However, I was really talking about a set of criteria for books that (as you clarified) impress people merely by sitting on your bookshelf or your table at Peet’s Coffee. Of course, I’m not saying I’d do this, but I think it would be really amusing to read.

Now that I think of it, though, you have to determine which audience you’re trying to impress. And you might have to go a step further. I imagine lit snobs won’t be impressed by your reading of a classic - you have to be re-re-reading it. For your post, I was pretty much thinking of how one could impress writers or English majors.

Of course frequently the books that impress people are also the ones that make you smarter, but nobody gets around to reading. These are books that practitioners love to quote from, often because they want you to know they read them (and you didn’t).

In a way, it’s like our “Classic Movie Night At Larry’s”. Larry came up with this so we’d watch the classic movies that everyone talks about, but nobody’s actually seen. Citizen Cane. The Graduate. Rear Window. Having these movies on your DVD collection impresses people because even self-proclaimed film buffs often don’t watch classics. But the real purpose for us was film education and connecting the dots. It was cool to see just how often pop culture references those classics.

Either way, I freely admit to flaunting books when I’m reading in public. I’m not trying to look smart - I’m trolling for like-minded individuals. Likewise, if I saw some cute girl reading Neuromancer, it doesn’t matter if it’s her first time reading it, I’m going to strike up a conversation with her. Perhaps leading with, “Will you marry me?”

The first is Getting to Yes, a book on negotiation. You might first think negotiation is a skill you’d want to keep for yourself, but this is essentially a book on fair dealing. It’s teaches people to come to an agreement about value using logic and evidence. So the more people read it, the more “fair” life becomes.

After that, it’s tough. I think you have to work backwards from the social values you want to instill in the populous. For example, let’s start with “war is bad (or shouldn’t be entered into without due diligence)”. I think everyone should see the documentary “The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara”. The parallels to the war in Iraq, esp. with regard to misunderstanding the enemy, are striking.

You can continue like this until you’ve educated society as you like.

But I still want to read your post on how to pick books that make you look smart

There are 4 books you didn’t read that I can recommend:

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
American Gods
Cryptonomicon

I enjoyed all these books greatly, although American Gods a little less so.

I know Tolkien’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I really liked LOTR, which should replace The Silmarilion. I tried reading that a couple times and could not get through it. It reads like the “begat” section of Genesis, a history of a fantasy world that doesn’t even come up in LOTR. I still haven’t read The Hobbit, but I’m sure I’ll get around to it. I’ve never read any of the Narnia books, but I became interested after the most recent movie. Of course, my friend Miguel said that Tolkien chastised Lewis for incorporating - I kid you not - Santa Claus in the series. That’s probably the point at which I’ll bail.

The other book I’m surprised at is Quicksilver. I’ve loved every Stephenson I’ve read (which is most of them), but the reviews on that are just kinda bad. I’d say that’s the “looking smart” part of the list (books that are hard to get through), but Cryptonomicon was a great read. Snowcrash, of course, was incredible and far more popular.

Yes, this was a poorly crafted list. Maybe you could post a solid methodology for a choosing books that make you look smart. That would have real longevity. And you’re just the man to do it.