After a very funkadelic week, I completed my tenth book of the year on Thursday. The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White is a rare thing– an enjoyable grammar book. The book was created by college professor Strunk as a guide for his writing students. E.B. White (of Charlotte’s Web fame) was one of those students. He later added to the book, contributing a guide to style. Throughout the book, both Strunk and White are charming and amusing. The guidelines are presented in a way that makes sense and are not overly academic. The section on commonly misused words and phrases should be required reading for college freshmen. The entire book should be required reading for high school freshmen (I teach sophomores and they could use a grammatical refresher before they get to me). I have used the book in a patchwork manner for several years, and am now teaching writing skills tutorials based on it. After reading it in its entirety for the first time, I have no doubt that this is the ideal grammar and style guide. If you write at all, you need to read this book.
The Current Count:
10 Read, 90 To Go
1 Year, 100 Books 