I’ve Been Tagged

Ravenous Reader just tagged me on Eva’s Meme that’s been going around blogland. Such fun questions so here we go:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Harry Potter. I’ve seen the movies and those were fun but now I feel like I know everything so why read the books?

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? I’d like to have some sleuths over for tea. Maybe I’d end up opening up my own agency after taking notes from Maisie Dobbs, Precious Ramotswe and Miss Marple.

(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? I’ve seen Moby Dick mentioned quite a bit for this question and I think I’ll go with the same answer too.

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? Not anymore but I used to pretend I had read The Scarlet Letter. I mean, everyone has right? I don’t know how I missed reading this one in high school and college.

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? Can’t really think of one.

You’ve been appointed Book Advisor to a 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 of personalise the VIP) The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. I read this one when I was going through a very difficult time and found it made me feel more at peace. I think the whole world could use a good dose of happiness.

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? German absolutely. Hopefully being able to speak it well would come naturally too.

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 don’t typically re-read books but I have read Love in the Time of Cholera three times so I’ll stick with it. It seems I still love it after those re-reads.

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 don’t think I would have considered reading Young Adult novels if it wasn’t for book bloggers. I’m so glad I have because I’ve discovered some wonderful books – The Book Thief for example.

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. I’m not too picky about the type of books. There are some imprints I like, Persephone Books for example, but paperbacks and hardcovers are fine with me. I would like a big room with lots of bookshelves of course. One bookshelf would be for my special books – the ones signed by authors. Another bookshelf would be for artist books and journals either made by others or me. I’d have a comfy couch and chaise lounge and big windows. Finally, I’d like a lot of artwork too but it would only be artwork created by my husband and friends.

Now to tag four others… I’ve seen this one quite a bit so I maybe tagging some who’ve already been tagged but here it goes: Gentle Reader, aka Nik, Jenclair and Kisane – you’re it!