Epitaph Quiz – guessing closed

February 19, 2013February 25, 201320 Comments

I hope that you’ll try your hand at my (mostly) bookish quizzes every week, but it’s okay if you just want to play when the quiz interests you. If you play you are eligible for a prize at the end of the round (sometime in June). For all of the details, click here. Submit your answers in the comment section – I will stop by and hide them throughout the week but try not to copy off anyone else You have til Sunday to guess.

Identify these famous writers by the inscription on their tomb.

Your choices-Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, JRR Tolkien, Jack London, F Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells, Emily Dickinson

1. “I told you so, you damned fools.” HG Wells

2. “Beren” JRR Tolkien

3. “The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music.” Kurt Vonnegut

oops! I forgot #4! and it was the one everyone would have known 🙂

5. “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.” Robert Frost

6. “Called Back” Emily Dickinson

7. “The Stone the Builders Rejected” Jack London

8. “Steel True, Blade Straight” Sir Arthur Conana Doyle

9. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” F Scott Fitzgerald

10. “And alien tears will fill for him, Pity’s long, unbroken urn. For his mourners will be outcast men, And outcasts always mourn.” Oscar Wilde

Answers to last week’s Heart Week Quiz here. Rules and Leaderboard here.

Writers Lost in 2012 Quiz – guessing closed

February 5, 2013February 10, 201326 Comments

Tuesday Quizzes are back!! I hope that you’ll try your hand at my (mostly) bookish quizzes every week, but it’s okay if you just want to play when the quiz interests you. If you play you are eligible for a prize at the end of the round (sometime in June). For all of the details, click here. Submit your answers in the comment section – I will stop by and hide them throughout the week but try not to copy off anyone else 🙂 You have til Sunday to guess.

These writers all died last year. Oh, and no googling!!! This is just for fun, for pete’s sake!

1. This screenwriter, producer, journalist, and author was responsible for some of my favorite movies (When Harry Met Sally being one) and her 1983 novel Heartburn chronicled some of her married life with Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein. Nora Ephron 5-19-1941/6-26-12

2. Science fiction found a new voice with the publication of the The Martian Chronicles in 1950. This powerhouse also wrote a famous book about burning books. Ray Bradbury 8-22-1920/6-5-2012

3. Who will know where the wild things are now? Maurice Sendak 6-10-1928/5-8-2012

4. He may be the last of a generation of authors who served in WWII. His specialty was the historical novel, including titles like Lincoln, Julian, and Burr, but he also wrote many screenplays, including Ben Hur. Gore Vidal 10-3-1925/7-31-2012

5. One of Ireland’s best-loved writers wrote 16 novels. Her first, Light a Penny Candle (1982), Circle of Friends (1990), and an Oprah book club selection in 1999 being a few favorites. Maeve Binchy 5-28-1940/7-30-2012

6. Without him people would not know these 7 habits of annoyingly effective people. Steven Covey 10-24-1932/7-16-2012

7. He died in a car accident while touring for his own book, but he was also a well-known co-author on such books as The Last Lecture as well as books with Captain Sully Sullenberger and Gabrielle Giffords. Jeffrey Zaslow 10-6-1958/2-10-2012

8. This Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years also wrote the bestseller Sex and the Single Girl in 1962. Helen Gurley Brown 2-18-1922/8-13-2012

9. This Canadian turned New York writer wrote three collections of essays, all of them winning awards. David Rakoff 11-27-1964/8-9-2012

10. This motivational speaker wrote See You at the Top and Selling 101. Plus he has cool initials. Zig Ziglar 11-6-1926/11-28-2012

5 Best of the Best- Quizzes with a chance to win!

January 8, 20139 Comments

I have a degree in English Education and although I don’t use it to make money these days I do still have some of the test maker in me and thankfully you guys let me play quizmaster. Thank you all for coming to play 🙂 The quizzes are always on Tuesdays (next round starting in February) and the more people who guess the better. The winner of each round wins a gift card in the amount of the number of participants, and there is always a special prize for a random quizzee. Nise (Under the Boardwalk) has dominated the leaderboard with 6 wins in 10 rounds since I started keeping track in 2010! But Hannah (Word Lily) is the reigning champion.

