Reader’s Digest is well known for producing condensed versions of popular books. The publisher recently released two new books on improving your English and using proper grammar. The books are Write (or is that Right?) Every Time Cool Ways to Improve Your English by Lottie Stride (Reader's Digest, 2011, ISBN:978-1-60652-341-4) and My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me? How to Speak and Write It Right by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines (Reader's Digest, 2009 ISBN:978-1-60652-026-0).
Both books make great reference books. They are short and to the point, almost condensed versions but are actually full versions.
Write it Right
The Write (or is that Right?) Every Time Cool Ways to Improve Your English includes topics such as Goodness Gracious Grammar, Spelling Made Simple and Punctuation Perfection. The book doesn’t look too serious but it does provide workable tips in a fun, readable format.
Stride provides the rules and then gives the reader extra sections such as Grammar Extras, Grammar Guidance, and Did You Know?. She writes, “When writing a story, you don’t need to do lots of explaining right at the start—you can fill in the details later. Instead grab your reader’s attention from the first sentence.”
The book also includes many fun illustrations to break up an often dry topic. It looks fun and presents the information in a humorous manner.
My Grammar and I
The My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me? How to Speak and Write It Right book is also written in an understandable and easy way that makes the topic less intimidating. Topics in this book include Spelling and Confusables, Parts of Speech, Sentence Structure, Punctuation and Odds and Ends.
The authors present the rules and then adds special sections such as Grammar Rules to Avoid and the Teacher’s Corner. They write, “Knowing the rules—and breaking them because you feel like it, not because you don’t know any better—will make you a more confident, creative, and entertaining writer and speaker.”
Reference Books for Writers
Not many people like to read books about grammar for leisure so both of these books are meant to be reference books. As a writer myself, both of these books will be placed next to my work area. No professional writer can go it alone all the time when it comes to proper grammar, so a few good reference books such as these can make all the difference.
For those writing for business purposes only, these two books are physically small so they take up little room on any desk. Plus, they are packed full of the rules needed to write effectively for all business matters.
Resources:
Write (or is that Right?) Every Time Cool Ways to Improve Your English by Lottie Stride (Reader's Digest, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-60652-341-4) and My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me? How to Speak and Write It Right by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines (Reader's Digest, 2009 ISBN:978-1-60652-026-0).
Both books courtesy of FSB Associates.
