21 Things to do on a Bookstore date

Bookstores make for great dates. Dale Carnegie, famed author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, said that to get someone interested in you, you should show interest in what interests them. Everyone has an interest in something and bookstores are divided by interest… we hope you see where this is going. If you have another idea, suggest it to us!

1.· Classic: Hang out at the café.

2.· Classic: Play checkers, if available (typically, Indigo Bookstores have table-sized boards with pucks for pieces)

3.· Take stupid quizzes together from Cosmo/YM type magazines in the Magazines section.

4.· Trade off “good” jokes from books in the Humour section. (Learn your date’s sense of humour at the same time!)

5.· Have a conversation in a new language based on words you learn from language dictionaries in the Languages section.

6.· Teach each other trivial facts from Almanacs, Books of Lists and The Guinness Book of World Records or find a favourite quote in the Reference section.

7.· Test your date’s knowledge through questions in SAT, GMAT, LSAT and other exams in the Study Guide section.

8.· Find a recipe together to cook for a future date in the Recipe section.

9.· Reminisce on your old and favourite toys by seeing how much they are now worth in the Antiques & Collectibles section.

10.· Agree to try a crazy fad diet together for one week and see who loses more weight (if possible) in one week based on books in the Healthy Cooking section. WARNING: Do not raise the subject if your date is sensitive about his/her weight!

11.· Go through fashion books and debate whether certain looks/people are beautiful or ugly in the Fashion & Style section.

12.· Find a motivation book and recite life-affirming sayings to each other in the Self-Help section. Alternatively, find a book on personality types, such as a book on the Enneagram and discover what you and your date are (and whether your personality types match).

13.· Go through the Biography section and find people you respect or despise.

14.· Browse the Fiction and Literature section and choose a play or scene from a play and read it together line by line, each taking on one character.

15.· Look through Art section and show how cultured you are, or just laugh at the pictures!

16.· Find movie guides in the Movie section and discuss your favourite/worst movies and which movies you’ve yet to see but are dying to see (on a future date, perhaps!).

17.· Read fun and favourite books of your childhood, like Dr. Seuss, in the Children’s Books section.

18.· Plan an your picture-perfect exotic trip to some far out country in the Travel section. If you’ve been on a trip recently, show and tell all the gory details to your date!

19.· In the Music section (where they display CD’s, not books) find your favourite artists or songs and make a list for a future mix. Or, you can take turns listening to music on “sound stations” and rate them together.

20.· Go to the Fun and Games section and try the Mensa tests, 5 Minute mysteries and puzzles or buy a (crossword) puzzle book and solve one of the puzzles together.

21.· Recommend to each other your favourite Non-Fiction book or author. Agree to read one book and give have a “book club” with each other on some future date.