Here are 4 of my favorites over the past 5 years, Writer’s Lost Quiz (this is always the first quiz of the year, next one coming up Feb. 5), Common Thread Quiz (I’ve done a few of these and I’ll do more but they are time-consuming), Color Scattergories Quiz (this is just one of the many that I rely on the participants more than on my own research, the Big Boggle is another that I like too), and the 40 Quiz (life begins at 40 ;)).

Wanna Win? I love the visual quizzes. This last favorite is the one I made for the Read-a-thon this past fall. It’s a clock. Go ahead and leave your guesses for the titles (each one coinciding with where you find it one the clock) as a comment. On Saturday Gage will randomly choose a winner. You don’t have to guess them all and guesses don’t have to be correct to be entered for the win. Winner will receive the same bookish prize that Marie won last round (ie. it’s a surprise and a good one!)

Want to enter to win one of my favorite books? Click here.

You don’t need to know anything about the Nutcracker, Nutcracker Quiz AND GIVEAWAY

November 27, 2012November 27, 201218 Comments

Every have one of those 24 hour bugs that could either be food poisoning or the flu? Me too! That’s why this is getting up a little late. I have a game that I like to play called Picture Picture (no idea if they still make it) and I thought we’d adapt it a little and use the beautiful illustrations from The Nutcracker.

Here’s the deal. Look at each of the pictures and tell me 5 things you see in each one. You’ll earn points if you are the only one to guess a particular thing. 10 points if you are the only one and 1 point less for every other person who guesses it. So there are a potential 200 points on the line! Get to looking 🙂

Oh, and I’m giving away this copy and by joining in the quiz you’ll be entered (if you don’t want to be just let me know).

You have until next Monday to submit your answers as a comment. Comments will be hidden until I post the answers.

The person with the most points this round will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

Answers to last week’s Road Trip Quiz here. Leaderboard here.

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

Road Trip Quiz – guessing closed

November 20, 2012November 25, 201229 Comments

It’s Thanksgiving week and many of us will be heading somewhere else to celebrate and since it’s been a while since I’ve done a movie quiz, here it is. See if you can figure out these road trip movies.

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment. Comment will be hidden until I post the answers. No Googling! The person with the most points this round will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

Answers to last week’s Bite Me quiz here. Leaderboard here.

1. One of my all-time favorite movies starring Steve Martin and John Candy takes place as they try to get home for Thanksgiving. Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2.”The first relevant film about rock and roll and the music industry, the first film that lets you in on the secret.” –Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer Almost Famous

3. Charlie: Listen… Ray, I don’t know if I’m gonna have a chance to talk to you again. Because you see, these… Dr. Bruner really likes you a lot, and he’s probably gonna take you back. You know?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: What I said about being on the road with you I meant. Connecting. I like having you for my brother.
Raymond: I’m an excellent driver.
Charlie: [smiling] Yes, you are. I like having you for my big brother.
Raymond: C-H-A-R-L-I-E. C-H-A-R-L-I-E. Main man.

Rain Man

4. Vacation

5. “Sarandon and Davis give superb, wonderfully interactive performances: funky, fierce, funny and poignant.” –Newsweek Thelma & Louise

6. This 1934 classic starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert won 5 Academy Awards and is a must see for lovers of screwball comedies. It Happened One Night

7. Traveling across the country to lose your virginity seemed desparate to me, but it worked out in the end for John Cusack in this 1985 romantic comedy. The Sure Thing

8. (sigh) Lord of the Rings trilogy

9. “A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.” –IMDb.com Little Miss Sunshine

10. “Someday it was inevitable that a great film would come along, utilizing the motorcycle genre, the same way the great Westerns suddenly made everyone realize they were a legitimate American art form.” –Roger Ebert Easy Rider

Bite Me Quiz – guessing closed

November 13, 2012November 19, 201220 Comments

With the final installment of the Twilight due in theaters this weekend I thought we’d do a vampire check. See how many you can match up. I’ve only read two of these myself, but was surprised at how many I knew. Happy Guessing!

