Languages Books

If you appreciate an 'old fashioned' tale free of graphic intimacy and violence, if you appreciate vivid description, romance and intrigue this is for you. I read all but one of Mary Stewart's books in my early twenty's through late thirties. Now, nearing seventy, I am rereading them and cherishing the stories I read in my young years. I have divested myself of hundreds of books. Mary Stewart's remain a constant. Though I prefer some over others "Madam Will You Talk" is one of my favorites. It tells of a young widow vacationing in Southern France who accidentially stumbles on murder, betrayal and intrique. Of course there is a romantic touch, but who is the object of the heroine's affection? Good read...

Yes, yes, yes to all the earlier reviewers! That's why I put Madam, Will You Talk? on my listmania list of favorite romances - along with my alltime Stewart favorite: Nine Coaches Waiting. They both hold all the essential ingredients for a good read - not the least being excellent writing. It's all too true that most contemporary love stories, suspense thrown in or not, are written at an elementary school literary level. I've submitted 3 manuscripts to Avalon, all of which were returned with comments that my writing was excellent and my characters engaging but I spent too much time on plotlines and peripheral characters outside of the central love story - which is exactly what I prefer in a story! Thank goodness Stewart never followed Avalon's "Rules for Writing"! Unlike some other reviewers, I lost interest in Stewart with her Merlin series. It's her early first-person narratives that enthralled. Her sense of place, plot, and people cannot be beat in this genre! Sad to say, my local library does not carry a single one of her early romantic suspense novels, so I'm on a quest to build my own Stewart library. I don't reread many authors - but Stewart just gets better with time. Madam, Will You Talk? holds a line I've never forgotten over 30 years: "Who's Johnny?" Not what I expected the hero to ask in that scene but what an impact! Read the book and see if you agree. Lily's Sister

First Sentence: The whole affair began so quietly.

WWII war widow Charity Shelbourne whose holiday in France becomes life changing. It starts with a large dog and a young, clearly troubled, boy in Avignon and progresses with a suspicious step-mother, an Englishman who reads poetry and a way-too-handsome Frenchman via a thrilling car chase to a man who had been accused, but acquitted, of murder and is desperate to connect with his son in spite of others desperate attempts to prevent it.

I love Mary Stewart's pre-Merlin books. The story starts off placidly but you are told things are going to quickly change as all the players are in place. Stewart's writing is incredibly visual. Her sense of place is vivid to the point that you feel the heat and smell the flowers. Her use of analogy is wonderful. With only a few words, you know who these characters are. Her protagonist is strong, smart and very capable. Her friend, Louise, plays a minor role but is memorable in her own right. I don't always like the way children are portrayed but, again, Stewart has drawn a lovely character in the boy, David. Stewart creates and builds the suspense, but adds just a subtle, mostly off-scene, dash of romance to make a wholly satisfying read. Even the chapter headings add to the story. My only personal nit-pick is the use of portents, which is just a personal irritant for me, but so minor when compared with the rest of the story. This book was an absolute pleasure to read.

I first read this nearly 30 years ago (yikes), and it left such an indelible impression that when I recently started visiting this genre again, I had to have another taste of this story. There are a couple points where it's obvious this is an early work, but they are few and do not detract from the vivid descriptions and characterizations. By the end of the novel, I have been to Avignon and Marseilles, and I'm quite fond of Charity and her friends. Even Louise, a minor character, is well drawn and you feel you know her.

Time to revisit all of Mary Stewart's books, I think. I remember the Merlin series fondly as well. If you like this genre, you may also like the works of Victoria Holt, Susan Howatch, and Phyllis Whitney. And if you liked the Merlin series, I highly recommend The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Mary Stewart writes great romantic suspense. This novel has the beautiful settings, fast-paced mystery and charming protagonist of all her suspense novels, plus an edge-of-your-seat climatic car chase that will leave you wanting to rush out and get her other books.

