The Reading/Book Meme

Okay, so I was not tagged with this, but as Ragin' Dave over at Four Right Wing Wackos did, I think I'll give it a shot. Unlike Ragin Dave though, I don't care all that much whether anyone else or not has completed the meme, or that everyome seems to be doing it. I am doing it simply because it interests me, and I would be interested to see yours even more so than I was to complete my own. By the way, have no fear, I am not 'tagging' anyone. Here goes:

1) Which [type of] book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Gay Romance novels, otherwise political books with a leftist agenda.

2) If you could bring three [fictional] 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?

C. Auguste Dupin, Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit), Howard (the old man in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre). The event would be five years' duration trek through wilderness and urban centers on earth and on other planets. The trek would include self sufficiency of this group, inter-galactic travel, time travel, prospecting, fortune making, hunting, drinking, fighting, story telling, mystery solving, and whoring (whenever we encounter the need or desire). Of course in this fantasy - I would be well armed, well to do, in excellent health, and at least as good looking as I am now; I would also be single!

3) 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?

While I cannot attest to whether or not it is boring, I figure anything written by a Russian would bore me to tears, so I pick: War and Peace. Even if not boring, it may as well be a long one. If it proved interesting, I would fall back on the Bible.

4) 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 don’t think I have ever done that except for in grammar school, and then I read the Cliff Notes. I am pretty sure Moby Dick was one of them.

5) 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?

No.

6) You’ve been appointed Book Adviser 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 personalize the VIP).

The Razor’s Edge because it gives a lot of insight into the lives of the pompous arsehats who believe they are VIPs, and a lot of insight into how to live life otherwise.

7) 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?

Old French because it was the language of Nostradamus; and I want to either put his predictions to sleep or prove them once and for all. I could make a million correctly interpreting his works.

8) 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 Hobbit, not because of the fantasy, or the magic that seemingly makes good win over evil; but because the book constantly shows that adventure is hard work, and good is only accomplished by someone who strives to attain it, but attaining it is well worth the effort.

9) 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 don’t even have a clue as to what is ‘book blogging’. If that means what have I learned about books from those who blog about them, not too much.

10) 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?

Many books are hardbound, many in leather, all first editions if possible, some are as ancient as they get in the form of scrolls. All are in pristine condition and kept that way as much as possible, while also being well read. The library is vast, comfortable, adorned with wood trim all around, wood bookshelves, has a Victorian splendor about it, has a well stocked bar or three, a wine celalr, comfortable seating, many reading rooms, is multi-leveled, has a huge selection of reading materials, and by some quirk of magic (yes the fairy is a good one) contains all of the works that were ever kept within the ancient library at Alexandria. In addition there are cloaked vixens to attend to my every need and fetch any volume I desire, and to read to me translations of books in any language other than English and Old French (yes these are intelligent as well as hot vixens). By the way, this library would be restricted to a membership of whom I approve, and would be well guarded. Also – no smoking allowed in the library but smoking rooms would be provided in out buildings, as would be a fine selection of excellent cigars to go with the good spirits from those bars and the wine cellars.

All the best,
Glenn B