12 Jul 2025

What I'm reading ...

I have started Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. This book got my attention because I’d heard some good things about it and I’m interested in neurodiversity. Here’s the blurb:

Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.
Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don't always mean what they say.
But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally's trust issues are about to be severely challenged . . .

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages - by Gaston Dorren

This book took a while to read, partly because I was busy, but mainly because it contains so much information. As I had hoped, it was fascinating and I have learned so much. As I am studying Spanish, that chapter got my particular attention. At last I have some explanation as to why there are two verbs used as “to be”; it turns out that we have that in English too, but I have never noticed. This book is perfect for the amateur language nerd.