Litsy

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase | Mark Forsyth

bailed

4 chapters in and I couldn‘t do this anymore. This is just a giant string of quotes followed by rubbish. Shakespeare wasn‘t a genius because he learned to write and got better at it as he did it, and because one hit wonders are geniuses? 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

GingerAntics Neil Armstrongs famous quote “makes no sense” because of static or because he botched it? God uses English rhetoric... in a document originally written in Hebrew and Greek? This guy is self important and boring. He doesn‘t have an original thought in this thing. He just says things he believes make him sound intelligent. I just can‘t. 2w

GingerAntics I have multiple books in Apple Books by this author, but I don‘t think I‘m reading any of them. I didn‘t even have time to post here that I‘d started the book. Poets don‘t have great thoughts and no one cares what they think anyway was probably my last straw. #MarkForsyth #TheElementsOfEloquence #Eloquence #NothingEloquentHere #DNF (edited) 2w

GingerAntics This is officially my first DNF of 2025! 🎉🍾🎊🍻🥳 2w

quietlycuriouskate I don't know the parameters of "the team" in this case but it surely sounds like you took one for it! 2w

GingerAntics @quietlycuriouskate thank you! May my experience prevent the rest of this team from having to experience whatever this thing was. 2w

13 likes5 comments

ncsufoxes

The Big Book of Irony | Jon Winokur

The DoD has pulled this book from DoD schools pending a “compliance review.” Disclaimer: I have never read this book, have no interest in reading it. There are much better books to discuss life in the Appalachians.

AmyG 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 2w

Deblovestoread I haven't read it either and don't intend to, this makes me chuckle! 😂😂😂 2w

Librarybelle How hilarious! Thanks for putting a smile on my face! 2w

See All 8 Comments

TheBookHippie 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 2w

TheBookHippie @Deblovestoread same. 2w

dabbe Now THAT's a banned book I can wrap my head around! 🤣🤣🤣 2w

RamsFan1963 I figured the way book banning was going, the only two book that would be left in libraries would be this and The Art of The Deal "written" (ha!) by Donald Trump 2w

DogMomIrene 😂🤣😂🤣 Wonder if that ban lasts, though… 2w

26 likes8 comments

SamanehMot9731

The Greatest Gatsby: A Visual Book of Grammar | Tohby Riddle

A smile that understood you as much as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as much as you wanted them to believe you, and gave the reassurance that you really did convey the feeling you had best hoped to convey....

Vivlio_Gnosi

The Elements of Style | Strunk Jr. William

"Do not overwrite. Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating."

7 likes

JulietteReadsALot

A gaggle of geese: the collective names of the animal kingdom | Philippa-Alys Browne

pick

Bought this book today at my library book sale, just read it, and I just LOVE it. Perfect gift for one of my friend's kid!
Why?
Love the illustration style
Fun way to learn about the collective names of animals. As a non-native English speaker, I learned a lot (I'm sure other adult native speakers would learn a lot too).
At the end of the book, there are short explanations of the origins of these collective names

24 likes

AnishaInkspill

Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks | Keith Houston

pick

#2024reads #nonfiction

I read this a few months back, at times this was a touch dry but the examples and illustrations included made this an easier, fun read.

Keith Houston throws in many facts and trivia of 11 typography symbols, at times this is a touch overwhelming but at the same time fascinating. One of these is how the ampersand used to be the 27th letter of the English alphabet. I‘m still grappling with this one.

DogMomIrene Did it have the same meaning? That‘s wild that a word like “and” in symbolic form was considered a letter. 4mo

AnishaInkspill @DogMomIrene yes same meaning, it is amazing to think that this was once a letter 4mo

DogMomIrene @AnishaInkspill Wild!🐆 But cool!😎 4mo

12 likes3 comments

Hooked_on_books

Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian | Ellen Jovin

pick

Ellen Jovin has taken her Grammar Table around the US, answering grammar questions. Here she compiles answers along with anecdotes of the times people asked. It‘s fun but information heavy, so even though Ellen is delightful in the audio, I think print would be a better way to go.

35 likes

annamatopoetry

Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark | Cecelia Watson

so-so

It was... okay I guess? I had been expecting a more detailed history from conception to the present, and this was more of a meditation once the author got past some 19 century warring grammar guide writers. Which isn't bad, but it also wasn't what I wanted to read.

8 likes

annamatopoetry

Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark | Cecelia Watson