Sylvia is up on the most interesting (to me) memes. Hmm… could be because they’re mostly about books! She found this one via Stefanie; it was invented by Kimbootku.

1. Hardcover or paperback and why? I like paperbacks for lower cost, holding in the bed, and lighter weight for carrying around with me, but if I really like a book and want it to keep, I prefer hardcover.
2. If I were to own a bookshop, I would call it… I always liked “The Tattered Cover,” but that one’s taken. There used to be one here in Atlanta called “The Cup and Chaucer,” which was also great. There’s one down the street called “Coffee Buy the Book” — it’s a cute new/used bookshop in a Victorian house. I can’t think of a good name right now. Maybe “All the World’s a Page.” That one just came to me. Yeah. I like it.
3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is… from The Great Gatsby:
   

   Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. … And one fine morning –

   So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

4. The author (alive or dead) I would love to have lunch with would be… I have to pick William Shakespeare, but I would love to have tea with J.R.R. Tolkien, and a nice breakfast with Jane Austen. Oh, and dinner with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Who could pick one?
5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be… The Harry Potter series.
6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that could… I’m going to steal Sylvia’s idea of a dictionary.  It would be cool to be able to tap words in a book and get the definitions, sort of like you can online.
7. The smell of an old book reminds me of… The nice library near my grandparents’ house; the library isn’t open anymore (I don’t think), but I was allowed to ride my bike there or walk there once I was old enough, and I spent many happy hours poking around the stacks and drinking hot chocolate in the snack room downstairs.
8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title) it would be… I really like Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, but I think I’d also like to be Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series or Morgaine from The Mists of Avalon.
9. The most overestimated book of all time is… That’s a tough one.  The Da Vinci Code is such a favorite with so many people, but it’s so poorly written, particularly with regards to character development.  Wooden characters.  Cardboard stand-in characters.  Ugh.  Characters are the most important part of a book!
10. I hate it when a book… has typos or grammar mistakes, especially if it’s on the part of the author.  I can’t stand to read Philippa Gregory because of her comma splice problem.  I also don’t like the non-period dialogue, but that’s beside the point.  Her plots are pretty good, and I like her characters.

I tag any folks out there who are interested in books.

[tags]literature, books, meme, reading[/tags]