Readers' Meme

Dr. Monkey von Monkerstein tagged me for a literary meme. "It was hard," she whined. But I persevered, and I present this to you.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Harry Potter, books 1-7. I actually read through 2 1/2; they bored me and seemed awfully derivative. And I hate hate hate the way they were marketed as God’s gift to children’s literature. Am I being irrational? I don’t think so.

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? Sam Vimes (from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series) -- I often tell Mr. Ether that he is lucky that SamVimes is a) married and b) fictional. Precious Ramotswe, the “traditionally built” sleuth in The Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency by Alexander MacColl Smith. I like her spirit. Ditto for Tiffany Aching, the apprentice witch in Terry Pratchett’s children’s book The Wee Free Men. She is spunky plus she’s an excellent cheese maker.

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? Ummm ... Moby Dick? (Is the originator of this meme a ffffan of Jasper Ffffforde?)

Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you've read, when in fact you've been nowhere near it? Actually, none that I can think of. Well, maybe the Bible.

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? Nope.

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? To Kill a Mockingbird. Because it is superb in all ways.

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? Greek, so I can read the Bible in an early iteration. (Like I said up top, I’ve never read the Bible.)

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? Easy ... To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it ever year or two anyway. Although I also really enjoy Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series and Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series every couple of years. And I never seem to tire of reading The Wizard of Loneliness by John Nichols, or several of the novels of Barbara Kingsolver.

What's one bookish thing you 'discovered' from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)? That there are an awful lot of readers out there, despite the fact that the “experts” say that reading is dying. Maybe there are fewer of us than before, but we readers read a lot.

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 would like to have hardcover editions, maybe even some first editions, of some of my favorite books -- both children’s and adult literature. I would like to have multiple units of shelving like the one unit Mr. Ether built for us some years back. (Mr. Ether is a very talented cabinet maker. Too bad BushCo has torpedoed the economy. Maybe the good fairy could give Mr. Ether a job.)

Now I tag Enriched Geranium, Quaker Fruit Salad, Tweetey 30, Quaker Dave and Poodle Doc. And anyone else who wants to have a go at it! And if you don't, my feelings are not hurt. I like talking about books, but these were some difficult questions.