Reference

The Book: An Homage (Hardcover)

By Burkhard Spinnen, Line Hoven

$19.95

ISBN: 9781567926071

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Published: David R. Godine Publisher - November 1st, 2017

For Spinnen, a book is not words on a screen. Rather, it is tactile pleasure engaging sight and touch; an insignia of distinction in the bookshelf; a treasure sought in libraries and bookstores; a marker for a stage in life, proof of connection with the sentient world, and a talisman for the future. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare

Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language (Paperback)

By Seth Lerer

$18.95

ISBN: 9780231174473

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Published: Columbia University Press - August 25th, 2015

Did you know that the way children mispronounce words can change our language? That lexicographers' lives are full of dramatic struggles? That you can kind of understand Old Norse? Whether you're just curious or a budding diachronic linguist, this book will bring you a new appreciation of the words we use every day. - Some bookseller who never sent in her rec tag, ugh, oh crap it's me...

English Is Not Easy: A Visual Guide to the Language (Paperback)

By Luci Gutiaerrez

$20.00

ISBN: 9781592409235

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Published: Avery Publishing Group - June 9th, 2015

I used this book in my ESL classroom. Full of amusing (adult!) illustrations alongside handy references for conjugation, grammar, idioms and insults, this book can make even the Future Perfect Continuous both understandable and enjoyable. ~ Reviewed by Katelynne Shimkus

The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary (Hardcover)

By John Simpson

$27.99

ISBN: 9780465060696

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Published: Basic Books - October 25th, 2016

I have finally met my match in word-nerdery. And after you read Simpson's book, you'll be one of us too...
"Reading the dictionary" is usually an expression for tedium, but consider that David Bowie once called the Oxford English Dictionary "a really really long poem about everything." Former OED Editor-in-Chief John Simpson shares his same fascination with the most famous English-language reference, tracing the evolution of the dictionary from print to online, his personal life during his time on staff, and even the surprising trajectory of a few word entries. ~ Reviewed by Katelynne Shimkus

The African Svelte: Ingenious Misspellings That Make Surprising Sense (Hardcover)

By Daniel Menaker, Roz Chast (Illustrator), Billy Collins (Foreword by)

$20.00

ISBN: 9780544800632

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Published: Houghton Mifflin - October 18th, 2016

The former fiction editor at the New Yorker collected these funny and unintentionally insightful misspellings throughout his career. Whether you're checking your "cholesteroil" or making a "last-stitch effort" you'd have to be "vast asleep" not to get a kick out of this. ~ Reviewed by Stan Hynds