Adopted and corrected.

You'd rather have an apple sit than lie? Interesting.
Or are both forms possible, depending on how it looks?

I find that both forms are possible, and I guess it's personal preference or context which determines what is used. For example, I wouldn't say "the cup is sitting on the table" if it was tipped over on its side.

Personally, I'd say "the apple/cup is sitting on the table" but "the book is lying on the table" but you can also say "the book is sitting on the table".

Thanks for raising it. I'd never really thought about this distinction before.

That's curious. I should look into that... The question had actually occurred to me because in Russian the distinction between things that 'lie' on a surface such as the table and things that 'stand' on it (we don't say 'sit' unless it's a living being that's actually sitting) is sometimes not really obvious. There are several language jokes about it, in fact.
English doesn't seem obvious in that respect to me either now. I'm thinking: how can a book possibly 'sit' on a table? If you place it horizontally, then it is lying, if you place it vertically, then it must be standing. o.o

> I'm thinking: how can a book possibly 'sit' on a table? If you place it horizontally, then it is lying, if you place it vertically, then it must be standing. o.o

I fully agree. Language can be quite odd, and, I dare say, English is one of the oddest (?). (I say that with only a knowledge of Engish and German).

I think I would say "standing" if the book is vertical and "lying" if it's horizontal.

Interesting!