Language Arts Books

A good mixture of the practical and the inspirational. Excellent exercises for you to do on your own.

The subtitle says that this is a Guide for Busy Women--true enough, but it works for men too, and
just as well.

Highly recommended.

I could very easily dub this book, the best, however that is to be determined in the eye of the beholder. I can say with much conviction, that it is the book I turn to the most often for advice, straight forward answers and direction as well as a nice glimpse at a reality check.

Any writer will tell you that you don't write a best seller overnight, and this book will tell you that too. Unlike many other writing books available the pages don't contain advice at how to leave your 9 to 5 job and write the world's best novel. Instead the book is filled with useful, real advice for determined writer's to utilize and honestly get their pens on fire.

There are dozens of exercises to get you thinking and writing, with originality and flair. The book is well written and is a very easy book to devour in a short period of time. Except that you will more than likely find yourself reaching for it again and again to participate in the exercises and get you thinking on a more creative level.

A must have book for any would-be writer's bookshelf.

I had originally checked this out from my public library but found the information so useful that I bought a copy for my own personal library. Very good and practical information to inspire and motivate you to write!

I bought this book when it came out, read it, marked the heck out of it, and used its ideas a few times.

I plan to now read it again, and use it again, 3 years later.

The Power, Challenge, and Talent to Write, And Developing it, is important.

I like to write.

Always have, I guess, ever since I was in Elementary School ( early 70's ), then Junior High and High School ( mid/late 70's ), writng book reports, and then letters to the editor of the local paper.

For various reasons none of that ever translated into a career path.

I read somewhere that we are always afraid to start something that we want to make very good, true, and serious.

Rita Mae Brown once wrote: "Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts."

This book influenced the last 3 years of my blogging, on 2 blogs, and will help anyone who reads it.

This book will help you find the writer within, and find the time to write more as well.

This book offers run-of-the-mill exercises that fail to inspire one to write. If you struggle with the act of sitting down and putting pen to paper, this book will not change that. I would love to see a book out there that offers innovative exercises that not only inspire one to write, but also improves writing along the way. If anyone can recommend such a book, please message me.

this book is nothing like i thought it would be. i was looking for something that would give me more on conversation style than actual vocabulary words/signs. i got more out of a dictionary than this. it was a complete waste of money, for me. the pictures are decent. they lack variation & real life feel (well, maybe that is the disappointment of the overall book). i do not recommend this book for someone trying to learn another language and not just the subtle niceties.

We have a program in the Las Vegas mail processing center where we find solutions for better communication with all employees. To our hearing impaired employees, we had training held in our facility by a certified interpreter who taught both craft and management employees to finger spell words and phrases. We were going to order another sign language book to be given by our plant manager to those who completed the training sessions as his appreciation to them, but there were those who read the reviews on this "Idiot's" book, hence, this is what I ordered. They use it as a refresher, it's well illustrated and easy. Everybody was happy with the book. For the next training group, I'll be ordering some more of this book.

The first part of the book, which provides background and explanation on deafness and deaf culture, is painful, answering questions such as: 'Can deaf people drive?' These are the usual dumb questions that hearing people ask about the deaf. Yes, they drive better than you do, moron, because they don't have a cell phone glued to their ear. However, the author fails to mention the heart-pounding thrill of being a passenger in a car driven by a deaf person who is in the midst of a highly animated signed conversation.

I do highly recommend this book: the sign language explanations, photographs, and illustrations are first-rate, and the companion DVD is an additional positive to make this book highly recommended for someone who needs a casual introduction to deafness and sign language.

Having taken 2 semesters of ASL, I must admit that I was disappointed to see a vocabulary list that I knew 95% of...but this book is definitely an excellent source for those with no or very little prior ASL knowledge. NOTE: THIS IS NOT ASL. The book is Pidgin Signed English (now called Contact Signing) which is easier to learn if your first language is English. That is, the grammar of ASL is absent in the presence of English word order. But the way the book is laid out, it's easy to learn! There's little bits of cultural information, how to engage and end a conversation, "do"s and "don't"s, and more! I like the little anecdotes, too.