I bought this book for my 2.5yr old niece and she absolutely loved it. The illustrations are bright, cheery and wonderfully done...and the book was effective...my niece was saying "Ni hao ma" after the first read!

Beautiful illustrations, easy to read, great CD to listen to - Wonderful way to begin the foray of Chinese. I highly recommend these books!

Deborah

I first saw this book on the shelves at a language institute, which said a lot to me, knowing how carefully they screen their materials. I was not disappointed - it's a wonderful introduction to conversational Mandarin Chinese for kids. The book has the ideal combination of attention-grabing illustrations and easy dialogue focusing on activities meaningful to children. The CD has nice background music and an easy, conversational tone missing from so much language instruction. My two year old loves the disk, and plays it quite often on his own, with or without the book. I'll hear him repeating the phrases, and even responding to the characters ahead of the dialogue.

If you're looking for a way to introduce your kids to Mandarin, I can't recommend this highly enough. As another reviewer said, there's nothing like it on the market.

I love this book so much and decided to check out the website. The website has Mandy and Pandy dolls, finger puppets, t-shirts, and free coloring pages. This is a great concept and a wonderful book for parents who want their children to learn Chinese. The CD that comes with the book makes pronunciation a cinch. I would recommend this to everyone. Also, check out the website at mandyandpandy.com for other great resources to go along with the book.

I bought the book for my daughter who is preschool age and she loved it! I like the fact that the book is organized like a story which makes the kids not realize that they are learning chinese while reading the "storybook".

This is an amazing series! I first read it in the early 70's as a fifth grader and as teacher I read it every year to my third, fourth and fifth graders. They love it.

I remembered reading these books in the 70's and got this book for my son. My "reluctant reader" fifth grader loved the entire series. A great pick for kids who are more interested in straight fiction "real" characters and plots, as opposed to fantasy/science fiction (which can confound less strong readers). I wish the entire series was in print.

The third book in the series has mighty big shoes to fill but it lives up to expectations very well.
Other reviewers have expressed concern over the lack of stories with the main character (Tom), but this book is true to it's title and deals with the younger Fitzgerald in very well.\

I applaud the author for taking time to focus on the troubles of a younger sibling when his older (and more conniving) brother is absent.

I enjoyed this book very much when I was younger, and still enjoy it now that I am an adult and father.

This series is one that I hope to share with my children as they grow up, and I hope they will get as much pleasure from the stories as I did.

This book presents a very nice change of pace in the Great Brain series. The Great Brain has gone off to boarding school, and J. D. thinks that he will fill the Great Brain's shoes and try to swindle the kids in town. All of J. D.'s plans backfire, and he learns that swindling people is not something that is to be admired or done. The main focus of the book is on J.D.'s family's adoption of Frankie, a little boy whose parents were killed in an accident. It's a very heartwarming portrayal of a family's acceptance of a new member, and it is not at all lacking in comic relief. Mr. Fitzgerald's humor is not at all lacking in this book, and perhaps is even better than in the rest of the series. I definitely enjoyed this book.

Overall grade: A

I read these books as child by checking them out of a library. Now almost 20 years later, I have decided to reread them all starting from the beginning. In this book, J.D. decides that he can fill the Great Brain (T.D.)'s shoes, while T.D. is away at the Academy in Salt Lake City. It turns out to be a humbling experience, thus the title, Me and My Little Brain. While some people may tell you that this book isn't as good without the presence of the Great Brain, I found this book just as entertaining as the rest. The storytelling is as superb as the rest. You don't want to miss this book because it introduces the character, Frankie, who allows this book to still be about brothers. Towards the end of this book, we find out that J.D. can still do some amazing stuff even though he has a little brain. This book and The Great Brain at the Academy are parallel books, which describe events happening at the same time, however, you should read this book first to have things make sense.

shuuld be a required text for all senior highschool students, and a constant companion throughout life for anyone who aspires to use the English language with precision. It is much more than simply a dictionary, placing words in a context, using quotations from accomplished authors, enabling the reader to appreciate the nuances between synonymous words .

