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[[Category:New Reviews|Trivia]] __NOTOC__<!-- Remove --><!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1780724047|title=A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs|author=John LloydPeter J Conradi|rating=4|genre=Pets|summary=I struggle to resist a book about dogs, but I did wonder why this one was so ''thin'': given that I've never encountered a dog who wasn't interesting or important - and probably both, John Mitchinson I was expecting a massive tome. But ''A Dictionary of Interesting and James HarkinImportant Dogs'' is actually ''a rich compendium of the world's most significant and beloved dogs'' and it's certainly a rich treasure trove. We begin with Peter J Conradi's four collies: Cloudy, Sky. Bradley and Max. They're consecutive rather than simultaneous dogs, but what comes over is Conradi's love for each and every one of them. I knew that I was in safe hands.}}{{Frontpage|author=Don Behrend|title=1,339 QI Facts To Make Your Jaw DropCopernicus! What Have You Done?: ...and Other Interesting Questions

|summary=Hello! Would this review be okay if I simply said ''A'' spermologer ''is a collector of triviaI LOVED THIS GLORIOUS LITTLE BOOK AND SO WILL YOU.FIN'' Just that sentence tells you a lot – we're once more in the realm of the curt, succinct approach to the world's information and oddities?! Because I did. It says more, however – beyond the weirdness of the word is the obvious necessity for the word to exist – without people that could be called collectors of trivia And you would not need the term. And rest assured, there are currently few people that stand as better ''spermologers'' than the chief QI elveswill.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0571308953</amazonuk>1789016770

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Allan MetcalfLloyd_1423|title=From Skedaddle 1,423 QI Facts to Selfie: Words of the GenerationBowl You Over|author=John Lloyd, James Harkin and Anne Miller|rating=3.5

|summary=I have to go You may think me lazy, but there is an inherent satisfaction for book reviewers in hitting upon a roundabout way to introducing book such as this book– you know you will have very little bearing on its sales, so bear with me. It stems partly from dictionaries and the etymology of the language we use, but what's more so if anything from you hardly even need describe it – just dip in here and there for a different couple of booksfew quotes, and their ideas of generationssit back and relax knowing your job is done. The authors ''Only 1% of those posited people who buy marmalade are under the idea that all those archetypical generations – the Baby Boomers, the Millennials, and those before, in between and since – have their own cyclical pattern, and age of 28. Treadmills were once the history harshest form of humanity has been and will be formed by punishment after the interplay of just four different kinds, running (with only one exception) in regular orderdeath penalty. I don't really hold much store Naked mole-rats can survive for 18 minutes without oxygen by that, and I certainly didnturning themselves into plants.'t know we'd started one since And the Millennials – who the heck decides such things, for one? ''Somebody must have put out an order'', as someone here says whole of something elsepage 52. But in the same way as generations get defined by collective persons unknownThere, so do words job done – and those words are the creators of this book certainly a clue have done their job to what was important, predominant and of course spoken in each decadeperfection.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>019992712X</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stephen HallidayBrightside_101|title=Cathedrals and Abbeys (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts)|rating=4.5|genre=History|summary=What makes a cathedral? It's not automatically the principal church of anywhere that is made a city – St Davids is a village of 2,000 people, and wasn't always a city, but always had a cathedral, as did Chelmsford. It's not the seat of a bishop – Glasgow has the building but not the person, and hasn't had a bishop since 1690. It's not a minster – that's something completely different, and if you can understand the sign in the delightful Beverley Minster describing the difference, that I saw only the other month, you're a better man I, Gunga Din. Luckily this book doesn't touch on minsters much, and we can understand abbeys, so it's only the vast majority of this book that is saddled with the definition problem. It's clearly not a real problem, and those it does have are by-passable, for this successfully defines a cathedral as somewhere of major importance, fine trivia and greatly worthy of our attention.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910821047</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Zoe Bramley|title= The Shakespeare Trail|rating= 4|genre= Trivia|summary= It has been 400 years since William Shakespeare, 101 Things to Take the man heralded as the greatest writer in the English language, and England's national poet, died. Shakespeare has made a profound mark on our culture and heritage, yet many aspects Stress Out of his life remain in the shadows, and many places throughout England have forgotten their association with him. Here, Zoe Bramley takes the reader on a journey through hundreds of places associated with Shakespeare – many whose connections will come as a surprise to most. Filled with intriguing titbits of information about Shakespeare, Elizabethan England, and the places that she talks about, this is no mere travel guide. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445646846</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewChristmas|author= Stephen Halliday|title=London (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts)Robin Snow|rating=4.5