Pros: Easy to follow, comes with a DVD to reinforce and clarify signs, decent amount of information for a beginner

Cons: NOT ASL (ASL "words" but not the grammar) and not terribly helpful for those with moderate exposure to sign language


Overall, it's a handy cultural tool that helps you learn a little language :)

My wife works at a doctors office where they have a couple of deaf patients. She has always wanted to learn sign. She couldn't put the book down. After two days she was signing non-stop. Originally she only wanted to buy the DVD instruction but I encouraged her to use this book too. Now it is the other way around. She goes to this book first and uses the DVDs as a backup. I also got her some ASL flash cards that work well for practice.

I purchased this book hoping for information for my book proposal. I was not disappointed. This book has valuable information and I am happy with my purchases.

The position of an aspiring writer, trying to break into the published market, is not an enviable one. Here's a fairly common scenario: writer spends a year or two writing his book. He pours his heart and mind into the manuscript, and once it's done, he starts sending it out to publishing houses. Responses aren't immediately forthcoming; it's a big manuscript, so it tends to sit at the bottom of busy publishers' to-do lists. Finally, if he's lucky, he gets a response - someone actually wants to publish his book. Only they want a lot of it changed, to make it more marketable.

It doesn't have to be this way; there's a better process to follow. You start with a query letter; a short letter of a few pages outlining the idea for your book. Since it's short, publishers are likely to read it much sooner. You get replies sooner, too; to the people who are interested, you send a full-blown book proposal - explaining in detail what you want to write, who will buy it, outlining the book, and providing a sample chapter or two (preparing this proposal is much, much easier than actually writing a whole book).

If a publisher likes the idea, you can be extended an offer, including a cash advance for the book. If something needs to be changed about the concept, it can be done before you've actually written the whole thing. Basically, this process means much less work, and getting paid for your work quite a bit sooner.

In "Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write", Elizabeth Lyon explains in detail how to go about putting together a book proposal that a publisher will read and like, so that you will be offered an advance to write your book. If you want to make your living as a writer of books, you absolutely must have Lyon's book on your reference shelf.

My first book was self-published - that's a route that you can take to completely circumvent the approach to publishers; you can learn more about that in Dan Poynter's "Self-Publishing Manual". My next book is more suited to go through a publisher, and Lyon's book is definitely going to be one of the tools that I use to get the project going. Highly, highly recommended.

Danny Iny
Author of "Ordinary Miracles - Harness the power of writing and get your point across!" (ISBN 1-4116-7252-6)

If you have started to look for a literary agent, buy this book first. If your proposal has been rejected by agents, buy this book. I thought I had read good proposal books until I read this one. Follow it step by step, chapter by chapter, and your book proposal will look quite differently than what you wrote before. After reading this book, I re-wrote my entire proposal, because the suggestions in this book gave me a better understanding of what I wanted to write, and how to convey my vision of my book to outside parties. If you are having problems outlining your book, defining your chapters, writing a query letter that will impress an agent in the first two sentences, buy this book. How To Pick The Best Tenant Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses

Whether the glue is poor quality or another problem with the paperback spine, I really wish this much read book had held together better. From one to a few pages, to chuncks of pages, have separated.

That said, the book is completely informative, with numerous examples and step by step directions. Explanations help shape the user's thinking about how to develop their book proposal. I wish the writer covered the proposal in order, but I understand her reasoning for covering sections out of order.

The book doesn't give much help about how new writers can pad their "About Author" and beef up their personal selling points when they have never been published.

Overall, the book is packed with useful info.

I have bought other books on this subject and this is the most useful and most logically organized.

Excellent advice on how to write, what to write, and where to send it once you've finished it. A realistic look at the romance industry.

