Top 10 Most Useful Quiz Books 2014 #7

7.

 

Bamber Gascoigne's Challenging Quiz Book

I imagine quite a few people reading this will have come across Bamber Gascoigne's Challenging Quiz Book before. In essence, the book aims to challenge even the finest quizzers with a range of well-written, original and fun questions. Plenty to be learned and a wide range of testing questions. In a book of this size you can normally discount 30-50% of the questions as mere filler, but the opposite is true here with very few "chestnuts". In all an excellent title!

Mastermind 2014/2015 Standings

With 13 heats completed in this years Mastermind and 52 people having sat in the chair here are the current standings from the series so far...

Mark Eaves - 30 (Q)
Ian Clark - 30 (Q)
Hazel Humprheys - 28 (Q)
Will Howells - 28 (Q)
Peter Russell - 26 (Q)
Chris Grandison - 26 (Q)
Brian Davies - 26 (Q)
Stuart Jenkins  - 25 (Q)
Andrew Teale - 24 (Q)
Hywel Morgan - 23 (Q)
Nigel Tomlinson - 22 (Q)
Mike Foden - 21 (Q)
Paula Keaveney - 21 (Q)
--------------------------------------------------------
Gareth Kingston - 28 (2nd)
Diane Hallaghan - 28 (2nd)
Alice Mennel - 26
Sarah Millard - 25 (2nd)
John Benyon - 25 (2nd)
Susan Sworn - 25 (2nd =)
Jeremy Renals - 25  (2nd =)
Julia Hobbs - 25 (2nd)
Stuary Skelly - 24
Les Morrell-  24
Ciaran Ward - 23 (2nd)
Howard Towner - 23
Darren Topping  - 23
Cliff Morgan - 21 (2nd)
Louise Boradbent - 21 (2nd)
John Carrington - 21 (2nd)
Neil Crockford - 21 (2nd)
David Love - 21
Jamie Potton - 20
Neil Madle - 20
Martin Roebuck - 20
Derek Heyes - 20
Jack Young - 20
Sally Mabey - 20
Sarah Lake - 20
Lena Gazey - 19 (2nd)
Tim Allison - 19
David Gregson - 19
Patricia Gardener - 19
Kevin Quinn - 19
Stephen Peter - 17
Andy Crane -17
Diana Muri - 16
Graham Howarth - 16
Sidin Sunny - 15
Graham Gowland - 15
Mark Roman Gold - 15
Rod Allday - 15
John Boyle - 14

Suggested Twitter Feed

Just a quick update. Some of you may already follow my Twitter blog @quizaddictblog (...and a big thanks to those who do as I reached 1,000 followers recently).....but the main reason for this post is to recommend a feed from Mastermind winner and former World Quiz Champion Jesse Honey. The title of the feed @nonfictionlover will give you an idea on the them of the feed. Already I have picked up a few useful reads and when a quizzer who has achieved as much as Jesse Honey talks about reading material, its worth a look!

Top 10 Most Useful Quiz Books 2014 #8

8.

Mastermind Quiz Book

Featured last year but due to being used a heck of lot in the early part of 2014 I cannot ignore this in my countdown. A great batch of GK and Specialist (but not too specialist) questions from the TV series. Plenty of questions, the only down side being the format is poor with the answers being at the back and being a huge book its often a faff on getting to the answer page. Other than that, if you take into account the mini-interviews with Mastermind winners, and you have a great quiz book that will keep you busy for some time.

Mastermind Standings 2015/2015

With 12 heats completed in this years Mastermind and 48 people having sat in the chair here are the current standings from the series so far...

