The big books quiz of the year: have you been paying attention?

Illustration by Tom Gauld.

1. What was La Belle Sauvage, the first volume in Philip Pullman’s long-awaited sequel to His Dark Materials, named after?

   1. A boat

   2. A painting

   3. A daemon

2. What links Fay Weldon and John le Carré?

   1. They both received OBEs this year

   2. They were both on the Man Booker prize judging panel

   3. They both brought back a character from a previous book

3. 

   Which US president featured in George Saunders’ Man Booker winner?

   1. Abraham Lincoln

   2. George Washington

   3. Barack Obama

4. Whose novella about Donald Trump’s election was written to offer the “consolation of savage satire”?

   1. Martin Amis

   2. Howard Jacobson

   3. Helen Fielding

5. What links Colm Tóibín, Kamila Shamsie and Natalie Haynes?

   1. They all rewrote Greek myths

   2. They were all on the Costa shortlists

   3. They all appeared on University Challenge

6. 

   The late Terry Pratchett requested that any unfinished work on his computer should be destroyed after his death. In August this year his hard drive was:

   1. Vaporised and then sent into space on a rocket

   2. Crushed by a steamroller

   3. Melted down and cast into a sculpture of a turtle

7. This year’s William Hill sports book of the year winner had a Leonard Cohen quote – “Bird on the Wire” – for its subtitle. But what sport was it about?

   1. Falconry

   2. Gymnastics

   3. Cycling

8. Who were the musicians behind dystopian meta-novel 2023?

   1. The KLF

   2. The Flaming Lips

   3. Coldplay

9. 

   Arundhati Roy published her second novel this year – how long after her first?

   1. 20 years

   2. 10 years

   3. 5 years

10. Which Hollywood star published a book of short stories this year?

    1. Natalie Portman

    2. Tom Hanks

    3. Steven Seagal

11. 

    “Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.” So opens Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. What would have been better?

    1. The renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.

    2. Renowned curator, Jacques Saunière, staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.

    3. The renowned curator, Jacques Saunière, staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.

12. “At Little Chef we care about food, all of our burgers are made from British beef and they are all fully certified and prepared by our own butcher.” What’s wrong here? (Making no judgments on the truth of the statement.)

    1. It should be “all our burgers” not “all of our burgers”.

    2. There should be a comma after “prepared”.

    3. The first comma should be a colon or a full stop.

13. The Oxford or “serial” comma excites strong views. But you sometimes have to ignore your style book to avoid a libel. Which of these keeps us out of court?

    1. The debate on prison reform was attended by two career criminals, the archbishop of Canterbury and the deputy prime minister.

    2. The debate on prison reform was attended by two career criminals, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the deputy prime minister.

    3. The debate on prison reform was attended by two career criminals: the archbishop of Canterbury and the deputy prime minister.

14. 

    “The hand that signed the paper felled a city.” So wrote Dylan Thomas. If you had to rephrase it with “which”, how would you punctuate it?

    1. The hand which signed the paper felled a city.

    2. The hand, which signed the paper, felled a city.

    3. The hand, which signed the paper felled a city.

15. In which of these formulations can we have confidence?

    1. Fewer than 600,000 people turned out to Donald Trump’s inauguration.

    2. Less than 600,000 people turned out to Donald Trump’s inauguration.

    3. That was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period.

16. 

    Name the political event set in motion over a supper of chicken lasagne and boiled potatoes, according to Tim Ross and Tom McTague’s Betting the House.

    1. The decision to call a snap election in spring 2017.

    2. The US bombing of Syria, ordered by President Trump from the dining room at Mar-a-Lago

    3. Environmental health inspectors first expressing concern whether the palace of Westminster was fit for human habitation

17. Which politician described their response to adversity in a memoir this year by saying: “It wasn’t all yoga and breathing: I also drank my share of chardonnay.”

    1. Theresa May

    2. Hillary Clinton

    3. Dennis Skinner

18. Which politician published a book this year unexpectedly encouraging voters to join one of their rivals’ parties?

    1. Boris Johnson

    2. Nick Clegg

    3. Nicola Sturgeon

19. According to Tim Shipman’s Fall Out, which senior politician keeps their iPad in a biscuit tin at home in the belief that will stop spies hacking into it wirelessly?

    1. Jacob Rees-Mogg

    2. Jeremy Corbyn

    3. David Davis

20. 

    What did David Cameron famously buy this year to help him write his impending memoirs?

    1. A shepherd’s hut

    2. A £7,000 Montblanc fountain pen

    3. Jeffrey Archer’s writing desk

21. 2017 was 50 years since … ?

    1. Forty Years On

    2. The Years

    3. One Hundred Years of Solitude

22. There was a big birthday for a satirist: which character did he create?

    1. Gulliver

    2. Candide

    3. The Prince of Dullness

23. Who made their first appearance 20 years ago this year?

    1. Harry Potter

    2. Adrian Mole

    3. Daenerys Targaryen

24. Who was born in 1917?

    1. Anthony Burgess

    2. Jane Austen

    3. William Shakespeare

25. 

    Which Jane Austen novels were published together in December 1817?

    1. Sanditon and Persuasion

    2. Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility

    3. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

Solutions

1:A, 2:C, 3:A, 4:B, 5:A, 6:B, 7:C, 8:A, 9:A, 10:B, 11:A, 12:C, 13:B, 14:B, 15:A, 16:A - The meal was served to a campaign planning meeting at Chequers., 17:B - In her memoir What Happened., 18:B - In How to Stop Brexit., 19:C, 20:A, 21:C, 22:A - Jonathan Swift was born in 1667., 23:A - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in 1997., 24:A, 25:C

Scores

1. 25 and above.

   You got 25/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

2. 24 and above.

   You got 24/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

3. 23 and above.

   You got 23/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

4. 22 and above.

   You got 22/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

5. 20 and above.

   You got 20/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

6. 19 and above.

   You got 19/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

7. 21 and above.

   You got 21/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

8. 18 and above.

   You got 18/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

9. 17 and above.

   You got 17/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

10. 16 and above.

    You got 16/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

11. 15 and above.

    You got 15/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

12. 14 and above.

    You got 14/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

13. 13 and above.

    You got 13/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

14. 12 and above.

    You got 12/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

15. 11 and above.

    You got 11/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

16. 10 and above.

    You got 10/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

17. 9 and above.

    You got 9/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

18. 8 and above.

    You got 8/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

19. 7 and above.

    You got 7/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

20. 6 and above.

    You got 6/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

21. 5 and above.

    You got 5/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

22. 4 and above.

    You got 4/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

23. 3 and above.

    You got 3/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

24. 2 and above.

    You got 2/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

25. 1 and above.

    You got 1/25 in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

26. 0 and above.

    Oh dear. You got no questions right in the Guardian's big book quiz of the year.

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