Random book meme

Got this meme from Kaillana

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

I am so getting crucified for this one, but… Despite the fact that I know lots of bloggers who adore the books, I can’t really picture myself reading anything with a description consisting of “Gay Regencies in Space”. I’m sorry, J. L. Langley. I’m sure your books are awesome, and eventually I might even get over myself, but not today.

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?

Hmmm, a world cruise with Miles Vorkosigan, Eve Dallas and Melanie Prescott (the latter from Julie Kenner’s The Givenchy Code ) would be highly entertaining to me. Mostly because I’m not sure they wouldn’t try to kill each other.

(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 most boring novel that I haven’t already read? Well, it’s hard to know if I’d consider it boring in that case. Although that being said, I couldn’t get through Ian McEwan’s to save my life, because I found it boring and the characters unlikeable, so maybe that one.

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?

Lord of the Rings. I have tried, several times, to read those books, and each time the books have beaten me up and made me their bitch. But given that a lot of fantasy readers are Tolkien snobs, I have, um, pretended to more knowledge of the books than I have. (I suppose that a brief stint of reading Sam/Frodo fanfiction shortly after the movies came out hardly makes me an expert, but I at least know what happens in the books and so don’t feel any particular urge to read them.)
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?
Hmmm. I’ve usually got a good memory for stuff like that, so that’s never happened to me that I’m aware of.
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)

Madeleine L’Engle’s House Like a Lotus and Charles de Lint’s Someplace to be Flying. Just because both are good stories and I adore them.

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. Maybe I would appreciate the nuances of French writers more if I could read them 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?

Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint. Actually, most of de Lint is good for a reread now and again.

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’m not sure what I’d say here. I probably wouldn’t have read Samantha Kane if not for bloggers. I also like the various book meme type things that get posted now and again, like Booking throutgh Thursday. Of course, those things are definitely not what I’d participate in if it weren’t for blogs.

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.

Oh man. I wouldn’t be picky. I’d just want everything to be in Braille, because it’s been a long time since I actually held a physical book in my hands and I’ve always thought that sighted people are entirely unaware of how lucky they are that they can just go wandering through the isles of a bookstore and grab whatever looks cool. That’s not how it works in my world, and I have to admit I’m envious.