Grace Tierney

year in books

Grace Tierney’s Followers (23)

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
Christi...
1,530 books | 174 friends

Jess Mc
1,650 books | 169 friends

Kristen...
3,200 books | 262 friends

Kimberl...
1,084 books | 75 friends

Audrey
1,575 books | 225 friends

Jojo
898 books | 80 friends

Heidi L...
1,592 books | 2,146 friends

Sophie
1,964 books | 36 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: 4.42 · 12 ratings · 5 reviews · 5 distinct works
Words The Vikings Gave Us (...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Words Christmas Gave Us (Wo...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings3 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
More books by Grace Tierney…

The Romantic Roots of Psychology

Hello,
I’m continuing my month of words with female origins in honour of Women’s History Month 2026 this week and today’s word is psychology which has a story of a Greek goddess and a link to a famous fairy tale.

Psyche was a Greek mortal of great beauty. She roused the wrath of Aphrodite when men turned their worship from the goddess of love to this mortal girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros, the Greek

Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on March 30, 2026 05:12
The Annals of Imp...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Shrines of Gaiety
Grace Tierney is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Elizabeth's Irish...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Grace’s Recent Updates

Grace Tierney wrote a new blog post

The Romantic Roots of Psychology

Hello, I’m continuing my month of words with female origins in honour of Women’s History Month 2026 this week and today’s word is psychology which has Read more of this blog post »
Grace Tierney is currently reading
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
Rate this book
Clear rating
Properly twisty cosy crime with our favourite retired detectives, this time with a Russian from Elizabeth’s murky past and a Swedish crypto expert. Lovely as always to spend time with the central characters.
Grace Tierney is currently reading
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
Rate this book
Clear rating
Properly twisty cosy crime with our favourite retired detectives, this time with a Russian from Elizabeth’s murky past and a Swedish crypto expert. Lovely as always to spend time with the central characters.
Grace Tierney did not finish
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney rated a book it was amazing
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood
Rate this book
Clear rating
Really enjoyed this. A super twisty cosy crime featuring a unique trio of female amateur sleuths led by the spirited crossword setter Judith Potts in an idyllic contemporary River Thames town. If you enjoy Richard Osman or Father Brown, try these.
Grace Tierney is currently reading
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney is currently reading
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood
Rate this book
Clear rating
Grace Tierney is currently reading
Elizabeth's Irish Wars by Cyril Falls
Rate this book
Clear rating
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 — 3028 members — last activity Mar 21, 2026 12:19AM
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 — 5097 members — last activity 2 minutes 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 — 6694 members — last activity 8 hours, 6 min ago
Where every hour is happy hour.
No comments have been added yet.