Become the Most Interesting Person in the Room with These Books

Watch people flock to you at parties

Humans are drawn to other humans if they are either interesting or funny (safe to say that a good sense of humour makes a person more interesting as well). More often than not, most people are neither.

I can say this with certainty not because I’m a very funny (and/or) interesting chick magnet, but because I have observed this over years of online chatting and meeting over thousands of people in college. I was more drawn to people who were either interesting or funny.

Now there are a lot of factors that go into making someone ‘interesting’ (their experiences, achievements and failures), but the books you read play a great role too.

These books will teach you about different cultures, folklores, timelines and concepts and push you to ponder and learn more about subjects like ethics and politics that will make you more intellectual, and not to mention: interesting. Smart is the new sexy, baby.

Mythos, Heroes, and Troy by Stephen Fry

Genre: Greek Mythology

Synopsis: All 3 books are a modern collection of Greek myths, stylishly retold by legendary writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry.

In Mythos, Fry transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder.

In Heroes, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales of Greek Heroes. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta — who was raised by bears — outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.

And in Troy, the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for ten whole years. It is a terrible war with casualties on all sides as well as strained relations between allies, whose consequences become tragedies.

Why you should read this book: Greek Mythology has not only fascinated us all since childhood, but also remains to be the most popular subject of discussion when it comes to mythology.

Most people still don’t have their facts correct when it comes to these myths and knowing them is a sign of intellect. Not just that but these tales are timeless for a reason — they are very engrossing. You can hold people’s attention with these stories and it provides many opportunities for follow-up questions that can lead a conversation for hours.

These books also come with many popular artworks and their origin. Knowing these can also make you well-versed with a lot of art that you see in museums and you won’t be the odd one out who has no knowledge about art (and their history) if you ever find yourself among history nerds.

1984 by George Orwell

Genre: Science fiction, Dystopia

Synopsis: the book offers political satirist George Orwell’s nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff’s attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell’s prescience of modern life — the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language — and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell.

Why should you read this book: First of all, this book is hauntingly amazing. 1984 only gets more accurate with every passing year as the governmental surveillance over us increases and everything said in the book becomes more real. But that’s politics and I don’t want to get into that.

This book has had such an influence on the society that shows like Bigg Brother are based on the novel. Other than that, this book makes you ponder over politics and what ethics, morals, surveillance and the future is.

If done right, discussions over this book can lead to deep conversations over these topics (and more like conspiracy theories, secret societies, etc) that forms a rabbit hole which you end up digging until you have no sense of time.

I’m personally not a big fan of critical reading, but this is one of those books that only improves the experience if read critically.

The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawking

Genre: Non-fiction, Science

Synopsis: Based on a series of lectures given at Cambridge University, Professor Hawking’s work introduced “the history of ideas about the universe” as well as today’s most important scientific theories about time, space, and the cosmos in a clear, easy-to-understand way. “The Theory of Everything” presents the most complex theories, both past and present, of physics; yet it remains clear and accessible. It will enlighten readers and expose them to the rich history of scientific thought and the complexities of the universe in which we live.

Why you should read this book: This book is all about broadening your horizons. Stephen Hawking, with his wit and childlike curiosity, talks about complex theories like black holes, the big bang and the creation of the universe. All in a simple enough language so that even people who feared science in school can understand it.

He also talks about scientists and philosophers like Aristotle, Hubble, Newton and Einstein and what led to them coming up with the theories they did. The book provides a clear view of the world through Stephen’s mind where he respectfully dismisses the belief that the Universe conforms by a supernatural and all-powerful entity.

This book will make you smarter, broaden your horizons so that you are not lost among science enthusiasts and will help you form more concrete opinions about religion and the supernatural world, whether you believe it or not.

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