i was about to write a review of this book, as well as give my unassailable opinion as to which thesaurus is best. then, i read the first review, submitted by A CUSTOMER. the review is pretty much exactly what i was going to write, with one notable, though admittedly minor exception. the most startling thing about this book is that you very well may find yourself READING IT. it's fascinating to read about the different synonyms and how they differ in appropriateness and meaning. another thing about this other person's review is that he implied that he had an earlier edition of the book. mine is ninteen-sixty-eight edition, although i've used (and, unfortunately stored away) much earlier editions. i'm not sure about the current one, but the earlier ones distinguished between words that are now considered indistinguishable. for example, did you know that woody allen's humor is not self-"deprecating", it's "depreciating". and, i don't know if i used the quotation marks and commas correctly in the preceding sentence. anyway, don't be swayed by the fact that this is not a thesaurus. what it is, is both interesting and useful.

This is a great book to have. It lists synonyms, antonyms, analogous, and contrasted words. The vast majority of the book is dedicated to explaining the difference between synonymous terms. The layout and format of the book facilitates searching for words. There is an extremely informative introduction that provides a brief history of synonymy and how the current book came to be what it is.
The dictionary defines a synonym as: meaning "one of two or more words in the English language which have the same or very nearly the same essential meaning." As for antonyms, the definition is: "An antonym is a word so opposed in meaning to another word, its equal in breadth or range of application, that it negates or nullifies every single one of its implications."

This is the compainion to the Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus that I recently purchased. I believe this reference book is a must have in any private library that gives any writing needs you have that edge that stands you apart from all of the other writers in this world. Again, I thought for sure this was going to be a book that collected dust on the shelf but this is not the case at all !!! I use this book along with my new Dictionary and Thesaurus on a regular basis knowing these reference books give me the confidence to go forward and write anything I want. Knowing I can actually express my thoughts completely with words that can give a clear picture of my thoughts and feelings !!! Without sounding like an idiot who failed third grade spelling three years in a row. Only kidding mom. LOL I am very pleased to have this reference book in my library and I look forward to using this book over and over again in the future !!!

Indispensable for ESLs. Buy it and you will never regret. See the other reviews for why. In other thesauruses you can not choose a word without knowing the shades of meaning and usage discriminating one from the other. This can be easy for native speakers, it is but terribly difficult for an ESL. I know, because I am one. From the moment I opened its package, I have never used any other thesaurus.

If you appreciate an 'old fashioned' tale free of graphic intimacy and violence, if you appreciate vivid description, romance and intrigue this is for you. I read all but one of Mary Stewart's books in my early twenty's through late thirties. Now, nearing seventy, I am rereading them and cherishing the stories I read in my young years. I have divested myself of hundreds of books. Mary Stewart's remain a constant. "My Brother Michael" tells the tale of a young woman travelling in Greece and, as in other Mary Stewart books, stumbles by happenstance upon murder done and more to come. In this book there is the briefest hint of romance while the heroine is emeshed in a web of fear and violence. Each chapter is headed by a brief quote from ancient poets and philosophers such as Sophocles to Milton giving the reader the tiniest preview of things to come. A good read

Mary Stewart is a great writer. I loved the setting of Delphi, Greece. The whole driving scene is funny. The bit of war history of Greece is good background information. Highlights the British view of Greece and it's people, which is not always flattering. But, still a great read.

Definitely buy this novel, or any by Mary Stewart, if you have grown bored of the modern authors.

Stewart knew how to tell a tale of romance and intrigue and here you are plunged into the crisp, dark waters of suspense. The rocky hills and ancient marvels of Greece are the backdrop for this fast-paced story of a young woman who sets out to see Delphi. She discovers far more than she bargained for in the form of the very likeable and mysterious Simon, whose brother Michael was murdered during the hostilities of WWII more than a decade before.

