Hi! I’m a newbie to reading and have recently gotten into it as a way to expand my vocabulary. I do like poetry and mostly non-fiction books but am open to a lot. Genre wise I guess I could say I like romantic literature and books where I learn something (social sciences, philosophy). I hope this isn’t too broad but am willing to expand in the comments if needed. Thank you!
by aggressiveredditcard
3 Comments
What I do is read books as normal, when I get to a word I have never seen before I look it up online. And hit the pronunciation button a few times.
Thus weekend I had to look up “Columbarium.”
I have found DnD and Pathfinder go ham on obscure words.
I’ll suggest Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, for a few reasons;
~ More advanced vocabulary than the 20 other books I’ve read this year combined, and I still have 100 pages left (out of a modest 264 pages).
~ While it is a sci-fi setting, it is mostly a treatise on the spectrum of intelligent progress; ascension, balance, stagnation, decay, and the like.
~ It is both exhilarating and depressing in its philosophy; exhilarating in the striking realism of humanity’s potential, and depressing in the undeniable similarities with our current state, despite being a 90 year old story.
Just like my own journey with it, I don’t believe this book was meant to be taken in all at once. It is an incredibly dense read, and I’ve spent 6 or 7 months tackling it, so if you have any interest, take your time with it.
One option is to read the classics—Dickens, Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, etc. will offer lots of vocab expansion.