First Quiz – guessing closed

October 18, 2011October 24, 201127 Comments

So, someone in the house is turning 1 tomorrow, can you believe it? So this week’s quiz will be easy. Tell me which one of the novels is the first one published by each bestselling author. No need to put them in order – just tell me which one they published first. 10 points for each corrent answer. You have until noon on Saturday to submit your answers as a comment.

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Book Jumble Quiz here.

1. Jane Austen

A.Pride & Prejudice B.Sense & Sensibility C.Mansfield Park

2. Agatha Christie

A.The Secret Adversary B.The Murder of Roger Ackroyd C.The Mysterious Affair at Styles

3. Danielle Steel

A.Going Home B.The Promise C.Palomino

4. Jackie Collins

A.The World is Full of Divorced Women B.The World is Full of Married Men C.Rock Star

5. Nora Roberts

A.Irish Thoroughbred B.Hot Ice C.Best Laid Plans

6. Debbie Macomber

A.Promise Me Forever B.Hannah’s List C.Starlight

7. Mary Higgins Clark

A.Aspire to the Heavens B.The Cradle Will Fall C.Weep No More, My Lady

8. Janet Evanovich/Steffie Hall

A.One for the Money B.Smitten C.Hero At Large

9. Isabel Allende

A.The House of Spirits B.Eva Luna C.Daughter of Fortune

10. Laura Lippman

A. Every Secret Thing B.Baltimore Blues C.Butcher’s Hill

What Book Jumble Quiz *with giveaway

October 11, 2011October 17, 201123 Comments

I used leftover decorations from the weekend party to disguise these books. There are two parts to this quiz. List the title of each book. Take the 1st letter of each title (The’s excluded) and rearrange them for a two word phrase that is appropriate today 🙂 6.25 for each correct title and 19.75 points for the two word phrase. You have until noon on Saturday to submit your answers as a comment.

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s 40 Quiz here.

EDIT-I goofed on a title, so an O title should really be a B. Thanks for the catch Jennifer!

1.Remarkable Creatures 2.American on Purpose 3.Posed for Murder 4.Heartsick 5.Italian for Beginners 6.Dogshead 7.Practical Magic 8.The Angel’s Game 9.Yesterday I Saw the Sun 10.Time of My Life 11.Hello,Goodbye 12.Of Bees & Mist 13.The Year of Fog

Giveaway

Jason and I both enjoy products that bear our names. Both of these are staples in our house so I’m giving one random quiz participant 3 small bags of Stacy’s pita chips and a 16 oz. pump of JASON Pure, Natural & Organic Cranberry soap. You only need to leave your guesses for the quiz as a comment to be entered.

40 Quiz – guessing closed

October 4, 2011October 10, 201139 Comments

I mentioned a few famous folks who turn 40 with me this year, let’s see of you can figure out these actors turning 40. A hint? All of these actors are currently on TV. 10 points each.

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Head Shot quiz here.

1. I remember him from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, but I much prefer him in his current role as mystery writer/detective. You can give me his real name or character name. Nathan Fillion/Richard Castle (3-37-71)

2. As a new mom I’m loving her new show about life with a new baby, but she’s probably best known for playing a ditzy blonde on Married with Children. I’ll accept her name or the name of her new show. Christina Applegate/Up All Night (11-25-71)

3. This serial killer of bad people has been a staple on Showtime for years and he’s already beaten cancer by the age of 40. I’ll take his real name or his character name. Michael C. Hall/Dexter (2-1-71)

4. This Cleveland native plays Kristina Braverman on one of my favorite ensemble dramas. I’ll take her real name or the name of the show. Monica Potter/Parenthood (6-30-71)

5. He’s Don Draper to millions but when I see him now I can only think of the opening scene from Bridesmaids. Jon Hamm (3-10-71)

6. I remember him from Dead Poet’s Society but he’s on a hit show that started with public infidelity. I’ll take his real name or the name of the show. Josh Charles/The Good Wife (9-15-71)

7. He first came on my radar when I saw How Stella Got Her Groove Back and now he’s on Private Practice. Taye Diggs (1-2-71)

8. I loved him in Band of Brothers and the two seasons of Life, and now he’s got a new series on Showtime playing an Iraq vet. I can’t wait. Damien Lewis (2-11-71)

9. He was a long-running character on the long-running series ER, but this summer he was trying to survive an alien invasion on TNT. Noah Wyle (6-4-71)

10. He plays my favorite gay dad on tv and won an Emmy for it. I’ll give you half points for the name of the show. Eric Stonestreet/Modern Family (9-9-71)

Giveaway

I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky guesser to win 2 Godiva chocolate bars, one dark, one milk.

