Absurd Words

I couldn't resist checking out this book once I heard about it from a fellow blogger.

Here's the pitch: "There are over a million words in the English language, but the average person only uses 2% (for the math-challenged among us, that's 20,000---doesn't seem like much, does it?) of them! Why use those boring old words everyone else uses when you can expand and build your vocabulary---and have fun doing it!"

And what do I think? 

I was happy to see that I know most of the words (after all the target audience is kids, not grownups, like me). Still there is a solid 10% of words that are new-to-me, and that's nice.

Would a kid actually have fun learning these words? I would say a big Yes to that. The words are quirky and fun to say and have fun illustrations and have fun meanings. A random sampling? Mayhem...switcheroo...earworm...simpatico...persnickety...piffle...even quirky itself...so, fun, right?

I believe I need to pick out a few to add to my personal word bank.

Scofflaw (SKAWF-law) noun.

A person who repeatedly breaks rules or laws.

Taradiddle (tar-uh-DID-l) noun.

A tiny lie or fib.

Coxcomb (KOKS-kohm) noun.

Someone who thinks a lot of himself and struts around like a rooster.

Clishmaclaver (KLISH-muh-klay-ver) noun.

Gossip.

To help me remember these wonderful new words, I'll associate them all with a recent American political figure who I do not care for, despite my attempt to live by Jesus' admonition to "love your enemies." I'll keep this person anonymous but I'm sure you can fill in the blank with the name of a political figure you do not care for...surely we all have such a person in mind, no matter what our political beliefs are.

____________________ is a scofflaw and a coxcomb who uses taradiddles and clishmaclaver to get his way in politics. 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.

Fantastic Picture Books to Start the School Year Off Right

If you've been teaching a while, you probably have a nice little stack of books you have set aside each year for the back-to-school crowd. Maybe it includes some of these...

David Goes to School by David Shannon

How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolk

If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

Maisy Goes to Preschool by Lucy Cousins

Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin

The Pigeon Has to Go to School by Mo Willems

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdey

Here are some you might like that you may have missed...

Back to School Tortoise by Lucy M. George

Tortoise gets up. It’s the first day of school. But on the way to school, Tortoise begins to worry that he won’t be liked and he won’t have fun...

Rain School by James Rumford

A group of children are walking to school, excited about the start of classes. They walk and walk and finally they arrive. There are no books. There are no desks. There is no school building. The teacher is there. ‘’We will build our school,” she says. “This is the first lesson.”’

A Tiger Tail (or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School) by Mike Boldt

Anya wakes up on the first day of school and discovers she has a tiger tale. Eek. What to do? 

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

Penelope the T-Rex can't wait to meet her new classmates on the first day of school. But is she ever surprised to find out they are all...children! And they look...delicious....

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

With a huge cast of amazingly diverse children, Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman create a school anyone would want to attend.

Truman by Jean Ready

Truman is the peaceful and pensive turtle of peaceful and pensive Sarah. But one day Truman infers from all the clues---a big backpack, a big bow, a brand new sweater, a big goodbye---that Sarah has gone somewhere much farther than usual, and that he needs to search for her. Truman bravely sets out. 

No Frogs in School by A. LaFaye

Bartholomew Botts loves pets, and he doesn't want to go to school without one.

In a lovely succession that children will adore, Bartholomew tries taking a frog, a salamander, a hamster, and a snake, all of which are epic school fails. But then Bartholomew gets an inspired idea....

The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes

It's the first day of kindergarten, and this little fellow is off to rule the school as King of Kindergarten. It's a day of happy surprises, and the new king reigns with benevolence and generosity.

Do you have other favorite picture books for back-to-school?

Other school-related lists:

Some of the Best Books Set in Schools

Teaching in Tough Schools...Some of the Best Stories

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.   

Three Five-🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Reads

 

You know it is a good week when you finish three five-🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 reads.

Early Morning Riser made me smile, with quirky characters and with quirky situations. It's the rare book that can contain not only odd people and an odd story, but also great life wisdom, and that's what Early Morning Riser does. I came away thinking about functional families made of lots of rather dysfunctional people. 

The Mill on the Floss tells the story of the life of Maggie Tulliver, a misfit in her time, the 1820s. How much different her life would have been had she lived two hundred years later. 

And I took a day and made my way through Another Year of Wonder, reading about each classical selection and listening to it on playlists I made on Spotify. If you'd like to take a journey through classical music, be the first to let me know in the comments and I'll pass this book on to you.

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Early Morning Riser: A Novel by Katherine Heiny 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Dubliners by James Joyce (Classics Club)

The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life by A. J. Jacobs (Nonfiction)

Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters---and How to Talk About It by Krista Tippett (Spirituality)

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: How the Word is Passed and Hard Times

Books-in-a-Series I've Completed...and Those I Haven't...A Grim Accounting

A Walk Through Promenade Plantée in Paris

I felt inspired to go ahead and finish reading/listening to Another Year of Wonder last weekend. Here are my favorites from the second book.

Good Thing #1

My friend, Lisa, had a successful surgery last week.

Good Thing #2

My son and his family made it successfully through Covid last week.

Good Thing #3

Rain!

Lots and lots of glorious rain!

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

A Walk Through Promenade Plantée in Paris

My sister and I walked Promenade Plantée when we visited Paris in February of 2020. Promenade Plantée follows the route of the old Vincennes railway line which closed down in 1969. Ten years later, the railway line was reworked into Promenade Plantée, a secret garden over the city.

In winter, nothing much was blooming except a lovely tree covered in pink flowers, a beautiful backdrop for my a photo of my sister, Cathy.

We took our husbands to Promenade Plantée when we visited again last spring. It was quite a different place in the spring.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Books-in-a-Series I've Completed...and Those I Haven't...A Grim Accounting

I'm not much of a series reader.

