PGMCC explores the Biblioverse in 2025: First instalment
This is a continuation of the topic PGMCC explores the Biblioverse in 2024: Seventh instalment.
TalkThe Green Dragon
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1pgmcc
Books completed in 2025
Title; Author; Status; Start/end date; Number of pages
How the World Made the West by Josephine Quinn 16/10/2024 - 411 Pages of text. 560 pages when notes and index are included.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami 26/11/2024 - 464 Pages
The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White 01/01/2025 - 05/01/2025 287 Pages
The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa 05/01/2025 - 347 Pages
Title; Author; Status; Start/end date; Number of pages
How the World Made the West by Josephine Quinn 16/10/2024 - 411 Pages of text. 560 pages when notes and index are included.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami 26/11/2024 - 464 Pages
The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White 01/01/2025 - 05/01/2025 287 Pages
The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa 05/01/2025 - 347 Pages
4pgmcc
>2 clamairy: & >3 jillmwo:
Many happy returns.
I am looking forward to another year in your company and the company of our other friends in the GD.
Keep well!
Many happy returns.
I am looking forward to another year in your company and the company of our other friends in the GD.
Keep well!
5haydninvienna
Happy new thread, Peter, and again Happy new year!
8Alexandra_book_life
Happy New Year and Happy New Thread!
Wishing you lots of good books :)
Wishing you lots of good books :)
10jillmwo
>9 Bookmarque: How perfect. There's an elephant! I mean seriously, there's an elephant (!) sitting on a cushion and quite possibly one or two of the books.
11clamairy
>9 Bookmarque: Touché!
12pgmcc
>5 haydninvienna: >6 catzteach: >7 Karlstar: >8 Alexandra_book_life: >9 Bookmarque: thank you for all the good wishes.
>9 Bookmarque: Thank you for the great picture. It is very like my place except it is too tidy. As it happens I do have a red Chinese dragon on a bookshelf beside my desk. Yes, there are elephants in my house. Quite a few as it happens.
>10 jillmwo: >11 clamairy: I think >9 Bookmarque: was spot-on with the image for my thread. As one says, "I feel seen".
>9 Bookmarque: Thank you for the great picture. It is very like my place except it is too tidy. As it happens I do have a red Chinese dragon on a bookshelf beside my desk. Yes, there are elephants in my house. Quite a few as it happens.
>10 jillmwo: >11 clamairy: I think >9 Bookmarque: was spot-on with the image for my thread. As one says, "I feel seen".
14pgmcc
Book news! Book news! So soon into a new thread and I have book news.
Nothing too startling. Having read Guilty by Definition in the hope of finishing another book in 2024, and having spent some time compiling reading statistics for the year gone by, I was not in the mood to go back to my Murakami immediately so I looked around for another relatively short, and hopefully engrossing read. I picked up The Lady Vanishes* by Ethel Lina White, the book that inspired Hitchcock's film of the same title. I love that film, especially the two gentlemen striving to get the cricket results from London. It is a film I have watched and enjoyed many times and I am interested to read the original story in the book.
There was a remake of the film and I am afraid it was very disappointing. It felt sanitised and hyped up compared to the original. This younger generation just doesn't know what it is doing. :-)
*First published in 1936 as "The Wheel Spins".
Nothing too startling. Having read Guilty by Definition in the hope of finishing another book in 2024, and having spent some time compiling reading statistics for the year gone by, I was not in the mood to go back to my Murakami immediately so I looked around for another relatively short, and hopefully engrossing read. I picked up The Lady Vanishes* by Ethel Lina White, the book that inspired Hitchcock's film of the same title. I love that film, especially the two gentlemen striving to get the cricket results from London. It is a film I have watched and enjoyed many times and I am interested to read the original story in the book.
There was a remake of the film and I am afraid it was very disappointing. It felt sanitised and hyped up compared to the original. This younger generation just doesn't know what it is doing. :-)
*First published in 1936 as "The Wheel Spins".