She joins him in his search for justice and together they solve the murder and find great wonders. If I compared this story to a painting, it would be one of the colorful baroque canvases about 12 feet tall.

As a fan of Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters work, this book at first moved slower than I am used to. However, the book delivered on many of the elements that makes me most interested in picking up a mystery novel - historical/archeological/mythological themes, exotic settings well described, a strong female heroine, adventure, and maybe just a touch of romance (not too much). What I found most interesting/facinating was Mary Stewart's ability to paint with words a richly detailed/atmospheric landscape (in this case the rugged mountains of Greece and historically significant center of Delphi) was enough to leave a lasting impression, like snapshots in your mind of time spent in a place that just by being there spiritually uplifted you in some way. Armchair travelers with an interest in experiencing through osmosis impressions left on people upon visiting historical/mythological places will like this book.

Other recommended authors: Sharyn McCrumb, Nevada Barr, Jessica Speart, Beverly Connor, Lyn Hamilton, Susanna Kearsley, and Kathleen Skye Moody.

I remember before I discovered Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Minette Walters, and P.D. James, my favorite writer was Mary Stewart. I may never read her "Merlin" series again, but I still think of it fondly as a great step along the way to good reading. So when I came across a few of her books recently that I may or may not have read 20 years ago, I snatched a couple of them up, anxious to see if they held up over time. I probably should have resisted. "My Brother Michael" is an interesting story, and Mary Stewart's writing is good, but she just isn't in the same league as the Big Four. This was an OK read, and the setting was beautifully described, but the story sort of lurched along for me. I may go ahead and read another of the Stewart books I picked up at the same time as this in hopes of redemption, but then again, I may not. The good news: this is a very fast read. : )

If you have a toddler, you know how much they enjoy hearing the same story over and over again. This book is sure to be one of your little one's favorites. The simple pictures and truncated text make this a great book for toddlers. And because there's no real storyline to follow, you can skip a few pages here and there if you need to... at least, until your little one is old enough to catch onto you.

My 15-month old son LOVES this book ever since he was 9 months-old. We read it every night before he goes to bed. Taro Gomi has captured simple creatures in life and have made them animated and good teachers. The illustrations are purely magical. I highly recommend this book to kids, young and old.

Our son loves this book - and we love reading it to him. It's such a great sentiment, that we can learn so much from those around us. We're connected to our friends, and each one has a gift that we can appreciate. And the illustrations are fantastic.

I have been collecting bilingual books to read to my children and to help our whole family learn Spanish. This is one of our favorites and one the kids will listen to without complaining about me reading in Spanish (which is a problem with some other books with more words on each page). I highly recommend this book and have been buying copies to give to friends.

My Friends by Taro Gomi is a beautifully illustrated book about learning simple skills...with a little help from your friends. And in this story, all creatures (from the tiniest ant to the teachers at school) are your friends. My daughter loves this book, reciting page after page which friend teaches her what task. The overall message of this book is that a child can learn something from everyone and everything.

The artwork is delightful: colorful, simple, and crisp. The language sounds lyrical, even poetic, as you read it aloud. This book will capture the imagination of your child. Whenever we read it, my daughter gives me different examples of who has taught her what. It is a great conversation starter!

I recommend this engaging book for all toddlers, beginning readers, or anyone who enjoys a sweet story.

If you write a lot of network utilities in Perl this book is a must-have.

It's very well-written, with lots of sample code and a detailed explanation of how it all works. More importantly, Stein goes into great detail on the concepts the network programmer needs to understand, and why things need to be done a certain way. There is really a lot of valuable information here, and it's all quite well-organized and readable.

A very good computer book.

Just to say this is a big introduction (from starts to experts) to the network stuff through the magnific language that is perl.
Do you want to be a hacker? do you know enought of perl? Do you feel the only you need to be a hacker is some specific book that prepares to it? this is the one, BUY IT, at the end you will think this is one of the best books you have already read, i promise you.

