Eva's Bookish Meme

Eva created this reading meme and Jeane tagged me. So here we go:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
I know that the whole world will hate me for this but I have to say it: Harry Potter. Go ahead. Stone me now. It doesn't sound like a bad book at all; I just have no desire what-so-ever to read it. Maybe someday I will but not anytime soon.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event, who would they be and what would the event be?
I think I'd want some kind of tea party with talent show with each character performing her passion. Jo March from Little Women could write a play to be performed by Anne of Green Gables, and Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility would read Shakespeare Sonnets. I would be the adoring audience of course.

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?
I'm going to say The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. I started that 253 page book 3 years ago and it is still not finished despite my pulling it out to read every couple of months.

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?
Like Jeane, I am extremely honest. I have never claimed to read something I haven't. But I have seen a great many movies made from British classics so I may discuss a story; but I usually point out that I haven't actually read the book.

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?
I'm sure this has happened to me before but I can't think of what book it was.

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?
Well, he doesn't have a lot of time so it would have to be on the shorter side; and he's not a big reader so it would have to grab his attention from the beginning; and being a VIP he appreciates determination and a drive to overcome obstacle in order to succeed. How about Fahrenheit 451? And it has the added benefit of promoting books as a way of thinking for oneself.

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'm reading Dante's Inferno right now so I suppose Italian would be my choice at the moment. I love French but I don't know many books in that language so I don't know what I would read.

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?
Now that's a difficult choice. I'll go with Atonement because it is so beautifully written and I really like the way it's laid out with the three different sections.

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?
There are many. Keeping track of my reading each year, setting specific goals, exposure to new genres (like fantasy) or new authors (Neil Gaiman), literary awards, and an appreciation for modern novels. And simply sharing my opinions and experiences with like-minded others.

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.
Oh goody! It would look like an old English Gentleman's library with floor to ceiling, dark wood shelves covered with beautifully embossed spines. I'd want complete works of all my favorite authors, the ones with the most beautiful covers. I like the uniformity and artwork on the covers of the Penguin Classics so I'd have to have the complete set. I need a warm fireplace and a comfy wing back chair with a cozy blanket and a bottomless mug of tea or cocoa. And don't forget the dark stormy night out the velvet curtained windows. Reading is always better on a dark stormy night. And I'd need a cat nearby and probably my husband and children too, as long as they were reading quietly to themselves and not interrupting my reading. I can picture it all now. Lovely.

If you like this meme, consider yourself tagged. =)