18pgmcc
My year in review. Thanks to clamairy, 2wonderY and MrsLee for helping me get it up to date.
https://www.librarything.com/stats/pgmcc/year
Before you jump on the 165 books added in 2024 I have to let you know that I entered a lot of books during the year that I have had for a long time but for one reason or another did not get catalogued. Honest!
https://www.librarything.com/stats/pgmcc/year
Before you jump on the 165 books added in 2024 I have to let you know that I entered a lot of books during the year that I have had for a long time but for one reason or another did not get catalogued. Honest!
19MrsLee
>18 pgmcc: I believe you with reservations. I also entered many books which had been on my shelves, not entered until I read them. However, you bookstore field trip reports are somewhat of a giveaway. Are you prepared for those 7 badgers? I think I am only hosting 3 this year.
What my page stats don't show is that I rehomed about 30 more books than I kept this year
What my page stats don't show is that I rehomed about 30 more books than I kept this year
20clamairy
>18 pgmcc: Hmm. You only beat me by 21 books. Like >19 MrsLee: I am a bit skeptical. Do you add everything you buy right away?
21pgmcc
>20 clamairy: & >19 MrsLee:
In recent years I have been adding books as soon as I get them home. When I was collecting my George A. Birmingham and John Buchan books I was not recording everything as they arrived. Also, my Swan River Press books were often too recently published to be visible in the "Add a book" functionality. I entered some by hand, but many of them did not get entered. Those three sources make up many of the books I added in 2024.
Honest!
Don't look at me like that.
In recent years I have been adding books as soon as I get them home. When I was collecting my George A. Birmingham and John Buchan books I was not recording everything as they arrived. Also, my Swan River Press books were often too recently published to be visible in the "Add a book" functionality. I entered some by hand, but many of them did not get entered. Those three sources make up many of the books I added in 2024.
Honest!
Don't look at me like that.
22clamairy
>21 pgmcc: Bwa ha ha...
At least half of mine were borrowed via Libby/Overdrive, so it does make more sense.
At least half of mine were borrowed via Libby/Overdrive, so it does make more sense.
23pgmcc
For the record, I am about to have the Bombay Sapphire in my G&T. For some reason my wife declined to have a G&T.
24Bookmarque
My husband is a big Bombay Sapphire fan - very dry martini with either 1 or 3 olives. He's even trained bartenders out of the dreaded even numbered olive skewer.
25terriks
>14 pgmcc: I absolutely love the cover of this book!
26pgmcc
>25 terriks:
It really suits the era and atmosphere of the book. I am not sure if it was the title or the cover that caught my attention first. As the original film is one of my favourites I had to buy the book as soon as I read the title, regardless of the quality of the cover, but I agree, it is a nice cover.
It really suits the era and atmosphere of the book. I am not sure if it was the title or the cover that caught my attention first. As the original film is one of my favourites I had to buy the book as soon as I read the title, regardless of the quality of the cover, but I agree, it is a nice cover.
27pgmcc
>24 Bookmarque:
I have never had a martini, dry or otherwise, shaken or stirred.
By the way, I am about 75% through the G&T and am suffering no ill effects so far.
I have never had a martini, dry or otherwise, shaken or stirred.
By the way, I am about 75% through the G&T and am suffering no ill effects so far.
28MrsLee
>27 pgmcc: Have another two or three, you'll get there. ;) Martinis get you there faster.
30Bookmarque
Currently sipping
31haydninvienna
>30 Bookmarque: That's more like it! Big fan of bourbon here.
33terriks
:raises hand: Just an old fashioned red wine slut here. No, it's okay, I can acknowledge it out loud. ;)
Guess we're all accounted for at the pub.
Guess we're all accounted for at the pub.
34pgmcc
My first book completion of 2025 is The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White.
Would I read another book by this author?
