The Bibliophile's Dictionary by Miles Westley

The Bibliophile’s Dictionary by Miles Westley
A few days ago, while browsing in Barnes and Noble, I ran into The Bibliophile’s Dictionary. This is a dictionary aimed at booklovers. There are not only definitions for a bit over 2,000 words and phrases – the author doesn’t define everyday words, but rather those likely to be of interest to someone looking up details as he/she reads – but most of the definitions are accompanied by quotes from books. The author reads widely, since these quotes range from Robert A. Howard to Poul Anderson, from Fydor Dostoyevsky to Dan Brown, and even includes quotes from newspapers, histories, and so on.
It’s divided into fifteen sections, and most of these sections themselves have subsections. For example, a section on “Knowledge, Language, and Philosophy” contains sections on figures of speech as well as on writing, logic, and knowledge. A section on “the Lowly and Corrupt” includes sections called “Lustful,” “The Mob,” “Cowards and Moral Weaklings,” and so on. There are sections on writing, on drama, on religion and mythology, on architecture, and other interesting areas. It’s a lot of fun just to browse through, reading things at random.
It’s nicely designed and features some good illustrations. If you are a book lover who also likes reference books, pick up a copy.