Saturday, January 20, 2018

Word by Word by Kory Stamper



just buy this.
trust me.
I'm reading it in spurts cause I don't want it to end.

PW gave it a starred review. 

I give it five sharks.

20 comments:

  1. Kory Stamper! She's wonderful in the Ask the Editor series. Thanks for letting us know about this book, Janet. Looks yummy--like literary fudge.

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  2. I will probably buy this, word junkie that I am.

    It's official: I'm behind in my to-do list. Just calculated how much - 19 hours and 53 minutes. Not all of it is boring stuff. Some of it is music and art (which I have a snowball's chance of you-know-where of fitting in but I figure something is better than nothing, which is what I have so far. Right?)

    Florida is cold, y'all.

    But I got to pet a unicorn last weekend (pic on Twitter).

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  3. If you like this you will like "The Professor and the Madman" - about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

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  4. ...and the stack on my bedside table grows by one.

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  6. Woo-hoo! My library has this book and I'm number 10 on 4 copies.

    Hurray to the awesome librarians of the Calgary Public Library!

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  7. I worked on the OED in the 80s. It is a fascinating process to watch language evolve over time.

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  8. My dad used to read the dictionary. He would've loved this... I know I will. I just read the opening pages on amazon. Her acknowledgements! Brilliant.

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  9. If you're a twitter person, follow @merriamwebster. I love to read the dictionary.

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  10. This reminds me of BETWEEN YOU AND ME by Mary Norris, which I read and loved.

    And my library has it! I'm first in the reserve line =)

    Thanks

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  11. I read Reading the OED years ago, which was interesting, entertaining, and got me thinking about the dictionary in a way I hadn't before. I'll look into this one as well!

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  12. OT. Do main characters in novels need surnames?

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  13. Ooh, looks like my kinda read!

    Kathy Joyce, MCs need surnames only if it makes sense in the context of the story. For instance, if you have a police detective, I think it would be difficult to never encounter a place where he/she would be using a last name. But if you have a love story between teenagers that took place all in the course of one day, then last names would be totally easy to leave out.

    My two cents. Hope that helps.

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  14. oh dear.

    My tbr pile grew by three books. Thank you all!

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  15. While waiting on yet another book for your TBR (thanks, Janet!), I've just added a new document to the Treasure Chest. This morning, agent Mandy Hubbard wrote a Twitter thread on book deal negotiations, and what goes into them. It's a fascinating discussion on rights, territories, royalties, etc. With her permission, I compiled it into a document and made it available for you all. Check it out! :)

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  16. Colin, Thanks for all you do...!

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  17. I love this book so, so much. It sent me straight to the careers pages of every dictionary publisher I could think of, but apparently there aren't a lot of openings for dictionary editors.

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  18. I have to second Melanie. That treasure chest is a treasure trove of good stuff. Thanks, Colin!

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  19. This will be perfect for my Mum's birthday (and then I can borrow it *grin*).

    Thank, Colin!

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