There are thousands of books written about the English language. New ones are published every year, some for the mass-market and some for niche interests. Like anything, knowing which ones suit your needs and tastes can be hit and miss without the right advice.
This reviews section is dedicated to all the latest releases as well as newly reviewed books that pass the which?english editorial desk and added to the books section. The section will feature reviews of not only new books, but old as well because of the fact that many good books have been written long ago and are still available second hand through online means.
REVIEW BOOK OF THE MONTH
HBR Guide to: Better Business Writing (2013)
By Bryan A. Garner
"A valuable weapon in any business writer’s arsenal"
American Bryan A. Garner is a noted lawyer and businessman on the one hand, and a grammarian and lexicographer on the other. His published works include Garner’s Modern American Usage, a book that I personally rate as among the top-five books currently available on English usage, Black’s Law Dictionary and The Elements on Legal Style. He is also a contributor to the esteemed Chicago Manual of Style. He has also trained 150,000 lawyers in the art of written persuasion and effective contract drafting for dozens of Fortune 500 companies.
Garner’s latest book, The Harvard Business Review (HBR) Guide to Better Business Writing, makes the leap from writing for the legal sphere to meeting the needs of the modern business writer. So, what does this new book offer?
Click here to read the full review of HBR Guide to Better Business Writing.
THE BEST BOOKS ON ENGLISH: STYLE GUIDES
Fowler's Modern English Usage (re-revised edition)
The Guardian Stylebook (2007)
The Economist style guide
The Oxford style manual
The Times Style and Usage Guide
Science and Technical Writing: A Manual of Style
The
Cambridge Guide to English Usage
The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage
See all The best books on English: style guides.
THE BEST BOOKS ON ENGLISH: USAGE GUIDES
The Elements of Style
Fowler's Modern English Usage (re-revised)
(Re-Revised 3rd Edition)
The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style (US)
Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage
The Cambridge Guide to English Usage
Usage and abusage
See all The best books on English: usage guides.
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE HISTORY: POPULAR
The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language
Mother Tongue: The English Language
Dr.Johnson's Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book That Defined the World
The Language Wars: a History of Proper English
See all The best books on English-language history: popular.
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE HISTORY: REFERENCE
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
A History of the English Language
A history of English, Barbara Strang
The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States (US)
See all The best books on English-language history: reference.
THE BEST ENGLISH DICTIONARIES
See all The best English dictionaries.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE: POPULAR COMMENT
Troublesome Words
The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left
Lost for Words: The Mangling and Manipulating of the English Language
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Beyond Words: How Language Reveals the Way We Live Now
See all The best books on English language: popular comment.
THE BEST BOOKS ON ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation
Practical English Usage (3rd Edition)
See all The best books on English grammar.
ENGLISH COPYEDITING, SUB EDITING, PROOFING
Butcher's Copy-editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Copy-editors and Proofreaders
See all The best books on English copyediting, proofing and editing.
BOOKS ON BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Revising Business Prose
Public Relations Writing: Form and Style
Read This!: Business Writing that Works
Model Business Letters, E-Mails and Other Business Documents
Business Grammar & Style Usage: The Desk Reference for Articulate & Polished Business Writing, Speaking & Correspondence
See all The best English books on business and communications.
THE BEST BOOKS ON PUNCTUATION
The Penguin Guide to Punctuation
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation
See all The best books on punctuation.
THE BEST BOOKS ON JOURNALISM
The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect
Essential English (Harold Evans)
Tell me no lies: investigative journalism and its triumphs (John Pilger)
Flat-earth news
(Nick Davies)
See all The best books on journalism.
THE BEST BOOKS ON PLAIN ENGLISH
Oxford Guide to Plain English
The Penguin Guide to Plain English
The Plain English Approach to Business Writing
See all The best books on Plain English.
THE BEST BOOKS ON ENGLISH FROM THE US
The Elements of Style
The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style
The Elephants of Style: Gray Areas of Contemporary American English
Guide to Punctuation and Style
The Chicago Manual of Style
See all books on The best books on English from the US.
