Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a great way to meet other word nerds and learn new vocabulary. Visit Kathy at Bermudaonion.netfor more interesting words.
Even on Christmas Day, a word nerd can learn something new. My oldest son got “Nanoblocks” in his stocking. Imagine Legos, but super tiny. There’s a whole series of architectural wonders recreated with these microblock models. My son got Kinderdijk Windmill and Big Ben. (Very fitting, since his grandfather is from the Netherlands and his aunt is from England. Way to go, Santa!)
The village of Kinderdijk, Netherlands, sits in a polder. Nineteen windmills drain the polder.
During construction of the micro windmill, my son and my father started talking about “polders”. I paused and looked up.
“Polders?”
“World G,” my son replied. (translation: World Geography)
polder \pōl-dər\ noun; Dutch; a tract of low land (as in the Netherlands) reclaimed from a body of water (as the sea).
Word Nerd Workout
Geography has lots of interesting words: archipelago, peninsula, delta. Can you share an interesting word from geography? Let’s generate a big list and call ourselves geography wizards!
Welcome to 2014, another great year for reading. Once my Christmas decorations are properly stored, I hope to have more time to snuggle up with books! You too? May I suggest some good places to find great reads?
Suggestions from my readers
Visit the list of Favorite Books from 2014 suggested by my word nerd readers. It’s a wonderful, eclectic assortment of titles including historical fiction, YA, and non-fiction. Note: not all books listed were published in 2013.
Goodreads Choice Awards
Check out the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2013. Every year, Goodreads asks readers to nominate their favorite books. These awards are the only major honors chosen by readers, not “experts” in literature. Over one million readers voted this year for books in 20 standard genres, including fiction, YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy, YA fiction, Picture Books, Middle Grade Books, and Debut Authors. (Yay for the support of emerging authors!)
Goodreads lists the winner for each category as well as several nominees. Many titles didn’t surprise me: And the Mountains Echoed, Dr. Sleep, The House of Hades. But I was shocked to see that J.R.R. Tolkien won the Poetry category with The Fall of Arthur, edited by his son Christopher Tolkien. I’ve never heard of this work, but I LOVE Arthurian legends and Tolkien! What an awesome combination. (I know; total nerd.)
The Picture Book winner was The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. The premise: Duncan just wants to color, but all of his crayons are too busy bickering. What’s a kid to do? Doesn’t that sound fun? The covers for all the Picture Books listed look tempting. I’m happy to report that my favorite picture book author Mo Willems got a nomination for That is NOT a Good Idea. (Talk about a clever ending- you’ve GOT to read it. Even if you don’t have kids.)
If you go to the site and check out thelist, you can easily add books to your shelves using the “want to read” button under each title. Wait, you don’t use Goodreads yet? See my Goodreads guide for Word Nerds to enhance your reading experience!
NPR’s Best Books of 2013
NPR took a unique approach to its best books list this year. If you visit the “Book Concierge” at the NPR site, you’ll find over 200 titles chosen by NPR staff and critics. But the books are not organized in genres, but rather unusual descriptive categories, such as “Eye Opening Reads,” “Family Matters,” “Rather Long,” “It’s All Geek to Me,” and “The Dark Side.”
I think categories like that might actually do a better job of steering me to a good read than the typical, yet vague, genres of “historical fiction” and “science fiction.”
E & P won the YA category on both the Goodreads list and the NPR list
A few of the favorites from the Goodreads list appear here, including the YA novel Eleanor and Park and literary fiction piece The House Girl. But there are also some very interesting books I’ve never heard of, perhaps because the winners aren’t based on commercial success.
Have fun checking out all of those books!
What websites or resources do you use to find books to read? How helpful do you think lists like this can be?
I’m honored that you’re pausing in your busy holiday preparations to visit the Word Nerd. If you’re looking for something good to read after the holiday stress has passed, you’ve come to the right place. (And, can you pass the tape? I’ve still got loads of presents to wrap.)
Thanks to everyone who contributed their favorite books of 2013 to my giveaway. With your help, we’ve generated an interesting and eclectic reading list for 2014. I’m including links to Goodreads; click each title to find synopses, reviews, and information for how to get each book.
Favorite Books of 2013
Remember, these were books read by word nerds in 2013, not necessarily published in 2013.
I’m back from Maui for another round of Wondrous Words Wednesday. (Can I just say that the shift from sunshine to ice has been difficult?) Visit Kathy at Bermudaonion.net for more interesting words.
My word comes from the very helpful guide-book Maui Revealed by Andrew Doughty. Some reviewers on Goodreads complain about Doughty’s sarcasm, and suggest it doesn’t align with the “Aloha” spirit. However, my family, including my teen and tween, enjoyed the humor in his descriptions. For example, under “South Maui Best Bets”:
Best Example of What Should Be a Misplaced Decimal Point… but isn’t- $350 to use a cabana for One Day at the Grand Wailea.
Now, on to the Word Nerd Word, taken from Doughty’s description of Venus Pool in Kipahulu.
There you’ll find numerous places that people jump from, deep water in several spots, the pounding ocean just on the other side of the gravel and some perfect areas on the mountain side from which to sit and cogitate.
Cogitate \’kä-jə-tāt\ verb, from Latin cogitare to think, from co + agitare to drive; to ponder or meditate deeply or intently
I figured from the word “cognition” that this had something to do with thinking.
Word Nerd Workout
Think of some synonyms for cogitate and share them below. Also, where is your favorite spot to cogitate? Here’s one of mine:
Pa’iloa Beach (black sand) at Wai’anapanapa State Park
Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a great way to meet other word nerds and learn new vocabulary. Visit Kathy at Bermudaonion.net for more interesting words.