Answers to last week’s Odd Jobs quiz here. Leaderboard here.

1. Edward Cullen H. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2. Wrath A. Dark Lover by JR Ward

3. Lestat G. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

4. Bill Compton F. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

5. Jody Stroud I. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

6. Count Dracula C. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

7. Matthew Clairmont J. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8. Lucien Antonescu D. Insatiable by Meg Cabot

9. Martin Kowalski E. Vamped by David Sosnowski

10. Kurt Barlow B.Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Odd Jobs Quiz – guessing closed

November 7, 2012November 12, 201215 Comments

We all know that being President is a great responsibility and, really, who would want the job, even with the power rush? Let’s see if you can match these other unusual jobs with their character and book.

Leaderboard here.

August Boatwright (The Secret Life of Bees) Beekeeper

Brett Kavanaugh ((The Missing Ink) Tattoo artist

Bailey Weggins (If Looks Could Kill) Magazine crime writer

Roxane Coss (Bel Canto) Opera singer

Deanna Wolfe (Prodigal Summer) Wildlife biologist

Cinder (Cinder) Cyborg mechanic

Renee Michel (Elegance of the Hedgehog) Concierge

Vanessa Michael Munroe (Informationist) Informationist

Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary) Intrepid TV reporter

Della Carmichael (Death Takes the Cake) Cable TV chef

IT’s a Clownish Quiz – guessing closed

October 16, 2012November 1, 201316 Comments

Coming up with an IT quiz that lots of people could participate in was just too hard, so I came up with a quiz full of clowns, circuses and carnivals. Really, the opposite of It, but too bad 🙂

1. The main characters of this book about circus life were played by these two stars on the big screen Like Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2. Ray Bradbury wrote a classic about carnivals. What’s the title of this good vs. evil tale? Something Wicked This Way Comes

3. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy about the Barnum & Bailey tent fire of 1944 was written by what author, a book blogger fave these days? Stewart O’Nan

4. The World’s Thinnest Man is working in PT Barnum’s American Museum in this 2010 novel. The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson

5. The Binewskis are one odd family of carnies in this 1989 novel, a National Book Award Nominee. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

6. If you’re looking to visit the circus during the day this is not the story for you. The Night Circus by Ellen Bryson

7. First published in 1984 this Dean Koontz book has a girl who joined a traveling carnival and ended up killing her own child. Twenty-five years later the carnival is coming back. The Funhouse

8. The subtitle of this book is, The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived. Madoc by Ralph Helfer

9. “All ready to put up the tents for my circus

I think I will call it the Circus McGurkus

The Circus McGurkus!The World’s Greatest Show

On the face of the earth, or wherever you go!”

Name that book or author. If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss

10. And this one sounds the closest to IT. “You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?” Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old.” The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

Answers to last week’s Mystery Writers Quiz here. Leaderboard here.

And I want to thank Nise once again for her great Michigan Authors quiz. She got 100 big ones and you can too if you want to try and stump your fellow bookies.

Mystery Writers Choose Great Mysteries Quiz & birthday giveaway – guessing closed

October 9, 2012October 15, 201230 Comments

At Bouchercon we had the opportunity to be the first readers in the US to buy the book Books To Die For – The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels. Of the 119 contributors almost 30 were in attendance and they did a mass signing for everyone. Let’s see if you can guess which author chose which of these 16 great works. The autograph is from the author choosing the work. Good Luck!

To enter my birthday giveaway (details here) leave a comment with some guesses and you’ll be entered.

