The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar: Over 300 Rounds and More Than 3,000 Questions

by Austin Rogers

Play the best damn trivia night ever! From one of the pioneers of pub trivia, Jeopardy! champion Austin Rogers, comes the complete resource for playing and running an uproariously entertaining trivia night, whether you’re hanging out with friends and family, spicing up a party, or hosting an official event at your local pub.   More than a random collection of facts, The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia features over 300 rounds of ten-question quizzes. Each one is carefully curated to encourage a night of lively competition. The result? Hours and hours of fun as you and your friends answer challenging questions on everything from Bad Movie Descriptions to Winter sports, Kanye and the Kardashians to Brit Lit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia

840 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2022

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun and a great addition to any trivia fan's bookshelf! The book is chock-full of different pub trivia rounds and covers a wide variety of topics from "Recipes" to "Stupid Laws" to "The 2000s" (half the clues are organized in a potpourri category of "Random Stuff You Might Now Know"). There's also a handy difficulty scale that gauges how esoteric / hard each round can be.

I do wonder if the e-book version would be a more well-suited format for somebody planning a pub trivia night, as there isn't a table of contents or organization system for finding a specific clue category or difficulty level. Regardless, this book is a fun way to exercise your trivia brain and get inspiration for your next round of trivia.

[ALLEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

You may remember Austin Rogers, the engaging young man with the wild shock of hair who appeared on Jeopardy! in 2017, did a little hand jive, stayed on top of the game and took in over $400,000 over twelve sessions. Rogers parlayed his winnings into this estimable new book, which is bound to become the darling of trivia players and trivia enthusiasts everywhere.

THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF PUB TRIVIA is well curated and researched. My only real gripe is that a disproportionate number of quiz categories are either "Random stuff you might know" or "Random stuff you might NOT know." Imagine that roughly thirty percent of the categories on the daily TV show were "Potpourri" and you can understand why this might get a bit irritating. Otherwise, I can recommend this book wholeheartedly. Go, Austin!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia is a well written collection of quiz and trivia, including question rounds (with answers) curated by 12 time Jeopardy champion Austin Rogers. Due out 22nd Feb 2022 from Workman Publishing, it's 336 pages (print format) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy (partially) interactive table of contents. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a fun book. The introduction covers the basics: who, what, where, how, when, and why. There are more specifics about venues, cover charges (if any), drinks & snacks, acoustics, scoring, and, really, all the info needed to run a quiz night in the third (final) section of the book. In between the two are the questions, set up in quiz rounds. The answers are given on the same page with the question rounds, upside down (but still easy to read - this could be a drawback in some situations, if visibility and accidentally seeing the answers are a problem. I noticed flipping through the book that I accidentally (?) stumbled over the answers whilst pondering the questions. I was actively trying not to "cheat" but still saw the answers. Since an eARC was the format I was using, it's not really practical (but it *is* possible) to cover the answer key area with a card or piece of paper.

The bulk of the book is taken up with the questions. They're hugely varied, concisely written, and definitely not all easy. I pride myself on being a trivia maven and these weren't a walk in the park. I liked that the author specified some things which I've noticed about pub quiz nights in real life. So many rounds are so specific and esoteric as to be annoying/boring for almost everyone, and the only person having fun is the one who just happens to strike lucky and be the only one in the bar with a ridiculous knowledge of obscure 14th century Coptic fiber-arts techniques... everyone else is annoyed and/or bored. He also raises the salient points that a really exciting quiz night should have the possibility of different teams in the lead at different points during the evening and that nobody really knows ahead of time who's going to win, as well as pointing out that offering small side-prizes for particular rounds (free drinks, meals, etc) will increase engagement and excitement.

Four stars. This is a one-stop resource for planners of trivia nights. It will be a solid resource for trivia fans as a study guide also. There are some repeat answers, but I didn't see any repeat questions.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[booksandbark]

Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC copy.

I didn't get through the entire book because it was simply too long, but from what I read this is a very comprehensive guide to creating your own trivia game. I will say though that these questions are HARD, and this is coming from someone whose family nicknamed me "the Encyclopedia" because of my extensive knowledge of random facts. I do think that this is a great book to consider if you would like to play, say, a weekly game of trivia with very nerdy friends—but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to the layperson who is just looking for something fun to do on a Friday night and doesn't absolutely love knowing random facts.

