Confession: I do own a reference book.

Thanks to me, our used bookstore has an abundance of dictionaries and thesauruses.

Three years ago, we were preparing for what would become the first of four moves. As we sorted, packed, tossed and donated, was clear that our overpopulated bookshelves were bent with their labors and needed rest.

It’s why I left my reference books behind.

It’s also why I felt fine last week throwing shade at people who use physical thesauruses—and then slightly guilty as my writer friends responded by proudly showing me their thick volumes.

I admit it—it’s weird for a writer to get rid of reference material. These books are hallowed because the right words are precious. But I'm trying to live with less. And my laptop’s built-in Oxford dictionaries and thesauruses are nearby, fast and used constantly.

It was time to set my loves free.

Well, not all of them. One reference book remains.

Say hi to the strange and wonderful Word Menu.

The Random House Word Menu is extraordinary, and nothing online quite replicates how it works.

Where any dummy might find a dictionary or a thesaurus handy, the weirdly named Word Menu is for us writer idiots. It organizes the world by subject matter. In case you missed it: it organizes the world by subject matter.

If your work takes you into industries with their own vocabulary as my freelance work can, the Word Menu is your primer. And, if fiction is your thing—and you’re a stickler for not sounding dumb—it means your binnacle is stored with nautical paraphernalia, and every cadenza, double flat and stretto is right where you’d store your pitch pipe. I love immersing myself in the scene, getting every ingle and ambry right.

Now that my family is settling into our last stop on our tour of homes and the storage lockers have been divested, this book was the first thing I hunted down.

It's that delightful.

Order yours from your favorite independent bookstore.