|summary= What makes a city? Is it the materials, such as the very London Stone itself, of mythological repute, that has moved around several times, and now forms part For many years one of a WH Smith's branch? (This my guiding principles has nothing, of course, on Temple Bar, which has also been known to walk.) Is it that the people – C word should not be mentioned until the butchers [[Jack the Ripper: CSI: Whitechapel by John Bennett and Paul Begg|(Jack the Ripper)]]beginning of December but, unfortunately, the bakers (or whoever set fire C seems to the entire city from Pudding Lane) be coming earlier each year and the candlestick makers? Is there are even shops where it the infrastructurenever ceases to be imminent, from which ramps up the Undergroundstress levels considerably. So, whose one-time boss got a medal from Stalin for his success, book which promises 101 things to take the London Bridge itself, that in its own wanderlust means stress out of C seemed like a good idea. What’s it's highly unlikely about? Tips like putting the Thames will freeze again? However you define sprouts on to boil in November or joining a city, London certainly has a lot going for it as regards weird and wonderful, and religion which avoids the trivial yet fascinating. And, luckily for uscelebration altogether? Well, so has this booknot quite.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910821020</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Stephen HallidayBrightside_Worry|title=London Underground (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts)101 Things to do instead of worrying about the world|author=Felicity Brightside

|genre=TravelTrivia|summary= From initial worries I don't think that I've ever been quite so worried about smutty, enclosed air with a pungent smell to decades the state of the world as I have been of human hair late - and engine grease causing escalator fires; from just a few lines connecting London termini to major jaunts out into Metro-land for I speak as someone who lived through the suburbia-bound commuters; Cuban Missile Crisis and from various other apocalyptic moments. It almost certainly comes down to a few religious-minded if financially dodgy pioneer investment managers to Crossrail; the history lack of confidence in the world's most extensive underground system (even when people who are supposedly in charge, whether it be from a majority is actually above ground) is fascinating to manypolitical point of view or of our stewardship of this planet we call home. This book is a repository of much that is entirely trivialBut what can be done about it? We've tried voting, but is also pretty much thoroughly interestingarguing and demonstrating. Now we're down to pulling up the drawbridge and doing our best to think about something else.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910821039</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Julian HollandLloyd 1342|title=Railways (Amazing 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted|author=John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, James Harkin and Extraordinary Facts)Anne Miller|rating=35|genre=TravelTrivia|summary=How and when did Laurel and Hardy replace I love the Duke of York (George VI)? They reopened way the RomneyQI elves play games with us with [[:Category:John Lloyd, Hythe John Mitchinson and Dymchurch Railway when peacetime resumed, at whose launch the latter had officiated before the WarJames Harkin|these books]]. WhatThat's the worst that can happen when you travel internationally and arrive on a London goods train with no further destination documents? Well, if you're an unidentifiable Peruvian mummy you can get buried as an unknown corpse before the invoice turns up not to prove you were wanted in Belgium. After so many miles and so much drama, say it's no surprise odd facts and fun trivia derive from a game of pulling the wool over our country's trains. This book is designed to be an ideal source of quick articles and fun mini-essays eyes, for use every entrant in this series has had the smallest room.