Hello and welcome to Waggish Writer. This is Part 3 of "Waggish Writer Geeks Out: The Bookshelf."
Below is the background of my website that is a sample of my library.
Last time I embraced my geek-ness, I went over Cline's "Ready Player One" and Chetwynd's "Little Moments of Love."
Onward to the next books in the Waggish Writer's library!
Just a quick reminder, these books have meaning to me as a person, as a writer, and as both. I will list the book from left to right with APA citation and a short description of what is the book and why is it in my library.
At the end of "The Bookshelf" series, I'll create a list in case any of these books strike your fancy for practical writing tools or pure entertainment value.
Lansky, B. (1999) Baby names around the world. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.
What is in a name? Well, names can mean a lot of things. As someone who identifies themselves as an otaku, I am border on obsessing on the meaning of Japanese names. Hana translates to "Flower" while Goro translates to "Fifth." Basically, names can let you play around with characters, having hidden meaning that is in plain sight about their character or an irony when they act opposite of their namesake. What's nice about this book is that it is not only organized alphabetically but it lists the origin or origin(s) with the name and their meaning. It also helps that it has a list of the nationalities at the start if you're looking for a Hindu or Native American name. Of course, couldn't hurt to use as a research tool for future plans but those are of course future plans. I solemn swear, as a person and writer, that I will not make my future offspring be named as I would name a character.
Lansky, B. (2003). The mother of all baby name books: Over 94,000 names with origins and meaning. Minnetonka, MN: Meadowbrook Creations.
It seems that I haven't paid too much attention to my books recently if I'm only realizing that I have the same author who published books about names once in 1999 and 2003. Another way to look at it is that I found the books useful. While the books are a good resource to have on hand, I also turn to the Internet. The Meaning and History of First Names - Behind the Name is one of the online resources I've used when writing when I'm struggling with coming up with a name or have some time to kill at night when I should be sleeping.
Terban, M. (1996) Scholastic dictionary of idioms: More than 600 phrases, sayings, & expressions. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Full confession: this book has been on my self because I'm gullible. Sarcasm, puns, and things obviously meant to be funny sometimes fly over my head. This is kept on my shelf as I've been meaning to read the book. Who knows, I might get a poem or a character idea sparked from within its pages. I'll plan to follow up when I've sat down with the book in hand to investigate its contents fully.
This will be a wrap for Part 3 of the Bookshelf series. Part 4 will cover one of the idols of fantasy I enjoy and a children's author that intrigues me with their writing and humor in situations that children and parents often find themselves in.
Well, if you like what you've read, comment with what are three books from your library.
They can be books you consider your writer's bible(s), authors you look up to, or books you read for the full joy of reading.
If you do, tell me why. Let's geek out together.
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This is Waggish Writer signing off of this post. Stay tune for more of "Waggish Writer Geeks Out!"
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