Not to brag but I recently bought the newest edition of the Merriam-Webster collegiate dictionary and in true autistic fashion/to no one’s surprise, I am deeply obsessed. Look at how beautiful she is!!!
Since she arrived, I’ve been carrying her around my apartment with me like a baby; reading and re-reading all the front matter and supplemental information throughout; asking everyone I know to guess what the last word listed in her is; and having my kids and my friends make a series of choices to arrive at their own personal Word of the Day. Everyone is so sick of me!!!
I’m also using the occasion to once again evangelize about a few of my favorite books about books and words. Ywfms 🫡
To begin the list, the most obvious selection: Word By Word: The Secret Lives of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper.
Kory is a lexicographer who worked at Merriam-Webster for more than a decade, helping to write the dictionary. This book, which came out in 2017, and which I of course preordered months before its publication, is such a fun read. I truly wish I’d known when I was younger that working with words in this particular way is a job I could have pursued.
Other favorites:
- A Place For Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order by journalist and historian Judith Flanders.
- Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch.
- The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by writer Keith Houston. My first time reading this book was such a thrilling and fulfilling experience. The book itself is beautifully crafted and a wonderful tactile experience, and the information contained within is interesting and enriching. Big big love for this book.
- Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by writer and English professor Dennis Duncan.
- Studying Early Printed Books, 1450-1800: A Practical Guide by librarian, book historian, and bibliographer Sarah Werner. My autism is on full display with this recommendation, which is more academic than the other titles on this list. I don’t think it’s dry or overly technical, and I also know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
- Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can’t Live Without Them by writer and poet Adrienne Raphel.
Two bonus books, each about punctuation:
- Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark by historian and philosopher of science Cecelia Watson.
- Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston.
Happy reading! 🤓