For example, on books question, rather than answering question directly, you might try to engage interviewer in a conversation using their thought about books as a starting point, but transitioning to something you would prefer talking about. You could start off saying "You know, when I was a kid I loved those Hardy Boys mystery books. I've always enjoyed trying to solve mysteries whether they're in books or in an inefficient supply-chain system. At my last job, I was able to save company over $10 million by discovering cost inefficiencies that had previously gone unnoticed.."

When you're in an interview, it's always best to get as much information as possible before giving any information yourself. You don't want to come across as evasive. But you have a much better chance of giving answers person wants to hear if you know something about them, about job, what they're looking for, etc.

The best course of action in interviews is to steer clear of topics that could stir up controversy, such as politics and religion. An interview is a selling situation, so you may have to tailor your responses for occasion.

Here's another example for people you'd like to have lunch with: mentioning people like Frank Sinatra, Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci would be better than mentioning people who are living today. Famous people who are currently living tend to be controversial. You're best off mentioning people who everyone likes or who people tend not to have strong negative feelings about.

If you have a noticeable gap in employment dates but don't explain it on your resume, many recruiters will either just discard your resume and move on to next one, or come up with their own theory about why you weren't working. Although you might still be considered for job, recruiter's (probably false and somewhat subconscious) story about why you weren't working could put you at a disadvantage in their mind compared to other candidates they're considering.

If you had a medical condition that has since been resolved completely or nearly completely, my sense is you're better off explaining that briefly on resume instead of not mentioning anything at all. For example: Dec 2002 to Nov 2004: Took sabbatical from work to deal with a medical problem. The issue has been completely resolved and doctors feel it will not reoccur.

If it's a minor problem that most people could understand, like a problem with back pain, you could even bring it up in interview. An employer might not feel comfortable bringing up subject - especially because if they asked about it, it could look like they were discriminating against you illegally - but if you think you can make them feel more comfortable with fact that problem has been solved by explaining it, you could give it a try. The biggest concern an employer will have about a gap in employment is whether it is any indication of your likely future performance.

If it was a medical problem, they could be concerned that it could happen again and that they'd be stuck with having to find a replacement for you. If you don't provide any explanation, employer might think you couldn't find a job and were unemployed because your skills were not up to par.

I would recommend leaving out psychological aspect since psychological illnesses are rarely understood by general public.

Another alternative would be if you did some other things during your time off which could be mentioned while leaving out part about medical condition. For example, if you spent more time with your kids, you could put down:

Dec 2002 to Present: Left work to spend more time with children. Children are now older and I'm ready to return to workforce.

The bottom line is you're best off having some kind of story to tell that employer will find palatable. You don't want to tell an outright lie, but you may want to emphasize certain things more than others depending on what you find gets most favorable response (in terms of replies to resumes and in interviews).