Eva’s Reading Meme

Alyssa from The Shady Glade tagged me with Eva’s Meme:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Honestly?
I don’t think there are any books out there that received only positive reviews, but there are some very popular books/series that I have no desire to read. Such as The Bartimaeus Trilogy, the Artemis Fowl series, and any anime/manga. There’s probably more but I can’t think of them at the moment.

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?
Only three? Humph. Well, I’d be delighted to make the acquaintances of Nancy Kington (Pirates! by Celia Rees), Sarah Wheelock (Ann Rinaldi’s Girl in Blue), and Jacky Faber (the Bloody Jack Adventures by L.A. Meyer)—although if I knew the latter personally I suspect that I might find her rather tiresome. There are others, but as I am only allowed three....
As for the social event, what fun are those? Just give me a week or two with them and they could teach me to hunt, ride horses, sail, spy, and many other things. But a lovely picnic lunch each day could be included, too. :-)

(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?
Honestly it would probably be The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and/or The Hobbit. I have tried SO many times to read those books and never gotten more than half a chapter into them. I don’t think it’s that the story is unappealing—the first movie was good—but as a friend put it, “You feel like you’re hacking through all this description to get to the actual story.”

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 have to admit that I sort of pretend I’ve read Pride and Prejudice when indeed I have not. Although I have, in fact, been near it, only unable to get into it.

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?
Nope.

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 and personalise the VIP.)
There are so many different types of people and so many books that each of them would enjoy that I don’t think I could answer this.

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?
I don’t know. Maybe...French because there’s so much classic literature that was originally published en français.

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?
Probably Bloody Jack, by L.A. Meyer (and the rest of the series after it!).

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)?
Well I read pretty much any genre before blogging, so it can’t be discovering a new genre.... Nothing really comes to mind aside from books and maybe a few authors that I hadn’t heard of .

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.
It would be dark and spooky and when you open the door a recording of “Enter. MWAhahahahaha!” plays. Just kidding. :-)
Although I don’t generally like dark wood much, you just have to have it in a library. So, you walk in the door to find tall mahogany shelves loaded with every novel I’ve ever read and liked. The walls, where you can see them for the bookshelves, are a soothing cream color dotted with sconces that produce warm light. The blue and stars-scattered ceiling soars high above your head, but not so much as to make you feel dwarfed.
The floor (also mahogany) is decorated with area rugs in a dark blue with oceanic designs. Chairs that you can sink deep into are placed in nooks between the shelves, but I would spend most of my time reading and dreaming on the comfy window seat of the large window overlooking green hills edged with trees.
Every book on the shelf a hardcover so new the spine cracks when you open it (I love the smell of them), and there’s a magical book-drop from which all of the new releases I’ve been waiting to read fall the second of their release!

I tag Aella Soifra, Enna Isilee, Harmony, and Megan. (Sorry if any of you have already been tagged.) Now all of you answer and then tag four people!