Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A delightful journey into the world of lexicography

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

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Who would have thought a book about someone who edits dictionaries would be so delightfully engaging? Even better? I listened to the audio book, narrated by Stamper, and her personality and wit shone through the airwaves. Despite her self-deprecating descriptions of lexicographers as solitary, introverted shut-ins who would rather sit in a dark room alone than talk to another human, being in the room with her for this book was a great reading experience. Stamper regaled me with her stories of how she tackled the […]

“Lexicography Moves So Slowly That Scientists Classify It As a Solid”

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

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This book is just chock full of interesting nuggets of information (case in point: I considered titling this post “Did you know that the word “pumpernickel” comes from German for “fart goblin”?). In some ways the book is more interesting than it seems like it has any right to be. A book about writing dictionaries? Sounds boring, but Kory Stamper writes with humor (see post title) and an informal style that makes it an interesting and entertaining read. Each chapter focuses on an element of […]

Reading About Writing a Dictionary is FASCINATING. No, Seriously.

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Best for: People who love words. So, you know, ALL OF US. In a nutshell: Mirriam-Webster Dictionary lexicographer Kory Stamper shares a behind the scenes look at what goes into that tome so many of us take for granted, the dictionary. Worth quoting: “The fact is that many the things that are presented to us as rules are really just the of-the-moment preferences of people who have had the opportunity to get their opinions published and whose opinions end up being reinforced and repeated down […]

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

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Yay for dictionaries! This book is funny and smart and so geeky and I loved it. I want to be Kory Stamper’s bff. “We think of English as a fortress to be defended, but a better analogy is to think of English as a child. We love and nurture it into being, and once it gains gross motor skills, it starts going exactly where we don’t want it to go: it heads right for the goddamned electrical sockets. We dress it in fancy clothes and […]



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