50 Literature Quiz Questions and Answers

Is curling up with a good book your idea of heaven? Do you marvel at the literary greats and love finding a new classic?

If you answered an enthusiastic yes to the above, we’ve put together the perfect rainy day activity for you (apart from reading, of course!), with our 50 literature quiz questions and answers.

Through our literature quiz, we’ll test your knowledge of all the classics – both modern and old-school – as well as quiz you on all the hottest books right now. We take a look at authors, sagas and all the good stuff that makes reading so magical.

There’s something for everyone in our literature quiz questions and answers, and who knows, maybe you’ll even find some new inspiration for your reading bucket list while you’re at it…

Literature Quiz Questions and Answers

Questions

1. Who wrote the classic novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’?
2. Winston Smith is the protagonist of which George Orwell novel?
3. What magazine does Stieg Larsson’s character Mikael Blomkvist work at, and part own in ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ and its subsequent novels?
4. Which small Yorkshire town inspired the setting for Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’?
5. Where does Connell move to in the conclusion of Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’?
6. Jacob Marley and Bob Cratchit are characters from which Charles Dickens novel?
7. In ‘Gone Girl’, what type of “girl” does Amy pretend to be when she first meets Nick?
8. Answering to the nearest 100, how many pages long is Stephen King’s ‘IT’?
9. James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ is loosely based on which epic poem?
10. What job does Louisa take on a whim after being fired as a waitress in ‘Me Before You’?
11. Who wrote the critically acclaimed 2015 novel ‘A Little Life’?
12. In which mythical land are the ‘Lord of the Rings’ books set?
13. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’, what is the full name of Elizabeth Bennet’s love interest?
14. Co-written with John Fletcher, what is the last surviving play written by William Shakespeare, before his subsequent retirement and death two years later?
15. How many books are there in the Harry Potter series?
16. In whose thriller series do we follow Oslo detective Harry Hole, as he investigates violent crimes in the Norwegian capital?
17. In ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, which of the Pevensie siblings first enters Narnia?
18. On which African river is Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel set?
19. What is the name of Harper Lee’s debut novel?
20. Who controversially won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, making him one of only two songwriters to ever win the prestigious literary award?
21. Natasha Rostov is the heroine of which classic Russian novel?
22. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, what is located at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock?
23. Which astronomically popular series of books, released in the 2000s, begins with a teenage girl moving to the small town of Forks, Washington?
24. Where in Spain is ‘Don Quixote’ set?
25. What do George Eliot, George Sand and Acton Bell all have in common?
26. ‘Good Omens’, ‘American Gods’ and ‘Coraline’ are all books written by which author?
27. What is the title of the first book to feature the character Sherlock Holmes?
28. ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ was written by which British author?
29. In ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’, who does Alex fall in love with?
30. In ‘The Kite Runner’, how are Amir and Hassan related?
31. What genre of book does Danielle Steel primarily write?
32. Anastacia Steele is the main protagonist in which series of books?
33. As of August 2023, whose autobiography was the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever?
34. Humbert Humbert is the unreliable narrator and main character of which book by Vladimir Nabokov?
35. What is the main character and narrator called in Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’?
36. What literary movement does Ryū Murakami belong to?
37. Which Bronte sister wrote the novel ‘Villette’?
38. How many books are there in ‘The Hunger Games’ series of novels?
39. The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian and theocratic state in which dystopian novel published in 1985?
40. Who wrote the novel ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’?
41. Which book by Mary Shelley is often regarded as the first science fiction novel?
42. What kind of ‘phile’ is somebody who loves to read regularly?
43. Which of the following is NOT a book by John Green; ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, ‘Paper Towns’, or ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’?
44. Who is attributed to the following quote: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one”?
45. How many husbands did Evelyn Hugo have?
46. Which of the following pieces of literature was NOT a book in its original format; ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ or ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’?
47. Elio and Oliver are the main characters in which LGBTQ book?
48. Answering to the nearest five, what year was ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath originally published?
49. Which of the following detective characters features in Jefferey Deaver’s novels; Alex Cross, Lincoln Rhyme, or Myron Bolitar?
50. What is the most printed book of all time?

Answers

1. D. Salinger
2. 1984
3. Millenium
4. Haworth
5. New York
6. A Christmas Carol
7. A cool girl
8. 1138
9. The Odyssey
10. Carer/Caretaker
11. Hanya Yanagihara
12. Middle-earth
13. Fitzwilliam Darcy
14. The Two Noble Kinsmen
15. Seven
16. Jo Nesbø
17. Lucy
18. River Nile (for ‘Death on the Nile’)
19. To Kill A Mockingbird
20. Bob Dylan
21. War and Peace
22. The Green Light
23. Twilight
24. La Mancha
25. They are male pseudonyms used by female authors
26. Neil Gaiman
27. A Study in Scarlet
28. Mark Haddon
29. Prince Henry
30. They are half-brothers
31. Romance
32. Fifty Shades of Grey
33. Prince Harry
34. Lolita
35. We never learn her name
36. Postmodernism
37. Charlotte Bronte
38. Four
39. The Handmaid’s Tale
40. John le Carré
41. Frankenstein
42. Bibliophile
43. The Sun Is Also a Star
44. George R. R. Martin
45. Seven
46. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
47. Call Me By Your Name
48. 1963
49. Lincoln Rhyme
50. The Bible

If you enjoyed these literature quiz questions and answers, why not check out some of our other quizzes? Here’s some of our favourites!

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