Wild?” follow-up question more than a few times, but with this book, you’re likely to move on to much deeper topics fairly quickly.

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan
Reading a cookbook? In public? Yes, just follow us here for a moment. It’s likely to attract attention because a cookbook as leisure reading is a bit unorthodox. Plus, it indicates an interest in yummy cuisine and learning how to cook it up yourself. And Marcella Hazan’s cookbook is an essential culinary bible for Italian cooking. You’ll get the scoop on pairing pasta shapes and sauces, learn to master an unbelievable four-ingredient tomato sauce, and hopefully chat up some other foodies in the process.

Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
The world-famous books about a young wizard named Harry Potter are always an awesome choice—whether it’s your first or 50th time reading them. And whichever one of the seven books from J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series you select, you’re bound to attract the attention of fellow Potterheads. They might open with, “How many times have you read that one?” And then you guys can talk about which house you’re in, the multitude of fan theories about the stories, your thoughts on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and on and on and on …

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The title of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s third nonfiction book alone is enough of a reason for passersby to take a second look at what you’re reading. And then once they take that second glance, they’ll likely recognize Freakonomics, the 2009 book that melded economic principles with everyday life and pop culture in a way that most had never seen before. And now with Think Like a Freak, the bestselling authors give us a look inside their thought process, teaching us how to think more creatively and rationally. Lots of food for thought and fodder for conversation.

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
Looking to invite some political discourse? Bring a copy of Ayn Rand’s 1957 book with you to the coffee shop, but be prepared: Those who have read this classic likely have strong feelings about it. It’s a dystopian future in which protagonist Dagny Taggart finds herself—economic conditions are grim, the government is doling out favors to the connected and exerting control over businesses, and the world is metaphorically bearing down on Atlas’s shoulders. So settle in for some lively conversation, and just try to keep things civil—and in case the conversation turns south, you’ve got a 1,000-page book to help bust your way through the crowd.

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
You were likely assigned this book in high school and probably haven’t cracked it open since—or maybe you spaced on the summer reading and didn’t even get to it then. Regardless, reading it in public will likely provoke some comments and questions from intrigued strangers: “Hey, I read that in high school. Think it’s worth revisiting?” “Kinda feels like we’re living that book right now, doesn’t it?” “I still have nightmares about that pig’s head.” Nothing like a decapitated animal head on a stick to spark conversation.
What books would you recommend as conversation-starters to read in public?