Eats, Shoots & Leaves

I love books about language. This is a particularly good one. The focus of this book is punctuation. There are examples of rules (though this is not a rule-book or style-guide) and errors, as well as a variety of rants on an apparent inability to use punctuation properly and the apathy with which most people seem to view this inability.

I think it might be time to free my inner punctuation-Nazi. This book is a call-to-arms for all language-lovers. The way in which we communicate is being degraded daily. As Confucius said, "If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant."

The Lord of the Rings: a Reader's Companion

This is a must for anyone who is interested in the way in which Tolkien wrote LotR, as well as anyone interested in extraneous information. The two authors are two of the best Tolkien scholars, I gather, so it's a very informative read. It's a hefty tome in and of itself, so trying to manage it and my enormous copy of LotR together is a bit difficult (I've never tried it with Panda in the house, I suspect it would be a complete failure). It's a fascinating read. Information varies from explanations of the text to suppositions of inspiration and influence to discussions on Tolkien's writing process. Probably not a book that everyone needs to own (though I keep seeing it at every book sale, so theoretically everyone could own it) but it's one I'm very pleased to have on my shelf.

The Elements of Style

You wouldn't think a style guide would make for good reading. I certainly didn't. But I picked it up, because it's essential for an editor. It's also a good read for anyone who likes to write, enjoys grammar or is studying English. It's made up of a bunch of rules to create forcible writing that is grammatically correct and is concise. I'm a fan of brevity. I don't enjoy either reading or writing waffly, repetitive, unnecessary work.

I enjoyed this, I don't know if you would.