I have pretty much every book on romance writing I can get my hand on, and while there's certainly a lot of overlap among them, this is definetly the best.

While all of the books have helpful information on the romance industry, this one really stands above the rest. It's wonderfuly organized - it's the one I turn to first when I need to find something quickly. It's also well written - the information doesn't differ a whole lot from the other books, but this is by far the most fun to read. I've also found that the suggestions are truly helpful. The hints/suggestions sound really basic, but have made the writing process MUCH easier (I'm a beginner).

Most of the books in this genre have something new to offer, but if you're only going to buy one, this is definetly your best option.

This was the first book that I had ever read by Julie Beard. After reading her thoughts and ideas, I'm sure that it won't be the last. The book was intresting and to the point. Her ideas were well organized and thought out. A two year old could understand and utilize the information. At points there was humor and it felt as though you were talking to an old friend. Julie Beard has a new fan in me. Even if I find that I'm not intrested in her romance novels, when I am asked who is my favorite author, my answer will undoubtably be Julie Beard. The help and confidence that she offered me in this book were well worth the price. I'm not sure that I'll ever be an author, but if I fail it won't be due to anything that was lacking in her book. If I were given the opportunity I would send her a personal thank you. My out look and my life were changed in a couple of hours.

Having read hundreds, maybe even thousands of historical romances over the last 20 years, I always dreamed of one day writing my own novel. This book is an extremely helpful tool for anyone that dreams of one day becoming a bestselling author. Julie Beard shares information about the industry and the various tricks to getting published. For those aspiring historical romance writers bogged down by the research process, Beard also gives insight to resources with which to build your historical framework.

This book is a great read. It's funny and inspiring. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to break into the romance industry.

If you are truly serious about becoming a successful romance writer then you MUST have this book. I've read TONS of books on writing, not only romance but fiction and non-fiction as well. None of them were as user friendly and focused on how-to info as this book. Most other books quickly brush over the how-to. This book actually shows you step by step what to do from choosing the type of romance to write, structuring your book, synopsizing each major part in 4 paragraphs to getting published!! This puts other writing books to shame and it makes me feel like I've wasted so many years with the others when I could have had this gem the entire time.

If you want to write romance and you want to get started on the right foot then you MUST HAVE THIS BOOK. No exceptions. And if you are trying to decide between this book and another (or several others), get this one! The others can't hold a match to this one. Not by a long shot.

Dangling modifiers. Loose pronouns. Mixed metaphors. Sentence fragments . . . aw crap.

Whatever your sin, Sin and Syntax is an all-purpose grammar guide that helps not only to improve your grammar but also to polish your prose.

Constance Hale divides her book into three sections: words, sentences, and music. In words, she defines the fundamental building blocks of grammar (nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.). In sentences, she teaches sentence mechanics and variation. In music, she explains how to add verve to your writing by experimenting with techniques such as assonance, metaphor, and beat.

Her book, however, is not simply about correcting wrongs. Hale informs writers when you can break the rules and when you look illiterate when you do. Putting prepositions at the end of the sentence? Not a big deal. Peppering foreign words into your story? Sure, just don't go crazy. Nouning verbs and verbing nouns? We have a bit of a problem here.

Hale did her homework. She provides extensive examples from politicians and writers to illustrate her concepts. She references numerous other style guides and also provides a handy list of them in the appendix. Most importantly, however, anyone can benefit from reading her book. She writes at a level that's easy enough for the grammatically-challenged to understand, but she also explains advanced material that's still useful to experienced writers. She doesn't delve too deeply into grammar terminology; she focuses her energies on improving your style all-around.

Frank, clear, and amusing, Sin and Syntax is one of the best grammar guides when it comes to perfecting your craft.

