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Strangers Have the Best Candy
Researchers have proven that talking to strangers is good for us. But how do you get people to talk to strangers?
Strangers Have the Best Candy is the book that answers that question. Margaret Meps Schulte shares her own stories of chance encounters with strangers, illustrating how such encounters lead to adventure, friendship, and serendipity. Most readers say that when they finish the book, they have an uncanny urge “to go out and find some strangers to talk to.”
Strangers Have the Best Candy is the book that answers that question. Margaret Meps Schulte shares her own stories of chance encounters with strangers, illustrating how such encounters lead to adventure, friendship, and serendipity. Most readers say that when they finish the book, they have an uncanny urge “to go out and find some strangers to talk to.”
221 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 8, 2014
18 people are currently reading
1397 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Meps Schulte
9 books28 followersMargaret Meps Schulte is a writer and artist with a million crazy, creative ideas every day. "You can do anything," one of her friends recently accused her. That might be a curse, not a blessing.
Meps has talked to strangers all over North America while traveling by sailboat, canoe, bicycle, car, and van. She currently totes her family on the backroads in a vehicle known as "The Millennium Falcon," towing a trailer called "Chewbacca."
She's extremely capable with fiberglass and once built a 6-foot rowboat. Meps has written three books, hundreds of limericks, and thousands of grocery lists.
Meps has talked to strangers all over North America while traveling by sailboat, canoe, bicycle, car, and van. She currently totes her family on the backroads in a vehicle known as "The Millennium Falcon," towing a trailer called "Chewbacca."
She's extremely capable with fiberglass and once built a 6-foot rowboat. Meps has written three books, hundreds of limericks, and thousands of grocery lists.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 4, 2014
I guess I have a thing for peripatetic literature. As a young girl, restless for the open road and big L "Life!" beyond the narrow and Edenic nonchalance of Huntington, W.V., I was drawn to John Steinbeck 's "Travels With Charley," --a text in which a man and his pet poodle set out to discover the defining features of America. Later on, when this incipient ferment for adventure manifested itself in poetry wrought from the most sebaceous sort of adolescent angst, I found peripatetic plagency in Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," a chronicle of a 17 day motorcycle excursion from Minnesota to Northern California punctuated by a series of philosophical discussions.
And so now, as an ostensible adult, to delight in the reading of Margaret Meps Schulte's "Strangers Have The Best Candy," a deliciously didactic journey across America and the stories of the extraordinary individuals she encounters in the process. Schulte encourages her reader to reach out to strangers, to take the literal and figurative "candy" offered to us from others: "Each of us, in our own way, can learn to connect with strangers and people whose lives are different from our own. We can reach out to them without judgement, and we can let them reach out to us."
When we allow ourselves the opportunity to interface with others there are implications. When our lives intercede upon another's, even on levels of the most modest serendipity, one has the ability to alter irrevocably; our own lives become a means of influencing (and perhaps altering) others without realizing it. The implications of this sweet epiphany are enormous--when we allow ourselves to accept candy from strangers we may even change the fate of the entire world.
And so now, as an ostensible adult, to delight in the reading of Margaret Meps Schulte's "Strangers Have The Best Candy," a deliciously didactic journey across America and the stories of the extraordinary individuals she encounters in the process. Schulte encourages her reader to reach out to strangers, to take the literal and figurative "candy" offered to us from others: "Each of us, in our own way, can learn to connect with strangers and people whose lives are different from our own. We can reach out to them without judgement, and we can let them reach out to us."
When we allow ourselves the opportunity to interface with others there are implications. When our lives intercede upon another's, even on levels of the most modest serendipity, one has the ability to alter irrevocably; our own lives become a means of influencing (and perhaps altering) others without realizing it. The implications of this sweet epiphany are enormous--when we allow ourselves to accept candy from strangers we may even change the fate of the entire world.
November 10, 2014
As children, we are taught not to take candy from strangers. And, given the dangers out there, for youngsters, this is probably a good rule. For many of us, though, this becomes a life rule...beware of strangers, because they might be dangerous. The problem with this mindset is that it creates a barrier that will limit your exposure to the wide and wonderful worlds that strangers can reveal to us.
