All Things Greek – Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. I enjoyed Mary Norris's first book, Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, much more.

I found this one somewhat slow going, and almost abandoned it. It did get more interesting as it went on, as she described her quest, obsession actually, to learn Greek. Her travel descriptions were perhaps the most appealing parts of the book, since I had also made a trip to Greece in my younger days. Some of her adventures there were remarkably like my own, especially her encounters with Greek men, who seemed to think that any young American woman was fair game for their aggressive pick-up moves.

Her accounts of the evolution of the language were certainly interesting, yet somehow, as a reader who loves language and linguistics, and is a bit of a grammar nerd, I felt more as though I was looking in, and less like I was involved. Maybe it was the pacing – a few more "aha" moments would have helped the book along.

I must say I love the cover design with its lovely mosaic. Very appropriate.