My sister stole my first copy, my other sister stole my second copy, I gave my third copy to a friend (but only because I knew she would love it as much as I do). My fourth copy doesn't have the dog-eared pages and underlining that my first copy had (I fall into the category of people who think tattered edges and scribbly notes add character to books). And I gave a fifth copy to another friend who was frustrated drafting an admissions essay for grad school. One of the best books on writing (generally) on the market. Funny and entertaining, with excellent advice.

This is a fine book about the mechanics of writing. Here's the rub. Appendix 1 and 2 were replaced by duplicates of chapters 14 and 15 in the book I read. Otherwise this book is worth 5 stars.

This is your average grammar book, but with a sense of humor. I discovered nothing new in it.

wow. this book is a must for any writer, experienced or novice. not only is it a useful tool, but it is a fabulous read with witty references and comments throughout.

I listen to this CD everyday. It has changed my life. Earl Nightingale is my new hero. Everyone should listen and own a copy of this CD.

This is a must have for anyone needing direction. I've put these principles to use many times over the years. This recording reinforces the idea that "WE BECOME, WHAT WE THINK ABOUT!"

I have the CD and have been listening to it several times already. It's such a simple message, but so profound at the same time. Moreso, it's spoken in a very calming and supportive voice that comes across as extremely inspiring. You become what you set out to be and what you think about. It is a recording about setting a goal and working towards that goal. Thinking positively constantly, and remaining keen on hitting your goal. I've found it insprirational, and it's a CD I'll continue to listen to so that I can keep the message fresh in my mind. Highly recommended if you are someone who is trying to find motivation to and inspiration to make change in your life,l but struggling with getting in motion.

Light years before The Secret (which I happen to LOVE), Earl Nightingale was already preaching the gospel according to the Law of Attraction.

What a great message in a short CD. His voice is very 50's sounding, but so easy to listen to. You'll hear all the same messages as you do in The Secret, but remember that this was recorded decades before.

Thanks to Jeffrey Gitomer for turning me on to this CD.
Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness

The most amazing characteristic of this message is its clarity. I have read hundreds of motivational books, and this might be the shortest and clearest text on the topic of setting goals and living mindfully. A true classic! No wonder that the original LP received a Golden Record award, indicating that over 1 million copies were sold. I highly recommend listening to the CD at least once every month!

One of the most enlightening books I have ever read. It delivers, in spades, a strategy for gaining positive publicity. On the way, it provides extremely interesting and thought provoking insight into how the media (and media professionals) operates.

The book is logically structured, with each chapter building on the previous. The result is a memorable system, as opposed to a jumble of rules.

Each chapter provides valuable insights into the how's and why's of gaining access to media. The insight that had the most impact on me was that you have a client relationship with reporters. The only thing is, the reporter is the client. That insight alone was worth the price of the book.

This is a great read, and a must-have on your short list if you're interested in Media Relations. Mark breaks down his book into easy to digest chapters, with real world examples of how each media rule works. By the time you get done with this book, you'll have it highlighted, with notes and ideas written in the margins, eager to try them out for your cause. Then you'll read it again to see what you missed the first time!

I'm getting ready to return to college and get my degree in Communications/PR. After seeing Mark give a presentation at a luncheon, getting the chance to read his book and taking the opportunity to talk with him, I was convinced more than ever to stay on track. I'm hoping to use the ideas in his book to stun my professors. Thanks Mark!

I don't think anyone can read Feeding the Media Beast and not be entertained. Better yet they will learn valuable insights about dealing with the media. There has always been a mystique about the media, that somehow they are greater beings than mere mortals. Mathis easily puts that to rest through his personal stories and often humorous examples. Mathis knows the media and is generous in his willingness to share.

Once anyone with a product to sell or something to promote figures out that the media need US they will be halfway to meeting their goal. Knowing how the game is played, and how important we are to them, is what Mathis does an excellent job of teaching.

Prepare. That is the key principle that Mathis shares and that we need to remember over and over. The media can be intimidating and daunting if we allow it, but with the information in Feeding the Media Beast it doesn't have to be. The media should be our best friend and after reading this book you'll feel much more confident and remember that they need us.