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910821004</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graeme Donald|title=Words of a Feather|rating=4|genre=Reference|summary= Words of a Feather. The title alone suggests an engaging read about language, and equivalent online version for the book certainly delivers. It pairs seemingly unrelated wordssources, digs up their etymological roots and reveals their common ancestry. The English language, of course, provides rich pickings indeed for a book of this type and it so every page is fascinating to see replicated with the hidden meaning behind common and not-so-common words. Some connections are fairly obvious once due links you read themneed to search for proof of their statements. For example No, the link between ''grotto'' and ''grotesque'' game is easy to grasp: the word Six Degrees of Separation. And they''grotesque'' derives from unpleasant figures depicted re so good at it, they can do most things in murals three. So in Ancient Roman ''grottoes''. Other connections are just extraordinarythree standalone, but thematically linked, phrases, like the so-crazy-you-couldn't-can get from how to make-it-up connection between the sound of an Orc army for ''furnace'' and ''fornicateLord of the Rings''films to record-breaking nipple hair. These two words date back From illicit wartime barbers in Italy to Ancient Rome when prostitutes took over the city's abandoned baking domes. And some connections are more than a little tenuous, seemingly just a collection of words banded togetherAmerican founding father bedroom arrangements, as is the case with the ''insult'' only three steps – and ''salmon'' pairing. One of my personal favourites: the Italian word ''schiavo'' for ''slave'' was used path carries on to summon or dismiss a slave; this word became corrupted to ''ciao''reach that erstwhile novice stand-up, Ronald Reagan, a word the in two more well-heeled among us use instead of ''goodbye'. It's only two jumps between Donald Trump and Charles Darwin, disconcertingly.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178418814X</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Ruth BinneyLloyd_1411|title=The English Countryside (Amazing and Extraordinary 1,411 QI Facts)|rating=4|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=I live in the countryside and spend as much time as the weather will allow exploring it, so the chance to read Ruth Binney's ''The English Countryside'' was too good to be missed. We've met Ruth [[The Allotment Experience by Ruth Binney|before]] at Bookbag and we know that she writes well and interestingly, but just one thing was worrying me about this book. It's a hardback and beautifully presented but its the size of book that you slip into a pocket or handbag. Would it be rather superficial?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910821012</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewTo Knock You Sideways

|title=1,234 QI Facts to Leave You Speechless|rating=4.5

|summary=''No US President has ever died in MayHandsome is as handsome does.'' ''There are fewer women on corporate boards in America than there are men named John.'' ''Dogs investigate bad smells with their right nostril And you know what else benefits from being curt and good smells with their left.'' ''Apollo 11's fuel consumption was seven inches to the gallon.'' ''The first occupational disease ever recorded in medical literature was 'chimney sweep's scrotum'.'' ''The song 'Yessuccinct, We Have No Bananasalongside old housewives' was written by Leon Trotsky's nephewsaws like that one? Trivia.'' ''In I always thought the 18th CenturyQI books such as this one to be handsome things – perfectly presenting trivia, four (on rare occasion, King George I declared all pigeon droppings three) statements to be property of the Crownpage, in a very nice little cubical hardback. Now they're being represented in paperback, but you know what? They're still handsome things. I hardly think I need say any more. Review over.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571326684</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Fred BenensonLloyd_1339|title= How to Speak Emoji|rating= 4|genre= Trivia|summary= Emojis are fun1, and there's so much more to them than the smileys of days gone by ? They can be a language unto themselves, though, and I've found that some members of the, ahem, older generation can find themselves a little troubled by them. This book, then, sounds perfect for anyone who needs a little help with this 'language'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178503202X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview339 QI Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop|author=John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin and Andrew Hunter Murray|title=QI: The Third Book of General Ignorance