Mark Eaves - 30 (Q)
Ian Clark - 30 (Q)
Hazel Humprheys - 28 (Q)
Peter Russell - 26 (Q)
Chris Grandison - 26 (Q)
Brian Davies - 26 (Q)
Stuart Jenkins  - 25 (Q)
Andrew Teale - 24 (Q)
Hywel Morgan - 23 (Q)
Nigel Tomlinson - 22 (Q)
Mike Foden - 21 (Q)
Paula Keaveney - 21 (Q)
--------------------------------------------------------
Gareth Kingston - 28 (2nd)
Diane Hallaghan - 28 (2nd)
Alice Mennel - 26
John Benyon - 25 (2nd)
Susan Sworn - 25 (2nd =)
Jeremy Renals - 25  (2nd =)
Julia Hobbs - 25 (2nd)
Stuary Skelly - 24
Les Morrell-  24
Ciaran Ward - 23 (2nd)
Howard Towner - 23
Darren Topping  - 23
Cliff Morgan - 21 (2nd)
Louise Boradbent - 21 (2nd)
John Carrington - 21 (2nd)
Neil Crockford - 21 (2nd)
David Love - 21
Jamie Potton - 20
Neil Madle - 20
Martin Roebuck - 20
Derek Heyes - 20
Jack Young - 20
Sally Mabey - 20
Sarah Lake - 20
Lena Gazey - 19 (2nd)
Tim Allison - 19
Patricia Gardener - 19
Kevin Quinn - 19
Stephen Peter - 17
Andy Crane -17
Diana Muri - 16
Sidin Sunny - 15
Graham Gowland - 15
Mark Roman Gold - 15
Rod Allday - 15
John Boyle - 14

Top 10 Most Useful Reference Books 2014 #8

Continuing the series....

8
A-Z of Britain and Ireland 

Included in last years list and included here again for a very simple reason. UK Geography used to be a real weak area for me but this book helped me overcome that barrier. Written by Trevor Montague (who may appear again on this list) it is a very well laid out, hardback tome giving a county-by-county overview of the UK with key geographical, historical and cultural information. Easy to read through and dip into, difficult to put down and a gift for setters, this is a great work and well worthy of a place on any bookshelf!

Southport and Formby Quiz League Website

I have been meaning to mentioned this website for some time but for the past year or so I have been visiting the Southport and Formby Quiz League website on a weekly basis. Primarily due to the fact that they are one of the few leagues out there who upload there question sets to the site. There are always a wide range of chestnuts in each set (ideal if you havent heard them before) and I always enjoy wading through the weekly sets. The site also contains an archive of older league sets making it a good resource to work through.


The site can be found HERE

Two Tribes

I really enjoyed the first series of Two Tribes that aired in the Autumn and I was hence pleased to hear it will be returning for a 60-episode second series soon! I believe they will be opening the applications shortly so I will post a link up as soon as I find one.

Needless to say, I will be sending an application in of my own...

Top 10 - Most Useful Quiz Books 2014 #9

9.

The Ultimate English Literature Quiz Book - David Clark

My kindle has recieved a heck of a lot of use over the past 12 months and this title is one of a selection of Kindle Only titles that will appear on the lists.

Written by David Clark (author of Life After Mastermind Blog and Mastermind Champion) the title covers all eras of English Literature. I originally bought this to aid my Brain of Britain Revision but never got chance to start it until around March. For the past year I have dipped in and out of the book and managed to finally complete it last week. The questions inside contain a mixture of the sorts you will hear at pub quizzes all around the country as well as tougher more specialist questions. Consider also the fact that it is written by a quizzer who has competed at the highest level and attended thousands of quizzes throughout the years, and you have here a very useful set of questions to improve your knowledge. 

Well worth a look for sprucing up the knowledge of English Literature! 

Top 10 - Most Useful Reference Books 2010 #9

Continuing the series....

9
Passing Time in the Loo Volume 1

There are a ton of books out there with the same idea of "Books to read on the toilet"and many are more worthy of a place down the toilet rather than a place on your book shelf. However, I was recommended this title last year and it has proven to be of great use to me over the course of the past 12 months. I have worked my way mainly though the summaries of the classic novels that are included here and they have worked a treat! Some of the novels I have read, some I will probably never get time to read but the work is written in an informative and engaging way that takes away the boredom of reading synopsis's etc.

Well worth a look!

Quiz Nights in South Shields

I am still working my way around my new hometown, South Shields, to find any good local quizzes I can turn my attentions to. Struggling at the moment, so if anyone has any good suggestions or knows of any local quizzes feel free to pop me a message. It would be very much appreciated!

New European Quizzing Champion

Congratulations to Olav Bjortomt who was crowned European Quizzing Champion 2014 in Bucharest over the weekend.