If you have any interest in working with the media successfully, read this book. Before you write a press release, before you call a journalist, and definitely before you accept an interview, listen to what Mark Mathis has to say about the nature of the media industry. His experience and his insights are invaluable. Initially I had thought that the cartoon on the front and the constant reference to the media as a "Beast" seemed infantile, and then I realized that this is in keeping with the message. The media IS infantile. Modern media is hardly a mature form of communication--it's more like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum. Why it's that way is a subject for sociologists and philosophers. All I'm concerned with is how to work with this three-year-old, and this book shows me the way.

Mathis' book is *excellent*, but government communicators should also see a book written by a Washington pro, see Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress. The Handbook is written by Brad Fitch, who has more than a decade of Washington PR experience, with a Foreword by Mike McCurry.

What others have said about Fitch's book (about which you can see more at MediaRelationsHandbook.com ):

"Great advice for beginners and experienced media hands. If you are a media relations professional--either beginner or seasoned veteran--this is the book for you. Brad Fitch, who spent many years fielding reporters' tough questions on Capitol Hill, has written a timely, practical guide to handling media relations that is filled with solid professional advice. What goes into a press release? How do you develop a strategic message? You've got a digital camera and a fax machine, but what else does your office need to effectively handle the media? Before you start talking to a reporter, do you know the difference between 'on the record,' 'off the record,' and 'background'? When there's an immediate crisis in your organization, what are the eight mistakes that you absolutely must avoid? How do you handle your paranoid boss when he or she has to confront the press? You'll find the answers to these and many other everyday problems in this book. Fitch also gives valuable advice on how to set up an effective website and how to use e-mail for optimum communications. Excellent book for professionals who work in federal or state agencies, trade associations, non-profits, state legislatures or Congress. It's the only handbook you'll ever need."
-- Dennis W. Johnson, college professor and former Capitol Hill senior staffer

"Provides valuable advice for those who flack for a living."
-- Roll Call

"A superb blend of theory and practice, written by someone who uses words like Gallup uses polls."
-- Steve O'Keefe, author "Complete Guide to Internet Publicity" and Adjunct Faculty, Tulane University College

"Uncertain how to interest the press in your pressing issue? Having difficulty preparing your media-unfriendly boss for a tough interview? Worried about the next communications crisis and how to handle it? Brad Fitch answers those questions and many more in this crisp, clear and completely useful book."
-- Tucker Carlson, Co-Host CNN Crossfire, author

"A seminar from TheCapitol.Net is one of the best ways to learn from the experts about how Washington really works. Now all that insight and information has been packed into this invaluable volume. I suggest you read it, and become your own expert."
-- Steven V. Roberts, syndicated columnist, TV and radio analyst, college professor

"Brad Fitch has performed an admirable public service by giving public relations students and professionals alike an indispensable tool. His book provides a road map on both the practicalities and principles of PR, and he shows that honest PR is not an oxymoron. Now it's up to all of us in the media and spin industries to keep our end of the bargain."
-- Ed Henry, Congressional Correspondent, CNN (formerly Senior Editor of Roll Call)

"This volume is an invaluable road map to the mean streets of a city where information is power and power is everything. Brad Fitch has written a rich 'how-to' lesson for pros and for novices who must negotiate the competitive landscape of America's new media."
-- Ann Compton, White House Correspondent, ABC News

"Media Relations Handbook is to political campaigns what The Art of War is to military campaigns: an essential strategic reference that winners should never be without."
-- James Carville, Co-Host CNN Crossfire, author

If you're a government communicator, you should get both Feeding the Media BeastAgain and Fitch's book, MediaRelationsHandbook.com , or search Amazon using the ISBN: 1587330032

This is a great Book! We used this book in a sign language class I took. It is easy to read and understand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to talk to the deaf or hard of hearing.

