How much do you really know about language usage? Are you sure you use “they’re“, “there“, and “their” correctly? When is it appropriate to use “whom“, “whome“, or just “who“? Confused about whether to “lay” or “lie“? Grammar Girl has the answers and she gives them in a way that makes it simple to understand.

I can’t think of any book that covers so many language quirks within its pages. To be honest, I found it a little draining to read. I read Grammar Girl’s book, several pages an hour, one tip after another without pause, but it is a book better suited to reflective browsing. In the same way that reading a dictionary will do wonders for your vocabulary but can be exhausting if attempted in a single sitting, Grammar Girls’ Quick and Dirty Tips for Betting Writing will do wonders for your writing but can be overwhelming if rushed. It is the kind of book one needs to savor, allowing each tip to simmer in your mind before sampling the next.

Having failed ninth grade English, and dropped out of school soon after, I never learned the ‘rules’ in a formal setting. I am amazed at what my nine-year-old daughter brings home from school about phonics and usage. She is learning things in grade four that I had never learned before; she teaches me! Twelve years removed from school I’m beginning to understand the difference between nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. I’m still working on understanding objects, subjects, and participles. I write instinctively, having read extensively, but am beginning to learn WHY a sentence works one way better than another and WHY this word differs depending on tense.

Feeling a little out of my element with grammatical context I found every page was a learning experience. There was so much to absorb in this plethora of information and insight that I had never truly comprehended before. Every tip offers an opportunity to learn about language from regional distinctions to popular adaptations. Not only does Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, share simple tricks to help us remember ‘the rules’, she also explains the grammatical reason, the ‘proof’, that they are, in fact, the grammatically correct.

I found Grammar Girl’s book intense. I am learning so much! I LOVE IT!

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is a book I know will sit upon my desk for years to come. It is not the kind I might read once then allow to gather dust on the shelf of the formerly loved. Despite it’s cheery cover and warm voice this is definitely a writers reference, and it includes a detailed index to make it even more effective as a reference guide.

If you’re looking for an addition to your desk, particularly a comprehensive guide to modern word usage and grammar, then this is the book you need. I want to give a big shout out, “THANK YOU!” to Michele Tune. I had never heard of Grammar Girl, or her book before Michele shared both on her blog and had I not won my copy of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing it might still be sitting on my Amazon wish list! Thank you, Michele.

Do you have a particular usage stumbling block? Want to know if Mignon Fogarty covers it in Quick and Dirty Tips? Drop a comment below and I’ll look it up for you!