Trivia Time: 20 questions about books

Who’s ready for Expat Living’s Weekly Quiz. You can get together with a small group, have a glass of wine and try these out – or stick to Zoom, of course. This week, it’s one for the bibliophiles: 20 trivia questions about books!

#1 Over two million pulped copies of Mills & Boon romance novels were used in the construction of which road: Route 66 in America; the M6 motorway in the UK; or Australia’s Great Ocean Road?

#2 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is by Marie who?

 #3 Was George Orwell’s 1984 published in 1984, 1894 or 1949?

 #4 “Hopscotchy”, “whizzpopping”, “crodsquinkled”, “trogglehumper” and “snozzwanger” are all words used in books by which children’s author of the 20th century?

#5 Which electronic reading device sold out in just over five hours when it was first released in 2007?

#6 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was originally published in which language?

#7 Which of these is not a Stephen King book? Carrie; Ghost Story; It; The Shining.

#8 What word, starting with “g”, describes the inner margins of the pages of a bound book?

#9 What’s the surname of Meg, Beth, Jo and Amy, the four sisters in Little Women? (Hint: it’s also a month.)

#10 Finish the title of this book by Dr Seuss: One Fish, Two Fish…

#11 The author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo, also wrote a book about an escaped convict named Jean Valjean. What is its title?

#12 The following four book titles are all genuine, except for one that we made up; which one? Everything I Know About Women I Learned From My Tractor; Anybody Can Be Cool … But Awesome Takes Practice; Who Ate All the Bacon?; Unicorns Are Jerks – A Coloring Book Exposing the Cold, Hard, Sparkly Truth.

#13 Mockingjay is the third book in which trilogy of science-fiction novels?

#14 Liane Moriarty, the author of Big Little Lies, is from where: America, Australia, Canada or England?

#15 Herr Dumpidump is the title of the Norwegian translation of which Mr Men book: Mr Damp, Mr Bump or Mr Pimp?

#16 Finish these book titles: The Spy Who Came In from the _____; The Fault in Our _____; Harry Potter and the Deathly _____.

#17 Which prominent figure wrote 2018’s best-selling memoir Becoming?

#18 “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” So goes the opening line of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. What’s the name of this particular hobbit?

#19 What happened to the original manuscript of John Steinbeck’s famous book Of Mice and Men: Was it: eaten by his dog, carried away in a tornado, or accidentally thrown out in the garbage?

#20 What’s the name of the first book in the Bible?

BONUS: Who am I?

(If you can answer correctly after the first clue, you get 10 points, but you lose a point for each additional clue you require to identify the person.)

I’m a famous children’s book character. (10)
I first appeared in the UK in 1987. (9)
My books have since sold over 70 million copies and inspired TV shows, comic strips and video games. (8)
I’m given a different name in my books in some countries – for example, Charlie in France, and Holger in Denmark. Even my name in my American books is slightly different to my original name. (7)
My creator’s name is Martin Handford. (6)
I’m an illustrated character. (5)
Other characters who appear with me include Woof, Odlaw and Wilma. (4)
I always wear the same outfit: red and white striped top, matching red and white hat, blue jeans and glasses. (3)
I can be very hard to find. (2)
I am who, starting with “W”? (1)

All the answers (no cheating!)

#1 The M6
#2 Kondo
#3 1949
#4 Roald Dahl
#5 Kindle
#6 Swedish
#7 Ghost Story is a book by fellow American horror writer Peter Straub
#8 Gutter
#9 March
#10 Red Fish, Blue Fish
#11 Les Misérables
#12 Who Ate All the Bacon?
#13 The Hunger Games
#14 Australia
#15 Mr Bump
#16 Cold; Stars; Hallows
#17 Michelle Obama
#18 Bilbo Baggins
#19 It was eaten by his dog
#20 Genesis

BONUS: Wally (or “Waldo” in North American versions of the book)

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Shamus Sillar

While he has worked as a magazine editor since 2003, Shamus also has a PhD in Roman History (useful!) and is a published author. He writes mostly on travel but also covers food, history, sport, trivia and more, across Expat Living’s publications and websites in Singapore and Hong Kong.