Eva's Book Meme, my answers

I saw this meme while browsing book blogs, and just couldn't resist. Thanks go to the author, Eva, for making one of the most interesting lists of book-related questions I've seen!

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Anything by Charles Dickens. Yes, I know he wrote "classics" that oh-so-may people rave about, but I have an aversion for them. Irrational, because I probably haven't read even one of his novels completely.

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 would invite Lord Peter Wimsey, Harriet Vane, and Father Brown to go with me on a walking tour across England.

Lord Peter, because I would love to hear him talk (oh-so-wittily), because he's resourceful in a tight spot,and because he'd be sure to know some history; Harriet Vane because of course by now they're inseparable (plus she has walking tour experience); and Father Brown, because what they both need is a dose of practical Christianity. And I do think that he would be a Christian, his Catholicity notwithstanding.

I'm just asking for excitement on this tour!

(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 fact is that most books I would expect to kill me would probably be somewhat interesting. Darwin or Tolstoy, for instance. I suppose in the end, any of the Hardy Boys would do. (despite liking them in childhood, I'm sure their low-quality prose would just about kill me now! ;)

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?

Ha ha. I'm not that fond of adventure. I'd be sure to be found out within seconds, if I tried a trick like that!

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 that I can recall.

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 personalise the VIP)

Let's say he's a Christian, but just doesn't see the need for reading past his Bible and whatever technical things he needs for his job. And let's further assume that he's intelligent and likes to take on a challenge. I'd give him a book of essays by Chesterton. This would whet his appetite for the beautiful, in literature as well as life.

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?

Latin. Then I could understand all the quotations in old books, AND I could understand scholarly tomes written during the 1500's. Even Martin Luther wrote in Latin!

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?

Given that I already read the Bible daily, I would pick The Lord of the Rings. I can't get enough of the beauty of Tolkien's language!

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 think I found Dorothy Sayers via the internet. A wonderful addition to my favorite author list!

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.

My library would consist of one end of a long room. The wooden shelves would go from floor to ceiling, with one of those rolling ladders so I could reach the very highest ones. The shelves would have lights recessed along their edges, so that in dim light I could still find what I needed. The nonfiction would be organized first by subject, then author, with a separate section for history in chronological order. Most all of the books would be hardbacks, but I'd have double copies (paperback) of my favorites. There would be comfortable chairs to read in, a table to place my teacup on, and a cozy fireplace. I'd have some nice paintings on the wall somewhere, probably a Waterhouse (maybe one of the lady of Shallot or The Soul of the Rose), N.C. Wyeth, or Norman Rockwell.

The other end of the room would be a music room, glass-enclosed, with a baby grand piano in the middle. Bosendorfer or Steinway. I can dream, can't I?!

Oh, and while I'm dreaming, the view out of the class-enclosed portion of the room would be if not actually the English countryside, at least reminiscent of it.

Oh, and I'm supposed to tag 4 people. But I don't think I know that many bloggers who would actually do it. So I'll just tag Lydia and Natalie. No pressure, ladies!