The Secret Life of Pronouns by James W. Pennebaker

What Our Words Say About Us

5 stars
nonfiction
Psychology/Linguistics

Oh my holy fascinating.

I cannot recommend this book enough.  It is really that interesting.

And the style/tone of the writing is conversational enough that it's fairly easy to read, even if some of the details are harder to follow.

This book is all about those sneaky little words that we don't even think about-- pronouns, articles, prepositions, etc.  Function words.

Who'd have thought those little words say so much about us.

This was a "stay up way too late" book for me.  Two nights in a row.

It does get a little repetitive in a couple places, but not too bad.

RECOMMENDED.  Go read it.  Now.

:)

Grammar Police :)

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How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

4 stars
R- 2

This was my book club pick this month.  (Yeah, I know, a non-Reader's Choice, what was I thinking?  Oh well.)

Reminiscent of Connie Willis' books, I found this to be a bizarre and amusing book, half sci-fi, half philosophical treatise. 

(I haven't read anything by Douglas Adams, but I imagine there are similarities there, too.)

The first half is funnier, while the second have does have a tendency to wax confusingly philosophical.  I still enjoyed that though.

My favorite parts-- the Microsoft references.  Without a doubt.  Hilarious.

And while this is a total geek/engineer book, it's also totally a book for grammar nerds.  Because really, time travel is all about tense: present, past, future.

So really, I recommend it to any engineering major, humanities or English major, computer science major, etc.  :)

I really think I need to own this one.  :D

Counts for my book club (obviously) and the Support Your Local Library Challenge.

Words

Inspired by this WORDY post by Deanna Raybourn, I'd like to share a "song" with you.

Well, okay, I don't know if it can technically be called a song.

It's called "Bulbous Bouffant". And it cracks me up.

You can hear and see it on YouTube--

animated video

photo montage video

(Gotta love Dr. Demento.)

While you're at it, check out Star Trekin' and Dead Puppies or My Dead Dog Rover.

You may also enjoy Fish Heads and Boot to the Head. I know I did.

Sadly, I cannot find "I am a Squid, I am a Mollusk" anywhere. Very very sad.

(I am queen of my own little nerddom.)

ETA- How could I have forgotten to include Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. (You may want to watch/listen to this one without kids present... it's a little bloody...)

Awesome Words

I love words.

No really, I mean it.

I'm sure you would never have guessed.

Anyway.

THIS very cool post of the week, has some really cool words-- defined.

I have a couple of other interesting tidbits for you--
HERE is a very helpful post for those who blog.
AND HERE is some good information for those of us who buy used books.

Enjoy!

AND HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!