Best book mistakes

In the book Teabing is a die hard British patriot, yet he refers to the sport of soccer. NO Englishman would use the word soccer for the game of football. [People keep trying to correct this - you've really got to accept it. It's nothing to do with Teabing being older - soccer may have been used in the very early days of the game, but the governing body of the sport in the UK is the Football Association, formed in 1863, demonstrating how that was the accepted word for the sport even then (otherwise it would be the Soccer Association). Likewise the international governing body, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), formed in 1904 - no mention of the word soccer there either. And it won't be him changing it for Langdon's benefit, considering a) Langdon's intelligent enough to know what he means, and b) he's so determinedly English about everything else.]

During Priori Incantatem, Voldemort's victims come out in reverse order. However, James comes out before Lily. He should come out last, because he was killed before Lily. (Corrected in later versions of the book).

While being sorted into houses, Harry looks up at the Sorting Stool, and there are only three people left to be sorted. Professor McGonagall then calls out the names of four more kids.

How can Ron and Lavender be in a 'prominent corner' of the Common Room when in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it says it is a circular room?

Before Harry and Hermione go back in time, it mentions that Buckbeak is tied to a tree. But when they go back in time, Buckbeak is tied to a fence.

When Edward is telling Carlisle's history to Bella, he says that Carlisle "actually found a coven of true vampires that lived hidden in the sewers of the city. The vampires couldn't have been hidden inside the sewers because there weren't any. The sewage system was only built around 1859, and Carlisle found the vampires around 1660-1670.

Eddie's broken arm changes around, sometimes it's the left arm that's broken, sometimes it's the right.

When Arnie and Leigh gives the hitchhiker a ride, on page 265 (Chapter 34), it says that the hitchhiker opened Christine's rear door. But Plymouth Furies of that era had only two doors.

The pickup truck with the painting of the Gypsy woman and the unicorn in Chapter 6 changes into a VW microbus in Chapter 18.

When Julius is going after Pompey to Asia Minor and he reaches the harbor in Greece he tries to talk to the sailors but they don't speak Latin. So he asks Adán to translate for him, but he is unable to since he hasn't learned Greek yet. But Julius is fluent in Greek himself, he was taught as a boy and uses the language on several occasions throughout the series, including in this book. Why couldn't he just talk to the sailors in Greek himself?

In the second book Harry, Ron and Hermione go to Nearly Headless Nick's 500th deathday party. However, in the first book at the start of term feast he says he has not eaten for nearly 400 years, which would imply that this is how long he has been dead. (Corrected to 500 years in newer editions.)

Near the end of chapter thirty, it says that the only people left in the room of requirement are Harry, Ginny, Mrs Weasley, Lupin, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur. But on the next page Percy (who had recently entered the room) says sorry to Mr Weasley, but Mr Weasley had left the room along with all the other people.

In Part 3, Chapter 33, two news reporters come to see Annie and interview her about the missing policeman. She walks out with a shotgun full of "double-ought buck", fires a warning shot, and then when she re-enters the house she magically has a rifle, not a shotgun.

In the start of Part 6, the men let Percy out of the closet. They take the tape off his mouth and he starts to rub his lips, then lowers his hand to speak. Problem is he's still in the straight-jacket at this point.

Spiro's vault can only be opened by Spiro himself, but the guards change every hour and Spiro doesn't go to the vault every hour of his life to let the guards in, so how do they get in?

On page 39, it said that when Charlie got up Bella made him pancakes. Later, it says that Charlie scowled into his cereal bowl.

When Vittoria shows Kohler and Langdon the underground lab, she searches for the dial tone on her cellphone (and fails as they are underground), thrice. Cellphones don't have dial tones.

The age of Tom Hagen when he moved in with the Corleones is never consistent. At the start of Book I, Michael says Tom was 12 when Sonny brought him home and demanded they take him in; later in Book I, Tom says both he and Sonny were both 11. Then, in Book III, when recounting how Sonny had taken part in an armed robbery when he was 16, Don Corleone says that Tom had been living with them for three years at this point, which would place Sonny and Tom at 13 when Tom moved in.

In Chapter 5, Koontz explains how Grandma Rowena started smacking her lips while eating, at the age of 75. He then says this same event happened "halfway between her seventh and eighth decades". But at 75, she is actually halfway between her eighth and ninth decades (or, if you prefer, halfway through her eighth decade) - much like the 1700s are the 18th century, not the 17th.

Petra is reading some details about the size of a murder weapon used to commit 6 similar murders. The diameter of the weapon is estimated at 77 centimeters. It says according to Petra's ruler, 77 centimeters is 3 inches. This should be 77 millimeters as 77 centimeters is about 30 inches.

The Longsword Fighter that landed in Ascendant Justice's hangar bay is repeatedly referred to as a Pelican on pages 75, 93, 95 and more.

On Page 69 (Part One: Blood Sport) the Owner of the Kelly Fruit Company is called Hubert, but on page 217 (Part Three: Wreckage), his name changes to Henry.

In chapter 18 Scudder visits Dr. Nadler at his Manhattan office but in chapter 32 we hear that Nadler was in Martha's Vineyard at the time.

This is from the American hardcover copy, near the end of the book. On page 283, Opal says "Whoever is passing wind, please stop it, or I will devise a fitting punishment." Then on page 297 (it is the same time, but from Mulch's point of view instead of Opal's) Opal says "NOW, whoever is passing wind, please stop it, or I will devise a fitting punishment." Since it is the same time on both pages, she should say exactly the same thing.

When the time stop is almost over, Root uses his "finger" to render Cudgeon unconscious. However, later in the book it is explained that if you lose your consciousness during the time stop you would immediately jump to the end. Cudgeon should have disappeared, and Foaly (or someone else) should have realized how Artemis planned to escape.

When Clay and Tom are threatening to break into the hotel, Tom says "I'm going to grab a kerbstone and smash the glass", but Clay says "A curbstone?" Since they both say it, there should be no spelling error.

Diana Foxton's hair goes from blonde to brunette and back again over a couple of pages.

In chapter 22, page 107 in the first edition, Eddie is talking and says, "I want some more information on Rocco, that's all. The cops are convinced that Rocco killed him." The second Rocco should be Rodger. As written, the cops are convinced that Rocco killed himself in the third person.

In Chapter 7, Andrea's boyfriend Alex sends her an e-mail to tell her that his six-year-old student has slashed a classmate on the arm and that he will have to miss their planned dinner in order to deal with the situation. Andrea thinks about how bad she feels for Alex and his fourth grade student. Fourth graders are 9 or 10 years old, not 6.

Ian Malcolm dies in Jurassic Park. In the epilogue it says that the Costa Rican Government would not "permit the burial of John Hammond or Ian Malcolm", yet he's somehow back to life for this book, presumably because the character in the movie was popular.