This book is ALL about the value we can find in being open to encounters with strangers. [Full disclosure: I have known the author for more than twenty years and consider her a friend. I even get a brief mention in the book, right at the beginning, on page 2.] The author takes us with her on her semi-nomadic wanderings across the US and Canada, as she seeks out strangers, hoping to find new worldviews and to learn new things. Many of these stories will make you laugh, but, more than that, they should make you contemplate the vast diversity of people out there, and how many wonderful things you can learn, if you are just open to the possibilities.
From Nova Scotia to Florida, from Maine to Alaska, the stories in this book cover the length and breadth of the continent, and along the way we get to meet, through the author’s stories, a great array of strangers. Some of these people are pretty conventional, while others are decidedly not, but they are all interesting. These stories are a joy to read, and have inspired me to be more open to encounters with others (and to pay more attention when they happen). If you are curious about other people and the way they view their world, then you need to read this book!
This book is ALL about the value we can find in being open to encounters with strangers. [Full disclosure: I have known the author for more than twenty years and consider her a friend. I even get a brief mention in the book, right at the beginning, on page 2.] The author takes us with her on her semi-nomadic wanderings across the US and Canada, as she seeks out strangers, hoping to find new worldviews and to learn new things. Many of these stories will make you laugh, but, more than that, they should make you contemplate the vast diversity of people out there, and how many wonderful things you can learn, if you are just open to the possibilities.
From Nova Scotia to Florida, from Maine to Alaska, the stories in this book cover the length and breadth of the continent, and along the way we get to meet, through the author’s stories, a great array of strangers. Some of these people are pretty conventional, while others are decidedly not, but they are all interesting. These stories are a joy to read, and have inspired me to be more open to encounters with others (and to pay more attention when they happen). If you are curious about other people and the way they view their world, then you need to read this book!
May 18, 2014
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway and its actually the first non-fiction book I've read I did not want to put down. Ms. Shulte writes in such an easy going manner its not hard to see why people share their time and stories with her. I felt a connection to Meps and her travels throughout the book; maybe its my own struggle with wanderlust, my conviction that all people are simply people no matter how they appear or maybe its just my strawberry blonde hair. But there is one way we differ greatly, I have always tried to evade conversation. It is that difference that made this book so magical to me. I love knowing people's stories but would never purposefully seek them out. Now here is a book where all the hard work of unwrapping the candy is done and all I had to do was gobble it up. This is not a biography full of facts and dates but more a wonderfully written journal of the author's interactions with various people. I truly enjoyed it. My only complaint is I wish Ms. Shulte had spent a little more time telling her own story.
May 19, 2014
I really enjoyed this compilation of whimsical, non-fictional stories of nomadic life on the road (and sea!).
Margaret 'Meps' Schulte shares with us the wisdom of going against all the lessons taught us as children. In this book she urges us to talk to strangers. Take candy from them, even. And certainly don't be frightened if someone runs out of the wood topless, carrying a bag of flour!
This was an entertaining read. As something of an homebody and a definite introvert, I love books that allow me to have vicarious adventures and Schulte has had her share.
I took this with me and finished it up on a trip to Florida. I finished it on the plane and then made a point to leave it, for BOOKCROSSING WILD RELEASE purposes, at a rest area on the drive back home. I hope some other traveler finds this funny, quirky, entertaining novel and enjoys it as much as I did. :)
Margaret 'Meps' Schulte shares with us the wisdom of going against all the lessons taught us as children. In this book she urges us to talk to strangers. Take candy from them, even. And certainly don't be frightened if someone runs out of the wood topless, carrying a bag of flour!
This was an entertaining read. As something of an homebody and a definite introvert, I love books that allow me to have vicarious adventures and Schulte has had her share.
I took this with me and finished it up on a trip to Florida. I finished it on the plane and then made a point to leave it, for BOOKCROSSING WILD RELEASE purposes, at a rest area on the drive back home. I hope some other traveler finds this funny, quirky, entertaining novel and enjoys it as much as I did. :)
November 29, 2015
Everyone has heard the warning about taking candy from strangers: Don’t do it. Strangers can be weird, devious and even downright dangerous. But is that true for all strangers? Of course not. After all, a person is only a stranger to us simply because we don’t know them, at least not yet. But what if we looked at “strangers” as people who have the ability to transform, enlighten and even entertain us? That’s what is at the heart of Margaret Schulte’s book. When you view the lives, experiences and stories of the people you meet every day as though it were candy you can begin to interact with other people in an entirely new and wonderful way.
