Are you desperately searching for a way to combine books and basketball, the two loves of your life? Wait, don’t answer.
Just because you think you’re ready for the Word bookstore basketball league doesn’t mean the league is ready for you. First, you’ll need to take a quiz:
1. Who wrote “Ulysses”?
2. What is the best selling book of all time?
3. What is J.D. Salinger’s most well-known book?
4. Name a book that has been banned in the United States in the last 100 years.
5. What is your favorite book?
OK, they’re not tough questions, but they do set the tone for something unusual, even by Brooklyn’s standards.
Both the application and the book-themed league are the brainchild of Stephanie Anderson, owner of Word bookstore, and, as such, the league’s referee. She says the league started as a joke, but a quick post on the store’s blog received more than a hundred responses.
“I had no idea so many people could answer those questions and wanted to play basketball,” she said.
And play they do. Games are serious and fast paced, without being overly competitive.
“It’s so much fun, everyone is low key,” said Faith Black, a book editor for Avalon Books and captain of her team, “Mrs. Balloway.”
Other teams include “The Purple Pros” and the “Virginia Wolves.”
The city game — with an urbane approach.
Games every Sunday at 10:30 am and Wednesday at 7:30 pm on the basketball court across from Word bookstore [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383-0096].
