Although 59 million newspapers are sold in this country each Sunday, overall circulation has declined. People are spending less time with newspapers, and fewer people are developing the newspaper habit in the first place. A recent article from the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported that editors are evolving by making papers more niche oriented and enhancing their online offerings. I read The New York Times online everyday – but on Sundays, the screen simply can’t compete with a good mug of coffee and the Sunday newspaper. It is a lazy luxury we even kept up when our sweetpeas were infants, laying them on the sofa between us. I don’t have much downtime in my week but this is one habit I won’t let decline in our house.

Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu;
Groweth sed and bloweth med
And springth the wde nu.
Sing cuccu!

I like to read Middle English aloud; it’s easier to understand. These anonymous lyrics written in 1240 say “loudly sing cuckoo” and that the seeds, meadow and woods spring forth now. Except for the juniper trees which my nose could do without, it’s a fresh sign to see our woods blooming and to wonder when we’ll see the first fawns.

How gratifying to wake up and find someone at the New York Times finds Barack Obama’s choice of the word “cling” as telling as I do (see yesterday’s post). Dan Schnur writes an opinion titled Right Fight, Wrong Word in which he says that although political pundits, not to mention the Clinton campaign, have made much of Obama’s use of the word “bitter,” that “cling” is the real problem.

Since this is a blog about language, what I find interesting is how revealing a word choice can be. We have millions of words to choose from in our daily speech and while some have similar definitions, the connotation often tells us more. Connotation is the suggestion of meaning beyond the thing a word explicitly describes. I think we usually experience the hidden meaning in people’s speech in a subconscious way, leaving us with an impression of a person. Here, in Obama’s infamous sentence, his meaning isn’t very hidden at all.

Writer Pat Mora wants to spread the word… or words. Mora is a champion for Bookjoy which encourages family literacy in all cultures. There are celebrations in schools and libraries across the nation on April 30th. This weekend, Mora is speaking in Portland, Oregon. She has lots of ideas to involve the whole family in daily reading. Spread the joy!

Have you heard of Amazon’s Kindle? Touted as a “revolutionary wireless reading device,” it is a paperback-sized $400 gadget on which you can read books, magazines, newspapers, and even blogs. Amazon says it is temporarily sold out due to customer demand. Hhhmmm… maybe I am old-fashioned but I like actual books. Curling up with a plastic device to read a novel? I don’t think so. Even if I could get past the price, the whole concept is unappealing. Amazon markets it as “completely mobile” and “easy to use” for both left and right handed people with a non-glare screen — well, so are real books! Amazon says it is “paper-like” yet I like the feel of real paper made from natural materials like wood or cotton. I like the glossy paper of magazines with their high-quality photos. I like the graphic fonts of newspapers. I even like the smell of books. So while I appreciate technology which brings convenience to my life, when it comes to books, no technical advancement is necessary.

I’ve been blogging for two months now – yeah! Having twin almost-five-year olds makes for busy (and joyous!) days. So I’m especially happy to find time each day for this writing project. Hello to my readers in the UK, Canada, Belgium and Israel just to name a few countries who are visiting. I hope you’re finding books to add to your reading list, and are inspired as writers. I’ve loved books since I was first read to as a child so I’m excited to keep reading, writing and blogging.

This is your site as much as mine. I welcome your recommendations for sentences and your comments. What is your all-time favorite book? What sentences take your breath away? Happy reading!

You may have heard this news — the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reported we are reading less. The NEA released To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence in November 2007. The study shows a decline in how much and how well Americans read. It links a decline in reading with a decline in community involvement. The age groups reading the least are teens and young adults. The electronic age is partly to blame, with young people sitting in front of various screens.

This is too sad! So as book lovers, let’s take action. Read to the little people in your life. Visit www.starfall.com with beginning readers. Ask a young person what they are interested in and find a book on the topic. If not, write it! Suggest young people write their own life stories. Start dinner off with a poem. Read about Japan, then go out for sushi. Read the life of Kandinsky, then paint in his style. Share this blog with students and young people to encourage them to share sentences that excite them. You can bring this life-long joy to the children in your life. I’m off to read Little House to my Sweetpeas!

“I was thirsty for the way she felt, the way she looked, the sound of her voice, the way her front teeth were square but her second teeth turned slightly, her one dimple, left side, her half-smile, her wonderful blue eyes flecked with white, like new galaxies, the firm intact planes of her face.”

These are the details you know about a face you love. In this sentence from Janet Fitch’s White Oleander, the daughter is visiting her mother after she has spent months in prison. Fitch captures the intensity with specifics so we feel how the young girl missed her mother, adding “she didn’t smell of violets anymore, only the smell of detergent on denim.” Near the beginning of the book, the daughter sees “new galaxies” in her mother’s eyes but those endless possibilities don’t pan out and that face she loves disappoints. I think it’s minutia which sears images and characters in our minds and allows a book to soar above the ordinary. What books stay with you because the story was rich in detail?

Some people have given up smoking or candy in these weeks of Lent before Easter. The season made me notice “lent” words. Lent with a little “l” is a Latin suffix meaning full of. So these are not gentle words; they are packed with meaning.

Somnolent means drowsy or likely to induce sleep. Redolent can mean full of fragrance or evocative. Benevolent is generous and well-wishing. In contrast, malevolent means wishing evil on others. Virulent means marked by a rapid and destructive course, or objectionably harsh. No need to give up these dramatic words!

Guess what is on the New York Times top ten “Most Popular” articles on its Web site? Was it about McCain and the lobbyist? No. Strife in Pakistan? Good guess. However, the hot article this past week has been about the semicolon. The article titled “Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location” tells how a New York City Transit placard uses this old-fashioned punctuation and started a buzz. What a wonderful thing that we can be excited by the proper use of punctuation! As my favorite grammar book, Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, explains the semicolon is the proper mark of punctuation to join two gramatically complete clauses when not joined by a conjunction.

“Indeed, this simple method of indicating relationship between statements is one of the most useful devices of composition.”

I agree. The semicolon is useful; let’s dust it off and bring it back.