
"a lovely, delightful little romp for anyone who loves books and fantasy and dragons and higher education and plucky heroines."
— Carmen Machado
How well do you know the story?
Here are all the questions in the quiz about Not Ordinarily Borrowable, and a few possible answers for each one. One of the answers is correct in each case, but this page doesn't tell you which one it is.
Please don't read these until after you've read the book, in case it spoils the story for you!
- What was Maria looking for when she visited the mayor?
- A sword
- Courage
- Jennifer
- A shield
- Which of these languages did Geoffrey not speak?
- According to the Gastronomicon, what is the best possible food to eat during an adventure?
- Bread and cheese
- Steak and kidney pie
- Chicken broccoli alfredo
- Ravioli
- What did Maria say she would be wearing when she met the dragon?
- A top hat
- Her robe
- A suit of armour
- T-shirt and jeans
- What was special about Maria's sword?
- It proved the bearer was the king
- It could kill any dragon
- It allowed the bearer to see ghosts
- It glowed blue when trolls were about
- What made the mayor decide that Maria had courage of her own?
- She was not scared of wasps
- She was not scared of spiders
- She was not scared of dragons
- She was not scared of the Town Clerk
- Why was Mother Margaret not busy?
- The Archdeacon told her to take a holiday
- She was a schoolteacher and it was half-term
- It was her birthday and her friends were doing all the work
- She was never busy!
- In the end, what was Maria shown to be master of?
- All England
- Biggleswade
- Herself
- Nothing in particular
- What does everyone call King Arthur?
- Your Majesty
- Arthur
- Sunshine
- Wart
- According to Dr Berkeley, why do ghosts continue to exist?
- Because their work on earth is not done
- Because they enjoy haunting people
- Because people continue to think about them
- Because people want to imagine they see them