Collection: Adult Non Fiction - Languages and Literature

Siri Hustvedt is widely regarded as a leading thinker in the fields of neurology, feminism, art criticism and philosophy. She believes passionately that art and science are too often kept separate and that conversations across disciplines are vital to increasing our knowledge of the human mind an...

"A bold new collection of poems from Sandra Cisneros, the best-selling author of The House on Mango Street"--Provided by publisher.

Alison Hoddinott writes about the history of crime fiction set in Oxford from the early decades of the 20th century to the present. Her emphasis is on novels written by women and the ways in which their fiction deals with both the mystery and its solution and with the situation of women within th...

Did you know that 'Almost' is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order? Or that 'Stewardesses' is the longest word you can type solely with your left hand? Or that fireflies aren't flies, they're beetles? From information about words and their uses, usef...

Literature is a technology like any other. And the writers we revere - from Homer to Shakespeare, Austen to Ferrante - each made a unique technical breakthrough that can be viewed as both a narrative and neuroscientific advancement. But literature's great invention was to address problems we coul...

Do you have strong feelings about the word irregardless? Have you ever tried to define the word is? Brimming with intelligence and personality, this vastly entertaining account of how dictionaries are made is a must-read for word mavens.

For the first time, the best of ABC presenter Roly Sussex's popular 'Words for Today' program are collected in book form. A must-read for all language nerds. Did you know that the word salary comes from the Latin sal for 'salt', since part of the payment to Roman soldiers was in salt? That braces...

"Even the best wordsmiths can trip over words that are commonly misused, mixed up or misspelled. This useful, playful reference clears up these language issues to help anyone get their word use straight. With clear examples of how to sharpen up text, writers will be set to improve their work, whe...