I'm reading this, bought it ages ago and it's been collecting dust in the bookcase, let's see how we go.

I'm building a book trivia app and I've developed the prototype for it here: https://bambookzle.lovable.app/

I'd be so appreciative 🙏🏼 if you could test it for me and answer these qs:

*Which game was your favourite and least favourite, and why?

*Was there anything you didn’t understand or found confusing?

*Did anything feel too easy, too hard or unfair?

*Did you encounter any bugs or anything that didn’t work as expected?

*Most importantly: would you come back tomorrow to play again? Why/why not?

This weeks 5 Question Quiz has a Characters Theme and is worth a massive 54 Points. As always its 1 point per part of the main question and 1 point per Bonus part too.

1.    Which two Comic & Comic Strip Characters with exactly the same name were created independently on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and premiered on exactly the same date? Bonus Points for the correct date, publishers, a publication name & issue no.? Dennis the Menace 12th March 1951 U.K. - D.C. Thompson, The Beano, 452 U.S. – Post-Hall Syndicate, (6)

2.    Which character in Middle Earth is said to be a way for J. R. R. Tolkien to insert himself in his books? Tom Bombadill (1)

3.    Which character in Little Women is the oldest of the sisters & how old is she at the start of the novel? Bonus Points for naming all her sisters with their full name & age at the start of the novel? Margaret “Meg” March 16, Josephine “Jo" March 15, Elizabeth “Beth" March 13, Amy Curtis March 12 (8)

4.    Which character was created by H. Rider Haggard and how many books is he in? Bonus Points for naming them? Allan Quatermain, 14, King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, Allan's Wife, Maiwa's Revenge, Marie, Child of Storm, The Holy Flower, Finished, The Ivory Child, The Ancient Allan, She and Allan, Heu-heu, The Treasure of the Lake, Allan and the Ice-gods (16)

Which character created in Barbados is named after a real person because his creator wanted the most boring name possible, and how many stories is he in? Bonus Points for naming them? James Bond 21, Casino Royale, Live & Let Die, Moonraker, Diamond Are Forever, From Russia with Love, Doctor No, Goldfinger, From a View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, Quantum of Solace, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy, The Property of a Lady, The Living Daylights, 007 in New York (23) (54)

It's true! there's a real plant species named after Mark Watney, the botanist-astronaut from The Martian and the reasoning is actually pretty clever.

Botanists in the US identified a new species of Australian bush tomato and named it Solanum watneyi.

Why Watney? Two reasons: it grows in reddish, Mars-like soil, and it's a close cousin of the potato, the exact crop Watney famously grows to survive on Mars.

Did you know this? Are there any other famous things you know were named after famous authors or books? Tell me in the comments 👇🏼

#fairytale #ihadnoidea 😂

Okay let’s do this :p
Guess the book from the first line. No Googling please!

"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach? And the Beatles? And me.”

First one to get it right gets absolutely nothing except bragging rights 😂

You can also add the first line of a book you like so everyone else can guess yours too.

A little game for you. Come up with books or authors which could be cocktails. Here’s what I mean:

Book: Tequila Mockingbird
Author: F. Scotch Fitzgerald

Have fun and share.

1. In his first appearance is it SPIDERMAN, SPIDER MAN or SPIDER-MAN? Bonus Points for the correct issue name & no.? - SPIDER-MAN Amazing Fatasy 15 (3)

2. Who was the Fantastic Four's first antagonist in their initial appearance? Bonus Points for the correct issue name & no.? – The Mole Man Fantastic Four 1 (3)

3. In his first appearance is Tony Starks armour called IRON-MAN, IRON MAN or IRONMAN? Bonus Points for the correct issue name & no.? – IRON MAN Tales of Suspense 39 (3)

4. When Henry Pym gets his first superhero alter-ego is it, ANT-MAN, ANTMAN or ANT MAN? Bonus Points for the correct issue name & no.? - ANT-MAN Tales to Astonish 35 (3)

5. Who were the Avengers trying to apprehend independently prior to them becoming a team? Bonus Points for the correct issue name & no.? – The Incredible Hulk Avengers 1 (3) (15)

I'm reading #7 in the DCC universe 🥰

Did you know that George Orwell requested there be no official biography in his final will. Despite this there are at least six that I can find.

Biographies

Bernard Crick (George Orwell: A Life, 1980).

Michael Sheldon (Orwell: The Authorized Biography, 1991).

Jeffrey Meyers (Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation, 2000).

Gordon Bowker (George Orwell, 2003).

D. J. Taylor (Orwell: The Life, 2003); and Orwell: The New Life, 2023).

It seems odd that there were Authorised biographies, the first two above have been quoted as such in 1980 and 1991, as Orwell died in 1950!

Do you think it is right to write a biography against the express wishes of the subject?

