We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending Jan. 24, 2016–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.
(Debuted at #5 in Hardcover Nonfiction) The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson: “Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to discover and celebrate that green and pleasant land. The result was Notes from a Small Island, a true classic and one of the bestselling travel books ever written. Now he has traveled about Britain again, by bus and train and rental car and on foot, to see what has changed—and what hasn’t.” (Jan. 2016)
(Debuted at #10 in Hardcover Fiction) Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin: “Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is feeling the heat. She’s investigating the death of a senior government prosecutor, David Minton, who has friends in high places. When one of their own is killed, the powers that be want answers fast. But Clarke is puzzled: if Minton died in a robbery as everyone thinks, why is nothing missing from his home? The answer may lie not in what was taken, but in what was left behind at the scene–an ominous note.” (Jan. 2016)
(Debuted at #13 in Paperback Fiction) The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald: “The bookstore might be a little quirky. Then again, so is Sara. But Broken Wheel’s own story might be more eccentric and surprising than she thoughts. A heartwarming reminder of why we are booklovers, this is a sweet, smart story about how books find us, change us, and connect us.” (Jan. 2016)
Among the many sweet things that happened to me during
my trip south last week was Bill Bryson's
Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way. I'd found the book at my favorite used bookstore near the Penn campus a week before. I'd tucked it into my bag last minute. It kept me all kinds of company in airport lounges and sleepless stretches. It became my very dear friend.
Published in 1990, superceded, but of course, by newfangled research,
Mother Tongue still felt fresh to me, unencrusted. Where did our compunction to speak come from? Why is English so pervasive, and so challenging? What is good English and what is bad? And where do words actually come from?
The facts, the trends, the particulars are frankly delightful. Especially to one such as me, who—out of boredom, lack of proper education, corroded memory, or (let's be honest) poor eyesight—can't seem to stop herself from stretching language in every conceivable direction.
Here is a bit of trivia that I'm sure Bryson hunted down just for me: "Shakespeare used 17, 677 words in his writings, of which at least one tenth had never been used before. Imagine if every tenth word you wrote were original."
Love that? I love it.
Among Shakespeare's contributions, according to Bryson, were "barefaced, critical, leapfrog, monumental, castigate, majestic, obscene, frugal, radiance, dwindle, countless, submerged, excellent, fretful, gust, hint, hurry, lonely, summit, pedant, and 1685 others."
Where would we be without those words? What would I, personally, do without both
lonely and
hurry? And what can we do to keep our language alive?
It all makes me wonder, on this snowy St. Patty's Day: What word would you contribute to the English language, if you could?
Bookshelf #27:
A.
11 years old
Bangalore, India
Here are some of my daughter’s treasures that I would like to share. Pardon the relative disarray: I haven’t got around to making bookshelves yet. These are housed in wardrobes that were cleansed of any clothes and other inconsequential stuff. The first photo is books at hand that A. has earmarked as ‘to be read over the next few weeks’. Note the Bill Bryson book at the far right in the upper row: A Really Short History of Nearly Everything. The second photo is of books A. has read. The third photo is the other half of the shelf shown in photo 2. Harry Potter books, Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series are behind these as is our collection of picture books by the Indian publishers. The thin red and white books obscured by the issue of Tell Me Why are our collection of the Amelia Bedelia books.
Submitted by: Sandhya, blogging at Saffron Tree and My Handful of the Sky!
For details on how to submit a photo of your child’s bookshelf to our Around the World in 100 Bookshelves, click here.
Dawn French’s début novel, A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Penguin), retains its position at the summit of The Official UK Top 50 week-on-week, thanks to a promotional appearance on ITV’s “This Morning”, and a “£2.99 if you spend £10” deal at WH Smith.
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Bill Bryson is not an author I've encountered before, though he's definitely one I'll be going back to. A Really Short History of Nearly Everything was originally published for adults back in 2003 and this particular version has just recently been adapted for kids. I didn't read the original, but this adapted version is awesome!
Though he doesn't really give you a short history of everything in the world, he does hit on main scientific points in history, such as what happened to dinosaurs, why the oceans are salty, how heavy the earth is, chain of life, genetics, planets, weather, atoms, asteroids, etc, etc, etc. Bryson then gives a short, simple explanation which reads very much like a story would, in a nice flowing manner. Not boring and scientific at all, which is a definite plus when it comes to non-fiction books for kids.
Filled with illustrations and photographs that accompany facts that are short and to-the-point. This would be a great resource for a classroom, homeschool setting, or library, especially while teaching different units. A great supplemental material.
To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a small commission from your purchase price. Thanks!
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything
Bill Bryson
176 pages
Middle Grade Non-Fiction
Delacorte Press
9780385738101
October 2009
Review copy provided by publisher