List of Basic books to start out with?

[MasterYster]

Hey you probably saw my forum about how I recently started quiz bowl so I was wondering if there was a good list of resources to start out with to get a great start. I went to the big website everyone was talking about (quizbowl center I think) but I found a lot of to be hard. I found the easiest packet (SCOP 2010) and was able to get through it but I don't feel like I'm learning much. Should I keep a journal or something else? I really want to get very very good at this and I have a really good memory but I just don't know how exactly to prepare.

[No Electricity Required]

Hey you probably saw my forum about how I recently started quiz bowl so I was wondering if there was a good list of resources to start out with to get a great start. I went to the big website everyone was talking about (quizbowl center I think) but I found a lot of to be hard. I found the easiest packet (SCOP 2010) and was able to get through it but I don't feel like I'm learning much. Should I keep a journal or something else? I really want to get very very good at this and I have a really good memory but I just don't know how exactly to prepare.

Quizbowl Central will be a more amazing resource once it's not only sometimes accessible.

The place to find questions to read and study is quizbowlpackets. Since you're new I would start with the sets like the past Fall Novices and SCOP Novices (like you already mentioned). Those sets cover a large part of the base of what comes up in quizbowl. LIST would also be a good set for a newer player to look at, it did an excellent job of reigning in difficulty.

There are study guides from ACE quizbowl camps that are very good. NAQT also has (somewhat outdated, but still good) YouGottaKnow lists.

[tintinnabulation]

You will have to be patient with your learning, but if you work hard it will really pay off. If you can get there, ACE camp is a really really really great place for you to learn and meet other people who are good at quizbowl.

As for books--I don't know if it's in print anymore, but I have this really old but very good book called "A Student's Guide to 50 British Novels" by Abraham Lass. It gives plot synopses and character lists and stuff. If you want a more fun way to study online than Quizbowl Central, sporcle.com has a bunch of quizzes you can take in science, lit, geography/history and a ton of pop culture categories. The quizzes are sort of like games. Some of the stuff on their quizzes don't actually come up in quizbowl, but it's a fun way to test yourself on rote facts.