Olav reclaimed the the title he won in 2010, beating Egghead Kevin Ashman into second place and Finnish quizzer Tero Kalliolevo into third. 

Mastermind Standings 2014/2015

With 11 heats completed in this years Mastermind and 40 people having sat in the chair here are the current standings from the series so far...

Mark Eaves - 30 (Q)
Ian Clark - 30 (Q)
Hazel Humprheys - 28 (Q)
Peter Russell - 26 (Q)
Chris Grandison - 26 (Q)
Brian Davies - 26 (Q)
Stuart Jenkins  - 25 (Q)
Andrew Teale - 24 (Q)
Hywel Morgan - 23 (Q)
Mike Foden - 21 (Q)
Paula Keaveney - 21 (Q)
--------------------------------------------------------
Gareth Kingston - 28 (2nd)
Diane Hallaghan - 28 (2nd)
Alice Mennel - 26
John Benyon - 25 (2nd)
Susan Sworn - 25 (2nd =)
Jeremy Renals - 25  (2nd =)
Julia Hobbs - 25 (2nd)
Stuary Skelly - 24
Les Morrell-  24
Ciaran Ward - 23 (2nd)
Howard Towner - 23
Darren Topping  - 23
Cliff Morgan - 21 (2nd)
Louise Boradbent - 21 (2nd)
John Carrington - 21 (2nd)
Neil Crockford - 21 (2nd)
David Love - 21
Jamie Potton - 20
Neil Madle - 20
Martin Roebuck - 20
Derek Heyes - 20
Jack Young - 20
Sally Mabey - 20
Sarah Lake - 20
Lena Gazey - 19 (2nd)
Tim Allison - 19
Stephen Peter - 17
Andy Crane -17
Diana Muri - 16
Sidin Sunny - 15
Graham Gowland - 15
Mark Roman Gold - 15
Rod Allday - 15

Top 10 Most Useful Quiz Books 2014 #10

Running along with the Top 10 countdown of the most useful reference books of the past 12 months I am also going to be looking at some of the most useful quiz books! Again, with just about 10 weeks of the year to go I intend to have the countdown running at one per week. And we will start with..

10.

The University Challenge Quiz Book

Some TV tie in titles are very disappointing but in the range of books I have tied into University Challenge, none fit that mould! This is the latest title in the series and contains a wide range of questions from the show and beyond. I have slowly worked my way through this all year and picked up a heck of a lot of information, ideas for further reading and great questions that have come in handy across all types and formats of quizzing.

Well worth picking up and also an ideal gift for quizzing fans!

Mastermind Standings - 2014/2015

With 10 heats completed in this years Mastermind and 40 people having sat in the chair here are the current standings from the series so far...

Mark Eaves - 30 (Q)
Ian Clark - 30 (Q)
Hazel Humprheys - 28 (Q)
Peter Russell - 26 (Q)
Chris Grandison - 26 (Q)
Brian Davies - 26 (Q)
Andrew Teale - 24 (Q)
Hywel Morgan - 23 (Q)
Mike Foden - 21 (Q)
Paula Keaveney - 21 (Q)
--------------------------------------------------------
Gareth Kingston - 28 (2nd)
Diane Hallaghan - 28 (2nd)
Alice Mennel - 26
John Benyon - 25 (2nd)
Susan Sworn - 25 (2nd =)
Jeremy Renals - 25  (2nd =)
Stuary Skelly - 24
Les Morrell-  24
Ciaran Ward - 23 (2nd)
Howard Towner - 23
Cliff Morgan - 21 (2nd)
Louise Boradbent - 21 (2nd)
John Carrington - 21 (2nd)
Neil Crockford - 21 (2nd)
David Love - 21
Neil Madle - 20
Martin Roebuck - 20
Derek Heyes - 20
Jack Young - 20
Sally Mabey - 20
Sarah Lake - 20
Lena Gazey - 19 (2nd)
Tim Allison - 19
Stephen Peter - 17
Andy Crane -17
Diana Muri - 16
Sidin Sunny - 15
Graham Gowland - 15
Mark Roman Gold - 15
Rod Allday - 15