My wonderful Christmas book from Judith

Every writer-blogger ought to read this book. Better still, every writer-blogger ought to own this book. Amazon seems to have it on special (see link) but, if you can't afford it, ask your public library. I didn't even know it existed until I took it from under the Christmas tree and unwrapped it. I haven't read past the back cover, the inside flaps of the dustjacket, and the Foreword, but I'm unashamedly touting this book!
It is, without a doubt, one of those I-wish-I'd-written-this books. More than that, it's an I-wish-I-had-studied-these-subjects book.

The author, J.P. Davidson, is an anthropologist as well as a TV and film producer, who traveled around the world with Stephen Fry, an author with a raft of film, stage, radio and TV credits, along with Britain's most famous traveler, Michael Palin, for comic relief.
They had a wonderful time, worked very hard, returned to Britain, made their research into a TV series, and then I guess Fry and Davidson flipped a coin to see which of them would write Planet Word.
(More will be revealed when I read the book.)
This is a book about travel and about the evolution of language. Inside the front cover, it mentions the Snohomish people of "North America"...for "North America" read Everett, Washington, a two-hour drive from my family's home town of White Rock, British Columbia. It is a book written by wordsmiths who love language. How could I not like it? Thanks, Judith!

In her role as my best friend, Judith finds all the best books for me. She managed to do it while living in Vancouver because there were lots of book stores. Then she managed it while living on one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands, because she had a part-time job in the book store.
Now she and her British-born husband have moved to Britain, where they live aboard a narrowboat on a canal in what looks (to me) to be the centre of England. Yes, they live in a marina near a village but, fortunately, they have relatives in cities, so Judith has a whole 'nother country's worth of treasures to unearth, and some of said treasures are for me!
Oh, so fortunate, me!