Reading Meme

Reading Meme
This came off Melanie's blog.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Catcher in the Rye. It's the one book I STILL have never read, and I'm not sure I ever will, because I just cant find any connection with the main characters.

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?
Dirk Pitt, Horatio Hornblower and Captain Nemo - All Men of the Sea, so a world cruise sounds good to me.

(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? War and Peace

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? The Kite Runner

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?
N/A I usually end up getting books I thought I HAVEN'T read, only to discover, that I HAVE read it.

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 personalise the VIP)
Sophie's World - Everyone needs to know SOMETHING about Philosophy.

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 because I eventually want to read EVERY book and manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale.

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?
84 Charing Cross Road - its the ONLY book I can re-read.

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)?
In the 11 months since I started blogging, I have discovered Bibliography and Rare books. I never knew they could be so fascainating.

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'm not one for fancy rooms, so I just need a LARGE room with all 4 walls completely built up with wooden shelves from floor to ceiling - except around the door. A rail runs along the top shelf curving around the corners, and of course a ladder on wheels so I can swing along the shelves looking for books. A medium sized card catalogue in the middle of the room, with a few comfy chairs, some small tables with lamps on them (for good reading light) one for each chair, scattered around. Lastly a box on top of the catalogue with lots of BOOKMARKS in them. No fireplace - fire and books just do not make a good match - central heating is the way to go.

My library will be ONLY non-fiction. Mostly Bibliography, books about books (and no novels). Memoirs of booksellers, booksellers catalogues, Bibliographies, Discoveries of Old and Rare Books etc, etc. Other subjects will include Shakespeare, History, Historical Biographies,

There are only 4 rules in this library.

1 - Never pick up a book from the sidetable if it has a book mark in it. Wait till it is back on the shelf before you start reading it.

2 - All books are filed in author surname order - although the catalogue cards index will have cross-references for first names, titles and keywords about the book.

3 - ALWAYS use bookmarks when you need to. Do NOT turn down the corners.

4 - IF you damage the book, you pay the price - of whatever its currently valued at in the price guides.