I have the same standby of asking people questions about themselves, and it never fails.

If you want a really interesting culinary book, I suggest anything by Anthony Bourdain, who is not only a great chef but one of the best writers, by turns poetic, hilarious, beautiful, and delicious. It talks about cooking as well as travel, and it's amazingly well-done and intelligent. He's done Kitchen Confidential, and A Cook's Tour, both of which I highly, highly reccommend.