Who vs. Whom. It’s a classic grammar question. The answer? Beats me. Well, if I don’t have any help, that is. In reality, if I have a writing question that’s got me stumped, I just look up the answer. And, as high-tech as my world tends to be most times, nothing beats a good, old fashioned paper reference.
Previously, I posted about 10 of the Funniest Writing Blogs. If you missed that post, go check it out–you’re guaranteed a laugh from the very particular bloggers who feel so passionately about things like the overuse of quotation marks.
In the second post in the series, I offered readers a list of 20 Online Dictionaries, which included everything from the Dictionary of Philly Slang (our native language), to the RhymeZone, to the Dictionary of Sushi. You can never have too many reference sources, right?
In the third post in the series, I named 30 of the Best Writing Blogs. Some of the blogs focus on legal writing, some are strictly business (writing, that is), and some are whatever they want to be on any given day. Other great writing blogs were added via comments by readers, so be sure to check out those additions, as well.
But today’s post is all about the real thing–books as references. Below are 40 of my most turned-to sources, broken down into four categories: (1) Style and Usage Guides; (2) Business Writing (3) General Writing and Grammar; and (4) Legal Writing.
Please don’t be shy–add your favorites that I may have overlooked in the Comments section.
Style Guides
Univ. of Chicago Press Staff
The Elements of Style,
William Strunk and E.B. White
The Gregg Reference Manual
William Sabin
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage : The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World’s Most Authoritative Newspaper
Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly
The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style
Bryan A. Garner, Jeff Newman, and Tiger Jackson
Business Writing
The Business Writer’s Handbook (8th Ed.)
Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu
The Language of Success
Tom Sant
Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job
Walter E. Oliu, Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred
E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide–How to Write and Manage E-Mail in the Workplace
Janis Fisher Chan
Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better (Rev. Ed.)
David Shipley, Will Scwalbe
The Executive Guide to E-mail Correspondence: Including Model Letters for Every Situation
Dawn-Michelle Baude
General & Grammar
Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing
Claire Kehrwald Cook
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
William Knowlton Zinsser
The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself
Susan Bell
A Grammar Book for You and I . . . Oops, Me!
C. Edward Good
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss
Gramatically Correct
Anne Stilman
Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, And Style For The Legal Writer
Anne Enquist and Laurel Currie Oates
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes
Jane Straus and Mignon Fogarty
The Elements of Grammar
Margaret Shertzer
The Grammar Bible: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Grammar but Didn’t Know Whom to Ask
Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas
Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, every punctuation mark counts!
Lynn Truss
Legal Writing
A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting
Kenneth A. Adams
Aspen Handbook For Legal Writers: A Practical Reference
Deborah E. Bouchoux
Block’s Effective Legal Writing For Law Students and Lawyers
Gertrude Block
Garner on Language and Writing
Bryan A. Garner
Legal Writing for Legal Assistants
Celia Elwell and Robert Smith
Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text With Exercises
Bryan A. Garner
Logic for Lawyers
Hon. Ruggero J. Aldisert
Mightier Than the Sword
C. Edward Good
Plain English for Lawyers (5th Edition)
Richard C. Wydick
Pleasing the Court: Writing Ethical and Effective Briefs
Judith D. Fischer
The Lawyer’s Guide to Writing Well
Tom Goldstein and Jethro K. Lieberman
The Legal Writing Handbook: Analysis, Research And Writing
Laurel Currie Oates, Anne Enquist, and Kelly Kunsch
The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese
Adam Freedman
The Winning Brief
Bryan A. Garner
Thinking Like a Writer
Stephen D. Armstrong
Working with Words in Business and Legal Writing
Lynne Agress
Writing to Win
Steven D. Stark