This book covers numerous "word groupings" in 17 chapters. Some of these groupings include, "Days of the Week & Time"; "School & Education"; "Descriptions,Thoughts& Emotions"; "The body& Health"; "Mealtime& Food"; "Home&Clothing"; "Numbers,Math Terms,Quantity &Money"; "Pronouns,People&Relationships"; "Actions"; as well as many more.
I especially like this book for the photographic illustrations. So far this is the only ASL book I have found with photographic illustrations.

With each word there are specific instructions for the proper hand shape, position, and movement to go with each sign as well as a visual reminder for memory. At the bottom of each page there is a photographic guide as a visual reminder of all the proper hand shapes that are used in all the signs for that particular page.

I would highly recommend this book for any with the desire to learn Sign Language.

This book was a required text for a Sign Language I course. The pictures are very clear, it gives good description of hand shape, location and movement. I really like that it gives a hint of how to visualize each sign, it makes it much easier to remember.

The book "Talking With Your Hands, Listening With Your Eyes" is a great book for people wanting to start learning sign language. The photographs of the signs are very clear. I especially like the additional material throughout the book about Deaf Culture and history. I recommend this book and enjoyed reading it even though I have been a student of sign language for 5 years.

Love the book, first borrowed it from my local library. The binding does tend to crack with much use, so I broke my book's binding and put all the pages in clear cover sheets in a 3 ring binder. Cost a little more but it was worth it because now I don't have to worry about destroying it and my book will last a lot longer. I found this book the most helpful in explaining how to do the signs as well as illustrating them in very clear photos. I highly recommend!!!

Every public and school library should have a copy of this excellent resource. The research that Judy Freeman did to create this compendium of quality read aloud books is well worth the investment.

Ever wished you could keep up all the great children's books and pick the best ones to read aloud and recommend to your students? Need inspiration to liven up your lessons on library skills? Looking for more effective ways to collaborate with teachers? This book has it all!

Targeted at grades K - 6, the first 100+ pages include wide-ranging information about children's books and ways to use them. Topics include: how to be a great school librarian, evaluating children's books, read aloud and booktalking suggestions, fun library learning games, storytelling, creative drama, reader's theater, etc.

The next 600 pages contain wonderful annotated read-aloud lists divided by Easy Fiction/Picture books, Fiction, Folk & Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends, Poetry, Nonsense and Language Oriented non-fiction, Biography, and Non-fiction. In addition to standard information (author, summary, etc.) each of the 1,705 annotations includes grade level, related titles, subjects, and a "Germ." "Germs" are small, practical, do-able ideas to interject into lesson plans including ideas for sharing the books with children and incorporating comprehension, creativity, library skills, and cross-curricular ties, etc. Pick one book on the list and turn it into a great lesson plan!

The final 200 pages include a professional bibliography and 3 handy indices: Author/Illustrator Index, Title Index, and the index I find most helpful - the Subject Index including grade level of each book. Subject you can think of is covered - from Aardvarks to Bullying to Hispanic Americans to Zoos!

I cannot recommend a book more highly! It's not just for school librarians - teachers, homeschoolers, parents, and public librarians will also love it! I also recommend previous editions - Books Kids Will Sit Still For and More Books Kids Will Sit Still For - both have different hints on how to be a great librarian and annotated lists of older books. I use all three Judy Freeman's books almost daily to help me work with teachers and plan great library lessons.

I stumbled across this wonderful book while working my way through our library's books about books in search of more wonderful picture books to share with my toddler (who is nearly 19 months). It was mis-shelved in the local branch (took 4 tries for the librarian to find it) and since no one had noticed in the 6 months or so since the book came in, my friendly librarian slapped a due date sticker on it and let me check it out. I found myself immersed in it during the daughter's afternoon nap and checked to see if either of the previous volumes was available to check out. Alas no, although I found a cheap ex-library copy of the previous volume, More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition), which when it arrived looked like it had never been touched. I don't pretend to understand that - I think this is a treasure trove of ideas and books to share with young (and not so young) children. Although it's aimed at elementary educators, there's a huge amount to offer a parent or other caregiver...ideas for activities related to the books as well as related titles.

