Reading Meme

I just got home from a lovely weekend in the moutains and discovered I’d been tagged for a reading meme by Becky. What fun questions to think about and answer!

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
 Antonement by Ian McEwan. My mom says it’s one of the best books she has ever read, but I couldn’t get past the first few pages. 



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?

 The event would be afternoon tea on my back porch. I would love to have Father Tim 
from Jan Karon’s books, Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird, and Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Why? Because they all remind me of who I would like to be. I may love teen problem fiction, but the comfort I get from reading about truly good, wise, and kind characters cannot be surpassed.

(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 realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave? The book I never thought I’d finish was Moby Dick, and it would be a great punishment to have to read it again. I must also give the ultimate book that people try to get through and don’t succeed, War and Peace (although my mother has read it and really enjoyed it). 



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.

 I must admit I am a terrible liar, so I don’t tend to do it. I did read the Cliff’s Notes to Gulliver’s Travels when I was in high school (I read half of the real book and just couldn’t take it any more).

 People assume I’ve read more classics than I have, but I do try to correct them when they make that assumption. I freely admit the need to read more classics.

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

 Not really. I do tend to pick up books, thinking that I haven’t read them, but realizing that that I had after a few pages.

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 personalise the VIP) 

I cannot, will not state just one so I’ll pick one from different age categories. Picture book: Miss Rumphius (all people should strive to make the world a better place). Early Reader: Winnie-the-Pooh (because people always need to remember the importance of friends). Middle Reader: Harry Potter (again, the importance of friends, sacrifice, and because everyone should know Harry and his companions) Young Adult: Lord of the Rings (ditto what I said about Harry Potter) Adult: Bible (not that I think the Bible is only for adults to read – far from it -- it’s just that many Christian adults don’t read the Bible)

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?
 French – I’d love to read Dumas in the original language.

A mischievious 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?

 Easy choice – To Kill a Mockingbird. I pretty much read it every year anyway.

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)?

 The amount of passion that adults have for children’s and young adult literature continually amazes me. Since I started reading blogs I have become more deliberate about what I’m reading. I feel the pressure if I haven’t posted a review recently, which means that I’m not doing as much rereading or reading as many adult books as I’m used to. 
I also feel more snowed under – there’s so much that I haven’t read and I feel much pressure to “catch up.”

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. The most important component of my dream library would be always-expanding shelves so that I never have to agonize about culling my collection. New books that I wanted would magically appear, and yet somehow the “to read” shelf would never overwhelm me. There would be sofas for me to sink into that would always be comfortable, even after hours of reading. There would also be good lighting. While I don’t have to have leatherbound volumes, I do love hardbacks with attractive covers. I am also into the old fashioned wood and leather feel to the furniture, with oriental rugs on the floors. Biltmore House has a wonderful library – I’d take it.