My new Sunday afternoon routine consists of going to church in Midland and then spending time afterwards at Barnes & Nobles, enjoying the half soup half sandwich combo. This past Sunday after having a good few hours in the cafe side I decided to wander through the book section, already determined to just look, because 1) I left my 25% off coupon at home, and 2) as a former library employee I've come to realize the beauty of public libraries. Anyway, I looked around for a while, browsing travel books, bestsellers, cookbooks, and everything in between. Just as I was about to leave I passed by the bargain books table and found a copy of You're Wearing That? by Deborah Tannen for only $5! It was a bargain I couldn't resist!

I realize that most people don't know who Tannen is, so allow me to introduce you to her. I first discovered Tannen my sophomore year of college in one of my linguistics classes when we were assigned another of her books, That's Not What I Meant. In the linguistics world you don't get more famous than Deborah Tannen. As a socio-linguist and professor at Georgetown University she has bridged the gap between academia and pop culture more than any other scholar in her field. Her books have been on the New York Times Bestseller list and she's had appearances on multiple television shows. She writes about the way people communicate and how to understand different communication styles. In the book I just bought she looks specifically at mother-daughter relationships. She also has another book that I want to read called You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. Tannen's books are well-respected in the linguistics community as well as entertaining and easy to read for the general public. I know I sound like her publicist or something, but I really think people should know about this lady, her stellar books, and the wonderful world of linguistics!

Now that I've given my spiel, what are some of your favorite books/authors?

4 comments

1. gsthomas on June 12, 2009 at 8:52 AM

   All my favorite books are about mothers and daughters too! I'll have to check this one out.

    
2. Unknown on June 12, 2009 at 7:31 PM

   Hey Syd.... im pretty sure i mentioned this book to you but i just finished it and want to rave about it a little more. Im sure you've heard of it, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It's AWESOME!!! I could not put it down and it's definitely "the talk" right now. The movie is coming out soon but as we all know, most of the time books are a lot better then the movie's. I like Jodi because she writes from the perspective of each character rather then just one so it gives the reader a broad range of people to relate to. It's just a great read and covers compelling topics. Okay there's my spiel:)

    
3. Sarah on June 22, 2009 at 1:12 PM

   ha! I will check her out at my local public library. Which I too recognize as a beautiful institution.
   
   I'm reading the watchmen right now, but its actually not that good, I don't really recommend it and now am only reading it because I started reading it in the first place.

    
4. Ruth on June 25, 2009 at 7:54 PM

   most interesting thought-provoking book that automatically pops into my head...poisonwood bible. i think it's brilliant. there's also a couple of french books i've read recently which rank up there with brilliance...but they're in french.