As the parent of a toddler, I confess that I prefer the overlapping mini-sections by age found in More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide (2nd Edition) and Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud Guide Second Edition (Books Kids Will Sit Still for) because it's easier to sift through a couple hundred titles than 800 for books short enough for a toddler to sit through, but that's more of a quibble, especially since the expanded entries offer so many ideas for making (or keeping) books interesting.

How does she do it? Another winner from Judy Freeman! More tips, annotations, bibliographies, storytelling, reader's theater etc.. The amount of material is superb and the format is clear and precise. She is marvelous at what she does and can help any media specialist or teacher sharpen their book skills.
A must buy for all elementary educators!

I've had the pleasure in the past week to read Judy Freeman's Newbery committee experience in her latest "Books Kids will sit still for 3" (c. 2006). She had to take the Librarian Oath, probably with a ceremonial blood letting to seal it, that she and the other members would never tell the secrets of the Committee dealings with the individual books. Ooooooh, that makes me want to be on the Committee even more!

I thought the listings alone in the book would be worth the book's weight in gold (which is substantial, with more than 900 pages), but it pales in comparison with the first 100+ pages of the book in which she shares her passion for reading, books, libraries, and children. What a treat! Reward yourselves soon by allowing time to read this.

Thanks, Judy! You made my day!

Liz Frame
Librarian
San Antonio Christian Elementary School

I have purchased several of Mr. Garner's books and this one, like all the others, is a masterpiece. Mr. Garner's command and understanding of the English language, combined with his concise, crisp descriptions, make this work an essential addition to anyone's library. I applaud Mr. Garner for his extraordinary efforts and I thank him for sharing his genius with the rest of us.

Garner's Usage is likely the single most useful and entertaining book on the topic. Little else needs to be said about it.

Garner's Modern American Usage My daughter attends law school at SMU in Dallas where Garner is adjuct professor. She says he is a great teacher. We ordered two copies. Yes, it's indispensible as a reference, but it also makes great bedside reading for us wordsmiths.

Being a layman, and not a wordsmith as some of the review-writers here, this will not be an eloquently written review, however the results are the same. I often hear people use words in a way that I believe to be incorrect, for example 'irregardless', but I'm never quite sure. A regular dictionary doesn't usually provide the explanations I'm looking for, and my curiosity goes unanswered. This book is exactly what I need when I question the usage of almost any word. It gives definitions, explanations as to why words are often used incorrectly, as well as pronunciations that are correct or incorrect, and often in a humorous manner! This book would be a must for any writer, but is also sure to satisfy the simply curious!

I ordered this reference based on an essay I read by David Foster Wallace titled "Authority and American Usage." In it, Wallace dissects the ongoing debate between the Prescriptivists (those claiming to defend the King's English) and the Descriptivists (those who claim language rules should reflect current practice rather than old rules), and he does so in the context of, essentially, a long-winded review of Garner's Modern American Usage.
The big problem with Prescriptivism is one of authority, or "why" their rules are what they are. The problem with Descriptivism is one of, well, spinelessness in the sense that rules cannot be based simply on "what everybody else is doing."
Garner, however, deftly walks the line between these two perspectives. He acknowledges common, accepted usage, but still has the guts to make "rules" where necessary. And when he does so, he resolves the "authority" question by logically and fairly arguing his case, rather than simply "that's how it is done."
In my limited reading of Garner's reference so far, I've found it to be amazingly thorough in its examination of everything from common errors to idioms to punctuation, and surprisingly down to earth for a linguistic reference.
Personally, I think everybody should have books like this. But if you write for a living or simply have an interest in language and grammar, this book is essential to your collection.