Yes, in fact I have just bought the Kindle version of The Spiral Staircase (also published as "Some Must Watch") for 99p on amazon UK. There is a paperback version due out in February from Pushkin Press. I was torn between getting the Kindle version immediately for 99p or pre-ordering the paperback with another beautiful cover for £9.99. It is funny how numbers can help one make a speedy decision.
Would I recommend this book?
Definitely.
To whom would I recommend it?
Anyone who likes mysteries and who loves old dramas. It was first published in 1936 and Hitchcock made his classic film based on the book in 1938. I have always enjoyed the film and the book was no disappointment.
Did this book inspire me to do anything?
It inspired me to immediately look for more books by the same author and to purchase the first one I found, another of White's books that was the basis for another Hitchcock thriller.
35terriks
>34 pgmcc: Nice! Glad it lived up to that cool cover. ;)
36jillmwo
>34 pgmcc:. Oh. Dear. I was torn between getting the Kindle version immediately for 99p or pre-ordering the paperback with another beautiful cover for £9.99. It is funny how numbers can help one make a speedy decision
Philistine! Book designers are weeping into their beers around the world. Where is your love of art?
Philistine! Book designers are weeping into their beers around the world. Where is your love of art?
37pgmcc
My love of art sometimes comes into conflict with my love of eating, wearing clothes, travelling and keeping warm.
Also, having received a book token from my wife she might be wondering why I am spending money online for physical books rather than using her gift to me. The love of art can be complicated.
By the way, it is rich being called a Philistine by someone who could not finish Vanity Fair.
Also, having received a book token from my wife she might be wondering why I am spending money online for physical books rather than using her gift to me. The love of art can be complicated.
By the way, it is rich being called a Philistine by someone who could not finish Vanity Fair.
38Karlstar
>36 jillmwo: >37 pgmcc: Pulls up a chair and a cold tea to watch.
39pgmcc
>38 Karlstar:
A PGGB might be more appropriate.
A PGGB might be more appropriate.
40jillmwo
>38 Karlstar:. The man swears he is devoted to print but caves in buying digital at the first sign of a stressful economic period. And I dropped Vanity Fair because Amelia is such a nitwit worshipping a sleazeball of a spouse that one can't bear to be in the same room with her. (Meanwhile I'm reading War and Peace which pgmcc hasn't even attempted. I ask you, who is the faint-of-heart Philistine here?)
43Karlstar
>39 pgmcc: Yes, I need something stronger for this battle of wits. However, I think maybe >42 jillmwo: has capitulated.
44jillmwo
>43 Karlstar: Nonsense. That heart-felt raspberry carried true depth of emotion on any number of levels.
45pgmcc
>44 jillmwo:
It is your erudition and incisiveness in argument that I love about our discussions. How can one be more erudite than a raspberry?
It is your erudition and incisiveness in argument that I love about our discussions. How can one be more erudite than a raspberry?
46jillmwo
Well, FWIW, I did actually go ahead and get Graveyard Clay on the basis of your recommendation. I don't know when I'll get to it, but it at least made it into the house.
47pgmcc
>46 jillmwo:
Brilliant. I really enjoyed it.
Brilliant. I really enjoyed it.
48Karlstar
>40 jillmwo: Uh oh, add me to the Philistine camp, I haven't attempted War and Peace either.
49jillmwo
>48 Karlstar:. No worries, I still like you. ;>) (And I've never felt the need to blow raspberries at you.) If it's any comfort in any way, I've never read anything by Stephen King. Which makes me very weird and/or seem to be an elitist snob in some circles. I've just never gotten into his stuff.
I will say that I think you might actually like W&P once you got into it. It's not a hard read. It's just long. Tolstoy (without knowing it) was really creating something intended for the big screen -- on the order of Dunkirk or How the West Was Won.
I will say that I think you might actually like W&P once you got into it. It's not a hard read. It's just long. Tolstoy (without knowing it) was really creating something intended for the big screen -- on the order of Dunkirk or How the West Was Won.