(if you already know the net, it explains how to do the stuff in perl in an exciting way!)

This is one of my favorite Perl books. It really serves what it says it will. It covers a great amount of Perl coding, but like the title says, goes into a lot of networking code, functions and so on. For Perl network programming, you really should have and use this book.

This book is excellent. This is one of very few books that the author really takes time, has a good plan to write a book and have good understanding of the subject.

I read many computer books that are just repetitive so it can make the books thick enough to look like a 'good book' (May be this is what US raaders like). I try my best to avoid those books. Those books do not say much in hundreds of pages.

But this book is not that kind of book. Every pages are worth to read. It is quite easy to follow. (I do know a bit of TCP/IP from reading other books before I read this book.) E.g. Stevens TCP/IP books. Unfortunately he died and he won't be able to update those great books.

Some authors are not professional, they just copy here and there. Then they put everything together. Those are terrible books to read. Those terrible books explain some simple concept again and again and take up hundreds of pages that can be done in half of volume. It is not just wasting the readers time (time is money) but also wasting the resource (trees)! Even most college textbooks are that way. Sometimes it is even worst since they know you won't haave much choices!

I seldom to give 5 stars. This book does deserve 5 stars.

You will enjoy this one if you like networking.

This book has been in my wish list for pretty long time, and before I actually buy it decided to check it out of my school's library. Enjoyment started at the first chapters of the book that I read in the library's caffeteria. The book definitely covers all the aspects of the Network Progamming, not only with Perl, but in general as well.

In the first chapters of the book, Lincoln Stein makes good use of such OO modules as IO::File and IO::Socket to demostrate that difference between local file operations and remote network programming isn't that much different at all ( at least in Perl ).

Chapter 2 shows you several applications that are built on pipes. The best thing about the chapter was the signals part, where L. Stein shows examples, catching all sorts of signals that your progam receives and reacts accordingly. One example was reacting to pressing of CTRL+C sequence of keys to terminate the progam.

I would call Chapter 3 the heart of the book, since it goes over Berkeley Sockets, the base for Network progamming in most systems, no matter what progamming language you tend to prefer. It also explains thoroughly Sockets Addressings, Network naming conventions, protocols, services and a lot more. This chapter, together with the Chapter 4 alone are worth the whole price of the book, I believe. The chapter in the end goes over some common netwook analysis tools, such as "nslookup", "ping", so on and so forth.

Chapter 4 tells you all you need about TCP Protocol. Shows several examples as well. Goes over Adjusting Socket options, and their uses.

Chapter 5 is not anything newer supposing you've been following all the pervious chapters. Untill this chapter, L. Stein demonstrates the coding using much low level Socket API. here Lincoln starts using IO::Socket's Object Oriented Interface for its handy functionalities that enable writing Networking applications more relieving.

Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9 takes you through writing several commong network clients such as SMTP/mailing clients, Telnet, FTP clients. Also provides their complete source codes in case you just feel likek copying them. Chapter 9 gets into the most fun part: LWP and HTML/XML Parsing. Spends good 50 pages on those. Very exciting indeed!

The rest of the book (another half) is dedicated for writing Server applications, which I haven't read. I am sure the rest is as exciting as it's been up to this point. But no matter what, I am greatefull to the book for such an exciting and informative coverage of the topics. It's worth every penny that you spend on it. Buy it!

This lexicon has saved me! Verb formations can be challenging in Greek. Okay, so that's an understatement. There are very few that are cut and dried. Most of the lexicons I found list the root of the verb, but if it's anything more complex, you may never find the word for which you're looking. This lexicon, however, lists each form of the verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs along with an analysis and a reference back to its root where a brief definition is given. It will save you, literally, hours of searching.

In a world of relativism and unbridled inclusiveness, we need a clear understanding of God's Word. It is life changing. The Bible does not contain but is the absolute truth of God. As one studies God's Word in the original languages (in this case NT koine Greek), untold treasures are revealed concerning what the Lord has for those who believe. We get a better understanding of the mind of God, the value of life and the salvation that every soul needs through Jesus Christ. I highly recommend it.

