Reviewing "The Question that Never Goes Away" by Philip Yancey

Why?

If there is a good, all-powerful, all-knowing God, WHY do bad things happen?

In a world that often feels like it’s spinning out of control, it’s easy to ask this question. And even when life seems to be going alright, the question never quite goes away.

An American Linguist in England: Reviewing "The Prodigal Tongue" by Lynne Murphy

Lynne Murphy is a linguist from the United States who emigrated to England and teaches at the University of Sussex. In her book, The Prodigal Tongue, the humor carries a little bit more bite than Erin Moore's That's Not English! 

Almost as if the author has been given a bit of a hard time over her nationality of birth, and finally wrote a book so that when she gets corrected on word usage she just hands the critic her book.

Oh, But It Is! Reviewing "That's Not English!" by Erin Moore

That's Not English! Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us

In which the author, Erin Moore, reflects on various ways the English language is used in different cultures.

Moore was born in Florida but moved to England, married an Englishman, and had English children. Hers is less a study of linguistics than an affectionate comparison of two cultures that are close to her personally: the one she was born into, and the one she chose. Since “the one she chose” is England, it’s understandable that the slant would be slightly in that direction. However, her tone is (usually) less of an Anglophile fangirl and more “Look at this nifty phrase or word! Why don’t they use it in America?”

I've Read It Both Ways: Differences in English Usage From Country to Country

“…It [a shape-shifting alien…it makes sense in context] has amazing mimetic abilities. In one month it learned to speak English perfectly and to become well acquainted with British customs. That is no easy feat, Bunny. There are thousands of Frenchmen and Americans who have been here for some time who have not yet comprehended the British language, temperament, or customs. And these are human beings, though there are, of course, some Englishmen who are uncertain about this.”

           

The Problem of the Sore Bridge—Among Others

By Philip José Farmer [full disclosure: an American writing a pastiche of British author E.W. Hornung's Raffles short stories] (writing as Harry Manders)* 

Communication as a form of connecting and understanding other people fascinates me. It’s probably an underlying influence on my interest in the written word. Spoken words are interesting, too, but they’re transient. They fly into oblivion almost as soon as they escape the mouth. Even if words happen to be recorded in a video or audio format, it requires rewinding and replaying to review the words intensively.

Written words, on the other hand, stay put. One can stare at them, dissecting, defining, rearranging, until the writer’s intended meaning is pretty well grasped. This orderly method of communication may be why, in many ways, I prefer writing to speaking. I can be methodical and take my time with written words where one wrong curve of the tongue may distort the pronunciation of a word (basically a verbal typo), potentially affecting the meaning in the process.

Reviewing "Snow & Rose" by Emily Winfield Martin

I’m not sure exactly what “flavor” of fantasy Snow & Rose evokes. All I know is that if you can judge a book by its cover, Snow & Rose’s writing style fits the cover art (and illustrations) perfectly. It’s simplistic, sweet, folksy, sentimental, and tinged by a little bit of Grimm-esque creepiness. It’s a “modern” retelling of the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red (no, not that Snow White), about two sisters and their adventures with a cranky little man (no, not one of the seven dwarfs) and a benevolent bear (no, children, do not try this at home).

Reviewing "Threads Around the World" by Deb Brandon

I originally put this on hold at my library on a whim, not even really looking past the title of the book and thinking it must be one of those how-to books about embroidery that I sometimes enjoy perusing. The kind of books with a lot of pictures that are easy to read through in an afternoon.

When I picked up the book at my library I almost didn’t start reading it. Firstly, it was much thicker than I’d anticipated. When one expects a pinky’s-width thick book and it’s more like a thumb-and-index-finger’s-width (actual measurements may vary), it may cause one to reconsider whether the book is perhaps about something completely different than originally thought.

All in the Wrist and Other Excuses

It’s been ages since I’ve posted anything to this blog, and not for lack of thinking about it. Here are my excuses, in chronological order:

1.      November-December: “I’ll just wait until the holidays. I’m so busy, and blog readers will probably be pretty busy anyway.”

2.      January: “I have injured both wrists. Since my day job involves typing and other wrist-centric tasks, when I get home at night I can barely do anything.”

3.      February: “I have been sick. Twice.”

4.      March: “I’m having an existential crisis that is being exacerbated by a worldwide pandemic and a statewide shut-down the day before my birthday.”

5.      April: “I need to do my taxes. I need to do my taxes. I really don’t want to do my taxes. I think I’ll download Stardew Valley instead.”

And that’s how we got to May.