Book Meme

I'm not dead, school didn't kill me. I'm heading out of town in a few minutes here (as soon as the family is all finished packing), but when I get back next week I'll have plenty of wonderful things to post for you all. Including reviews of John Green's Paper Towns (comes out Oct 08), The first 3 (or maybe 4) Traveling Pants books by Ann Brashares, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Paton, The Witches by Roald Dahl, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Possibly some ranting over Louis Sachar's Holes and some stuff on children's literature and picture books too. My children's lit class has prepared me well and I'm more than happy to share what I learned!

Okay, until then I leave you with a book-based meme taken from Jordyn over at Page Numbered

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Maybe the House of Night series? Everyone always tells me good things about it and my friend Jess lent it to me once. I got through like 3 chapters and could not read anymore because I hated the main character so much.

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?
Ooh, that's tough. Um. I'm reading the pants books now and really connecting with Bridget, so let's take her along. And maybe this is a current book obsession thing, but I want to bring along Margo Roth Speigelman from Paper Towns because she's so awesome, but still really deep and thoughtful. My third guest would be Ginny from 13 Little Blue Envelopes. We'll all go on a road trip! That seems to be the best idea with these girls.

You are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, which book would you expect to be waiting for you at the end?
Crime and Punishment. I tried to read it for school and could not do it. Or maybe something by Dickens.

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 don't remember exactly, but I know I did this a few times in school. Cuz that's what honor kids do, honestly.

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?
Hm...I'm not sure. There most likely has been. I know I do it with manga sometimes, like the 29th volume of Naruto I could have sworn I'd read before, but as I got farther into it I found out I hadn't.

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).
Depends on the person, but either The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I recommend Hugo Cabret to non-reading kids all the time because even though it's huge it's easy to read. Half of the book is like a picture/flip book anyway. And then when they're done and like it they can fell like "I just finished that gigantic book, now I can read anything."

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?
Italian, no contest. I would like French maybe because there are so many good books in French, but Italian would win out no matter what. I'm learning Italian and I love it completely.

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?
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It was the first book to get me really into reading and I still love it. I try to read it once a year anyway.

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 found John Green through Scott Westerfeld's blog, and whereas I'm not a big fan of An Abundance of Katherines I really love Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. John Scalzi too, also through Westerfeld. I haven't read most of his stuff, but I really enjoy Agent to the Stars.
But more importantly I found Maureen Johnson through the blogosphere and she's my favorite author these days. I will read anything written by her, even if it is a blood & tears book. And I hate those books generally (Twilight is the only thing of that genre I like, but for the action and not the romance so should it count?). MJ is a writing goddess, that's all there is to be said about that. Thank you internets!

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 wrote this library into my book, actually. It's huge, with shelves so high you need those rolling ladders around. Most are hard cover or leatherbound, but some books are paperback and falling apart. These ones are all first editions or the ones I read as a child or never truly published by written by people I know. My favorite books are signed and have personalized messages to me. And there's a huge wall of all my favorite manga, with all the volumes there. And somehow my comics would end up somewhere in a way where the could not be ruined.


Take this if you want, I won't tag anyone this time around