Category Archives: On the Web

Book Trivia Quizzes

If you like book trivia, here is a quick classic novel quiz with just 17 questions (and it’s multiple choice!). All you have to do is read the opening line from a classic novel and then check the box of the book you think it came from.

book trivia

Your score is tallied at the end with all of the wrong answers in red and the correct answers showing up with green boxes.

I missed 7 of them. I’ve never been very good at “opening lines” quizzes, but I do enjoy taking them. I just never really pay attention to opening lines, though I know there are some great ones. It’s definitely something I want to pay closer attention to. Trivia is always fun, but it’s even better when all the questions are book-related.

book trivia quizup appAlso, if you haven’t played it yet, there is a new app out called QuizUp (it’s only on iOS right now, but an Android app is coming). It has a Literature category with 27 sub-categories and more being added weekly. This is waaaaay too much fun and I’ve lost waaaaaay too much of my life to this game. Some of the book trivia subcategories are General Lit, Classical Lit, Batman comics, Twilight, Science Fiction, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games.

Anyway, chime in with how you did on the 17 question book trivia Classic Novel Quiz game.

Podcasts for Bibliophiles

There is a great thread, in the Books on the Nightstand group, over on Goodreads, where members are listing their favorite podcasts for bibliophiles and book lovers. Even if you’re not a member of GoodReads or prefer other sites (like LibraryThing!) this thread is worth checking out. There are quite a few podcasts mentioned that I’m going to have to check out at least once. Here is a list of the first five that I’m downloading now to see what they have to say:

Greater Boston Book Loft – sounds like this will be a nice shorter 10-15 minute podcast and includes author interviews.

Literary Disco – three friends who are self-professed booknerds

Authors on Tour – this podcast is produced by the good folks at Denver’s indie rockstar bookstore The Tattered Cover

KCRW’s Bookworm – a podcast about books and authors, based in L.A.

The Afterword – produced by Slate

Other than Books on the Nightstand and NPR’s offerings, what podcasts do you listen to? Let me know if I’m missing out.

Alabama Booksmith Blogs

I just ran across the Alabama Booksmith’s blog  and wanted to share with all the other bookish folks in Birmingham. Here the link to their blog. Looks like it’s been weekly since April 2013 and is being staffed by someone calling themselves Paige Turner. So far it’s been an even mix of honest book reviews, recommendations and pitches for Alabama Booksmith events/programs.

I can’t seem to find an RSS feed though. Would you share if you happen to figure out if there is a way to subscribe? Thanks!

Alabama Booksmith blog

The Game of Books

Game of Books player card Game of Books has been fully funded via their Kickstarter campaign! Basically, it’s home library/book cataloging system where you earn points/skills/etc. based on the books you read… think Dungeons & Dragons meets LibraryThing. This could be a lot of fun.

You start off as an Apprentice and then level up as your reading progresses:

Character Titles:
Apprentice Reader = Level 0+
Journeyman Reader = Level 25+
Craftsman Reader = Level 50+
Master Reader = Level 75+
GrandMaster Reader = Level 100+

At the bottom of their site, there is also a “concept demo” that shows off what your Reader/Character card would look like. Some folks might think it’s hokey (which it may be, we’ll have to see) but many like all of their virtual badges and fake pats on the back for “leveling up” across hundreds of check-in apps. And I think competition can be fun. What I am anxious to see is how well this resonates with the two budding readers in my house… this seems to be the kind of thing that my son would dig.

What do you think? Would you give Game of Books a try?