Friday, November 19, 2010

37 Things To Know About Grammar


By Matteson Claus

From the back of the book:

"In 37 Things To Know About Grammar, Matteson Claus salves the wounds of every survivor of high school English troubled with nightmares about comma splices and sentence fragments. From informal emails to formal business letters, the rules of grammar most people need from day to day can be reduced to simple, easy-to-apply guidelines that will scare no one, and Claus organizes them into just 37."

You would think a book dealing with 37 grammar topics would be huge, but Matteson Claus condensed the most useful information into only 233 pages measuring 6-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches.

Amazing!

As a writer, I can definitely appreciate her work. The topics she presents are some people often ask me about and now, I have a book to refer them to. That’s handy for me and for others who need a quick reference guide to questions about commas, verb tense, pronouns, adverbs, sentence fragments and more … not to mention those pesky dangling modifiers!

I’ve reviewed several books recently that deal with grammar and English and this is one of the best. Easy to read and use, this little book is a gem in the rough world of reference books. In fact, Claus herself refers to it as “the hot nightclub of grammar books: only certain grammar gremlins are allowed inside.” She purposely made it simple and useful – a wonderful addition to everyone’s shelf. Yes, even those who aren’t writers will find themselves needing some grammar guidelines from time to time.

Next time you’re in a bookstore, stop by the reference section and take a look at 37 Things To Know About Grammar. You might just find a reason or two to take it to the check-out counter.


2 comments:

Suko said...

This sounds like a very helpful book, LuAnn. Thanks for a super review. :)

Maryannwrites said...

Sounds like this book is a great resource for all writers. Sometimes it is hard to remember how and when to use all those pesky punctuation marks. I always have to check a reference book as I tend to punctuate by instinct and that isn't always correct. LOL