Grammar Girl's Guide to the English Language

Recommended Books

 

Due to a large volume of mail resulting from this site, I am unable to answer
every question sent my way. I can, however, point you in the right direction.

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I highly recommend turning to any of the following books:

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• Chicago Manual of Style

• Associated Press Stylebook

• Strunk & White's The Elements of Style

• Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications

• On Writing Well by William Zinnser

 

All of these books can be found at your local library, your favorite independent bookstore, or Amazon.com.

 

Please note that these books may provide you with conflicting answers. If you are writing a journalistic piece, you will want to refer to the AP Stylebook. If you are writing a technical piece, Chicago and Microsoft are generally the preferred manuals. If you are writing a research paper, you will want to refer to Strunk and White, On Writing Well, and if applicable, the MLA Style Guide or the Publication Manual of the APA.

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Finally, for any questions regarding placement, layout, spacing, and such, I recommend The Mac is Not a Typewriter by Robin Williams. More about design elements than computers, this book is handy for anyone with basic desktop publishing questions. For questions dealing with online style issues, I suggest referring to the Wired Style Manual.

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