|summary=Well done, Hartlepool. You didnA spermologer ''t put on trial and kill is a shipwrecked monkey thinking it collector of trivia''. Just that sentence tells you a Napoleonic spy lot – any we're once more than in the realm of the several other places thusly accused ever did. Well donecurt, Italy, for making succinct approach to the ciabatta such a global phenomenon it seems like a traditional foodstuff, even if it was invented in 1982world's information and oddities. And well done to that famous ice hockey playerIt says more, Charles Darwin however – who was probably playing it, seeing as it was a British invention, long before beyond the weirdness of the word is the Canadians ever realised they might be good at it. Yes, obvious necessity for a book the word to exist – without people that spends a lot could be called collectors of its time saying 'this didn’t happentrivia you would not need the term. And rest assured,' 'hoojamaflip didn't do this,' and 'there are currently few people that was never thus', it's one that's incredibly easy to be most positive aboutstand as better spermologers than the chief QI elves.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571308988</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Caroline TaggartMetcalf_Skedaddle|title=New From Skedaddle to Selfie: Words for Old: Recycling Our Language for of the Modern WorldGeneration|author=Allan Metcalf

|summary=I never declare myself off have to have go a 'kip'roundabout way to introduce this book, as I recall reading that it originally meant so bear with me. It stems partly from dictionaries and the etymology of the same amount language we use, but more so if anything from a different couple of books, and their ideas of generations. The authors of sleeping those posited the idea that all those archetypical generations – the Baby Boomers, the Millennials, and those before, in between and activity since – as happens have their own cyclical pattern, and the history of humanity has been and will be formed by the interplay of just four different kinds, running (with only one exception) in a whorehouseregular order. The word I don'cleave' can mean either to split apart, or to connect togethert really hold much store by that, and Icertainly didn'm sure theret know we's another word that has completely changed its meaning from d started one end of since the Millennials – who the heck decides such things to another although I can't remember which. , for one? Certainly, ''literallySomebody must have put out an order'' has tried its best to make a full switch through rampant misuse. Such is the nature , as someone here says of our language – fluid both in spelling until moderately recently, and definitely in meaningsomething else. This attempt at capturing a corner of the trivia/words/novelty market is interested But in such tales from the etymological world – the same way we have adapted old as generations get defined by collective persons unknown, so do words for our own, modern – and perhaps very different usages. Certainly, having browsed it over those words are certainly a weekclue to what was important, I can declare it a pretty strong attemptpredominant and of course spoken in each decade.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782434720</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Steve TribeHalliday_Cathedrals|title=The All New University Challenge Quiz Book: Questions, Answers, Cathedrals and Abbeys (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts, Figures and everything in between)|author=Stephen Halliday|rating=34.5|genre=EntertainmentTrivia|summary=[Cue theme music. Lights up on presenter, who waffles on about establishments providing contestants What makes a cathedral? It's not automatically the principal church of anywhere that is made a city – De Montfort UniversitySt Davids is a village of 2, local pub, family unit. Contestants don000 people and wasn'talways a city, for oncebut always had a cathedral, introduce themselves as itdid Chelmsford. It's probably not the seat of a given that they know each other. Contestants imbibe nervous sips of 'water'bishop – Glasgow has the building but not the person, and settle backhasn't had a bishop since 1690.] ''You all know the rules, so letIt's not waste time a minster – herethat's your first starter for ten.something completely different, and if you can understand the sign in the delightful Beverley Minster describing the difference, that I saw only the other month, you''  Yesre a better man I, Gunga Din. Luckily this book throws no punches doesn't touch on minsters much, and attempts to put you in we can understand abbeys, so it's only the spotlight of one vast majority of this book that is saddled with the nationdefinition problem. It's most superlative televisual institutions – but clearly not a real problem, and those it does it manage it?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184949701X</amazonuk>have are by-passable, for this successfully defines a cathedral as somewhere of major importance, fine trivia and greatly worthy of our attention.

