She laughs right out loud at the idea of him being real happy to read about a bunch of hobbits, but she doesn't doubt he'd read Tolkien if he had the free time and there was some available to him.

Between whatever he salvaged from the plane itself and whatever he's taken from the hatch, he bound to find something he likes.

His answer both surprises her and doesn't, though. On one hand, it's not an unexpected answer, but once she starts thinking about it she can see it pretty well.

"Flannery O'Connor, huh? I guess you didn't find anything by her in the hatch."

She hasn't seen him with any, and they've spent a fair amount of time together.