As a follow-up post on Scrabble, here are some additional resources. To get down to the very basics about words, here’s a book that explains the origins of the alphabet, and how it influenced civilization and the world. Alpha Beta by John Man is a quick read that makes the complicated, convoluted history of letters accessible. It traces the development of the alphabet from ancient Egypt through the Phoenicians and on to the Soviets. Somehow, it packs in a lot of history without getting too stuffy.

Another of those little histories of little things that changed the world, The Professor and the Madman is the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. I never would have believed something as mundane as a dictionary could have such a riveting book written about it, but this book is amazing! The OED took over 70 years to write, and there are so many stories about the dedicated contributors and how the dictionary was developed. Simon Winchester actually found so much to write about the development of the OED that he wrote a second book, The Meaning of Everything, after he finished The Professor and the Madman, with even more stories behind the creation of the largest dictionary ever made.

On a slightly different, though related topic, Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, must be mentioned in any post about words and language. This book was a best seller for years and on many reading lists. If you haven’t had time to read it, yet, why don’t you check it out now?

Did you know the Fairborn Library has a Scrabble Club? It meets every other Thursday at 7pm downstairs in the meeting room. The next meeting is scheduled for February 21st. Since there really isn’t anything interesting on television, and it is cold out, you should come down to the library and join us! This club is for adults and older teens. All skill levels are welcome.

The library has all kinds of resources for those of you interested in words, or “word-freaks” if you will. I saw a really interesting documentary called Wordplay not too long ago. It follows people who are very (read: extremely, obsessively) interested in crossword puzzles. Will Shortz, the famous editor of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, tells about how he selects puzzles for the paper as well as giving personal background. The World Crossword Puzzle Championship Tournament is featured. If you think you are good at crosswords, watch this: the people in this film will make you feel like a beginner! As I was researching for this post, I came across this book in the library: Crossworld: One Man’s Journey into America’s Crossword Obsession. Looks like a winner if you’d rather read about the world of puzzlers.