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New to me words this week:

ossuary, n A container, as an urn, vault, etc., for the bones of the dead
page 16, Fields of Blood by Eric Wilson
“The Collector brushed over the shape and recognized it now as an ossuary, a repository for the dead.”
The text itself does a pretty good job of defining this one.

sybaritic, adj, from the noun Sybarite: Any of the people of ancient Sybaris; anyone very fond of self-indulgence and luxury; voluptuary
page 17, Fields of Blood by Eric Wilson
“This place was creepy, murmuring to him in sybaritic tones.”

revenants, pl n People who return, as after a long absence; ghosts
page 42, Fields of Blood by Eric Wilson
“The eighteen revenants continued through the night.”

susurrus, n A whispering, murmuring, or rustling sound
page 115, Fields of Blood by Eric Wilson
“Ariston and the other Collectors ducked into subterranean darkness and shuffled along stone-cold walls, stirring the susurrus of those who had given their lives for this land.”

tuica (pronounced: tsweeka), n A traditional Romanian alcoholic beverage, usually made from plums
page 144, Fields of Blood by Eric Wilson
“‘You still want the case of tuica, don’t you?’”

macadam, n (after John L. McAdam, and pronounced accordingly) Small broken stones used in making roads, esp., such stones combined with a binder such as tar or asphalt
page 3, Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
“The place was at the end of a sloping driveway that started out as macadam but quickly diminished to dirt and gravel.”

breviary, n A book containing the Psalms, readings, prayers, etc., of the Divine Office
page 62, Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
“Shivering, I pulled it over my elbows and felt as I did a small square weight in one pocket — a breviary or a flask.”

tattersall, adj (after Tattersall’s, a London horse market and gamblers’ rendezvous, founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall) Having a checkered pattern of dark lines on a light background
page 158, Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
“He was changed out of his suit but looked that much more polished in a pressed sport shirt and tattersall pants.”

colleen, n [Irish] A girl
page 252, Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
“Held out his hand and said, ‘Billy Lynch,’ and Eva, drying her hands on her apron like some Brigadoon colleen, said, ‘Billy Lynch, I know it’s you.’”

Reviews of the books cited here:
Field of Blood by Eric Wilson
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

Earlier installments of this feature (more great words!)

Currently reading: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Pages read since last update: 102
Running total of pages read since I started: 478

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 100 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since I started: 445 minutes

Mini-challenge this hour: I’m not going to try my hand at making a read-a-thon button; I don’t have the software on this computer, so I’d just get frustrated.

Prize you’ve won: none yet
Books completed since I started: 1: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Comments about this hour:
I’m nearly done with The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency! That’ll make two down. I’m waffling about what I’ll pick up next, but I don’t have long to decide!

I recently joined BookMooch, after much deliberation and wringing of hands. (I don’t think teeth-gnashing was involved, though, thankfully.) What seems like a myriad of successful trading options exist online — such as PaperbackSwap, and I had a hard time choosing. BookCrossing is a bit different from the others, with an intriguing take on the situation. On this site, you register the books you want to give away, and then leave each lying around in public. Someone else can pick it up, and register that it’s moved on. Seems fun, kind of like geocaching, but I didn’t think it would work very well in my small town.

I resisted them all for quite awhile, since when I initially perused any site I heard of for books I might want to receive, I couldn’t find the titles I sought. I felt like, since I don’t read/own mostly bestseller paperbacks, I was out of luck.

I finally joined BookMooch a few weeks ago after reading about it on a few different book blogs.

You just sign up, add a few titles from your shelves that you’re willing to part with, search for books you want to read, maybe import your Amazon wishlist, and you’re set! I do feel like BookMooch has a good range of books (even some textbooks), and I’ve succeeded in nabbing several titles from my list.

At one of those aforementioned book blogs, Dewey recently wrote a post giving good advice about BookMooch etiquette.

Are you part of one of these sites? If so, why did you choose it? If not, why have you stayed away?

That’s right, this blog has been active for one year, as of yesterday. I intended to post this then, but the internet failed me (yes, for the whole day!). Like so many things, it feels at times that I’ve been doing this for a very long time; at other times it seems like such a short time since Word Lily began.

Even in this internet age one year isn’t very long. I plan to keep going.

I started a blog. I had wanted to for quite some time, but I couldn’t settle on a name. Finally, last night my husband and I sat down at our dueling Mac laptops and checked the availability of different names, in brainstorming mode, at a few different places. Well, here it is, decided upon.

I want this blog to be about words, writing, language …

I love words, and I think clear communication is essential. So, here we go!

I’m sure the appearance and organizational structure of this blog will morph as time passes; after all, I haven’t done any of that yet. It will come.