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:

Amy Johnson said...

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.

CynthiaMc said...

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).

John Williamson said...

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

Stothers said...

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

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...

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!

E.M. Goldsmith said...

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

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

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.

Unknown said...

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

Dena Pawling said...


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

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

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!

Unknown said...

OT. Do main characters in novels need surnames?

RosannaM said...

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.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

oh dear.

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

Colin Smith said...

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! :)

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

Colin, Thanks for all you do...!

sophistikitty said...

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.

Timothy Lowe said...

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

AJ Blythe said...

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

Thank, Colin!

Alex said...

Such a great book.