What a fun read in The Dead Romantics! Ashley Poston truly pulled me with this romantic comedy about a struggling writer, down on her luck when it comes to love, and then forced to deal with the death of her father. I could relate to this character. She grew up in her family’s funeral home, and I grew up in my family’s cemetery.
In this blog I offer a different type of book review—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. In The Dead Romantics I found a few interesting words.
From The Dead Romantics:
“Are you saying yes?” He arched a very pointed eyebrow. It was the kind of arch a feature writer would call belleristicwhen they sat down to pen his profile in GQ.
belletristic: adjective, written and regarded for aesthetic value rather than content / of, pertaining to, or having the characteristics of belles-lettres (a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing.)
belletrist: noun, a person who writes essays, particularly on literary and artistic criticism, that are composed and read primarily for their aesthetic effect / Derivative: belletristic, an adjective
—
From The Dead Romantics:
She didn’t share her stories—whether they were real or not—she didn’t wear tiny black dresses, and she didn’t drink artisanal drinks named after dead poets.
artisanal: adjective, relating to or characteristic of an artisan / (of a product, especially food or drink) made in a traditional or non-mechanized way
—
From The Dead Romantics:
“Colloquialism? Yeah. I was there at the bar getting drinks with him because apparently he wanted to vent about the font they’re using in his book.”
colloquialism: noun, a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation / the use of ordinary or familiar words or phrases
—
From The Dead Romantics:
“Connoisseur or lifeblood?”
connoisseur: noun, an expert judge in matters of taste / Derivative—noun, connoisseurship
—
From The Dead Romantics:
“I liked the notes in some very limited roasts that I procured from—”
procure: verb, 1. obtain (something), especially with care or effort / obtain (someone) as a prostitute for another person 2. persuade or cause (someone) to do something
—
From The Dead Romantics:
Mom was stalwart, sipping on a glass of champagne, so gracious to everyone who came to say their goodbyes.
stalwart: adjective, loyal reliable, and hardworking / strongly built and sturdy
ALSO – stalwart: noun, a loyal, reliable, and hardworking supporter or participant in an organization or team
—
From The Dead Romantics:
I rolled my eyes. “No one will sell the next Harry Potter. It hit a zeitgeist that’ll never be re-created, and because there is so much to choose from now, it’s near impossible to predict the next publishing trend—”
zeitgeist: noun, the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time
Origin: mid-19th century from German Zeitgeist, from Zeit ‘time’ and Geist ‘spirit’
—
What interesting words or terms have you found in your recent reading?
Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.
—
“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
You found some good ones in this book. I really like belletristic. It was definitely new to me.
New to me, too. And a fine word. Thanks for reading!