This is really a test to see if you can figure out signature’s but I thought you’d like to see what books they recommended too 🙂

On Beulah Height – Val McDermid, Little Sister – Michael Connelly, The Hunter – F Paul Wilson, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned – Martyn Waites, Possession – Erin Hart, The Damned & the Destroyed – Lee Child, Rogue Male – Charlaine Harris, Bootlegger’s Daughter – Julia Spencer-Fleming, Maltese Falcon – Mark Billingham, The Postman Always Rings Twice – Joseph Finder, Ms. Smilla’s Feeling for Snow – Michael Robotham, Cover Her Face – Deborah Crombie, The Goodbye Look – Linwood Barclay, True Confessions – SJ Rozan, A is for Alibi – Meg Gardiner, A Crime on the Neighborhood – Thomas H Cook

Michigan Author Quiz – guessing closed

October 2, 2012October 8, 201227 Comments

I always welcome you all to come up with a guest quiz and Nise has taken me up on the offer. When she sent it to me (without answers) I felt just like all you must you feel every week and this may lead to a kindler, gentler quizmaster 🙂 Good luck everyone and Thank you, NISE!

FIRST TIMERS ALWAYS WELCOME!

In 1837, Michigan and Ohio signed a truce after a brief skirmish over the hotly contested property of the Toledo Strip. Ohio might have gotten the fair city of Toledo, but in exchange Michigan got the riches of the Upper Peninsula. Stacy has quizzed us on Ohio authors so I thought I would follow her example and quiz you on Michigan Authors. See if you can identify them with these clues. Each of them has a connection to Michigan, many still do! (Use the photo for some help)

1. This children’s writer has twice won the Caldecott Medal. Robin Williams starred in the movie made from one of his winning books. He was born in Grand Rapids and attended the University of Michigan. Chris Van Allsburg

2. This Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King award-winning children’s author was born and raised in Flint, Michigan which has been used as a prominent setting in several stories including The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 Christopher Paul Curtis

3. This best-selling author born in Port Huron Michigan has had her books made into movies. Her third novel met with critical success as few writers, let alone black women, were able to shift from their own sensitive feminine side to a construction working male lover like she did with Franklin and Zora. Terry McMillan

4. He was born in Flint and is a documentary filmmaker, nonfiction writer, Oscar-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, and vocal critic of the right. Michael Moore

5. This Kalamazoo author won a National Book Award for fiction for her novel that follows a handful of characters through a year of horse races in the West Virginia back country. Jaimy Gordon

6. In this 8^th novel featuring Alex McKnight, , the 2006 Michigan Author Award winner, leads us on a suspenseful adventure in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He was born and raised in Detroit. Steve Hamilton

7. This author had a successful career in the NHL as a player and then coached a Stanley Cup winning team. He was born in Grand Rapids and raised in my hometown of Grand Haven, where he lives today. Dan Bylsma

8. Grand Haven plays a role in this tale of family, changes and love by this Grand Rapids author. Her latest book covers the subject of hoarding. Kristina Riggle

9. This author Retired from teaching and began her writing career in 2007. She writes romance for the heart and fiction for the soul. I have a personal connection to her novel, Tender Vow. She was born and raised in West Michigan. Sharlene MacLaren

10. This Chelsea resident wrote about a college student who gets into a car accident while driving with his girlfriend Nicole, who is tragically killed. Her third novel about a woman’s survivor’s guilt from a Columbine-like event twenty years ago causes her present-day idyllic life to fall apart was made into a movie starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood in 07. Laura Kasischke

For a bonus of 10 pts name the author, TV show, movie and book

11. He grew up in Birmingham, MI. He began his career as a stand-up comedian. His first book topped the New York times bestseller list propelling him into an unprecedented ‘Trifecta’—he had the #1 rated television show, the #1 box office smash hit movie, and the #1 bestselling book all in the same week in 1994. Tim Allen, Home Improvement – The Santa Clause-Don’t Stand TO Close To A Naked Man

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