Sou estudante de teologia no Brasil e o livro de Perschbacher tem sido fundamental nos trabalhos de exegese bíblica.

In my early years in NT Greek I found this volume quite helpful. Every so often I still refer to it, if my mind seems to be playing tricks on me.

This lexicon lists every single word found in the Greek NT. By this, I do not mean there is just a reference for agapao (love), but every form that agapao appears in the NT. So, for instance, in Ephesians 5:25, is the word agapate. Looking up this specific word, you'll find it is derived from agapao, but that it is the 2nd person, plural, present, active, subjunctive or imperative form of the word. So this book is invaluable to the person learning Greek and for studying and translating the Greek NT.

It is especially helpful as it list words found not only in the Critical Text like many lexicons but also words and word forms found only in the Textus Receptus and the Majority Text. It even indicates when a word in a particular verse is in a different form in each of these Greek texts and when a word form only occurs in one of these Greek texts.

I purchased this lexicon when I was studying Greek at Denver Seminary. And it was invaluable in learning Greek and for studying the Greek NT thereafter. When I felt God was leading me to translation my own version of the NT (Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament: Third Edition - ALT), I purchased the BibleWorks 7 software program. And it provides the parsing details for words in its auto-info window.

However, sometimes BibleWorks parsing does not look correct to me. So I keep this book on hand, by my computer monitor. And in such cases, I will double-check BibleWorks parsing by this book. And sometimes I still refer to this book just for the lexical information. So even with computer software, this book is still valuable.

The Title says it all.

It's really the best. As long as you don't use it as a crutch, it could greatly improve your songwriting.

"THIS COLLECTION OF WORDS AND PHRASES REPRESENTS TWENTY YEARS OF RESEARCH, of listening to how we Americans talk, of always having a pencil ready to jot down a clever rhyme heard or seen anywhere---on the street, on airplanes, in theaters, on bathroom walls."
---From the Introduction
[from the book of the front flap]

I write educational songs for a living, stuff in the vein of Schoolhouse Rock. I used to rely on online rhyming dictionaries until I found this book, which is about 20 times more thorough than any website I've found. This book has saved me countless hours and made my songs immeasurably better. I love this book!

I teach a college course in songwriting, and in preparing to teach the course did an extensive review of many rhythming dictionaries. This one is by far the best, for the reasons other reviewers have stated.

If you buy one rhyming dictionary, make it this one. It's the one I use.

Hi

It has been my good fortune to songwrite with many of the world's greatest songwriters, and to have had a bit of commercial success. So, for what it's worth, I offer the following review of this dictionary, plus a few other recommendations for aspiring lyricists and songwriters.

I own eight or nine rhyming dictionaries, and am constantly on the lookout for others, and basically, they all pretty much suck compared to this one. You certainly don't need any of them but this one, and I am continually surprised when browsing through bookshops to see many of those other lousy books on the shelves, but not Sue Young's excellent reference book. I don't know what the explanation for that is, but whatever it is, it has nothing to do with quality. If something has superceded it, I don't know about it.

Young's book has four main strengths which put it above the pack:

1.) It simply has a greater number of rhyming words than other dictionaries;

2.) It includes rhyming phrases, e.g., when you go to look for rhymes for "ground" you will find (amongst single words) phrases like "merry go round", "lost and found", etc. This feature is a valuable rarity.

3.) It arranges the rhyming options under each suffix in groups according to numbers of syllables: first there are the single syllable options, then the two syllable options, and so on. Believe it or not, I have a number of rhyming dictionaries which instead list options in alphabetical order (mixing up one, two, three, and four syllable options), obviously a cumbersome and time-wasting arrangement.

4.) Unlike those found in most other dictionaries, Young's rhyming lists include slang words/phrases, contractions, acronyms, obscenities, abbreviations, etc. Beat poets to Broadway lyricists to Ogden Nash humourists to rock writers will all appreciate these.

