What I've been reading

In addition to sewing, knitting, watching movies, and taking care of Dodger's needs, I read in my spare time. Currently I'm reading three books:

1. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way
by Bill Bryson (1990)

I think about English A LOT. I mean that's most of my workday right there. And while I know or can look up the bizarro English rules about ninety percent of the time, I am often exasperated by our language. The spelling, the pronounciation--how illogical and made-up everything seems. I mean, Why???

But Bryson explains that there are reasons in the madness. He made
English make more sense to me. I'm still reading, but so far I really enjoyed the chapter "The First Thousand Years," which shows that we have so many synonyms because English adopted words from other languages (still does). From the Vikings we get: freckle, leg, skull, meek, rotten, dazzle, husband, sky. From the Normans we get: justice, jury, traitor, petty, damage, govern. Isn't that amazing?

2. We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive
by Laurie Notaro (2005)

The li-berry finally got this installment of the Notaro books! She is hilarious and constantly telling on herself. I usually sit down and read her books very quickly.

3. Knit Lit: Sweaters and Their Stories and Other Writing About Knitting
edited by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf (2002)

There's a story behind my copy of this book. I bought it when LYS Stitchin' Post was having a big sale in which their books were half off. When I opened up the cover the evening I bought it I realized that it said "Shop Copy"! D'OH! I emailed the owner and told her I'd bring it back, but she told me she had an extra copy and to keep it. There are dozens of essays that were contributed, all pretty short. I think you have to be a knitter to enjoy this book.