Talk to strangers about books

Reading is solitary and most people have nobody in daily life who has read the same book. A stranger who reads gives you the conversation a book club promises without the scheduling, and recommendations shaped by a completely different shelf to yours.

• The book that genuinely changed how you think
• Ones you abandoned halfway and whether to go back
• Fiction against non-fiction and what you reach for
• Authors worth reading everything by
• Books that are better than the film made of them

• “A book that changed how you think?”Use this
• “One you pretend to have read?”Use this
• “Currently reading anything good?”Use this
• “Best opening line you can remember?”Use this
• “A book you would force everyone to read?”Use this
• “Physical, e-reader or audiobook?”Use this

• Ask what they are reading right now and how far in they are. It is current and specific, and you can ask what they think will happen next.
• Ask about a book that changed their mind about something. It gets past lists of favourites and into what reading actually does for them.
• Swap one recommendation each and give the reason in a single sentence. The reason is often more revealing than the title.

Avoid treating some genres as lesser; romance, fantasy and self-help readers are as serious about their books as anyone. Spoil endings only with permission. And “you should read more” is never a helpful thing to say to someone you have just met.