816 ratings | 553 reviews | avg rating:4.16

Grace’s Year In Books

Grace’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Grace’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Grace’s 2025 Year in Books

Grace Tierney’s Followers (24)

Grace’s Bookshelves

to-read (11)
currently-reading (5)
read (830)
did-not-finish (1)

Grace’s Friends (64)

Jess Mc

1,716 books | 169 friends

Kristen Fort

3,362 books | 264 friends

Hannah

1,309 books | 86 friends

Travis

3,651 books | 256 friends

Jojo

933 books | 80 friends

Trish

577 books | 79 friends

Eleanor

76 books | 1 friend

Kimberly Sullivan

1,123 books | 75 friends

More friends…

2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Grace Tierney has read 31 of 65 books.

48%

Grace Tierney

Goodreads Author

Born

in Ireland

Website

https://wordfoolery.wordpress.com/

Twitter

Wordfoolery

Genre

History, Nonfiction

Member Since

January 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/gracetierney

edit data

Grace Tierney writes in rural Ireland. Her award winning Wordfoolery blog about unusual English words has been running for 16 years exploring everything from “pooka” to “friggatriskaidekaphobia”.

Grace has serialised three novels on the online reading platform Channillo and published four word history books (print & ebook) - "Words Christmas Gave Us", "Words the Vikings Gave Us", "Words the Sea Gave Us" and “How To Get Your Name In The Dictionary”. She’s an etymology blogger, columnist in her local paper, regular radio contributor, and publishes articles and short fiction. When not writing you’ll find her reading, crafting, or hiking up a hill.

Grace’s favourite eponymous hero is Casanova because his swashbuckling life was so extraordinary, ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Grace Tierney questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Grace Tierney’s books

Average rating: 4.46 · 13 ratings · 5 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Words Christmas Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Words The Vikings Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How To Get Your Name In The Dictionary 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Modern Words with Old Roots it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Words The Sea Gave Us (Wordfoolery Words Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Grace Tierney…

412 posts
Grace Tierney's Blog

The Greek History of Enigma

Hello,

I’d love to believe I project an enigmatic persona, although that’s pretty unlikely. But where do we get enigma and enigmatic from? For this one we need to visit the Greeks again. They really did exert a tremendous influence on the English language down through the centuries.

Engima entered English in the early 1500s to describe a statement with a hidden meaning. It came to the language f

Grace is Currently Reading

Grace Tierney is currently reading

Bryant & May's Peculiar London (Bryant & May #18.5)

by Christopher Fowler

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jul 09, 2026 02:31PM

Grace Tierney is currently reading

The History Press Woodsmoke and Sage The Five Senses 1485-1603 How the Tudors Experienced the World.

by Amy Licence (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jun 18, 2026 12:11PM

Grace Tierney is currently reading

Ireland's Curious Places

by Michael Fewer

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jun 16, 2026 07:24AM

rss
Grace’s Recent Updates

Grace Tierney wrote a new blog post The Greek History of Enigma Hello,I’d love to believe I project an enigmatic persona, although that’s pretty unlikely. But where do we get enigma and enigmatic from? For this one Read more of this blog post »
Jul 13, 2026 05:43AM · like
Grace Tierney liked Kristen Fort's status update Kristen Fort is on page 158 of 352 of Caller Unknown
Jul 12, 2026 02:56PM · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney liked Nicola's status update Nicola is on page 76 of 474 of Night Watch
Jul 12, 2026 02:56PM · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Night Watch by Terry Pratchett <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is exactly the sort of book I enjoy, a fairy tale with dark edges, bringing me into London past and present. A magical kingdom has fallen asunder thanks to love and only the true heir can fix things, but what if he’s a lonely photographer in Lon ...more
Jul 09, 2026 02:33PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney is currently reading Bryant & May's Peculiar London (Bryant & May #18.5) by Christopher Fowler	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 09, 2026 02:31PM · like
Grace Tierney rated a book really liked it Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 06, 2026 01:31AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney is currently reading The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 04, 2026 08:34AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Grace Tierney is currently reading The History Press Woodsmoke and Sage The Five Senses 1485-1603 How the Tudors Experienced the World. by Amy Licence (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 18, 2026 12:11PM · like
Grace Tierney rated a book really liked it Exploring the Spanish Armada by Winifred Glover	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A slim volume, hardback, but loads of great photographic illustrations of the Ulster Museum's wonderful collection of Armada artifacts from tiny gold buttons and toothpicks up to iron cannon. There's a pretty clear synopsis of the run-up to the Armada ...more
Jun 16, 2026 07:26AM · like · see review
Grace Tierney is currently reading Ireland's Curious Places by Michael Fewer	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 16, 2026 07:24AM · like

More of Grace's books…

Grace’s Quotes

“Fine,’ she said, using the universal Scottish word for every state of being from ‘I’m dying in anguish’ to ‘I’m experiencing euphoric joy.’ ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m fine.”
― Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?

6 likes

Grace’s Friend Comments

No comments have been added yet.

Grace’s Year In Books

Grace Tierney’s Followers (24)

Grace’s Bookshelves

Grace’s Friends (64)

2026 Reading Challenge

Grace Tierney

Goodreads Author

Learn more
Ask the Author

Popular Answered Questions

Combine Editions
Grace Tierney’s books

412 posts
Grace Tierney's Blog

The Greek History of Enigma

Grace is Currently Reading

rss
Grace’s Recent Updates

The Greek History of Enigma

See a Problem?

Preview — Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister

See a Problem?

Preview — Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

See a Problem?

Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris

See a Problem?

Preview — Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse

See a Problem?

Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris

Grace’s Quotes

recent posts
Grace’s Groups

Grace’s Friend Comments

Grace Tierney’s Followers (24)

Grace Tierney

Goodreads Author

Popular Answered Questions

rssGrace’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister

See a Problem?

Preview — Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

See a Problem?

Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris

See a Problem?

Preview — Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse

See a Problem?

Preview — The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris

rss
Grace’s Recent Updates