50clamairy
I'm snorting here, and it's not pretty...
Thank you for this. I do love how the accusation of being a Philistine jumped threads.
Thank you for this. I do love how the accusation of being a Philistine jumped threads.
51Alexandra_book_life
Thank you for this fun discussion :D :D :D
52Sakerfalcon
Erm ... peers nervously round the door If it's safe to come in, then I'd like to wish you a belated Happy New Year! I hope it will be full of great books, elephants, and erudite discussions!
53jillmwo
I just want to reiterate a posting on my own thread. We do not need to divide up the world between lovers of W&P vs lovers of VF. For the record and speaking personally, all I am looking for is world peace. Grab yourself a pint and a hunk of cheese.
55pgmcc
>52 Sakerfalcon:
Happy New Year to you too, Claire. Come on in. Do not be hesitating at the doorway. jillmwo is negotiating a peace treaty with pints and cheese. She could be on to something there.
Happy New Year to you too, Claire. Come on in. Do not be hesitating at the doorway. jillmwo is negotiating a peace treaty with pints and cheese. She could be on to something there.
56pgmcc
I started reading The Black Swan Mystery on 5th January. It is a Japanese crime mystery and it is shaping up pretty well. The cover is lovely and like the last book I read it features a train. I was just admiring the cover and realised it is published by the same publisher, Pushkin Press under the Pushkin Vertigo label.
jillmwo, rest assured, I have invested in the cover artists for this one; it is the physical copy I have.
It looks like the author is presenting a lot of information that a diligent reader might take note of to solve the mystery. Times of key events have been mentioned, street/area names are given, and a full train timetable is given as well as a map of the train network. Sorting out the real clues from the red herrings will be fun.
57Sakerfalcon
>55 pgmcc: Jill has the best ideas!
>56 pgmcc: I hope the book's contents are as compelling as its cover. Pushkin have published a lot of Japanese crime fiction in translation.
>56 pgmcc: I hope the book's contents are as compelling as its cover. Pushkin have published a lot of Japanese crime fiction in translation.
58pgmcc
>57 Sakerfalcon:
So far so good. I am quite fond of classic Japanese crime fiction.
So far so good. I am quite fond of classic Japanese crime fiction.
59pgmcc
I have just been reviewing the parts of Guilty by Definition that I found interesting and even funny. A selection is presented below:
Page 19
“Browsing the faces of the audience she noted a few people who, like her, were ‘nod-crafty’: adept at nodding along to a speaker even when they had entirely tuned out.”
Pages 31/32
“The courtyard was full of young people, squeezed together in groups, all talking a bit too loudly, overplaying popular, confident versions of themselves like mediocre actors grappling with their lines.”
Page 32
“Apparently gossip is a positive thing. It’s community bonding. I mean, look at all the vocabulary for it we have to deal with: gabbering, yaddering, gasbagging, jaffocking, chamragging…”
Page 52
“Safi saw no reason to equate intelligence with a monochromatic wardrobe.”
Page 108
“Every historical dictionary has its singletons, words recorded only once before they slipped away into the shadows. Wardrobes, motivated as much by fashion as by value, have little room for outliers. Dictionaries of current language consequently neglect them, their compilers intent only upon the words their databases suggest people use. The rare, the obscure, the untested and the uninvited are left behind.”
Page 278
“…but you don’t realise how young you are still, Martha. There are any number of possible futures in front of you, but at some point the opportunities will start to narrow, and you’ll need to find joy in what you’ve achieved already, and in the present.”
Page 19
“Browsing the faces of the audience she noted a few people who, like her, were ‘nod-crafty’: adept at nodding along to a speaker even when they had entirely tuned out.”
Pages 31/32
“The courtyard was full of young people, squeezed together in groups, all talking a bit too loudly, overplaying popular, confident versions of themselves like mediocre actors grappling with their lines.”
