Book & Poem Recommendations From Men on Hinge

By Leslie Quan

Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored by Hinge.

Despite the proclamation I made in my previous article Post-Graduate Life: Dating about never downloading a dating app again, I must confess that maybe "never" is a strong word. However, my inclination towards downloading the popular dating app Hinge wasn't without a reason. Thanks to a visit to my good friend living on the west coast, I was encouraged to find a date (in a new city) for a Friday night group date.

If you're unfamiliar with Hinge, there are a series of "prompts" that help potential matches find topics to talk about. For example, you can share things ranging from what you're "weirdly attracted to" to what your love language is to the "most spontaneous thing" you've done. 

In an effort to share a little bit about myself, I responded to the prompt "I wind down by" with "reading a good book or writing." I didn't realize that I would soon be inundated with questions like "What kind of books do you like to read?" and "What do you like to write about?" As someone who loves to read and write, I honestly couldn't resist myself from answering these questions (I see what you did there Hinge).

Most of my conversations with these men of the west coast were about books I was reading and books they were reading (or have read, many of them weren't currently reading anything). They were usually the ones to ask for recommendations first and then I followed with a similar question. (Pretty sexy stuff I must say.)

Not only did we talk about specific books we were interested in, but we also delved into our favorite genres. (It must be that knowing someone's favorite genre to read is comparable to knowing their astrological sign—I'm an Aries if that's important to you.)

So, after all this, it seems to me that I turned a popular dating app into a book club of sorts. However, I did receive a remark that went a little like, "I'm done talking about books lol! Let's talk about something else haha." And that's when I stopped talking to that person.

I'm just kidding. Obviously, this sort of banter about books was just a hopeful segue into some more meaningful and interesting conversations (and maybe even a date). However, it's clear to me now that talking about books on a dating app is a really great way to reach the end of a conversation faster.

Nonetheless, I figured my time on Hinge wasn't a waste of time if I was able to receive some good book, and surprisingly poem, recommendations and if I was able to provide some good book recommendations too. 

Below you'll find all the book and poem recommendations from my conversations with the men on Hinge as well as both of our favorite genres to read.

The men's recommendations:

• "Repetition" by Phil Kaye
• "'B' (If I Should Have a Daughter)" by Sarah Kay
• "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell
• "How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease" by Michael Greger & Gene Stone
• "A Game of Thrones" series by Daniel Abraham & George R.R. Martin
• "The Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

The men's interested genres:

Science fiction, self-help, sports, health and fitness, fiction, fantasy, and slam poetry.

My recommendations to the men:

• "A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami
• "All About Love: New Visions" by bell hooks
• "Disorientation" by Elaine Hsieh Chou
• Any poem by Mary Oliver

My favorite genres:

Nonfiction, memoirs, self-help, (some) fiction (but mostly historical fiction), and poetry.

I have since deleted Hinge because I still stand by what I wrote in my article Post-Graduate Life: Dating, so you can't find me there anymore. But luckily, you can find me on Goodreads.

Thank you for reading.