Blue Books Trivia Quiz

Answer: Agatha Christie

'The Mystery of the Blue Train' was first published in 1928. The novel features Hercule Poirot, Christie's fictional, Belgian sleuth, and concerns a murder on a train travelling to the French Riviera. The plot of the novel is based on one of Christie's short stories called 'The Plymouth Express' which was published in the UK in 1923.

Answer: Dr Seuss

'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish' is a book for children written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1960. The book has sold many, many copies since it was first published and in 2001 was listed 13th by 'Publishers Weekly' on their list of 'All-Time Bestselling Children's Books'.

Answer: Toni Morrison

'The Bluest Eye', Toni Morrison's first novel, was published in 1970. The story of the novel takes place in 1941 and is set in the town of Lorain, Ohio which is the hometown of Morrison. The novel focuses on the character of Pecola, an African-American girl, and her struggles with her identity.

The novel has been adapted into a stage play by the playwright Lydia R. Diamond, with its first performance taking place in Chicago in 2005.

Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle

'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. The story was first published in early 1892 in 'The Strand Magazine' and was included in the short story collection 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' which was published later in 1892.

The story is set at Christmas time and involves the theft of a gemstone called "the Blue Carbuncle" and Holmes and Watson's efforts to recover it.

Answer: Billie Holiday (with William Duffy)

'Lady Sings the Blues' is an autobiography written by the jazz singer Billie Holiday and co-authored by William Duffy. The book was first published in 1956 and the 1972 film of the same name is adapted from the book. Although the book is supposed to be Holiday's real life story it has been criticised for containing factual inaccuracies and for supressing some parts of Holiday's life.

Answer: Alexander McCall Smith

'Blue Shoes and Happiness' is the 7th novel in Alexander McCall Smith's series 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'. In the book Mma Ramotswe, the founder of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, solves a number of mysteries where people have behaved badly to attempt to get what they think will bring them happiness.

This novel, like the others in the series, is set in Gaborone, the capital city of the southern African country of Botswana.

Answer: Tom Sharpe

'Porterhouse Blue' is a satirical novel published in 1974 by the British author Tom Sharpe. The novel pokes fun at life at a traditional college at the University of Cambridge. The novel was adapted for television in 1987 with David Jason playing the main character, Skullion.

Answer: Carl Sagan

'Pale Blue Dot' is a non-fiction book about space and humankind's place in the universe by the US astronomer Carl Sagan. The book was published in 1994 and serves as a sequel to 'Cosmos' which was published in 1980. The title is taken from the name given to an astronomical image taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990 in which the Earth appears a tiny blue dot in space.

Answer: Tracy Chevalier

'The Virgin Blue' is the first novel by Tracy Chevalier, who is perhaps best known for her 1999 novel 'Girl With a Pearl Earring'. 'The Virgin Blue' was published in 1997 and centres on the characters Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin, two women born hundreds of years apart but who are connected by family history.

The novel alternates between the stories of the two women and mixes elements of historical fiction with those of the detective genre.

Answer: Herge

'The Blue Lotus' is the fifth book in the Tintin comic series by the Belgian cartoonist Herge. The book was originally serialised in the children's supplement of the Belgian newspaper 'Le Vingtieme Siecle' in 1935 before being published as a single volume in 1936.

In the book Tintin and his dog Snowy travel to China and find themselves in the middle of the 1931 Japanese invasion of China.