Discover new books on Goodreads
See if your friends have read any of Grace Tierney's books
Grace Tierney

year in books

Grace Tierney’s Followers (25)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Kristen...
3,382 books | 266 friends

Heidi L...
1,655 books | 2,147 friends

Christi...
1,829 books | 172 friends

Hannah
1,337 books | 86 friends

Emma
916 books | 134 friends

Kimberl...
1,131 books | 76 friends

Audrey
1,811 books | 229 friends

Travis
3,697 books | 258 friends

More friends…

Grace Tierney

Goodreads Author


Born
in Ireland
Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
January 2014

URL


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

To ask Grace Tierney questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Grace Tierney Positive feedback from a reader. My favourite version of that is reading my work aloud and hearing people laugh, at the right places.
Grace Tierney Writing is the best way to learn about writing. Workshops and writing groups help, but writing (and submitting!) is the only way to improve. If you're…moreWriting is the best way to learn about writing. Workshops and writing groups help, but writing (and submitting!) is the only way to improve. If you're keen to write a novel - try www.nanowrimo.org - commit a month to your writing. I do it every year and the community is great.(less)
Average rating: 4.46 · 13 ratings · 5 reviews · 5 distinct works
Words Christmas Gave Us (Wo...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Words The Vikings Gave Us (...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
How To Get Your Name In The...

4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Modern Words with Old Roots

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
Rate this book
Clear rating
Words The Sea Gave Us (Word...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020 — 2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Words the Weather Gave Us (...

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Grace Tierney…

The Noisy Word History of Cliché

Hello,

Last month I began writing “Words Stories Gave Us”, my book about the etymology of words from the worlds of stories, printing, newspapers, theatre, folktales, and books. I love this stage of a book when it’s all about searching out the stories, whittling out the boring ones, forming chapters. It will be a couple of years (aiming for 2028) before this one is on the shelves, but in the meantim

Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on September 07, 2026 04:00
Gallivanting With...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
A Clockwork Orange
Grace Tierney is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Make 100 Bags: 10...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Grace’s Recent Updates

Grace Tierney is currently reading
Gallivanting With Words by Colm O'Regan
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book liked it
The Words We Use by Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book really liked it
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney is currently reading
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing
Words for Life by Susie Dent
Rate this book
Clear rating
Another Dent book for my etymology reference shelves. Always well written, well researched, and charming. Index is very handy.
Grace Tierney is currently reading
The Words We Use by Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney is currently reading
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
Rate this book
Clear rating
Actually, I'm a Corpse by Terry Deary
"Better than the first.

You do not need to have read the first one but equally, if you haven't and plan to, then read them in order. This book spoils the whole plot of the first within a chapter or two and reveals every little twist that happened acros" Read more of this review »
Grace Tierney rated a book liked it
Actually, I'm a Corpse by Terry Deary
Rate this book
Clear rating
Proof copy from Hachette, with thanks.

I didn’t read the first book in this series but there’s enough explanation given for readers to catch up on the three leads - an actor, a hitman, and a female police officer. I love crime books and this is set in
...more
Grace Tierney rated a book liked it
Pictures from Italy by Charles Dickens
Rate this book
Clear rating
Picked this up for my Dickens shelf and because I enjoyed his book about his American travels but this one is weaker I think. He keeps it all surface level, deliberately as these are pictures from Italy, but that means it lacks his insight. He shows ...more
More of Grace's books…
Kate Atkinson
“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?

56962 Book Bloggers of Goodreads — 3039 members — last activity Sep 05, 2026 03:30AM
This is a group for the book bloggers of Goodreads and authors seeking reviews. Book bloggers: post events, reviews, giveaways, ask questions, share l ...more
169034 Non Fiction Book Club — 5212 members — last activity 1 hour, 40 min ago
This group is for anyone who enjoys Non Fiction. Genres discussed here include Histories, Autobiographies, Biographies, Memoirs, Science and Technolog ...more
51445 UK Amazon Kindle Forum — 6715 members — last activity 7 hours, 8 min ago
Where every hour is happy hour.
No comments have been added yet.