Page 32
“Apparently gossip is a positive thing. It’s community bonding. I mean, look at all the vocabulary for it we have to deal with: gabbering, yaddering, gasbagging, jaffocking, chamragging…”
Page 52
“Safi saw no reason to equate intelligence with a monochromatic wardrobe.”
Page 108
“Every historical dictionary has its singletons, words recorded only once before they slipped away into the shadows. Wardrobes, motivated as much by fashion as by value, have little room for outliers. Dictionaries of current language consequently neglect them, their compilers intent only upon the words their databases suggest people use. The rare, the obscure, the untested and the uninvited are left behind.”
Page 278
“…but you don’t realise how young you are still, Martha. There are any number of possible futures in front of you, but at some point the opportunities will start to narrow, and you’ll need to find joy in what you’ve achieved already, and in the present.”
60pgmcc
Guilty by Definition is a mine with a seam bunged full of old words. The numbers are page references.
32: Conjobble: Making up untruths
39: Wone: A dwelling place
50: Zemblanity: The inexorability of unwanted discoveries
53: Ipsedixitism: The assertion that something is fact just because a single person says so.
53: Logophile: Lover of words
53: Lexiphile: Lover of words
53: Falsedict: An untrue deliverance of utterance
54: Pseudologiser: Inventor of elaborate lies
54: Gobemouche: Someone who, open-mouthed, believes everything they are told
58: Hethensith: A departure or decease
58: Louche: Disreputable or sordid in an appealing way
58: Taphophile: An individual who has a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries, epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of famous deaths.
60: Mountweazel: Bogus dictionary entry as a tool to spot plagiarism or copyright infringement
60: Suspire: Breathe out
64: Grob: The search by sense of feeling, as with the hand in a dark place
65: Onomastics: The study of the history and origin of proper names, especially personal names
74: Witship: Witness; testimony; knowledge
86: Mathom: A precious thing; a valuable gift
93: Ert: To irritate, disturb, or poke
97: Philobiblist: A lover of books
101: Vellichor: Smell of old books
108: Oberration: A wandering about
109: Apricity: The warmth of the sun on a winter’s day
109: Respair: A recovery from despair
114: Umbrage: A feeling of suspicion, resentment or doubt
125: Videnda: (plural noun) Things deserving to be seen
125: Kything: The recognition of old friends in a crowd
132: Velleity: The act of wishing or desiring without any accompanying effort
139: Xenium: A gift given to a guest or stranger
139: Rackups: The consequences of ill-doing
154: Addubitation: A suggestion of doubt
155: Sonder: The realisation that other people have rich and complicated lives that we will never know
157: Frowzy: Scruffy and neglected in appearance
158: Vicariously: In a way that is experienced in the imagination through the actions of another person
162: Freelancer: A knight free to use his lance for anyone that paid him
162: Fleshment: Excitement associated with a successful beginning
165: Induratise: To harden the heart
166: Procaffeinate: Put everything off until you have had enough coffee
171: Broggle: To poke with a pointed instrument
189: Inquilinate: To dwell in a strange place
196: Engouement: An irrational fondness
204: Vanitarianism: The pursuit of vanities
209: Intaglio: A figure etched in a substance
212: Desiderate: To long for something now lost
221: Tacenda: Things to be passed over in silence
227: Uhtceare: The anxiety before dawn
232: Zugzwang: The obligation to make a move but every move is detrimental
239: Prend: A mended crack
248: Obmutescence: A wishful speechlessness
261: Fernweh: The longing to be far away
269: Lion-drunk: The second of four stages of drunkenness in which a man becomes violent and quarrelsome
275: Cherubimical: Describes a happy drunk who goes around hugging people
275: Lick-spigot
275: Toss pots
282: Pneuma: the spirit, soul or life force
286: Gongoozle: Laxily watching activity on a stretch of water; Idly spectate.
