This is a long over-due post on my Book
Gook Geek experience over at
Fully Booked last month.
… hehe, here’s the new and improved banner:
A bunch of
Flipper friends and I joined the Book Geek challenge, our second time actually, because we are suckers for book trivia and free books and a shot at P5000 worth of Fully Booked gift certificates (just under $100).
The actual contest went by in a blur to me, so I’m borrowing my cousin Dianne’s (she has her own book blog now too by the way, which recounts bargain book hunting adventures) recap of the event, and also her photos:
Blooey and I arrived at Fully Booked High Street at around 3 PM. We went straight to the fourth floor, only to find the venue completely empty (which was unsurprising, since we were about 30 minutes early). We decided to kill time by browsing around and gazing longingly at books we would never buy at full price. I kept asking Blooey whether she was anxious or excited, and she just shrugged and replied that she was “ok”. I think I was a lot more anxious than her.
At exactly 3:30 PM, we returned to the venue and registered. Joel G was already there, together with one other non-Flipper contestant. We were offered frozen raspberry shakes from Bo’s Coffee (one of the sponsors of the contest), which we gladly accepted. As we slurped our yummy creamy raspberry shakes, more people started to file into the room. One of them was a strange lady with big curly hair who later introduced herself as Madam Dementia. Turns out she was the host of the contest.
The contest proper was supposed to start at 4 PM, and around this time, more or less 10 contestants had shown up. Other Flippers who participated were Joel G and Marie. As Madam Dementia started to explain the mechanics of the contest, Honey arrived, barely making it past the cut-off time. Due to the brevity of last month’s contest, Fully Booked decided to change the rules a bit. The contestants were seated in a circle and were to pick out numbers (corresponding to book-related questions) from a bowl. However, in contrast to last month’s “sudden death” rule (i.e. you fail to answer the question correctly, you’re eliminated), contestants could either skip the question or pass it to another contestant. Should the person decide to skip the question, he/she has to answer 2 questions correctly in the next round to avoid elimination. If the person decides to pass it instead, he/she selects another person to answer for him/her. But if that person gets the question wrong, both of them will be eliminated. Contestants can only use pass and skip once.
Honey, me, and JoelG
This newly implemented rule was shamelessly abused the moment the first question was asked. The contestant was asked, “What was the crime in ‘Crime and Punishment’?” She decided to pass the question to another contestant, who also decided to pass it to the person sitting beside him, who passed it to Joel G, who passed it eventually to Honey. Just imagine the absurdity of the situation – 5 people faced elimination with just the first question. Luckily, Honey – the Classics expert/book lover extraordinaire/Literature goddess – hit the nail on the head by answering with, “Murder”. Several people remained in the contest (even several rounds later) thanks to her.
Marie answers a question
Honey’s turn
The funny thing was, despite Honey’s vast knowledge in all things bookish, she managed to draw questions regarding relatively unfamiliar territory – Harry Potter. Which was ironic because her downfall became Blooey’s saving grace. The same was true for Marie, who completely forgot the name of the street where the Dursleys lived. And so, after several nerve-racking rounds of questions about Harry Potter, Little Women (whoever created the questions was obviously a fan), The Count of Monte Cristo (ditto), Narnia, The Little Prince, Jane Eyre, Perfume (where the Flippers all laughed conspiratorially when Blooey was asked, “What is the one thing Jean-Baptiste Grenouille cannot smell?”), chick lit, popular thrillers, Pulitzer Prize winners, authors’ initials, pseudonyms and what not, Blooey and Honey made it to the Top Three.
There was a short break for everyone to catch their breath (the “sudden death” round lasted for about an hour). Afterwards, the Top Three contestants were each given white boards and markers. The rules were simple. Questions would be drawn by the judge and a point would be awarded for each correct answer. Whoever gets five points first wins the contest. The first question was drawn, and to Honey’s horror and Blooey’s delight, again, it’s Harry Potter-related (What was Lily Potter’s maiden name?). For the first round, only Blooey gets it right. The next question was about E.B. White, which all the contestants answered correctly. Another Harry Potter-related question pops up, (What is the title of J.K. Rowling’s late
st book?), which Blooey and Honey answer correctly. The final question, as luck would have it, was about Twilight. (What was the name of the book that was most often mentioned in Twilight?) When Blooey and Honey revealed their white boards, they had different answers. Honey answered, “Pride and Prejudice” and Blooey went for “Wuthering Heights”. In the end, Blooey had Heathcliff to thank as she was declared Book Geek of the month.
Lily Evans!
Tales of Beedle the Bard
I really wasn’t sure, but the gamble paid off!
Checking my answers…
The prize consisted of Fully Booked GCs worth P5,000, Outback GCs worth P750, plus a random book. Other contestants were also given random books as consolation prizes. Pictures were taken and congratulations were given out as Blooey was now eligible for the Book Geek finale this November. Meanwhile, Madam Dementia invited the other contestants to join next month’s contest, as they were all still eligible to win.
with Madame Dementia
With Beth and Honey, who were in the top three with me
Book geek!
There you go. The final competition is in November, hopefully I can cram more book trivia in by then.
Hahaha, I was so indebted to Harry Potter, I used part of my book geek winnings to buy another book for my collection. Watch out for tomorrow’s post :)
Finally, the third part of this year’s Harry Potter celebration!