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Gabrielle Balkan and Sol LineroBramley_Shakespeare|title=The 50 States: Explore the U.S.A. with 50 fact-filled maps!|rating=2.5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary= I've often shouted at people on UK quiz programmes for their ignorance of geography about their nation. People just don't seem to have learnt about or been to other areas of the place they call home. But while they get little sympathy from me when they lose the programme's cash prize, I can imagine that it would be much harder for them if they actually lived in a large country, such as the USA. 50 whole states of different size, all with a rich history of their own, their own famous places and their own noted people – the facts involved in absorbing all that's relevant would take a lot of research – or, paradoxically, this handy child-friendly book.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847807119</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewShakespeare Trail|author=Rob Temple|title=Very British Problems AbroadZoe Bramley

|genre=HumourTrivia|summary=Meet, if you haven't alreadyIt has been 400 years since William Shakespeare, the phenomenon of man heralded as the Very British Problem. In this format they're greatest writer in pithy little comments (ofthe English language, oohand England's national poet, about 140 characters died. Shakespeare has made a profound mark on our culture and heritage, yet many aspects of his life remain in lengththe shadows, for some reason…) and detail many places throughout England have forgotten their association with him. Here, Zoe Bramley takes the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to reader on a major factor journey through hundreds of lifeplaces associated with Shakespeare – many whose connections will come as a surprise to most. They can involve mannersFilled with intriguing tidbits of information about Shakespeare, staring at things until they mend themselvesElizabethan England, hitting things ditto, or and the fact places that nobody apart from you and I know how to queue properly. And if the idea hits the world outside our shoresshe talks about, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroadthis is no mere travel guide.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kevin FludeHalliday_London|title=Divorced, Beheaded, Died...: The History of Britain's Kings London (Amazing and Queens in Bite-Sized ChunksExtraordinary Facts)|author=Stephen Halliday

|summary=I love spending time with Mitchell Symons books. What makes a city? If you don't know himIs it the materials, such as the very London Stone itself, he's written this bookof mythological repute, that bookhas moved around several times, and now forms part of a book actually called 'WH Smith's branch? (This Book'' and a book actually called ''That Book''. He knows his triviahas nothing, he gets a lot of info course, on Temple Bar, which has also been known to walk.) Is it the people – the butchers [[Jack the Ripper: CSI: Whitechapel by John Bennett and Paul Begg|(Jack the pageRipper)]], the bakers (or whoever set fire to the entire city from Pudding Lane) and can really come across at the best of times as candlestick makers? Is it the infrastructure, from the Underground, whose one-time boss got a convivial host. So pair himmedal from Stalin for his success, as has happened hereto the London Bridge itself, with that in its own wanderlust means it's highly unlikely the Thames will freeze again? However you define a city, London certainly has a lot going for it as regards weird and wonderful world of words , and only great things could be expectedthe trivial yet fascinating. UnfortunatelyAnd, thenluckily for us, only just above average things were expectedso has this book.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782432574</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Holland_Railways|title=An Unkindness of Ravens: A Book of Collective NounsRailways (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts)|author=Chloe RhodesJulian Holland|rating=53

|summary=We have all heard How and when did Laurel and Hardy replace the Duke of a ''Pride of Lions''York (George VI)? They reopened the Romney, a ''Herd of Cattle'' Hythe and a Dymchurch Railway when peacetime resumed, at whose launch the latter had officiated before the War. What''Flock of Birds'', but what about s the less common, long forgotten collective nouns, like: worst that can happen when you travel internationally and arrive on a ''Bloat of Hippopotami''London goods train with no further destination documents? Well, a ''Mutation of Thrushes'if you're an unidentifiable Peruvian mummy you can get buried as an unknown corpse before the invoice turns up to prove you were wanted in Belgium. After so many miles and so much drama, a it's no surprise odd facts and fun trivia derive from our country'Herd s trains. This book is designed to be an ideal source of Harlots'' or a ''Superfluity of Nuns''? If you are interested quick articles and fun mini-essays for use in the English language and the origin of words, then you will really enjoy browsing this booksmallest room.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782433082</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Donald_Words|title=Who Invented The Stepover? (And Other Crucial Football Conundrums)Words of a Feather|author=Paul Simpson and Uli HesseGraeme Donald

