I really enjoy reading. I always have and I probably always will. I was one of those children who sat near the classroom at recess and read a book. While other kids were playing tether ball I was traveling toward the Misty Mountain, exploring Watership Down, and experiencing other interesting places.
One of the things that makes a book enjoyable, in my opinion, is its degree of challenge. No, I don't mean that it's so boring to read it's a challenge to get through the entire thing. I mean that the book challenges me to continually be looking up new words to learn their meanings and pronunciations. I guess I just like words.
I just finished reading The Thorn Birds, which I really enjoyed. It's kind of an epic story, not unlike Gone With the Wind. Anyway, this book had me looking up words on nearly every page. I really enjoyed it because I learned some great new words. Want to see some of them? Sure you do!
| alacrity anathema arabesque doyenne garrulous glaucous goggomobile herzchen hove inchoate limned lissom nebulous |
paucity prevarication pugnacity punctilious salaam salubrious shibboleth sibilance soutane sybaritism unprepossessing |
In college I habitually read with a dictionary next to me. If I was in the library, sometimes I would go so far as to pull out the Oxford English Dictionary to look at the origins of the word as well. Haha. I have discovered that I am a habitual learner. Having a Kindle/Kindle app has been fantastic for me, because I can just click on a word and the definition and history of it automatically pop up. Love it!
ReplyDeleteThat is a really appealing idea (the Kindle app definition function). I'll have to consider that. :)
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