ermingarden | Bad Timing: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

12. A book that came to you at the wrong time

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in kindergarten, and it was the first book I'd ever read in which a character died. I didn't handle that well! According to my parents, when I got to the scene where Aslan died, I closed the book, cried quite a lot, and then declared I was never going to read a book again – "If people die in books just like they die in real life, then what's the point of books?"

That resolve lasted four days, which to this day remains the longest I've ever gone without reading anything. I didn't pick up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again until several years later – at which point I discovered Aslan came back to life after just a few pages! I loved it to pieces the second time around, and still do, but I was a little too young at first.

The remaining questions:
13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that

14. A book balanced on a knife edge

15. A snuffed candle of a book

16. A book you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers

17. A book that taught you something about yourself

18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion

19. A book that started a pilgrimage

20. A frigid ice bath of a book

21. A warm blanket of a book

22. A book written into your psyche

23. A book that made you bleed

24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to

25. A book that answered a question you never asked

26. A book you recommend but cannot love

27. A book you love but cannot recommend

28. A book you adore that people are surprised by

29. A book you detest that people are surprised by

30. A book that led you home