Tag! Now who's it?

Rabbitch tagged me a few days ago, for a meme about books...I miss books! What with the libraries all closed here due to a municipal strike that has lasted 3 months and is predicted to possibly go on into 2008. Oy! The closed libraries upset me even more than the lack of garbage pick-up, which says something about how much I love to read. (Also, I have no TV...) Anyway, I'm finally finishing this up, having been delayed mid-composition by a nasty, nasty cold.

So, here goes:

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why? Hardcover. I tend to drag them along on the bus, pile them beside the bed, bring them into that vast wormhole of chaos otherwise known as The Van...paperbacks wouldn't survive the abuse. A hardcover has a fighting chance.

2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it... Spinning Yarns. Coz then it could also be a yarn store, and that would be fun! A book-and-yarn store! I'd never leave.

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title)... I have tried and tried to think of something. I can't. Since my brain totally doesn't work right now. I promise to rectify as soon as I can think again.

4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be... Elizabeth Gilbert. Her book "Eat, Pray, Love" made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions - on the bus, even, which got me some funny looks. And she made me crave Italian food like nobody's business...a lazy Friday evening, reading in bed...till I startled poor Mr.Q by bounding into the living room and demanding that he take me for Italian food NOW, I must have it NOW, I wants it, preciousssss! Anybody that can get that kind of visceral response from their writing would be fun to go for lunch with. And I know a great Italian place...

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 Complete Works of Barbara Kingsolver. (No, I don't care that such a book doesn't exist...it should!)

(If I can't have that, I'll take The Lord of The Rings, unwieldy though it is when all in one volume)

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that… would hold the book suspended from the headboard of the bed, so I could roll over and change positions (while reading, of course! Omg, get your minds out of the gutter, this is a family blog! Sheesh.) (HAH!) Anyway - that would suspend the book so I don't have to worry about holding the book at funny angles while I read in bed. Also, it would turn the pages for me.

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of...Romance, sexiness, adventure. While in university, after attending some student rally or another downtown, I once met a cute boy whilst marching through downtown. Afterward, he sat down with me in the musty stacks of Macleod's Books and read me poetry. I don't remember his name, and I never saw him again...but it was very romantic!

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be… Elizabeth, from The Paper Bag Princess. Smart, sassy, independent, and doesn't give a hoot about fashion - what's not to love?

9. The most overestimated book of all times is… a rhyming dictionary. 'Nuff said.

10. I hate it when a book… Is really, really engaging, when it catches you right up in the plot and the characters and it takes you right down that Reading Rainbow.... and then it ends! How unfair is that?!

Hmm...now...who to tag? (Who has a reasonable hope of getting it done, and who won't hate me forever?) Let's see....Sarah (you can ask Al to help - I bet the two of you would come up with quite a list!), Rebecca, Barb, and Ari.

Now to watch some Firefly reruns. (I guess they're all reruns now...sigh!)