Get your guesses in by Saturday at noon.

Birthday Photo

This should have been yesterday’s picture, but I looked all day for it and finally gave up. Woke up this morning and found in Gage’s room.

Is there anything that doesn’t scream 70’s in this photo? That’s my mom and dad, making me laugh when I look at it now. I know I’ve mentioned quite a few times that I’m an only kid, so I share a close relationship with my parents, who are 42 years married.

Aren’t the leaves great? It was taken at Dawes Arboretum, a park I spent a lot of time in growing up.

I think I was in second grade here. I hated that short haircut and thought I looked like a boy.

Head Shot Quiz – guessing closed

September 27, 2011October 3, 201142 Comments

Have you ever laid a bestseller down and when you went back to pick it back up hours or days later a big, shiny face was staring up at you? I admit, I hate it. I don’t see any reason for it, but some of the biggest names in fiction disagree. See if you can tell me who these head shots belong to. 5 points each. Submit your answers as a comment before noon on Saturday.

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Beginnings Quiz here.

1. Jodi Picoult

2. Dean Koontz

3. Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz

4. James Patterson

5. Nora Roberts

6. Dennis Lehane

7. Tess Gerritsen

8. Vince Flynn

9. Fern Michaels

10. Daniel Silva

11. Brad Thor

12. Harlan Coben

13. Barbara Delinsky

14. Sherrilyn Kenyon

15. Richard Russo

16. Nicholas Evans

17. Sandra Brown

18. John Sandford

19. Tami Hoag

20. Nicholas Sparks

Beginnings Quiz – guessing closed

September 20, 2011September 26, 201116 Comments

Border’s is finally closed and it is a good thing for my overpacked bookshelves. It became a fun trip for Gage and I to go and browse every few days and I’m embarrassed by how many books I brought home. All you need to do is tell me which book matches which first lines. Oh, I added a few extra books for fun 🙂

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Pictured Title Quiz here.

1. Half my life ago, I killed a girl. Half a Life

2. For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in town. Practical Magic

3. Alone in the evenings, when the light had drained from the slate roof of her small rural home, and when her husband was working late, Mary Gooch would perform a striptease for the stars at the open bedroom window: shifting out of rumpled bottoms, slipping off a blousy top, liberating breasts, peeling panties, her creamy flesh spilling forth until she was completely, exquisitely nude. The Wife’s Tale

4. Tonight I’ve been thinking about the mosaic Hope gave me the night she U-hauled ass out of Pineville. Sloppy Firsts

5. “I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference,” she said. One Day

6. You know, Doc, you’re not the first shrink I’ve seen since I got back. Still Missing

7. Once my wife asked me: if you knew this was our final day together, what would you say to me? Adrenaline

8. She hadn’t believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night. Sworn to Silence

9. Now I am here, in Krakow, where my life began. Sonata fo Miriam

10. Gracie Lynne Calloway began her small life in Shady Grove, Alabama, fast asleep in a coal bucket on the front porch of 1854 Peachtree Lane. Salting Roses

11. I wasn’t surprised when Mama askked me to save her life. The Murderer’s Daughters

12. Why I feel the sudden urge to relate, in pen and ink, a relationship of the most personal nature, which I have never before acknowledged, I cannot say. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen

Pictured Title Quiz – guessing closed

September 13, 2011September 19, 201125 Comments

See if you can guess the titles of the books from the pictures. 9 points for the correct answer and 1 point if you know the author too. These all have one thing in common, an extra 10 points if you can guess what it is!

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Publication Quiz here.

1. & Knots & Crosses (Ian Rankin)

2. Killing Floor (Lee Child)

3. Open Season (CJ Box)

4. The The Bone Collector (Jeffrey Deaver)

5. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

6. The The Tea Rose (Jennifer Donnelly)

7. Until Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)

8. The ‘s the

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

9. The The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

10. the One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

Publication Quiz- By guest blogger ‘Nise – guessing closed

September 6, 2011September 13, 201120 Comments

The tables have turned and Nise, always at the top of the Leaderboard, has created a quiz just for you (and me). All you need to do is match the titles with the year they were first published. Easy right? If you aren’t already familiar with Nise you are missing out and should visit her blog immediately!

