The Bookish Elf

Test your literary knowledge with our opening lines quiz. “ It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”– Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen classic . And who can forget the “Call Me Ishmael” beginning of Herman Melville’s maritime classic Moby Dick .  But can you remember the opening line from Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions ? Take our quiz and push your literary knowledge to its limit.  We have printed the opening sentences from 20 books, see if you can guess the title of each one. [os-widget path="/thebookishelf/opening-lines-quiz-by-the-bookish-elf" comments="false"]

Here is a small list of the most challenging books which gave me hard time to reach last page of the book. No matter how hard your heart wants to read these books till the end but at certain point your mind will take over the will of your heart and convince it to drop the book once and for all. These books will test your patience and control over your mind. Give yourself a round of applause if you’ve also made it through any of these books. And if you get it what was written or what you’ve read then you deserve a standing ovation. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967) What makes it challenging: Few family sagas stretch as wide as that of the Buendía clan - there are seven generations depicted here. As if that's not confusing enough, names are frequently repeated (basically ever character is named Aureliano). And oh yeah, try reading it in Spanish. Excerpt: "He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of...

On account of certain content  within the pages of book, some book were stumbled in controversies or banned or censored. The common reasons behind banning or censoring certain books are: Racial Theme or Dialogues: The books with a story or dialogue that can encourage racism towards one or more group of people. Example:  The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Encouragement to Destruct Lifestyle: Some books encourage lifestyle choices that are not standard or could be threatening or destructive. This include Drug use, Co-habitation without marriage or Homosexuality. Example: The Perks of being Wallflower by Stephen chboski. Blasphemous Subject: The book, with subject that is sacrilegious against god or sacred things, had often attracted controversies. Example: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Mobi Dick by Herman Melville, The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Intimacy Issues: Many Books with content of sexual situation or dialog were ba...

There are some authors whose work had inspired so many people and is still inspiring. Some of them are not living in this world, while others are still living and producing wonderful literature that keeps bookstores afloat. The works of those authors are immortal and so they are. Here is a small list of those authors whom you might have read and if not, you should immediately add them to your ‘to be read’ list. 1. William Shakespeare The Bard. This "Renaissance Man" was truly prolific (though if you believe some skeptics, he never existed at all, was the pseudonym for someone else or was perhaps the moniker under which a group of authors published.) Chances are strong that you've read or seen at least one of his plays, but if it's been a while since you perused a copy of "The Tragedy of Hamlet" or "Macbeth", it's time to re-acquaint yourself with this master of language and storytelling. 2. George Orwell Orwell (whose real name was Eric Arthur ...

J K Rowling, George Orwell, Vladimir Nabokov , E L James, Salman Rushdie or Arundhati Roy, There is a myriad list of the authors who landed in trouble or created controversies and banned, at the time of Book launch or after release, for writing down their unorthodox and free-spirited thoughts and stories which were far advanced of their time. Here is a list of books, you must add to your reading pile, which were declared scandalous or were banned either for talking about intimacy or portraying women as strong character or blasphemy and religious affiliation, but later they were embraced and announced as path-breaking literature. 1. The Harry Potter Series by J K Rowling J K Rowling’s fantasy world of witchcraft and wizardry for children, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone - The first book of The Harry Potter Series, was landed in a controversy and criticized by many religious groups and parents for inspiring kids to try occult and witchcraft, taking them deep in the unwanted and ...

To make a Book Club successful and growing, it is important to adhere certain rules and standards for behavior which prevents pointless arguments or even oblivious offences and helps to run Book Club more efficiently and smoothly. Most of the rules and standards are basic and common sense but it is necessary to remind rules frequently to all members of the club. It can be a diplomatic way to deal with one member who may be annoying other members or flouting certain rule and correct their behavior for future. Take some time when starting a book club to sit down and draw up a list of rules and standards of behavior which all starting members agree upon. It may seem a chore when all you want to do it get to the meaty literary discussions but it is well-worth the time and effort and will prevent a lot of time-wasting (and potential conflict) later from people arguing over how things should be done. Make sure that everyone is agreed on what is acceptable behavior within the club – tak...