Can't bookmark a page in Firefox
I was able to resolve this by exporting the bookmarks as shown here:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer

(suggested by @dwightk )

Exporting my passwords using password export addon 
http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/password-exporter 

and then re-installing firefox.