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Suicide Quiz here.

If you are interested in creating a quiz (and earning 100 points for the week) let me know and I’ll get you on the calendar.

Match these best -selling books to their publishing dates. Bonus points for knowing the author. (if you can’t see the books the titles are in the comments)

1813 1847 1908 1929 1936 1957 1960 1977 1986 1991 1993 2005

1. 1960 Harper Lee

2. 1813 Jane Austen

3. 1977 Colleen McCullough

4. 1929 Erich Maria Remarque

5. 1847 Charlotte Bronte

6. 2005 Steig Larsson

7. 1991 Diana Gabaldon

8. 1936 Margaret Mitchell

9. 1908 LM Montgomery

10. 1986 Stephen King

11. 1992 Robert James Waller

12. 1957 Boris Pasternak

Because of a typo, 1992 was not one of the choices. Guesses of 1991 or 1993 will count 🙂

6 points for correct year, 1 point author, 1.4 points for both.

Suicide Quiz – guessing closed

August 30, 2011September 5, 201124 Comments

Rules & Leaderboard here. Last week’s Best Paid Authors Quiz here.

Authors

1. This Pulitzer and Nobel winner moved to Idaho in 1959 and shot himself at the age of 61. Ernest Hemingway

2. This 30 year old put her head in the oven and died of carbon monoxide poisoning while her two children were home. One of these children would commit suicide himself in 2009. Sylvia Plath

3. In 1941 this famous author filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in a nearby river. Virginia Woolf

4. This author of infinite talent hung himself in 2008 at the age of 46. David Foster Wallace

5. This New Orleans author wrote one book and comitted suicide after several rejections. His mother fought to get it published after his death and when it was he won the Pulitzer, posthumously. John Kennedy Toole

6. In 1997 this author took his own life after allegations of abuse surfaced from two of his children. Michael Dorris

7. This author left this note to his wife before committing suicide in 2005… Hunter S Thompson

Match these characters who committed suicide with the books they are from.

1. Cecilia Lisbon D. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

2. Willy Loman E. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

3. Edna Pontellier A. The Awakening by Kate Chopin C. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

4. Billy Bibbit B. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

5. Inspector Javert F. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

6. Septimus Waren Smith H. Mrs. Dalloway by Virgina Woolf

7. George Wilson G. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

8. Hannah Baker C. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

William Shakespeare has over 50 characters commit suicide. Name 1 for the last 6.25 points.

Best Paid Authors Quiz – guessing closed

August 23, 2011August 29, 201119 Comments

Last August I ran this quiz about the highest paid authors and now the new numbers are in. These rankings are based on their total estimated income (books, movies…) from May 2030-April 2011. I’m giving you 15 authors and you need to rank the top 13 in order. The extra 2 are just ones I added to keep it interesting. Only 3 authors have the same spot as last year and if you get those three correct you’ll get a few extra points (so go ahead and look at last year’s quiz). Each correct answer is worth 7.5 points.

I hope everyone will give this one a try. It’s more fun the more people who play 🙂 And you only need to play once to win a prize!

1. James Patterson $84 million

2. Danielle Steel &35 million

3. Stephen King $28 million

4. Janet Evanovich $22 million

5. Stephenie Meyer $ 21 million

6. Rick Riordan $ 21 million

7. Dean Koontz $ 19 million

8. John Grisham $18 million

9. Jeff Kinney $17 million

10. Nicholas Sparks $16 million

11. Ken Follet $14 million

12. Suzanne Collins $10 million

13. JK Rowling $5 million

Michael Connelly

Charlaine Harris

Leaderboard and details here. Last week’s What book is that? Quiz here.

What Book is that? Quiz- guessing closed

August 16, 2011August 21, 201117 Comments

Tell me the title of the book for 9 points and the author for an additional 1. If you tell me what they all have in common you’ll get an extra 5 points! You have until noon Saturday to submit your answers.

Answers to last week’s Mad Gab Quiz here. Current Leaderboard here.

1. Best Friends Forever by Jeniifer Weiner 2. Jericho Cay by Kathryn R Wall 3. The Outer Banks House by Diann Ducharme 4. The Beach Trees by Karen White 5. Now You See Her by Joy Fielding 6. On Hallowed Ground by John Lantigua 7. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri 8. The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt 9. To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal 10. Delirious by Daniel Palmer