287: Miasma: Oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere which surrounds or emanates from something
292: Tidsoptimist: A time optimist
301: Enelechy: The condition in which a potentiality has become an actuality
308: Scytheman: Time and Death personified
311: Wrack: The brunt or consequences of an action
317: Aumbry: A repositor of books; an archive
323: Sinuosity: A complexity of intricacy
333: Bether: A hallowed spot
345: Witterhed: Knowledge and wisdom
362: Rememble: To have a false memory of something
371: Untwining: An unravelling of threads
32: Conjobble: Making up untruths
39: Wone: A dwelling place
50: Zemblanity: The inexorability of unwanted discoveries
53: Ipsedixitism: The assertion that something is fact just because a single person says so.
53: Logophile: Lover of words
53: Lexiphile: Lover of words
53: Falsedict: An untrue deliverance of utterance
54: Pseudologiser: Inventor of elaborate lies
54: Gobemouche: Someone who, open-mouthed, believes everything they are told
58: Hethensith: A departure or decease
58: Louche: Disreputable or sordid in an appealing way
58: Taphophile: An individual who has a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries, epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of famous deaths.
60: Mountweazel: Bogus dictionary entry as a tool to spot plagiarism or copyright infringement
60: Suspire: Breathe out
64: Grob: The search by sense of feeling, as with the hand in a dark place
65: Onomastics: The study of the history and origin of proper names, especially personal names
74: Witship: Witness; testimony; knowledge
86: Mathom: A precious thing; a valuable gift
93: Ert: To irritate, disturb, or poke
97: Philobiblist: A lover of books
101: Vellichor: Smell of old books
108: Oberration: A wandering about
109: Apricity: The warmth of the sun on a winter’s day
109: Respair: A recovery from despair
114: Umbrage: A feeling of suspicion, resentment or doubt
125: Videnda: (plural noun) Things deserving to be seen
125: Kything: The recognition of old friends in a crowd
132: Velleity: The act of wishing or desiring without any accompanying effort
139: Xenium: A gift given to a guest or stranger
139: Rackups: The consequences of ill-doing
154: Addubitation: A suggestion of doubt
155: Sonder: The realisation that other people have rich and complicated lives that we will never know
157: Frowzy: Scruffy and neglected in appearance
158: Vicariously: In a way that is experienced in the imagination through the actions of another person
162: Freelancer: A knight free to use his lance for anyone that paid him
162: Fleshment: Excitement associated with a successful beginning
165: Induratise: To harden the heart
166: Procaffeinate: Put everything off until you have had enough coffee
171: Broggle: To poke with a pointed instrument
189: Inquilinate: To dwell in a strange place
196: Engouement: An irrational fondness
204: Vanitarianism: The pursuit of vanities
209: Intaglio: A figure etched in a substance
212: Desiderate: To long for something now lost
221: Tacenda: Things to be passed over in silence
227: Uhtceare: The anxiety before dawn
232: Zugzwang: The obligation to make a move but every move is detrimental
239: Prend: A mended crack
248: Obmutescence: A wishful speechlessness
261: Fernweh: The longing to be far away
269: Lion-drunk: The second of four stages of drunkenness in which a man becomes violent and quarrelsome
275: Cherubimical: Describes a happy drunk who goes around hugging people
275: Lick-spigot
275: Toss pots
282: Pneuma: the spirit, soul or life force
286: Gongoozle: Laxily watching activity on a stretch of water; Idly spectate.