[Sue Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun trivia book created by jeopardy champion. Loads of fun for families or parties. Good questions...hard but not THAT hard. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I guess I learnt something here – that a book of "pub trivia" in the American language is a quiz book. But it's still not a quiz book as us Brits know it. After a brief introduction, declaring the author to have been on a few TV shows and got utterly frustrated at the more insular kind of NYC bar quiz, we get straight to the questions – set in pages of ten, with the answers upside down at the bottom. All pages also try and find room for a factoid – the actual trivia I thought I was getting. There's also a closing how-to guide, suggesting a variety of subjects etc, which should all be fairly bloody self-explanatory.

So it's the core of the book that is possibly of most interest. And it's fairest to say this doesn't travel – a list of the world's most numerous fast food chain outlets features at least one I don't think exists in Britain. Neither do we care for Canadian hockey magazine initials. It was interesting to see an Answersmash kind of two-part answer format so prevalent, likewise a Mouse of Games equivalent (oh, sorry, British TV quizzing cultural references not fully your thing?! Yup, that's how it feels). But the biggest different between this and practically every quiz book I've used before now, and every quiz show I've ever watched, and more importantly every pub quiz I've ever won, is that at least 90% of this is in the form of statement. No, the 'questions' ignore the questioning aspect of the question (and the grammar of the same) and just exist as a phrase with an aspect to it left out, which is the intended answer.

I think Jeopardy! does similar, but it's decades since I saw any episode of that, as it never succeeded east of Maine. But it's a huge cultural gulf that only adds to the USA-only-isms of what came before and meant this was not terribly useful to me. It's a well-meaning book, kind of talking down to people and yet flooding them with quiz questions that do have a long shelf-life. I can see many getting a good use out of it, but by virtue of geography I couldn't call myself one of them. And what is the beef with being interrogative?

[Heather Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom and I love watching trivia shows on TV. Jeopardy, The Chase, Masterminds, Common Knowledge. Whatever we can, we love. When I saw this book up, buy Auston Rogers no less, I knew I had to try to get it to review. It is a great book for what it is, a solid 4. It is not, however, just a general book of interesting trivia, it is your own personal Pub Trivia night in your hands.
Now, for my own personal use, as I’m not at all extroverted enough to go out to an actual pub trivia night, I would say it’s more like a 3, just because unless I suddenly post-COVID decide I want to go out and hang out with people or maybe create an online pub trivia thing, wouldn’t actually be using them as they are designed in their lists. I have been using them to test myself and my mom on my knowledge and been learning new things from it. I do like how they are marked on difficulty level, mostly because it let’s me know how much shame I should feel for not knowing a level 1, and how proud I should feel that I easily knew something that Austin Rogers thinks is level 5.
For those who are looking for a good book of Pub Trivia lists for their own Pub Trivia Nights, I think it’s also a good jumping off point to give some ideas on their own ideas for personal creations of themes and questions. Thank you to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company for the ARC of this book.

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Austin Rogers est non seulement l'un des candidats de Jeopardy! ayant gagné le plus de parties de l'histoire de l'émission, mais c'est aussi (surtout?) un animateur de soirées de quiz chevronné (j'ai assisté à ses soirées à quelques reprises et j'y ai toujours eu beaucoup de plaisir. Dans ce livre, il décortique ce qui fait la réussite d'une soirée de quiz (choisir le bon coefficient de difficulté, bien répartir les sujets et donner une chance à tous, grosso modo), et donne de nombreux conseils aux quizmestres en herbe.

Mais surtout, il nous convie à une soirée de quiz à sa façon (près de 80 «parties» divisées en quatre rondes), ce qui en fait un ouvrage diablement plus agréable à consulter que la majorité des livres de trivia qui se vendent en librairie grande surface (et qui sont essentiellement des piles un peu aliénantes de faits donnés pêle-mêle). J'ai aussi beaucoup aimé les petits conseils et compléments d'infos en exergue. (Quatre étoiles parce qu'il y a une question qui se répétait deux fois, tsssk.)

[Cindy (leavemetomybooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love going to quiz nights and really enjoyed how this book is set up with multiple quiz sets, each with a few rounds of questions covering a wide range of topics, just a few of which are: 1999, Netflix Shows, nineties sitcoms, bartending, the Renaissance, cartoons, famous deaths, chemistry, fictional geography, random stuff you might know, and the (always dreaded, at least for me) sports.

I especially love some of the extra clever, specialty rounds like Before and After and Movie Math where you have to come up with two answers and combine them to get the correct answer, and also a Balderdash-style round called Bad Movie Descriptions.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for fun trivia questions -- definitely planning to use sections of it for our next block party's trivia contest.

