Reading with a dictionary

I've started a new book today, The Visitor, by Sheri Tepper. I've read some of her other books and enjoyed them, quite possibly because I agree with the message she's preaching.

Anyway, as I started reading this book, I noticed an abundance of words not in my vocabulary. As a long time reader, I am use to making sense out of the context of the words, and would have done so in this book, but the shear number of wordy surprises caused me to pause. And in honor of pausing to think about the rarity of this, I present to you a glimpse into the copious vocabulary of Ms. Tepper.

Page 1: priapic, mephitic
Page 2: pavé, sagacious
Page 3: arboreal
Page 6: adit

Well, I did know arboreal, recalled sagacious, and guessed close enough for my purposes on mephitic, but still, that's quite a list for six pages of a book, especially considering that one of them was blank (p.4).