287: Miasma: Oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere which surrounds or emanates from something
292: Tidsoptimist: A time optimist
301: Enelechy: The condition in which a potentiality has become an actuality
308: Scytheman: Time and Death personified
311: Wrack: The brunt or consequences of an action
317: Aumbry: A repositor of books; an archive
323: Sinuosity: A complexity of intricacy
333: Bether: A hallowed spot
345: Witterhed: Knowledge and wisdom
362: Rememble: To have a false memory of something
371: Untwining: An unravelling of threads
61Alexandra_book_life
>60 pgmcc: This was a very interesting and enjoyable list! Thank you :)
62haydninvienna
>60 pgmcc: The word that jumped out at me was mathom. Well knowing that it occurs in The Lord of the Rings I assumed that Tolkien invented it. That's not quite right, according to Michael Quinion:
This word is hardly new, since it was used by J R R Tolkien at the beginning of the first volume of the Lord of the Rings, published in 1954. As with so many unfamiliar words in his works, he derived it from Old English, in this case the one usually written maðm, “a precious thing, treasure, valuable gift”, that was current in about the year 1000. Following Tolkien, it has gained significant currency online and in a few printed sources. To define the modern meaning, I can do no better than quote Professor Tolkien’s own words: “Anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to hand were of that sort”. It’s a useful little word for which there seems no simple alternative and now that we have come across it, mathom will no doubt become part of our family’s standard vocabulary, since we have an attic full of the stuff.(https://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-mat1.htm).
63pgmcc
>62 haydninvienna:
On that basis I might be a Hobbit.
On that basis I might be a Hobbit.
64pgmcc
>62 haydninvienna:
The author agrees with Michael Quinion that it is Old English.
The author agrees with Michael Quinion that it is Old English.
65clamairy
>60 pgmcc: I do #166 daily...
I recognized a lot more of those than I expected to, but the rest of them made me feel as though I was reading another language.
I recognized a lot more of those than I expected to, but the rest of them made me feel as though I was reading another language.
66jillmwo
>65 clamairy: Thereby reflecting yourself as being a woman of uncommonly good sense!
>60 pgmcc: Do I get extra points if a book I was recently reading used #317 twice? Honestly, my first review of the list made me wonder if there ought not to be a form of BINGO using the list as a base.
>60 pgmcc: Do I get extra points if a book I was recently reading used #317 twice? Honestly, my first review of the list made me wonder if there ought not to be a form of BINGO using the list as a base.
67pgmcc
>66 jillmwo:
You get double extra points for ever occurrence.
A BINGO game based on these words would be good. People reading medieval and other old literature would have a marked advantage.
You get double extra points for ever occurrence.
A BINGO game based on these words would be good. People reading medieval and other old literature would have a marked advantage.
68hfglen
With all this talk of unusual words and Susie Dent, you-all may be interested in this podcast broadcast today on BBC Radio 4, of a conversation between Michael Rosen and Ms Dent.
69pgmcc
>68 hfglen:
Hugh, I really enjoyed listening to that. It was a great interview. Thank you for the link.
Hugh, I really enjoyed listening to that. It was a great interview. Thank you for the link.
70pgmcc
We met a friend for coffee yesterday morning. He told us he was reading Money by David McWilliams and that he was finding it fascinating and easy to read.
My wife was interested in what our friend was saying so I got a copy. David McWilliams is an Irish economist who has made a name for himself by being high-profile, writing books, participating in discussions and presenting his views on TV shows. He even had his own economics/money centred chat show on which he interviewed people, led discussions, and gave advice.
Both my wife and I have our doubts about him due to his giving advice which appears not to be great or even wrong (my wife is an economist and can easily spot his whoopsies), coming across as racist, and giving advice but in his own dealings ignoring the advice.
Regardless of all that we decided to give the book a go.
I have only read the Foreword so far, but the Foreword writer states that McWilliams has delved into the cradle of Western civilisation, Greece and Rome. One of my current reads How The World Made The West sets out to demonstrate, through the presentation of archaeological evidence including ancient manuscripts, the Greece and Rome are not the great origin of Western civilisation, but that thousands of years of Eastern civilisation is more responsible for influencing Western civilisation that Greece and Rome. I look forward to reading this book and matching its content with the relevant parts of How The World Made The West. I will, of course, have to wait for my wife to finish it. It is her book after all. :-)
71terriks
>60 pgmcc: I'm actually familiar with several of those words, but the one that I relate to the most is #166!
