The Book Thing

Shamelessly stolen from Kim du Toit.

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

Philosophy. I simply find it extremely hard going. Plus Plato's Republic in the original Greek was not exactly the ideal introduction.

If you could bring three [fictional] 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?

Thraxas, Gandalf, and Granny Weatherwax.

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?

Atlas Shrugged: I just cannot get into it.

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?

None. Like Kim, however, there are books which I've only read in translation when I could have (at the time) read them in the original.

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?

Again, none. That said, there are books which I've re-read and seen in an entirely different light. Most recently, the Harry Potter books after it was revealed as a Christian cycle. Additionally, there are books which I wish I had the intellect to understand better, like Sun Tzu's Art of War.

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.

Sun Tsu's Art of War. It's just so deep, but it's short and will set them thinking.

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 really torn here: part of me says Latin so I can reread everything I read at school and more; the other part says Chinese - there's a whole mountain of literature there.

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?

Dead easy: Tolkein's Lord of the Rings

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.

Whatever else it is, it's circular with a ladder that can go round.