Nemo's Almanac : A Quiz for Book Lovers : Edited by Ian Patterson @paftersnu @ProfileBooks

You might recognise:
'It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.'
But what about:
'Time, like an ever-rolling stream'
Or even:
'I am soft sift / In an hour-glass-at the wall / Fast, but mined with a motion, a drift, / And it crowds and it combs to the fall.'

Can you match each to their author? What about their book or poem? Welcome to Nemo's Almanac, the ultimate quiz for bibliophiles.

Wonderful, maddening, enlightening, Nemo's Almanac has been the well-guarded secret of the literary world for over one hundred years, beloved by authors and booksellers alike. Now in book form for the first time, with an account of its quirky history from Alan Hollinghurst, you can experience its fiendishly addictive qualities for yourself.

With tantalising quotes on themes from breakfast to bonfires, winter to sunshine, and including authors from Aldous Huxley to Zadie Smith, each chapter will put your knowledge and literary instinct to the test as you search for the origins to each quote. And if that tip-of-your-tongue feeling doesn't transform into the names of authors and works, you can always check the back of the book for answers that will send you on fresh journeys of literary discovery.

So curl up by a fire with your wits about you, stuff the book in your pocket for a trip to the library, or quiz the whole family after dinner.

Answers: George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four; Isaac Watts, 'O God, Our Help'; Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'The Wreck of the Deutschland'

Nemo's Almanac : A Quiz for Book Lovers, edited by Ian Patterson was published in hardback on 2 November by Profile Books.  My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

 I do love a good quiz. Martin and I used to be part of a pub quiz team which was taken very seriously, until the pub got wi-fi and the teams who were quickest on Google were the winners!

This edition of Nemo's Almanac really is beautifully presented; it's a small hardback with a vibrant, colourful dust jacket and will make the most perfect Christmas gift for book lovers and quiz freaks.

This edition includes a short history of the quiz from former Nemo's Almanac editor Alan Hollinghurst. There's also a useful couple of pages on how to use the book, in case, like me, you've not come across Nemo's before.

Nemo’s Almanac began life as an annual literary challenge available by post in booklet form, containing unattributed literary quotations arranged by theme. Entrants had to identify the extracts as fully as possible.

The challenge? To identify the source and author of each one. No internet allowed. This is back to basics: libraries, printed materials and well-read friends can all be mined for help.

Now, after being a well-guarded secret of the literary world for 125 years, Nemo’s Almanac has been expanded into a book. Guaranteed to perplex and puzzle even the most knowledgeable of readers, it is  introduced by Alan Hollinghurst, a former editor of the booklet, who sheds a light on its curious history.

Take the Nemo’s Almanac Challenge

Can you identify the literary quotations?

All 36 of these quotations appear in Nemo’s Almanac the book, but the answers do not. All you need to do is give us the literary work and the author (smart Alecs will be awarded extra points for fuller answers — verse number, chapter etc.) Use of the internet is not allowed!

The entry with the highest score will win a personal Waterstones shopping consultation to choose books worth £250, with an hour’s help from a bookseller. You’ll also win afternoon tea afterwards for you and a friend to celebrate.

To find the quotations, and find out how to enter; visit www.nerosalmanac.com

Current editor of Nemo’s Almanac, Ian Patterson is a poet, writer and a Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge. His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books and the Observer among other publications. He is author of Guernica and Total War (Profile, 2007), and translator of Proust’s Finding Time Again (Penguin, 2003).

If you’d like to receive a Nemo’s Almanac booklet for next year, please send an SAE and £3.00 to Dr Ian Patterson, Department of English, Queens College, Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9ET.

You can follow Ian on Twitter here.

www.nerosalmanac.com