What's in a Word

Title: What's in a Word: Fascinating Stories of More Than 350 Everyday Words and Phrases
Author: Webb Garrison
Genre: Non-fiction, language
Source: From the publisher, Thomas Nelson, in exchange for an honest review.

Whats in a word? Webb Garrison uses this quick, easy to read book to help explain the wheres and whys of our English language. Let's face it, English is sometimes hard to understand. We have bucket loads of idioms, coloquial phrases, and words that are used even when most of us don't know where they came from or why we started using them.

I love words. I am constantly fascinated with the way our language shifts and changes. I also have a bit of fun teasing my students about not understanding the source of the things they say.  This book is a collection of words and phrases you may not know the origins of.  I did enjoy learning about most of these words, but sadly, some are out of date. The section of computers/ technology is completely obsolete...anyone under 30 has probably never heard some of these terms, let alone want to know where it came from.

This collection of words and phrases would be great, light reading for word geeks and students. It also strikes me as a good read for people who love trivia.

The Selfless Gene by Charles Foster

Title: The Selfless Gene : Living with God and Darwin
Author: Charles Foster
Genre: Religious, Non-Fiction
Source: Received for free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for a honest review.


What if both religion and science are correct? Who says the world has to be only one and not the other? Mr. Foster is a Christian who walks in that gray area between the two and is angry at the extremists on either side of this great debate.

What I liked:

1. As another Christian who believes that God is large enough to have included evolution in His grand plan, it is refreshing to read the thoughts of someone else who feels that way.

2. Though the arguments and positions for both sides are well researched and given equal time within the book it was challenging to read. Sometimes it was the scientific explanations. Sometimes it was the extremist view points I don't agree with. It was always an interesting challenge.


What I didn't like:

1. Mr. Foster never seems to take a definite stance. Admittedly, most of the comparisons do come down on the side of God, but there is never a straight foreword statement of position. He spends a lot of time explaining each side and proving how the extremists are incorrect, but very little is said about how they could work together or be part of the same whole. This is disappointing.

Overall: I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this book, but I don't think it will be a great ground-breaking bridge between the extremes of religion and science. There is a lot to think about in the book and it is worth reading to get a taste of all the viewpoints involved in this debate.

The Dangerous World of Butterflies

Title: The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists.

Author: Peter Lauffer, PH.D

Genre: Non-fiction

That's right, I'm starting August off with a change-up. No strange monsters, or romantic stories, instead I was pulled into a world I didn't even know existed. No really. Did you know there is a black market for butterfly sales? Or that there are actually criminals in jail for catching butterflies? Mr. Lauffer took the assignment, learning about the butterflying world, to get away from his usual war correspondence. It's easy to catch glimpses of his war reporter style in this book, but it is nowhere near as impersonal as those types of writing tend to be. The information is given to the reader in a mostly first person format, which adds to the "he's new and discovering this information too" feeling. Several times I was just astounded by the information he "uncovered".

I don't usually read non-fiction. It's often dry and painful to me, but I'm so glad I picked up this book. It was an easy read (only took me two days) and an enjoyable read.

Go read this, now!