Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages Audiobook

" It's sucked me in so far, i'm about 8 pages in. "

" some what entertaining, but best for dedicated word mavens "

" Similar to A J Jacobs book about reading the Encyclopedia Britannica, Shea spends a year reading the 22 or so volumes of the OED. Not much to hang a book on although full of interesting word histories. "

" A fascinating and entertaining overview of the Oxford English Dictionary and some of its most obscure entries. "

" After reading and disliking Shea's book about the phone book, I struck this from my list. Then I realized that I owned this book and was therefore required to read it. Heh. I even read the whole thing, even though I wanted to stop 1/4 of the way through. The concept is intriguing - both in the sense of a doing-something-during-one-year memoir and as an appreciator of words, word origins and the study of nerdy things like dictionaries. But this turned out pretty boring - both the descriptions and the author's definitions of words he found in the OED that were interesting (to him). A few laugh out loud moments, but overall not very enjoyable. Recommended to only the dictionary obsessed. "

" I am geeky enough to be a tremendous fan about anything dealing with the OED, so this was quite an enjoyable read. "

" If you like words, with some dry wit, you will like this book. I laughed out loud at several points. "

" A funny quirky book for people who are word- lovers. "

" A lovely book. You may need to reread it many times. Keep it in your lectory. "

" I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, to be honest. I was super-excited to read it, but I couldn't click with the writing style - the author was a bit too misanthropic for my (admittedly, delicate) tastes, and I couldn't quite mesh with his prose. "

" Humorous and interesting book about one man's journey towards finishing the dictionary. You will laugh and learn some delightful words along the way. "

" Collection of selected words with amusing definitions and/or anecdotes. Not a steady read. "

" Very entertaining! I loved his chapter where he described the apartment of the woman who most influenced him to even consider reading the dictionary of dictionaries. "

" It's hysterical and learned and filled with delicious words. A must read for word lovers... "

" This book was like nothing I have read before. The author is so accessible and engaging and then I remember that he had spent an entire year reading in a library basement for over 8 hours a day--on purpose. I can't wrap my mind around it. "

" This book was rather witty and interesting, both the words he chose and the parts at the beginning of each chapter. I'm actually considering reading this again to try and retain all the words. "

" Not bad but not what I'd hoped it would be. "

" Is it bad that reading this book makes me want to read a dictionary myself? Shea's love of words is contagious. Such a fun easy read. "

" I learned some amazing words. Fun to read about the process of reading the OED. "

" This was a lot of fun. I learned several delightful words, such as velleity, lant, and obganiate. And I forgot countless more delightful words. "

" This one is not working as an audiobook. You have to see the words to enjoy it, yet the narrator is great at pronounciation. "

" A small book, yet a fine book that left me letabund. "

" It's funny and a bit dull "

" Delightful. I now use the words "jive-ass" and "futilitarian" on a daily basis. "

" Similar to A J Jacobs book about reading the Encyclopedia Britannica, Shea spends a year reading the 22 or so volumes of the OED. Not much to hang a book on although full of interesting word histories. "

" FUNNY funny. Also, I think this guy might be a little nuts. "

" Difficult and unexpectedly dry in parts, unfortunately too much whining in other parts. But overall, entertaining. Worth the time invested. "

" As the author says in the book, this is a reading log of his journey through the OED. He found some great words and definitely kept me interested, but in the end, the core of the book is really just a wordlist. I love weird words, so that's good for me, but perhaps others would disagree. "

" The author's year with the OED with a chapter for each letter. Quick read but not too much here. I was thinking more of something like Simon Winchester's book. "

" It amazes me how I never remember any of the so-called great words in word books like this one. Farding is the only one I can still define. A.J.Jacobs' book about reading the encyclopedia was a lot more entertaining - but with the same retention rate in terns of information, ie, very little indeed. "

" I love reading books in this genre. Plus, made me want to get out a dictionary and read it...in particular the OED! "