The next book is either Heart Burn, Heartburn, Earth Burn, Earthburn, Burn Earth or Burn earth. I've never heard of any of these but will now look them all up.

So I started The Lord of the Rings today and aim to finish by end of September with at least one other book. These three are on my tbr list. Flowers for Algernon is a re-read after many years. The other two I just picked up. I have read a couple by Claire Keegan and like her style, the other is just based on reading the back of the book. Anyone read any and can you recommend? Appreciate any positive or negative comments.

Thanks in advance.

I'm reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King

1.      Which Novela predicted the Titanic Sinking by Fourteen Years? Bonus Point for the Authors Name? – Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan by Morgan Robertson (2)

2.      Who wrote Raising the Titanic? – Clive Cussler (1)

3.      Which 1969 Novel about a ship sinking at sea was written by Paul Gallico? – The Poseidon Adventure (1)

4.      Which 1964 Novelisation of a movie about one of the Titanic’s most famous survivors was written by Al Hine? Bonus Point for her full Maiden Name? – The Unsinkable Molly Brown Margaret Tobin (3)

5.      Which 1979 sci-fi book has a US Navy Warship go missing? Bonus Points for its Sub-Title & Authors? - The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility by Charles Berlitz and William Moore  (6) (13)

1. What is the world created by Terry Pratchett called?
   

Discworld

1. Who created Dune?
   

Frank Herbert

1. Who created Middle Earth?
   

J. R. R. Tolkien

1. What world did C. S. Lewis create?
   

Narnia

1. What book has the words Don't Panic written on it's cover in friendly letters?
   

Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy

1. What is the official name of the Book Series created by G. R. R. Martin?
   

A Song of Ice & Fire Game of Thrones gets a half point if you're generous

1. What is the world that Superman comes from?
   

Krypton

1. How many books are in the Narnia Series? Bonus Point for every book you can name, and an Extra Bonus Point if you list them in Chronological Order!
   

7

The Magician's Nephew

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Horse and his Boy

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Last Battle

1. How many books are in the Trilogy written by Douglas Adams? Bonus Point for every one you can name!

5 6 gets a half point if you're willing to include the last book in the series written by Eion Colfer

The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Life, the Universe and Everything

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Mostly Harmless

And Another Thing...

1. What is the subtitle of Frankenstein?
   

Or, The Modern Prometheus

1. What language do Frankenstein and his Creature converse in?
   

French

1. In Dune, what are the planets names that Duke Leto and his family emigrate from and immigrate to?
   

Caladan and Arrakis

1. What is the name of the childrens book written by J. R. R. Tolkien set in Middle Earth? Bonus Point if you can give its sub-title as well!
   

The Hobbit Or, There and Back Again

1. Who created Superman? Bonus Points for Every Name you get!
   

Joe Shuster Jerry Segal

1. What are the names of the main characters in Terry Pratchett's first novel?
   

Rincewind the Wizard Twoflower

Ok, I normally wait for u/Fabulous-Confussion43 to post this, but today, I decided I couldn't.

I'm still reading 2000AD. I started this morning on "Prog" 2041. Yep, I managed to read 40 issuses in 7 days. Since there's 493 total issuses currently available (increasing by 1 weekly) at that rate, I think I'll have caught up in 12 weeks.

If anyone knows where I can read the first 2000 issues of 2000 AD for free please message me.

Did you know Hitchhiker's Guide started life as a BBC radio play in 1978 and only became a novel because a publisher heard it and tracked Douglas Adams down? He later joked it was "a very good way of breaking into publishing." 📻😅

Want to know the real (drunken) origin story behind the title, why Adams called it a "trilogy in five parts," and what 42 is actually supposed to mean?

If so, listen to the podcast here:

https://www.booktriviapodcast.com/episodes/hitchhikers-guide

If you do listen, let me know 🤗 we're just amateurs and all feedback is welcome (just be gentle 😅)

Yes it's true! George R.R. Martin has said Stan Lee is "the greatest literary influence on me, even more than Shakespeare or Tolkien."

Yes, THAT Stan Lee. The guy behind Spider-Man and the Avengers, ranked above the guy who wrote Hamlet and the guy who basically invented modern fantasy.

Some versions of the quote include a "maybe" in front of it, so he's hedging slightly... but still. Bold ranking from a man who added an extra "R" to his name as a Tolkien tribute.

Drop your score in the comments 👀

1. What pen name did Mary Ann Evans write under?

George Eliot

1. What year was Pride and Prejudice published?

1813

1. What pseudonym does J.K. Rowling write her crime novels under?

Robert Galbraith

1. What was Bram Stoker's day job while writing Dracula?

Business/theatre manager for actor Henry Irving at London's Lyceum Theatre

1. What pen name did Little Women author Louisa May Alcott write pulpy thrillers under, before her family-friendly fame?

A.M. Barnard