From an early age Butler suffered from crippling shyness making her awkward, as a result she passed her time reading at the Pasadena Central Library, and writing realms and realms of pages in her ‘big pink notebook’. It will come as no surprise to her fans to learn that she quickly evolved from reading fairy tales to reading science fiction magazines. Read More
bee-ju
Small and elegant. Also (archaic), a trinket or jewel.
French, from Breton bizou ‘finger ring’, from biz ‘finger’.
fro-wud
(of a person) difficult to deal with; contrary.
Late Old English frāward ‘leading away from, away’, based on Old Norse frá (see fro, from).
I’m not going to review the season, but I will say it needed more books! Even the book mentions that did take place felt a little slotted in and unnatural to the show. With the tragedy of the librarian, Poussey’s death at the end of Season 4, maybe this was inevitable, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of this season overall. Read More
ho-dee-urn-al
Relating to the present day.
Mid 17th century: from Latin hodiernus (from hodie ‘today’) + -al.
ee-den-tool-us
Lacking teeth.
Early 18th century: from Latin edentulus, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out’ + dens, dent- ‘tooth’ + -ulous.
plee-o-naz-m
The use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning (e.g. see with one’s eyes), either as a fault of style or for emphasis.
Mid 16th century: via late Latin from Greek pleonasmos, from pleonazein ‘be superfluous’.
Among this year’s honours are several authors, recognised by the Queen for their service in this honour’s list. Read More
goss-u-mah
A fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs spun by small spiders, seen especially in autumn. Or, a light, thin, and insubstantial or delicate material or substance.
apparently from goose + summer, perhaps from the time of year around St Martin’s summer, i.e. early November, when geese were eaten
Of course we don’t want to dictate what you should read, but from your votes we have a list of fifty children’s books that you recommended! We’re sure many of you will have your own suggestions too, feel free to add them in the comments. Read More
