In order for me to feel comfortable reading a book in public or around other people, I need to feel at least a little pride in it.  Such was not the case recently as I read The Fall of Reach, the first book in a series about the video game Halo.  Words can't describe how much of a geek it takes to read a book based on a video game.  Nonetheless I read it, oftentimes in public, while conveniently hiding the cover from onlookers. 

Tables turned recently after I picked up a copy of Freakonomics from the library.  It's a smart person book, so I find myself actually trying to bring to people's attention the fact that I'm reading it.  I walked through a Dunkin Donuts while cradling it in my arm, watching people ogle my smartness.  I bring it into work and don't put it away when people visit my office.  I sometimes leave it in the passenger seat of my car -- cover up, of course -- hoping someone of like mind will join me in a hearty discussion of economics, incentives, and "the hidden side of everything," my knowledge of which amounts to what I could glean from the first hundred or so pages of the book.