|genre=SportTrivia|summary=In 1982Words of a Feather. The title alone suggests an engaging read about language, and the book certainly delivers. It pairs seemingly unrelated words, digs up their etymological roots and reveals their common ancestry. The English language, of course, second division Charlton Athletic staged an unlikely transfer coup by signing former European Footballer provides rich pickings indeed for a book of this type and it is fascinating to see the hidden meaning behind common and not-so-common words. Some connections are fairly obvious once you read them. For example, the link between ''grotto'' and ''grotesque'' is easy to grasp: the Year Allan Simonsenword ''grotesque'' derives from unpleasant figures depicted in murals in Ancient Roman ''grottoes''. If Other connections are just extraordinary, like the thought so-crazy-you-couldn't-make-it-up link between ''furnace'' and ''fornicate''. These two words date back to Ancient Rome when prostitutes took over the city's abandoned baking domes. And some connections are more than a little tenuous, seemingly just a collection of words banded together, as is the Danish superstar forsaking case with the glamour ''insult'' and ''salmon'' pairing. One of Barcelona my personal favourites: the Italian word ''schiavo'' for south east London seemed unlikely then consider that Simonsen had previously faked his own death during ''slave'' was used to summon or dismiss a World Cup qualifierslave; this word became corrupted to ''ciao'', a word the more well-heeled among us use instead of ''goodbye''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781250065</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Binney_English|title=Outraged of Tunbridge Wells: Original Complaints from Middle EnglandThe English Countryside (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts)|author=Nigel CawthorneRuth Binney

|summary=This book just had I live in the countryside and spend as much time as the weather will allow exploring it, so the chance to be called read Ruth Binney's ''The HorologiconEnglish Countryside''was too good to be missed. Originally it meant a daily diary of devotion for a priest or monkWe've met Ruth [[The Allotment Experience by Ruth Binney|before]] at Bookbag and we know that she writes well and interestingly, but just one thing was worrying me about this book. Our author knows it is It's a rare word these days hardback and gives it to his modern Book beautifully presented but its the size of Hours, which is book that you slip into a guide to similarly obsolete, charming pocket or unusually whimsical words set out, not as others do, as a dictionary, but in essays for every waking hour of the day, and the subject they're most likely to coverhandbag.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848314159</amazonuk> Would it be rather superficial?

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Arthur PlotnikLloyd_1234|title=Better Than Great1,234 QI Facts to Leave You Speechless|author=John Lloyd, John Mitchinson and James Harkin

|summary=Better Than Great is a bravura, ingeniously inventive, roaringly intelligent thesaurus of praise ''No US President has ever died in May.'' ''There are fewer women on corporate boards in America than there are men named John.'' ''Dogs investigate bad smells with their right nostril and acclaim - ohgood smells with their left.'' ''Apollo 11's fuel consumption was seven inches to the gallon.'' ''The first occupational disease ever recorded in medical literature was 'chimney sweep's scrotum'.'' ''The song 'Yes, momma! Where has this paean-worthy, distressingly excellent book, which certainly goes We Have No Bananas' was written by Leon Trotsky's nephew.'' ''In the whole hog18th Century, been King George I declared all my life?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0285641336</amazonuk>pigeon droppings to be the property of the Crown''. I hardly think I need to say any more. Review over.