* thanks to Workman Publishing for the NetGalley copy for review. This comes out February 22, 2022.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun collection of Pub Trivia pages. It's organized with rounds of 10 themed questions per page, 4 rounds of 10 per quiz. Each quiz contains difficulty labels and there are many themed types of quizzes (e.g. Before and After). Answers are upside down on the page so it's possible for the reader to play along at home (though once you look at one answer it's hard not to see them all!) Example pages include Nineties Sitcoms, Random Stuff You Might Know, 20th-Century Literature, and Pooches (identify the dog breed for each photo). It seems like a fun mix of trivia category that would appeal to a broad range of people (not just content "specialists"). The quizzes seem fun and I'm excited to try some out at an upcoming event for students and to quiz my spouse.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-rounded compendium of trivia facts organized into easy-to-run quizzes with several themed rounds. Round difficulty is indicated at the top of the page (though, this is a bit subjective). Further highlighted fact and trivia sections grace each page with detailed information relating to one or more of the questions on the topic in focus. This collection seems best aimed at 30 somethings and older with pop culture and history references from the 80s to present. There's a little bit of everything in this trivia book; geography, flags, music, sports, pop-culture, history. Good book to pick up if you'd like to set up your own trivia night with friends/colleagues.

[Vikki Bullock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is overflowing with trivia!
The homework is done, and then some, for those wanting access to this wide variety of questions, to conduct their own trivia night!
I expected more of the author’s life story to be included.
The author does an amazingly thorough job to write a very comprehensive book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Rachael Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This does have some fun series but a lot of it seems to drag. It is organized into games of four rounds which makes it a little bit of a mess if you don't want to adhere strictly to the author's design. There is little rhyme or reason otherwise and even the advice the author gives at the end for designing your own rounds, does not adhere to the design of the actual rounds offered in a lot of cases. TLDR: some fun trivia, arcane book design.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this. Can be used to run your own trivia nights with friends or just enjoyed bit by bit as a quiz book to test yourself and learn some fun facts.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love trivia and who better to write the ultimate trivia book than Austin Rogers? This book has a wide array of trivia at all different skill levels and even if you don’t do trivia nights, it’s a fun book to read alone and try to test your knowledge.

[Heather Burns-Schmidtke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful resource for hosting a trivia night! Questions were various and plentiful covering a wide range of subjects and levels. Definitely worth having in a pub for game night.
This book was read through an ARC with Netgalley and is my personal opinion.

[Amy Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is chock full of trivia. Almost a little too full, but hopefully I retained enough knowledge to stomp the other teams at trivia night. There is literally something about EVERYTHING.

I received an ARC, but my opinions are all mine.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of emphasis on baseball, New York neighborhoods, and 90s hip hop. Difficulty scores were not accurate. Many questions could have used an editor. And still, I went through the whole thing. An unpolished but fun book.

[Neville Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. A good pub quiz book give you all the information to run your own quiz night and a very good range of questions

[Joni Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best lay out of a trivia book I’ve seen. Super fun and easy to use. A must have for any trivia lover.

[Nancy Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO many questions and categories, but, boy are some of them hard!!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed watching Austin Rogers's run on Jeopardy, so I was excited to see him coming out with his own book of trivia. Who better to come up with some of the best bar trivia than the guy who used his knowledge of pub trivia to win twelve games on Jeopardy?

I think this book should become a go-to reference for anyone running their own trivia nights at a pub as well as for anyone doing trivia nights at home. There is a lot of information packed into this one book, and Rogers organized it in easy to understand categories. This book is set up in a way that you can flip open to any page and immediately start quizzing your friends/family/complete strangers.

Each round has ten questions and answers; some of the categories are more generic, allowing Rogers to repeat those categories with different questions, while other categories are more focused and specific.

This book can be a lifesaver for anyone attempting their own bar trivia night, as well as anyone looking for an easy way to challenge and/or entertain their friends. There was definitely a wide range of topics covered, so no area of trivia is left untouched. I liked that Rogers had no clear progression through the categories, so readers can easily pick and choose which round they would like to do next and skip around from category to category.

Overall, this trivia book was fun, unique, and easy to use. I would recommend this one to anyone doing weekly trivia nights as well as those needing a fun and informative way to pass an evening at home.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Austin Rogers, a former contestant on Jeopardy, has compiled a ginormous mass of facts, organized them into themed rounds, sorted by difficulty. The focus is on pop culture and history from the 1980s to the present. Also included are geography, sports, music, flags – something for almost everyone! Great choice for trivia buffs or anyone who likes to browse through details that might not otherwise cross their path! Four stars for The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar, and thanks to Workman Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this honest review.