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Eva

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Any Stephen King novel. I just can’t take horror anymore. Maybe that’s not irrational, though. It used to be the Harry Potter series, but I’ve resolved to read them all this year. So far I’ve enjoyed the first two.

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? I would bring the two main characters from Everyman by Philip Roth and The Sea by John Banville to life to be grilled and skewered (verbally, not literally) by the strongest feminist character available. Who would that be? Give me some ideas.

(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? A book on housekeeping or maybe party planning? Hee hee. Maybe that’s why I didn’t like Mrs. Dalloway.

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 Hobbit. I’ve only seen the cartoon version a bazillion times.

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? I don’t think I’ve done that, but I HAVE forgotten that I’ve read some books when I thought I hadn’t. I forgot that I had already read Emma and Sense and Sensibility. I had seen the movies so many times that I guess I just forgot. I never used to forget things like that. It must be a sign of age. Sigh.

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) To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s just a classic that everyone should read and almost everyone loves. If the VIP wanted something humorous instead, I’d go with Tom Sawyer. I loved this book when I was a kid, and my kids got the biggest kick out of it a few months ago. Even adults can appreciate it-at least I do.

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? Russian! I love Russian literature.

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 Kill a Mockingbird, The Book Thief, Persuasion, or Jane Eyre.  I can’t decide, any of the four would do.

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)? Margaret Atwood and/or Carol Shields. I’d never even heard of them until last year. Now I want to read everything they’ve written.

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. It would be a library as big as a house with gorgeous wood bookcases. It would have comfortable leather chairs and a fireplace or two. A few tables would be needed, as well as some lamps. It would be in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ architectural style. All the classics and newer ‘keepers’ that I’ve read would be leatherbound, while new titles I haven’t read would be brand new trade paperbacks.