Eva’s reading meme

Eva’s Reading Meme from A Striped Armchair. Thanks to Ted at Bookeywookey for the tag! 

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? The Harry Potter books. I have actually read all of them but when someone starts raving about how marvelous they are I do cringe and feel like saying, “whoa, there, slow down a second and let’s think about this.” They are good. They are not life-changing, earth-shattering examples of fine literature. In fact, I think they could have been better. They have gotten millions of kids (especially young boys) into reading, yes, but I still think Rowling could have worked a little harder at the writing. Especially because of how many people read them. A little pruning here and there might have been nice too. 

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? The grandmother from A Good Man is Hard to Find, Lolita and Mrs. Dalloway. The event would be a weekend hiking trip. There would be plenty of s’mores, hot cocoa (this is all Lolita would drink, morning, noon and night), fishing in the afternoon (Mrs. Dalloway always catching the biggest fish) and long walks through wildflower fields (the grandmother would know all the names). By the end of the weekend I think all three of them would alter their respective novels in a significant way – except maybe the grandmother. 

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 have tried to read Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms at least five times. Each time I’ve put it down. Yawn. 

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? When I was still in grad school, I once jumped in late to a conversation between a bunch of other students and said I loved the children’s book they were talking about. In my defense I really did think they were discussing a book I had read. Unfortunately one of the students was talking about a story that had been submitted by an 8 year old for a contest her store was running, there was no way I could have even heard about it. I received several months worth of merciless teasing and now I would never dare to even hint I knew a book I haven’t read. Lesson inadvertently and painfully learned. 

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 don’t think I’ve actually read Huckleberry Finn but I always think that I have. I know I have read Tom Sawyer…or maybe it’s the other way around… 

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 of personalize the VIP) I don’t know where to start, really, this question has me completely stumped. Montaigne or The Little Prince? Crime and Punishment or Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? I’d want the person to become a big reader so I suspect I’d hit them with as much amazing fiction as I could find and hope for the best. 

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? Arabic. There must be such a wealth of literature in Arabic, both classical and contemporary, that never gets translated into English. I am sure I am missing an immense part of world culture by not being able to read in Arabic.  

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? To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf 

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’ve discovered the boundaries of my tastes. Blogging has made me pay a lot more attention to the kinds of books I like and don’t like. I think just taking better notes and concentrating a bit more when I read has helped me define my aesthetic preferences in a way I didn’t bother to do before.  

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 hard covers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favorite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free. My dream library is going to have to be a magic one. It’s a smallish room with built-in bookshelves on all four walls, two comfy armchairs, each with a foot rest and a small table in between. There is a cushion for the dog, a huge window and a fireplace. Now for the magic…First, whatever I am reading gets reflected in the window with an appropriate setting: night time, snow, the mountains, an ocean, a desert, a forest.  Also, whatever I’d like to drink just appears on the table: hot cocoa, wine, coffee, tea or whatever else. That goes if I’m suddenly hungry too. Poof – some warm crusty bread with cheese, a plate of chocolates, or an apple (already cut up!). And here’s the best part – the bookshelves are always filled with my favorites, that’s a given, but if I ever want a book, one I’ve read or one I’d like to read for the first time, I just have to think of it and it will appear. New books, old books, any book. What bliss!

And I am tagging Logophile, Amateur Reader, LK and Sharon (whose lovely blog is mostly about painting/drawing but who has lots to say about literature too!) Please don’t anyone feel obligated, some people love memes some people avoid them. And I didn’t check to see whether some of you have already done this one.