Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

Hey, look: it's a book meme!

1) What book are you reading right now?

The Solace of Leaving Early, by Haven Kimmel. (A couple of years ago, Heather Nicole of I Heart Heather introduced me to Haven Kimmel by way of Kimmel's memoir, A Girl Named Zippy, and I don't think I have ever enjoyed an author more in my whole life.)

2) What is the fourth sentence on page 133 of that book?

What is present is finite; what is absent is infinite.

3) What is one book that changed your life?

When I was 20 I read Salvenka Drakulic's memoir, How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, and it was like seeing the world for the very first time. Also, several years ago, a comic shop owner convinced me to read the series Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, and I'm still not finished growing from that story.

4) What is one book that you read again and again?

The pages are falling out of my first four Harry Potter books from over-reading. Gosh, I love magic.

5) What three books would you want on a desert island?

a) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
b) The Complete Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
c) Emma, by Jane Austen

6) What is the funniest book you've ever read?

A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel is tied with Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding for just absolute hilarity.

7) What book made you cry the most?

Uh, Little Women. That book should just live in the freezer.

8) What book do you wish had been written?

The Handbook For Daughters With Mothers Who Have Mental Illnesses, by Literally Anyone With Experience.

9) What would be the title of your autobiography?

Magical Me, obviously.

10) What book do you keep meaning to read?

At Collective HQ, we all talk about how we should read Proust. But I don't really mean to read that. I mean, Kat and Jennie will probably read Proust, but me and Abigail? We have Gossip Girl recaps to pour over. New episodes start TODAY! OMG! Jacob!

11) What five books should everyone be required to read?

Okay, first let me tell you that I asked a bunch of people this question a few months ago and the book that was suggested the most was The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, which is a really excellent suggestion. But you should get it at the library, because it costs a LOT of money at the bookstore. But, here's my five:

1) To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
2) Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
3) Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong, James Loewen
4) The Color of Water, James McBride
5) The Tale of Desperaux, Kate DiCamillo

12) What book was the biggest waste of your time?

Okay, no one get mad, but I really hated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). It was tedious and not so entertaining, plus also there was a LOT of math in it.

13) What was your favorite book as a child?

Robert the Rose Horse, by Joan Heilbroner. I loved it so much, in fact, that I pocketed my library's copy, and I still have it.

14) What book have you read the most?

The Bible.

15) Is there any book's ending that you would like to rewrite? What would you change about the original ending?

Would change and have changed. From nearly the first moment I finished it, I began a rewrite of Little Women, which included Beth living and Jo marrying Laurie. My imagination, it is a fragile place. Sometimes I have to lie to it to be able to sleep at night.