Murder by Death

For the lovers of language, Lost in Translation is a compendium of words that lack an English translation; words that were created by other cultures to describe a concept or feeling that would require several words for English speakers to convey.

I think most of us are guilty of tsundoku - the Japanese word for buying books without reading them right away (basically, the Japanese word for "TBR"), and some of us have experienced the Italian commuovere - been moved in a heartwarming way when we've read a story that's brought us to tears.  Readers of Tolkien, or just a really brilliantly written story have been to Goya - the Urdu concept of the suspension of disbelief that allows us to lose ourselves in lands with elves, fairies and vampires.

I could go on, there are so many great words here (my favourite might be the Dutch word struisvogelpolitiek, - acting like you don't notice when something bad happens - which is what I've been unable to do today after BookLikes being down 10 hours.)  Each word has a two-page spread with the definition, an explanation of usage, and a beautiful illustration.  

My only complaint, and what cost the last 1/2 star, is the lack of a phonetic pronunciation guide for each word.  I'd really like to know the correct way to pronounce the Welsh Hiraeth (a homesickness for a place you can't return to, or no longer exists).  I'm more than a little surprised that it didn't occur to anyone involved to include these.

A great addition to my language shelf and one I'll be referring to again and again.