Book Meme

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
For awhile it's been The Book Thief but I'm actually slowly getting into it. The book is still not the easiest to read though. I'd probably have to say A Thousand Splendid Suns

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?
Stephanie Plum would be fun to have luch with as long as no one blows up her car while we're eating! Jean-Claude could take me to a French opera or ballet and I wouldn't mind visiting Eric's bar (from Sookie's world).

(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?
Probably some thick classic with hard-to-understand English.

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?I've said I've finished a book when I'm still reading it before but I've never out-right lied about reading a book before.

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?
I'm very good at remembering what I have and haven't read. That doesn't mean that when I reread everything is familiar to me, some parts of the book I don't remember so it's like reading it for the first time.

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 and personalise the VIP)
The first book in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. My husband doesn't read too often but he's read this entire series. It's been a couple of years since the last one was published and he'll still talk about 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. I see it in books all the time and it drives me crazy when I have to get up and look it up in an online translator.

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?
It took me awhile to come up with an answer to this question. First I thought about Little Women which I've read four times but then I looked up and realized that either Winnie-the-Pooh or Alice in Wonderland would be a better choice.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed 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)?
The Mercy series by Patricia Briggs and the Ice Series by Anne Stuart. Both of these authors have become must-reads for me now.


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 love books in all shapes and sizes so it doesn't really matter to me what the books look like in my library, I just want the shelves full! I like the library in Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks because it is set up beautifully. The dusting would be a hassle but then I'd probably like that ladder!