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

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I’m not sure I want to do the whole nuclear holocaust thing in my reading.

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’m tempted to bring to life Mr. Darcy or Meriadoc Brandybuck or even Lord Peter Wimsey, but that would involve me in marital issues, and I avoid those. I only have eyes for Engineer Husband.
So, I’ll have tea with Katherine Forrester VIgneras from A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L’Engle, Aunt Betsy Trotter from David Copperfield, and Father Tim from Jan Karon’s Mitford books. It might turn out to a rather Mad Hatter/March Hare sort of tea party, but fun. Oh, I just thought, let’s invite Miss Marple, too. I like old folks.

(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?
Ulysses by James Joyce.

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 really don’t know. I haven’t actually read every word of Moby Dick, but I taught it in a class anyway. I guess that counts. I didn’t tell the kids that I’d read the whole thing. In fact, I think I admitted to skimming parts.

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?
Yes, but I’m not sure which ones. I forgot that I forgot.

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).
What Joe Biden should read: All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.
What Sarah Palin should read: Some YA fiction, particularly this book, to see what she’s up against in the secular, liberal mindset.
Ender’s Game might be a good primer on war games for both of the VP candidates.

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 really think Russian novels lose something in the translation.

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?
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

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 discovered lots of new-to-me books and authors:Jamie Langston Turner, Athol Dickson, Barbara Pym, C.J. Sansom. I’ve become re-aquainted with contemporary chlidren’s literature and YA literature.

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.

Window seats. Lots of lighting, overhead and floor and desk lamps. Computer with internet access for blogging while you read. Walls lined with books. All of the books by all of my favorite authors in hardback library binding editions. And they’re all shelved in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name. It’s the librarian in me.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I got this book meme. Please forgive, and feel free to copy and play along.

Semicolon’s September: Celebrations, Links and Birthdays