Strangers Have the Best Candy details some funny, touching and heartwarming stories of the people the author has come into contact with throughout her travels – simply because she was open to listening. I especially enjoyed the sweet way she recalled the road trip she took with her special needs brother. I also loved that the author mentions how people come into our lives right at the time we need them most. Call it kismet, serendipity or just plain coincidence, but it happens time and again and there’s a reason for it. Margaret Schulte’s book is full of these uplifting tales.
Ms. Schulte clearly lives an unusual and nomadic lifestyle. However, that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t put her methods of taking “candy” from strangers into action. As long as we keep ourselves open to learning from others, even in our own neighborhoods, we can learn a great deal. I highly recommend reading this charming and unique book. It made me want to find out more about the author and read more of her stories. It also made me want to go out and start conversations with complete strangers.
Strangers Have the Best Candy details some funny, touching and heartwarming stories of the people the author has come into contact with throughout her travels – simply because she was open to listening. I especially enjoyed the sweet way she recalled the road trip she took with her special needs brother. I also loved that the author mentions how people come into our lives right at the time we need them most. Call it kismet, serendipity or just plain coincidence, but it happens time and again and there’s a reason for it. Margaret Schulte’s book is full of these uplifting tales.
Ms. Schulte clearly lives an unusual and nomadic lifestyle. However, that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t put her methods of taking “candy” from strangers into action. As long as we keep ourselves open to learning from others, even in our own neighborhoods, we can learn a great deal. I highly recommend reading this charming and unique book. It made me want to find out more about the author and read more of her stories. It also made me want to go out and start conversations with complete strangers.
November 26, 2014
*I received this book in a FirstReads giveaway*
It is a nice read with a lot of lovely stories. It doesn't really follow a plot so it is easy to read a few stories and then stop and get back to it later. I also enjoyed the drawings by the author, which I think enhanced the recollections of her meetings with strangers.
It changed my mind about talking to strangers. I would definitely recommend it to all shy people!
Ms Schulte also included a happy spot, a personal note and a little bookmark when she sent the book, which I really appreciated.
It is a nice read with a lot of lovely stories. It doesn't really follow a plot so it is easy to read a few stories and then stop and get back to it later. I also enjoyed the drawings by the author, which I think enhanced the recollections of her meetings with strangers.
It changed my mind about talking to strangers. I would definitely recommend it to all shy people!
Ms Schulte also included a happy spot, a personal note and a little bookmark when she sent the book, which I really appreciated.
June 23, 2015
Gutsy author Margaret Schulte’s “Don’t Take Candy from Strangers” is an entertaining travel journal and memoir with funny encounters across the USA. The writing and drawings are chatty, engaging, jaunty and human. Her pilgrimage is a zippy travelogue with a weird title. The author is a people magnet, explorer and storyteller.
August 28, 2014
I have met Meps and she is exactly as she describes herself. I had fun reading about her and Barry's adventures, that I knew little about. And I gleamed some helpful hints to overcome my bits of shyness around the unknown. Good Job Meps!
Want to read
September 2, 2014This sounds like the book for me! My DH says that I always have the most interesting time chatting with strangers in random places. ;^)
May 21, 2015
I read this after it won the Diagram Prize for the year's oddest book title, and I wound up enjoying the author's stories about the interesting people she's met in her travels.
August 13, 2015
I interviewed the author here:
http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/2...
http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/2...
November 28, 2015
Better than I thought it would be despite the positive reviews. Enjoyable read.
December 1, 2015
delightfully weird and charmingly quirky stories about the salts of the earth that people the back waters and small towns of America
April 22, 2020
The author has a unique way of living, and she has chosen to live that way to experience life in many different places and to get to know many people who would be strangers if she didn't begin conversations with them. This way of living is not one I would choose, but I did find it interesting to read about her experiences. One of the main reasons I read is to learn new things and see how other people live.
I did find a few errors that the editor should have caught, but those errors were minor and did not interfere with the flow of the book. Some of the author's experiences were very interesting, but I thought she spent too much time on some other segments. I enjoyed the author's drawings, which she called doodles.
I did find a few errors that the editor should have caught, but those errors were minor and did not interfere with the flow of the book. Some of the author's experiences were very interesting, but I thought she spent too much time on some other segments. I enjoyed the author's drawings, which she called doodles.
December 28, 2025
You never know who you’re going to meet in life, and this book captures that essence perfectly! Some meetings are fleeting and impactful while others are repetitive but surface-level (at first, like your grocer or bank teller) and they all can have an influence, whether that be building your connections like it did for Meps’ & Barry’s world or guiding you to the next moment, like how Meps finally meets Miter.
