BiblioAddict

My brief stay here in El Paso is turning out to be one stroke of luck right after another. Earlier this week, I got lost looking for the courthouse. Just when I figured that I had definitely missed my turn, I turned down the next street ready to go back the way I came, only to look up and realize that I was virtually right in front of the building where I needed to be. Then, today on my last day here in this not-very-warm desert town (it’s been hovering around the upper-50’s – what kind of desert weather is this?), I decided to go for a drive to see just how close I could get the mountains which border the city.

Twenty minutes and two dead ends later, there I am, driving along, thinking that my little excursion was nice, but ultimately a bust when I just happen to come upon a street called Scenic Drive. Well, I thought to myself as I jammed the breaks and made a quick right turn, let’s see just how scenic you really are. As it turns out – very. The road wound beautifully up the side of the mountain, and when I parked at the car stop to take in the view, I had El Paso and Mexico spread out beneath my feet. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I would liked to have stayed until the evening to take in the nightly spread of city lights, but a girl alone, on a mountain, in a city she doesn’t know? Eh, probably not the brightest of ideas. My reading of the murder and mystery in THE BEAUTIFUL CIGAR GIRL may have also had something to do with my feelings of vulnerability. True crimes stories always give me nightmares, but I love them anyway. See my obsession with City Confidential and American Justice.

Wait a minute – I had a point… Ah, luck. So after my surprisingly fulfilling drive, I wandered back to my hotel wracking my brain for something useful to post about. By the time I opened my computer, checked my mail, and did my daily browsing on Borders.com, I had nothing. Until… I happened to wander over to Emily Barton’s wonderful blog Telecommuter Talk. Lo and behold, I’ve been tagged for a meme! Oh Emily, you wonderful, wonderful girl you. Thank you. I hope that what luck I have left (which, knowing my history isn’t very much) finds its way to you.

Now, on to Eva’s Reading Meme:

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Hmmm, you know I think it has to be a tie between THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen. I’ve heard nothing but great things about both of these novels, and I see them everywhere. I’ve had a ton of opportunities to purchase these books – on sale, no less – and I’ve no doubt that the writing in both of these novels is truly worth the praise they’ve received. And yet, every time I think about actually picking them up and reading them, I feel a big Eh with a *shrug* coming on. Of course, that’s how I felt about THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD by Kevin Brockmeir last year. When I finally got around to reading that, I loved it, so there’s hope yet.

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?

Since I’m not really the clubbing type, nor am I particularly fond of tea (unless it’s pure lemon), I think I’m going to have to steal from Emily and say that my special event would be a dinner party – that is, of course, as long as I don’t have to do the cooking. And my three intimate guests would be… Well, Sherlock Holmes is the first to come to mind. I imagine he’d be a very entertaining dinner guest. He’d be the life of the party – what, with his ability to tell a person’s life story just by looking at them. Plus, I might ask him a solve a few of the mysteries which plague our daily newspapers. I can’t figure any of it out, and if Sherlock Holmes can’t, I don’t know who can.

And – I don’t know where this is coming from, really – but Doctor Impossible from last year’s SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE by Austin Grossman. I mean, sure he’s an evil, super villain bent on taking over the world, but you know I think all the guy needs is for someone to give him a hug. And a dinner party would be the perfect place for him to show off his supreme intellect, regale us with his villainous exploits, and impress us all with his new super villain cape.

And just to make sure I’m not the only girl at this party (although, that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?), I’d also invite…

Ok, I’ve just sat here thinking for 20 minutes thinking about the woman I’d invite to my dinner party. I’m sure there’s one, but I’m without my home library to remind of a really good one so I’m going to go with Constance Greene from Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston’s Pendergast books. A woman who’s lived over a hundred years, still retains the beauty of her youth (and she’s not a vampire – go figure), and is surrounded by an air of mystery would have a lot to talk about, I imagine. She’s bookish too.

Well now, that sounds like my idea of a dinner party. Now, if only one of us knew how to cook…

(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 most boring book on the planet… Well, I’m not sure if this counts since I’ve already read it, but I think Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED would be sufficiently agonizing to read again. The funny thing is, I didn’t think it was that bad when I first read it. But I think that because my tastes have so significantly changed, and because I’m so much more well-read than I was in high school (which, therefore, gives me a larger body of work to judge it against), I would die of boredom at having to read all those preachy speeches all over again. Did I mention that it’s long? It would be agonizingly perfect.

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?

Pretended I’ve read a book that I really haven’t? Yeah, sadly I’ve done that. My book was THE CANTERBURY TALES by Chaucer. I’ve read one or two tales out of the book, but oddly enough, never the whole thing. How I got through four years majoring in English without having read this book still boggles my mind, but it happened anyway. It’s sitting on my shelf right this minute waiting to be read. I will, one day.

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?

Of all the crazy bookish things that have happened to me, I don’t think this has been one of them. The closest I can get to this is reading a book, and then forgetting everything about it. I’ve reread a few books in my time, and thought to myself, Wow. I didn’t remember anything about this book.  As you can imagine, this usually only happens with books I didn’t really care for in the first place.  Usually.

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 and personalise the VIP)

Honestly, I’m terrible at recommending books. I usually tend not to like it much either. When I do, I always feel responsible for the book and for whether or not the person I recommended it to likes it.  Once they start reading it, I’ll exist in a state of anguish, hoping they’ll love it and adore it as much as I did. And if they don’t, I feel personally responsible and mildly rejected as if I’d slaved over the manuscript myself. So, when I do recommend books, I usually tend to preface them with, “Well, I liked… ” That said, if I have to recommend a book for some VIP, I’d recommend The 48 LAWS OF POWER by Robert Greene. I’d tell them to read and study every rule then do the absolute OPPOSITE. The world would be a much better place for all involved, I’d venture to say.

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?

Humm… well I’d love to speak Italian, but I think I would most like to read Spanish. I haven’t read very many Spanish authors but I’d really like to start.

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?

To make this easier, I’m going to narrow it down to the books I’ve read within the last three years and say GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. I closed this book with a sigh of regret three years ago. I’ve been wanting to read it again ever since.

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 developed a new appreciation for science fiction, most definitely. In fact, a huge collection of science fiction short stories is sitting next to me on the nightstand right now.

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 dream library isn’t confined to a single room. No, my house would be my library. Bookshelves would be built into the wall in every room, from floor to ceiling. I would have rolling ladders in every room to reach those high places because I really am too short (I was still 5′1 the last time the nurse chose to break my heart). Every book would definitely be pristine trade paperbacks. Sure, they’re not as durable as the leatherbounds, but they’re easier to hold and take up less room on the bookshelf. Knowing myself, I’d need all the bookshelf room I could get – even with a house literally full of books.

Now, here’s the hard part: As per the rules, I have to tag 4 people for this meme. My choices are… drumroll, please…

Stephanie

Christopher

Sam

Kookiejar

There, I’ve passed the meme baton. Happy running (and blogging)!