Eva's Excellent Meme!

Check out these great bookish questions! They were written by Eva -- didn't she do a great job? She should take the day off and bask in her own cleverness. I'll gladly write an excuse note if she needs one!

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. I'm ashamed of myself...this irrational cringe has gone on for more than 25 years now. Enough!

If you could bring 3 characters to life for a social event, who would they be and what would you do? Holden Caulfield, Esther Greenwood and T.S. Garp. I thought we could rent a bunch of movies and sit around making caustic comments about them and generally turning the air blue.

(This is borrowed from the Thursday Next series.) You are told you can't die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, eventually you realize that it's past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave? Pierre by Herman Melville. I was supposed to read this for The American Renaissance back in 1985, but I couldn't get past the first couple of pages. My final grade in the class was a B. I'd been sitting on an A until that damn book. No, I'm not bitter!

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? Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realize when you read a review or go to "reread" it that you haven't? Roger's Version by John Updike.

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? (Go ahead and personalize the VIP if it helps)
I'd find out what my VIP's hobby is then I'd find books about that hobby that are on a variety of reading levels and keep a constant stream of them appearing until one piqued his or her interest.
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A good fairy comes along and grants you one wish: You will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with? I have to go with Korean because it would make my day-to-day life so much smoother and easier. Can I have a little perfect listening comprehension as an accompaniment, good fairy?

A mischievous fairy comes and says you must choose one book you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can reread other books as well). Which book would you pick? GWTW.

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? I really love all of the obscure authors and titles that have come to my attention thanks to other bloggers. Also, I'm learning a lot about and immensely enjoying Canadian literature.

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 authors have inscribed some of the books? Go ahead -- let your imagination run free! It's large enough to feel spacious, but small enough to feel cozy. I have some leatherbound volumes and they've got the new-car smell to them. My built-in bookshelves go from floor to ceiling and wrap around the entire room. There's a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction. I have every single one of the Modern Library paperbacks with those copper-colored spines. I have the complete works of all my favorite authors, especially Don Robertson. A few of the books are inscribed. I've got my share of first editions. There's a nice big comfortable sofa where I can sprawl and read for hours at a time. In front of me is a coffee table with a stack of books which are what's up next on Mt. TBR. There's a mini-refrigerator; reading is thirsty work. Finally, there are a couple of comfortable chairs if someone would like to come in and read with me.

I have a happy feeling that I'm not the only bookish blogger with good taste who liked this meme and jumped on it, so I won't tag anyone.