A Book Meme

Taken from Carrie at Mommie Brain.

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

Anything non-fiction.

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?

Hmmmm... Since this is supposed to for some kind of Social Event, how about: Lije Bailey, Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, and Alex Benedict. Lije Bailey (from Asimov's Robot novels), because he's a parent and a cop - and kind of set in his ways. Hutch (from Jack McDevitt's Priscilla Hutchins novels), because she always knows what to say no matter the situation, and Alex (from McDevitt's Alex Benedict novels) because he's a relic collector and has lots of money. As a bonus, all of them would have probably limitless stories to tell.

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?

I don't know. Probably something I'd not be interested in at all, like a Jane Austin novel or something like that.

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?

The original Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. A classic in SF. I have the original trilogy on my shelf. I think I've reads part of each book, but never the entire thing. There's hardly any dialogue in them, it's mostly long paragraphs describing what's going on and why. Like a Clancy novel, but without the action, dialogue, and extraneous plot threads. I really should read those. I've read the books in the series that follow the original three (and that come before chronologically), sometimes more than once. Those were written more recently and reflect a writing style geared more towards my generation.

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? Which book?

I'm pretty sure I remember that happening, just don't remember which book.

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 of personalize the VIP).

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?

Oooh, interesting question. Ancient Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic. I'd love to be able to comprehend the Bible in the language parts of it were originally written in.

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?

The Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy.

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)?

That I should probably pay a bit more attention to what I read. Especially if I want to write a review of the book or discuss it at a book club or online. I tend to zip through books, and once I'm finished I barely remember what I read - even if I really enjoyed it.

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

A big room, plushly carpeted full of floor-to-ceiling book cases. Those are full of books of all kinds: nice leather-bound collector sets, paperbacks, TPBs, comics, oversized, those tiny little "gift" books, old books, new books, fiction, non-fiction, and a few collectible non-book items as well, etc. There'd be several too-comfortable chairs that recline and a sofa. There'd be a fancy desk with a window/glass door behind it overlooking a deck and a lake surrounded by a sparse forest and mountains all around. There'd be a computer on the desk, with a comfy chair behind the desk. There would be several eBook readers in the library as well. On the wall opposite the desk, the wall is covered with bookcases. One of those bookcases conceals the door. To the left of the desk, if you're sitting behind it, that wall has a fireplace and plenty of spacing between it and the bookcases on that wall. In those spaces, several pieces of art hang on the wall. The wall to the right of the desk is covered with bookcases. The wall behind the desk, with the window centered in it, has bookcases to either side of the window. The window itself, apart from being part of a door, is floor-to-ceiling with room darkening blinds and curtains. The comfy chairs are in the center of the room on a large rug and surround a small table. The sofa sits between the circle of chairs and the wall to the right of the desk, facing the fireplace, with plenty of room to walk behind or in front of the sofa. Lighting in the room is subdued, a small lamp with shade on the desk and a matching one on the table in the middle of the room. Recessed lighting in the ceiling and track lighting on the ceiling to spot-light collectibles placed on certain shelves and on the mantle of the fireplace. The chairs, table and rug in the center of the room conceal a trap-door in the floor that leads to a storage room under the library, separate from the rest of the house, that includes emergency exit tunnels that lead to the garage, out to a cabin in the woods, and to the boathouse on the docks.

I really like my library.