As the presidential campaign rushes toward Election Day, some voters are wondering which candidate is more "real". So pollsters and reporters ask: "Which candidate would you rather watch a football game with?" or "Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?"

I think this is more relevant: Would you rather have Barack Obama or John McCain in your book club? And which book would you have them read?

I'm not choosing sides -- a newspaper editor needs detachment. But here's a suggestion for McCain: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a fictional account of soldiers in Vietnam, and the ways they handle loneliness and fear. For Obama: A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind, about a boy's challenging journey from a troubled Washington high school to Brown University. It's the selection for the One Maryland One Book program.