Book meme

I saw this on Melanie's Blog and thought it might be fun...

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

I can't think of one I'd consider myself irrational about. I mean books like The DaVinci Code might have good reviews but I have rational reasons for cringing from it. I read The Jane Austen Book Club even though I cringed from it for fear of what it would try to do to Austen and her books. I was right and didn't like it. I don't think I irrationally cringe from any book - there is always a rational reason.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice), Melanie Hamilton (Gone with the Wind) and Beth March (Little Women). I don't think any other three women could improve me so well even in one afternoon tea.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realize it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

This is tough. I am not easily bored by any book even if parts of it bore me. I've heard The Old Man and the Sea is boring and the Grapes of Wrath are boring and The Once and Future King is boring but I haven't read any of them so they might not be to me. If I could pick any book I'd say the Dictionary. But I don't know which novel.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

Hmm. I'm pretty honest about what I've read or haven't read. I guess Stephen King's Needful Things. I did buy the book and read a little but was so disgusted by the hate back and forth between the Baptists and Catholics I didn't read any more, threw it out, and forever declared my disgust for the book though I do enjoy the film.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realize when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t?

Not that I know of, no.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalize the VIP)

It depends on the VIP. I mean, if he/she was a politician, I'd go for Democracy in America by Tocqueville. If the VIP is a religious leader, I'd opt for the Bible. I think it depends on why the VIP is a VIP and how I could best serve him/her in that regard.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

I guess I'd say French just so I could read all the french authors in their original text. Second choices would be Hebrew and Greek.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

I'd be a stinker and say Where Is Spot? since I read that every other day anyway and could easily breeze through it once a year and then read something new. But, if I wasn't a stinker I'd say Pride and Prejudice, ever my favorite.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

I first learned of Evelyn Waugh on Melanie's site and now plan to read Brideshead Revisited eventually.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

"Floor to ceiling bookshelves are stuffed with everything I've ever wanted to read. Lots of leather bindings, sure. Plenty of first editions, why not? Every book in a series has matching covers. But the most important thing is all those hard to find volumes. A complete Unabridged Oxford English Dictionary is a must. Lots of current atlases and reference books. Books for people of all ages from the smallest babies to the oldest grandmothers. Lots of picture books with the most beautiful artwork. And plenty of copies of the most favorite picture books because you know how babies and toddlers chew through the favorites. All the lovely art books with full color plates I've drooled over and not been able to afford. Books in their original languages as well as the best translations. I could go on all day; but I think you get the drift. There would never be an end to stocking such a library because there will never be an end to the publishing of good books. So that fairy is going to be working hard for the rest of my life and my children's and grand children's lives too while we're at it."
I'm completely with Melanie's answer here on this one. oh I'd love that library and I don't think DH, my dad, my children or I would ever leave it.