Welcome to Litsy!

Esme‘s entire life has been about words. Her father was an assistant editor on the first Oxford English Dictionary and she grew up playing under the table where the editors worked.
When she starts collecting rejected words, most of which are used primarily by women or lower class people, she finds purpose.

I felt like it spent way too much time on her childhood and it wasn‘t quite what I was expecting from the blurb.

Thoroughly enjoyed this interview with Pip Williams on the CONVERSATIONS podcast;

https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/conversations/id94688506

Esme is born and raised in a world of words. As a girl, she begins to collect words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men. Later, she continues to search for words and their meanings to complete her Dictionary of Lost Words. Early 1900s to 1928: WWI, women‘s suffrage, and the building of the OED. Fascinating if you love words and origins of language

#ReadAway2024

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

A moving tale of a woman‘s love and loss. Spanning from 1886 to 1989, this novel weaves together a fictional life story with the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Powerful and thought-provoking, it highlights the impact of language through lived experience.

Read this for the family bookclub. I really thought this would be more about the dictionary but it was really a coming of age story. My mom really liked it. I thought it was a low pick.

#WondrousWednesday
🍁 my mood often dictates what I read.I can juggle more than one book- a buddy read, non fiction, fiction, poetry, library book, always an audiobook, kindle- a book for every venue & mood.
🍁 off the top of my head, the tagged book, Why Religion? (memoir) by Elaine Pagels, & The Poet‘s Revolution, The Life of Denise Levertov by Donna Hollenberg.

About to bail on this one. Boring and I don‘t think I have it in me to hang in long enough to finally get to the point of it all. Really wanted to like this one, but stealing slips of paper and letters containing others‘ work and calling it your dictionary isn‘t doing it for me 🤷🏻‍♀️ #unpopularopinion #literarycrew

repost for @Librarybelle:

Here is this month‘s #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead ! Read at your own pace, with questions posted at the end of the month. I‘ll also post periodic checkins throughout the month.

If you would also like to be tagged this month, comment on the post linked below!
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2461527

I ended up liking this but it did take me a few tries to finish. The concept is great — since mostly men created the Oxford English Dictionary, were “women‘s words” lost? Esme grows up at the Scriptorium, where a lot of creation of the dictionary happened. In the second half, the author fit her into the suffrage movement and World War I. A lot of it is very sad but it was worth reading. ⬇️

This book needed a better edit. The author tried to tie in too many threads and many of them were left dangling. I don‘t need resolution but many of the storylines felt like sketches rather than stories (E.g. MC mom, Tilda, tension in the suffragette movement).
The history of the dictionary and how words were vetted is so important and I wanted to love this book. Overall it read like a 3 hr movie that should have been 90-minutes.

While reading, you will experience every emotion from inspired and intrigued to fury and grief. This story beautifully articulates the troubling understanding we have of our English language and the admiration for the evolution of words. Definitely a pick for lovers of words but be sure to have some tissues handy!

Is it me or this a slow start. I really want to like this but it‘s not grabbing me (yet). I‘m spoiled by several amazing recent reads (Madeleine Miller, Natalie Haynes).

Such a superb novel. Well deserved current pick from Reese Witherspoon
Day 8

#bookmoods #celebbookclubpick
@eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I loved this book so much: from the journey that Esme has through words, both respected and remembered to the words discarded, forgotten, words of women, disregarded. It's a story of women and of war, of history and of the making of the dictionary from a much forgotten perspective, which is that of a woman. I loved how the historical characters were portrayed in this book so beautifully blended with the fictional. Definitely a book worth reading.

I had wanted to read this for awhile and I am glad I got to it. Truthfully, there was a spell in the middle that lagged but I pulled through it and dived back in. The characters were well written and wholly developed the story was terrific but I am still stewing in my feeling about the ending and trying to find the right words to do this book justice.

Bargain kindle purchase which I've had on my list for some time...

I have to drive into the office today, still rare for me in 2022. The only reason I am not dreading it is I get to listen to my audible book! No commute for 22 months means a lot less audio books

I knew very little about the compilation of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Thanks to this incredibly well-researched novel, some of my knowledge gaps are filled in. The first half of this book--about Esme's childhood, growing up in the Scriptorium, learning about words and language--is wonderful. The second half is just so sad. But I really did enjoy it, and I absolutely loved learning about the Dictionary.

Great story centering women characters and using real life making of the dictionary to highlight how a woman's world would be documented.

Not what I expected but a good read nonetheless. I enjoyed the concept and the tie in with the suffragette movement was well done.

A wonderful story and a well done audiobook! Esme is a complicated character, and I couldn‘t help but love her. I will enjoy reflecting on the intersections of love and language this book made me think about. 💜⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Beginning my weekend audio book. 💜

Given the great reviews here I‘m sure this is a case of “it‘s me and not the book.” I enjoyed the story while the MC was a child and then after that it seemed to meander. I just wasn‘t invested. Maybe another time.

My #bookspin and #bookspinbingo selections for September

This beautifully written work flavoured with both fact and fiction follows the life of Esme the young daughter of one of the important men working on the Oxford English Dictionary. After the printing of the first A and B edition of the dictionary it is discovered that the word ‘Bondmaiden‘ had some how been omitted. The story explores the missing word and the male influence on the dictionaries first printing while painted into the story of Esme.

An interesting fiction set in the real life story of the writing of the OED, focusing on female characters and how their words and works were disregarded. If you're a word nerd, you'll love this even more for that element.

This book took a while to get into properly. I really wasn't sure where the author was going with the story but I'm glad I stuck around. Williams explores such beautiful themes and important historical events in this novel. Be warned, this novel will break your heart a little. I was not expecting it to explore quite so much hardship and loss.
I really enjoyed the story.

This book is centered on the life of Esme. The reader meets Esme when she is a child in late 1800s Oxford. Since her father is employed as a lexicographer for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Esme‘s childhood is encompassed by the four walls of the Scriptorium (Scrippy), a large garden shed where the Oxford English Dictionary is written, and a love for words.

My second reading for Bookclub. Loved it just as much as first time. Good discussion. Everyone enjoyed reading it. #2020joybooks