A tag from Ravenous Reader, but originated at A Striped Armchair:
Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? I can’t think of one book in particular… but pretty much anything from Oprah’s book club.  *  I’ve thought of one:  Eat, Pray, Love.  All the adoration, I just can’t bring myself to read it.

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? My guests would be, Owen Meany, Sirius Black, and Rose & Ruby Darlen… but I’m not sure that I would like to hang out with them at the same time.

(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? The God of Small Things… bored to tears.  Also, the Alchemist.  Again with the boring.

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’ve never read anything by Jane Austen, and although I’ve never pretended that I have, if it were to come up I’d be very embarrassed about it. *  Also, Les Miserables.  I’ve seen the musical, listened to the soundtrack compulsively, watched the movie and been to Victor Hugo’s house in exile, bought the book… but never read it.  Shameful!

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?No. I’m usually the opposite, I’ll pick up a book thinking that I haven’t read it yet, only to realize that I have.

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? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP)The Hotel New Hampshire is almost always the first book I recommend. To everyone. I love it so much that I don’t see how any one could not, basically.

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 going to go with Farsi. More because I am interested on a general level rather than the specific things I could read with it.

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? There are many books that would not offend me to read once a year for the rest of my life… I would choose Circle of Friends, it’s such a gentle read, that I can’t imagine it would ever feel forced for me to read it again.

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)? The entire book blogging realm is new to me, just in the last couple of weeks did I know it existed as it does. I haven’t discovered anything new yet, but I’m looking forward to doing so.

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. My first instinct would be to combine my reading, writing and art space… in a large beautiful room that I’d pretty much never want to leave. But a room, just as a library would have vaulted ceilings with tall built in bookcases and an attached rolling ladder. Dark wood floors and a large, thick Persian rug. There would be a wide, comfy armchairs with ottomans, maybe a chaise lounge and handmade cozy blankets. It’d have big windows (the open) over looking the sea. Any visible wall space would be painted red and there would be framed art. The books would be all types, and arranged according to color. Practically, there would have to be some sort of database to make finding books easier. Arranged according to color would be beautiful, but potentially frustrating. There would be a large fireplace. All of this would come with help, of course. Someone to build the fires and keep the shelves dusted, someone to bring me hot mugs of coffee and glasses of wine.

* Thought of later.