Perhaps I might also add that if you are an aspiring songwriter who wishes to enjoy commercial success (i.e., getting on the radio in whatever genre, or in broadway shows, etc.), Young's book could help form a kind of "starter reference package". The components would include:

1.) The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young

2.) Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus by Barbara Ann Kipfer (this is the best one out there).

3.) Any or all of the Sheila Davis lyric writing books, especially, "Successful Lyric Writing: A Step-by-Step Course and Workbook". (Davis' books are clinical and mechanical, but you need to know song mechanics in order to be a consistently successful songwriter. Her books are really good for this, though won't be appreciated by those certain that each aspect of a song is dictated by heavenly muses rather than largely being the product of conscious and unconscious mental effort).

4.) If you would like an in-depth, "artistic" perspective on songwriting by a successful songwriter, add to this list the Jimmy Webb book, "Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting". (This one isn't necessary, it just may be of interest to some people).

I should add that most of the other "How to Write a Song!" type books out there are total garbage, so I wouldn't even bother with them.

But by far the best thing aspiring songwriters can do is deconstruct their own favourite songs to see why and how they work, and then incorporate what they discover into their own catalogue of creative knowledge.

Anyway, bravo to Sue Young for coming up with the best rhyming dictionary out there.

I hope this review has helped someone. Good luck.

I needed a book on grammar. There are so many different rules it's hard to keep them straight. I needed the basics and I needed a quick reference guide. I did not need one of those huge books that had 300 plus pages. They were filled with nonsense and radom rules that only English professors need to know! This book is easy to understand. Don't know the difference between bore and bore? Or altar and alter? There is a quick guide in the back to show you what to use. Get confused with lay, and laid? There is also a nice chart that shows you the difference between present, past and past participle. There is so much packed into this little book it will amaze you.

This book is excellent. And it's so easy to understand. It doesn't bog you down with unless information. This is a must have for everyone!

"Nitty-Gritty Grammar" is an outstanding book. I read it prior to having its authors Edith Fine and Judith Josephson on my talk radio show on WRKO Radio in Boston. They were informative and funny and the phone lines were full the entire hour they were on my show. The key to this book is that it is both educational and entertaining. In someone else's hands, this book could be a real snoozer. In Judith and Edith's hands, it is a work of art. If you read this book, you will stop making up "irregardless" and other words which don't exist (see page 85.) You will stop mispronouncing words like "asterisk" (it's not asterick-- see page 72.) And you will never again misplace your apostrophes, dangle your participles or commit other high crimes and misdemeanors against grammar, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation (see pages 1-102--the entire book.) The book includes many cartoons which will teach you while you laugh. The section on "Ways to Tame the Spelling Monster" is indispensable with clever ways to remember the correct spelling of words including "dessert" (it has two s's--think strawbery shortcake). If you only read the "ticker tape" which runs throughout the book at the bottom of each page, you will learn more than you did in twelve years of boring English classes. The amazing part of this book is that it can be used by children, teenagers and adults. I suggest you buy copies for your entire family and all your friends and coworkers. They'll speak properly when they thank you.

Bob Katzen, WRKO Radio, Boston, Massachusett

As a writing teacher and home schooler, I haven't found a more enjoyable grammar reference book. My 11 year old son picked it up one day and read straight through the entire book in one afternoon. The appeal of the cartoons, the easy to understand explanations and the user friendly format make this the grammar reference of choice for all grammar-impaired parents who teach their own kids. I highly recommend it!

Our child brought home grammar for the third grade and we had forgotten half of what we had learned in school. This book really helped us out greatly and I am sure we will get a lot more use out of it in years to come.

Over the years I've fallen into poor grammer habits. This little gem of a book has helped me clean up my act--or should I say mouth! Keep it close by so you can consult it often. The fun layout makes it easy to grab a quick lesson here and there.