Trivia Matters: A Trivia Sourcebook

Book review: For trivia fans, practice and preparation

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By C.F. Foster for the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union USA TODAY NETWORK
February 27, 2022

“Trivia Matters: A Trivia Host Sourcebook”
Authors: William Wildey and Edward Mickolus
Wandering Woods Publishers, 186 pages, $10.95 paperback

A spawn of the pandemic that forced the shutdown of pubs and other trivia meeting places, “Trivia Matters: A Host Trivia Sourcebook” came to pass when bored fans William Wildey and his wife, Maureen, “lamenting the loss of our treasured trivia evenings with friends” decided to organize a game using e-mail with Wildey writing and sending out questions during the week.

“Just like the early thinking we all had about Covid and its impact, we thought the email trivia would only need to exist for a couple of months at the most. Boy, were we wrong! In the end I had written about 50 weeks of trivia questions with others taking a week here and there to give me a break.” With the help of Nocatee neighbor, prolific author and publisher and fellow trivia host Ed Mickolus, he used this collection to create “Trivia Matters.”

The resulting “Sourcebook” contains 624 researched and play-tested questions (and answers), organized in a friendly (easy to follow) fashion for those of us who can’t get enough (of trivia, that is). And for those who want to organize a contest, it also contains 52 halftime questions (and answers) as well as 23 pages of list questions, six pages of “put in order” questions and four pages of extra (or substitute) questions (and answers, of course). Enough says Wildey “to last for a year … if not longer.”

So if you are a trivia fan (or lover) and want to test yourself or start your own game (or just practicing for a spot on “Jeopardy!”), pick up this fascinating little book.

C.F. Foster answers trivia questions in Riverside.

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