Welcome to Litsy!

This month"s #bookspin and #doublespin. Feeling hopeful I will read one of them. ?

It was a quick, delightful read - enjoyed the words! I had hyped this book very high so found it a bit disappointing, maybe I wanted more of a love story in the Victorian era? But overall enjoyable

Also finished. Also stunning but in a different way. Had a bit of trouble wrapping my brain around it at first & then it really drew me in. This is completely my brain‘s fault & not the book‘s.

Sooo many good things....👍🏼

https://bookmarks.reviews/audiofiles-best-audiobooks-of-february-2021/

There are times when reading about Winceworth reminds me of reading about Ignatius from “A Confederacy of Dunces”. In my mind, that is certainly a plus. Also, I now cannot stop thinking about mountweazels! Overall, this is a great read.

Winceworth and Mallory both work at Swansby‘s New Encyclopaedic Dictionary, but in different eras. In alternating timelines, 1899 & the present, they each experience an eventful (wacky!) day which changes their lives for the better. This novel is playful, witty, warm and wise. Also, an ode to vocabulary. #LGBTQ 💜

‘Ah, but here‘s a nice one: “widge-wodge (v.) Informal — the alternating kneading of a cat‘s paws upon wool, blankets, laps &c.” A sappy so-and-so, then.‘

‘That‘s incredibly illegal!‘
‘It can‘t be incredibly one or the other,‘ David said. He couldn‘t help himself. ‘Something‘s either illegal or not illegal.‘
Mansplain (v.) was unlikely to enter any version of the Swansby‘s Encyclopaedic Dictionary.

Winceworth had returned to vexing over why no word had been coined for the specific type of headache he was suffering. The bitter meanness of its fillip, the sludgy electric sense of guilt coupled with its existence as physical retribution for time spent in one‘s cups. A certain lack of memory, as if pain was crowding it out.

Like my handwriting, I was aware that I often looked as though I needed to be tidied away, or ironed, possibly autoclaved. By the time afternoon tugged itself around the clock, both handwriting and I degrade into a big rumpled bundle.

Witty, clever book that made me laugh out loud. A delight. Don't know if I will remember it over time.

In many ways David Swansby looked like his handwriting: ludicrously tall, neat, squared-off at the edges.
(lovely #endpapers)

Winceworth blushed, coughed, but words were tumbling out faster than the rhythm of normal speech, almost a splutter, the uncorrected proofs of sentences.

Our monthly literary salon has been meeting via zoom. “Archives” was the theme this time and I read from the tagged novel. Other people read their own words & poetry by Mary Oliver, Anne Sexton etc: archives turned out to be a really good theme and our discussion afterwards helped heal some emotional wounds of the pandemic.

Pip was out at the café where she worked. Of course she was—she was out to her family, she was out at work, out and about, out-and-out out. I suspected she emerged from the womb with little badges on her lapel reading Lavender Menace and 10% is not Enough! Recruit! Recruit! Recruit!

A few minutes later, when calm was restored, the cat Sphinxed on the armrest of a chair with its eyes closed. I gave its spine a nudge with my knuckles. Its body rumbled something about solidarity against my hand.

He had the forename Gerolf, which always struck me as worth another round of spellchecking.

Whether a dictionary should *register* or *fix* the language is often quoted as a qualifier. Register, as if words are like so many delinquent children herded together and counted in a room; fixed, as if only a certain number of children are allowed access to the room, and then the room is filled with cement.

If you've ever geeked out about words, language, the OED, this may be the novel for you. It follows two characters working on a dictionary which has the primary reputation of remaining unfinished. What's hard to communicate is the joy and glee experienced at times, despite the rather mundane work. It's also a good read for people who like workplace narratives.

https://apple.news/ACgkUXfxFS5-aBOxsQWRmfw

Greatly enjoyed this read- a treat for word-lovers. Present-day intern Mallory & her girlfriend Pip were a delight. Mallory‘s unwillingness to be out at work is a major point of contention- and doesn‘t protect her from threatening calls due to the dictionary‘s newly gender-neutral definition of marriage. Nineteenth-c lexicographer Winceworth‘s story has more absurdity, but also lots of charm & consideration of the meaning of fixing words in place.

“Let us imagine you possess a perfect personal dictionary. A, the, whatever. ...

“The dictionary‘s title would be stamped in gold across the spine. Its paper would have a pleasant creaminess and weight, with a typeface implying elegance, an undeniably suave firmness or firm suaveness. A typeface that would be played by Jeremy Brett or Romaine Brooks — a typeface with cheekbones.” #ARC

What an awesome cover!! Please, please let this one be as awesome as its cover!