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Joel LevyBerenson_How|title=Why?|rating=5|genre=Trivia|summary=Why does the Titanic float but a brick sink? And that water they’re sinking or floating in, why is it wet? And what colour is it, ‘cos it ain’t clear? These questions and many more are answered in this book which may not be a new concept but which is executed extremely well.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1843179512</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewHow to Speak Emoji|author=David Astle|title=PuzzledFred Benenson

|summary=Words Emojis are wonderful enough when they’re just telling you things straight upfun, but who can resist and there's so much more to them when they’re really being playful? Not David Astle, than the author smileys of this new title days gone by ;) They can be a language unto themselves, though, and I've found that blows some members of the lid on it all , ahem, older generation can find themselves a little troubled by them. This book, then, sounds perfect for anyone who needs a little help with what he calls this 'secrets and clues from a life in wordslanguage'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685427</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Joseph PiercyLloyd_3rd|title=QI: The Story Third Book of EnglishGeneral Ignorance|author=John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, James Harkin and Andrew Hunter Murray|rating=34.5

|summary=Well done, Hartlepool. You didn''The Story of English'' sets out to be t put on trial and kill a shipwrecked monkey thinking it a potted history of Napoleonic spy – any more than the several other places thusly accused ever did. Well done, Italy, for making the influences ciabatta such a global phenomenon it seems like a traditional foodstuff, even if it was invented in 1982. And well done to that have shaped our languagefamous ice hockey player, from Charles Darwin – who was probably playing it, seeing as it was a British invention, long before the Lindisfarne Gospels to LOLcatsCanadians ever realised they might be good at it.com. Starting with the pre-Roman Celts Yes, for a book that spends a lot of its time saying 'this didn’t happen,' 'hoojamaflip didn't do this,' and their Ogham alphabet'that was never thus', it goes crashing through fifteen hundred years of linguistic history at a terrific pace 's one that's incredibly easy to end with an almost audible sigh of relief at the internet agebe most positive about.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1843178834</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Phil Daoust (editor)Taggart_New|title=Write.|rating=4.5|genre=Reference|summary=The Guardian newspaper has New Words for some years now been publishing articles and interviews on how to write. Successful authors, agents and publishers have offered pearls of wisdom in the Guardian Masterclasses Old: Recycling Our Language for genres as wide-ranging as travel writing, picture books and screenplays. Now their wisdom and their insights have been collected together in this slim volume which will intrigue both the readers and the writers among us.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085265328X</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewModern World|author=Nigel Fountain|title=Cliches: Avoid Them Like the PlagueCaroline Taggart|rating=43.5

|summary=Cliché is such an awful word with all its connotations of the triteI never declare myself off to have a 'kip', as I recall reading that it originally meant the hackneyed same amount of sleeping – and the overusedactivity – as happens in a whorehouse. ItThe word 's a word youcleave'd hate can mean either to split apart or to have associated with your writingconnect together, even if you produce nothing more public than a shopping list but for the benefit of the discerning reader Nigel Fountain has compiled a list in alphabetical order of these dreaded phrases. and I began reading, confident that I couldn't be caught out and then blushed when I realised m sure there's another word that has completely changed its meaning from one end of things to another although I'd just pointed out to someone that avoiding clichés wasncan't rocket scienceremember which. They agreed that it isnCertainly, 't brain surgery either.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1843174863</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Alison Maloney|title=Bright Young Things|rating=4|genre=History|summary=According to the summary I read of 'literally'Bright Young Things'' before choosing the book has tried its best to read, it 'takes make a sweeping look at full switch through rampant misuse. Such is the changing world nature of the Jazz Age'our language – fluid both in spelling until moderately recently, and definitely in meaning. I was expecting it to be something of This attempt at capturing a narrative account corner of the Roaring Twenties trivia/words/novelty market is interested in such tales from the etymological world – in actual factthe way we have adapted old words for our own, modern and perhaps very different usages. Certainly, having browsed it's set out as over a collection of trivia about the decade. Similarlyweek, the 'first person accounts' mentioned on the inside front cover are limited to two or three sentence quotesI can declare it a pretty strong attempt.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753540975</amazonuk>