I know that about myself.

But how many books-in-a-series have I completed?

It's time for an accounting, however grim...

How many series have I actually completed?

My successes...

The Lord of the Rings (3/3)

Chronicles of Narnia books (7/7)

Frog and Toad books (4/4)

All Creatures Great and Small (4/4)

Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge (2/2)

Olive Kitteridge books by Elizabeth Strout (2/2)

Harry Potter books (7/7)

Call the Midwife books (4/4)

The Giver books (4/4)

Persepolis books (2/2)

Maus books (2/2)

Sue Grafton ABC mysteries (25/25)

March by John Lewis (3/3)

Handmaid's Tale books (2/2)

Percy Jackson books (5/5)

New Kid by Jerry Craft books (2/2)

Edward Eager's Tales of Magic books (7/7)

Series I've started and but haven't completed...

My failures...

Discworld books by Terry Pratchett (8/41)

The Hunger Games series (3/4)

Alex Rider books (1/19)

Oz books (1/14)

The Dark is Rising books (1/7)

Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov (1/10)

Jeeves books (1/11)

Twilight (1/8)

Divergent series (1/4)

Hank the Cowdog books (15/70)

Dragonriders of Pern books  (1/24)

Ender's Game series (1/10)

Kat Colorado books (2/9)

I, Claudius books (1/2)

Lonesome Dove books (1/4)

Uglies books (1/4)

Spiderwick Chronicles (1/6)

Nancy Drew books (1/533)

New Policeman books (1/3)

Keys to the Kingdom (1/7)

His Dark Materials books (1/3)

The Inkworld books (1/3)

Dune books (1/8)

Strange the Dreamer books (1/3)

Folk of the Air books (2/7)

Maigret books (1/75)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books (3/6)

Wayfarers books (1/4)

Bartimaeus books (1/4)

The Chronicles of Prydian series (1/8)

Shopaholic books (2/12)

Outlander books (2/14)

Artemis Fowl books (1/14)

Miss Julia books (1/25)

Sherlock Holmes books (1/4)

Little House on the Prairie books (3/9)

Winnie-the-Pooh books (2/24)

Anne of Green Gables books (1/20)

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (14/22)

Bridget Jones (2/4)

A Wrinkle in Time series (1/4)

Magic Treehouse (5/50)

Wizard of Earthsea series (1/3)

Poldark books (2/12)

Corfu books by Gerald Durrell (2/3)

Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais (2/18)

A Series of Unfortunate Events (1/17)

All-of-a-Kind Family series (1/5)

Mobile Library mysteries (1/4)

Redwall series (1/22)

Big Stone Gap series (3/4)

Alfred Kropp series (1/3)

Ramona books by Beverly Cleary (7/11)

Cirque du Freak series (1/12)

Rabbit books by John Updike (1/5)

Stephanie Plum books (27/28)

Monk & Robot books (1/2)

Wolf Hall books (1/3)

Aimee Leduc Investigations (1/20)

Earthseed by Octavia E. Butler (1/2)

Chocolat books (2/8)

Monster Blood Tattoo (1/4)

Rowan of Rin (1/5)

Adrian Mole (1/8)

Limberlost books (1/2)

Agatha Christie mysteries (0/75)

Okay, out of this long, long list of series I haven't completed...

which do you think I should concentrate on?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.   

How the Word is Passed and Hard Times

 

I finished five books last week. My favorites were Hard Times and How the Word is Passed (you really need to read How the Word is Passed, if you haven't), but I also enjoyed The Stardust Thief a lot (after I finally got into it, about a third of the way in).

Nature Underfoot: Celebrating Crabgrass, Silverfish, Fruit Flies, and Dandelions 

by John Heinz 🐝🐝🐝

Play Your Way Sane: 120 Improv-Inspired Exercises to Help You Calm Down, Stop Spiraling, and Embrace Uncertainty by Clay Drinko 🐝🐝🐝🐝

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah 🐝🐝🐝🐝

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America 

by Clint Smith 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

Note: Links take you to the full review.

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill (Nonfiction)

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (Chapter-a-Day)

Dubliners by James Joyce (Classics Club)

Applications to become a Cybils Awards judge opened last Wednesday! If you have interest in children’s and/or young adult books, I hope you will consider applying to be a Cybils Awards judge this year. 

Here’s information about the process from the website...

Before you fill out the application, be sure to check out our FAQs about judging for us. There is this one, this one, and this one. PLEASE do this beforehand, so you know what to expect! 

After you’ve done that if you still want to sign up (and we hope you do!), here’s the link to the application form. Be sure to fill out the category choices, and make sure they are ones that you will be willing to spend a lot of time reading (because you will be spending a lot of time with these books). The deadline to submit your application is September 9th at 11:59 p.m. EDT. 

I'm a National Book Festival Ambassador! (Yes, and you can be one, too...) I couldn't resist becoming a National Book Festival Ambassador for the festival that begins on September 3 and runs over the Labor Day weekend. It's in person this year, but portions will also be online. 

Some parts of the festival will begin before the in-person event. The one I'm most excited about is seeing and hearing Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed, on Tuesday, August 23 from 8-9 pm EDT.

For more information about the festival and/or to become a festival ambassador, take a look at the website here. 

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Heads Up! The Cybils Awards are Coming!
12 Books I've Loved That Were Written Long, Long Ago
Sapphire Mining in Montana

Good Thing #1

We visited Quintana Beach County Park and 

I saw 9 new-to-me birds, including this Ruddy Turnstone.

Good Thing #2

I tried my latest Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World recipe out on the book club this week.

They acknowledged the superiority of this cookie.

Good Thing #3

Loving Zumba,

though I'm still the little duck going right when everyone else goes left.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.