I have a niche interest in “sci-fi books about language” (give me all your recommendations!) and so this one came my way. China Miéville is a pretty highbrow author, and this is a pretty literary SF book. It is pretty focused on its own theoretical linguistics and the xenology behind language. It doesn’t go so much for major character development or plot, but it’s not annoying in the way that it can be when a fictional structure is just a lazy device to deliver a […]
Old Friend, New Style
The thing about recent Kevin Henkes books is that I do not see the illustration styles of Chrysanthemum, Owen or Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse anymore. What I have come to know as his style is gone. Therefore, I do not say, “THAT is a Kevin Henkes book” and I am no longer drawn to them. However, this is in the style of the more recent books, so if you prefer that, this is perfectly a representation of his style. I picked up A Parade of […]
Fun Trivia, Including Why We Say “Jock Strap” and “Beef”
I recently reviewed a book about how the 178 printed miles of the Oxford English Dictionary was created. Concurrent with that book, I was also listening to Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue. While I wouldn’t say that one book was better than the other, I will say that if i had to pick only one, I’d pick this one. The wider scope of Bryson’s book gives you a little bit of everything – swear words, where names from come (think about “Goldwater” for a second), why kids’ […]
Late Contender for Favorite Book of the Year
Best for: People who enjoy words. People interested in how language use has changed since the internet. In a nutshell: Buzzfeed Copy Chief shares her perspective on language use for online writing. Line that sticks with me: “Shakespeare used the singular they, as did a gaggle of other writers, including Jane Austen and Geoffrey Chaucer, as long ago as the 1300s. This is not a new trend, people!” (p 219) Why I chose it: I love words and writing. Review: A couple of years ago […]
“People resist a census, but give them a profile page and they’ll spend all day telling you who they are.”
When I first re-discovered reading for pleasure as an adult, I happened upon a bizarre book called The Flame Alphabet. I was tremendously intrigued by the concept of language being used as a weapon, but was ultimately VERY disappointed and confused by The Flame Alphabet (because it’s weird, y’all. Super weird.) Fortunately, book lovers were there to point my uninitiated self in the direction of Snow Crash and this book. Turns out, “language as weapon” is a veritable sci-fi subgenre! Lexicon is, easily, the most […]
A Grounded Story of Faith and Doubt and…Aliens
Author Mary Doria Russell is a paleoanthrolpolgist, as well as an adherent to Judaism. However, she grew up Catholic, renounced her faith as a teenager, and took up her current faith when she had children and was trying to figure out what she wanted to pass on to her children. Her professional and spiritual background put her in an interesting position to create a cerebral, unique work of speculative science fiction. The Sparrow is equally engaging and horrifying. I wanted to put it down, but I […]
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