I really enjoyed the narrative voice throughout here; I actually had a chance to meet the author when I discovered this book, and her energy is just as lively on the page as it was in person!
I really enjoyed the narrative voice throughout here; I actually had a chance to meet the author when I discovered this book, and her energy is just as lively on the page as it was in person!
July 6, 2018
Loved this charming little book. A series of short tales about the strangers that Schulte has met along her travels. I think Schulte made a good decision to loosely organize her stories around various themes instead of in chronological order. The anecdotes are fairly simple--nothing earth-shattering or back-slapping hilarious, but I liked Schulte's style of writing and her gentle humor, and her illustrations were a nice touch. I am not good at striking up conversations with strangers at all, but this book made me a little more motivated to try.
March 5, 2022
what a kick and what a way to live life. maybe life has gotten a little different lately, but i think this is still an incredibly valueable way to approach people. just know there are certain topics it is probably a good idea to put to rest until you really get to know them. otherwise, just say 'hi' to everybody. i, very simply loved this book, even wrote the author and she replied and said she would keep her eyes open for me as she traveled.
September 2, 2023
Really enjoyed! Author from my hometown & I read after deciding to move south. I hope to meet many strangers along the way who have interesting stories to tell!
September 13, 2024
Not really a review, but so thankful that I picked this book! I was able to read it at just the right time in my life!!
A smile is priceless!!!
A smile is priceless!!!
February 9, 2025
Kinda hard to follow. She had good story telling abilities but it was confusing
May 7, 2025
So True. Didn’t even read it yet and I love it. 10-5 stars, would recommend. I did a skit on it for school and my teacher is now in jail, she deserved it.
February 20, 2017
Near the beginning of the book, I came across this:
"He had his driver's license taken away and was forced to ride the bus to get around town. He was extremely unhappy; a guy with a doctorate who had to ride on smelly city buses with lowlifes."
There appeared to be a disconnect here. Even as early as page 22, I could tell that most of this book was going to be about how the author keeps herself open to new experiences and talks to strangers, and look at all the wonderful things that come her way because of it! And yet, here was this very judgmental sentence. I know many people with advanced degrees who take the city bus. Some have cars and choose to take the city bus. I wouldn't call any of them, with or without advanced degrees, lowlifes. Shouldn't she see that as a bus full of strangers to meet and make friends with?
Throughout the rest of the book, Schulte doesn't appear to be too particularly discriminating, and though there were some other mildly judgmental parts (and overly self-congratulatory parts), nothing rubbed me the wrong way quite like page 22. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable, quick read.
[received via GoodReads First Reads giveaway]
"He had his driver's license taken away and was forced to ride the bus to get around town. He was extremely unhappy; a guy with a doctorate who had to ride on smelly city buses with lowlifes."
There appeared to be a disconnect here. Even as early as page 22, I could tell that most of this book was going to be about how the author keeps herself open to new experiences and talks to strangers, and look at all the wonderful things that come her way because of it! And yet, here was this very judgmental sentence. I know many people with advanced degrees who take the city bus. Some have cars and choose to take the city bus. I wouldn't call any of them, with or without advanced degrees, lowlifes. Shouldn't she see that as a bus full of strangers to meet and make friends with?
Throughout the rest of the book, Schulte doesn't appear to be too particularly discriminating, and though there were some other mildly judgmental parts (and overly self-congratulatory parts), nothing rubbed me the wrong way quite like page 22. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable, quick read.
[received via GoodReads First Reads giveaway]
May 10, 2016
This book had me laughing out loud. While I have not been a cruiser, it does appeal to me. I definitely get the nomadic lifestyle she refers to throughout the book. I have also lived a nomadic lifestyle the last several years working in National Parks.
Want to read
February 25, 2016kindle 221 true stories
February 26, 2016
Fast read. Interesting premise, but I didn't like the narrator - she seriously began the book by saying that her mutual funds were making money faster than she could spend it.
She is irritating.
She is irritating.
March 9, 2016
Heartwarming
Margaret Schulte did a fantastic job sharing her unique ability to engage complete strangers in conversation that ultimately led to lasting friendships.
Margaret Schulte did a fantastic job sharing her unique ability to engage complete strangers in conversation that ultimately led to lasting friendships.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews