Today I've finally learned the official word for the heck that is my commute on the subways, thanks to my daily reading of Shelf Awareness, an e-mail newsletter for the book trade (i.e. librarians, book sellers, publishers, etc.)
From the new book:
Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea ($21.95, Perigee, 9780399533983/0399533982, June 3, 2008)
Scrouge (v.) To inconvenience or discomfort a person by pressing against them, or by standing too close.
"For passengers on modern transportation everywhere, this word has tremendous and unfortunate resonance. It falls firmly within the category of words that one wishes one did not have occasion to use on a daily basis but are fascinating nonetheless." - Marilyn Dahl
I love reading this e-mail every morning. Not only do I find out about very cool bookstores, but I can find out about new publications from my favorite authors, learn about media appearances, and occasionally score Advance Readers Copies or Galley Proofs of new books before they are published. I took about seven of these ARCs on vacation with me, and have enjoyed passing them along to family members and colleagues to help introduce them to new authors. You get to read a book BEFORE it hits the bookstores, so you can be in the "know." The only drawback about the e-mail, it introduces MORE books for me to add to my ever increasing To-Be-Read list.
