Reviewed: The best guides to grammar and punctuation
At Sookio we have a love of language and like to keep on our toes when it comes to the latest writings-about-writing.
If you're keen to brush up on your grammar or general content skills, take a look at these freshly updated top picks for books that can help you out!
With contributions from Sookio team members past and present, alongside friends of the company, this is a comprehensive look at our favourite books on the English language.
Oh, and we haven't included any links to Amazon; please support your local bookshop and buy them there instead!
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Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising & Marketing
Author: Mark Shaw
Reviewer: Naomi Vowles, Copywriter at Sookio
Who will enjoy this book? It’s not a short book, so perhaps better suited to people who take their writing seriously rather than those who just want a speedy bit of guidance. If you’re willing to invest the time, it’s a fascinating read - copywriting students and newbies to the art and science of writing great copy would find it particularly helpful.
What did Naomi think of it? This is one of my evergreen favourite books on copywriting - and one with which I have quite a sentimental attachment. I bought it while I was studying my MA in Advertising and considering a career in copywriting. It’s since travelled with me wherever I’ve gone!
Everything about it is custom-built for growing your wordsmith skills, no matter what level you’re at currently. Need some inspiration? Take a break and leaf through this book. It’s obviously highly oriented towards professional marketers and copywriters, but I firmly believe you could even find this book handy for writing a tricky email or a memo to the rest of your team.
There are plenty of fantastic examples throughout, making it a fun read as well as an informative one.
Plain Words: A Guide to the Use of English
Author: Sir Ernest Gowers
Reviewer: John Page, MA Linguistics and friend of the company
Who will enjoy this book? People devoted to great grammar will find this book an invaluable resource.
Plain Words was initially created as a guide to ‘proper’ English across the Civil Service. At the time, nobody could have anticipated how popular the book would become.
Within a year, it was an unexpected bestseller and has never been out of print.
Ideal for anyone seeking some grammatical inspiration, this classic grammar guide has been revised and updated by Rebecca Gowers.
What did John think of it? It’s not the most accessible read, but it’s excellent for use in training on how to be precise with language without being flowery.
Copywriting Made Simple
Author: Tom Albrighton
Reviewer: Rory Stobo, Copywriter and former Sookio team member
Who will enjoy this book? This compact tome is perfect for anyone starting out on their copywriting journey. Recent graduates will learn to better apply theory, while those segueing into content creation from other roles get an end-to-end overview of their new job.
In just under 300 pages, Albrighton has captured the full copywriting process; not just writing better words but also nailing a great brief and dealing constructively with feedback. It’s as much about the job as the craft, something many books on the topic neglect.
What did Rory think? This is a valuable, important introductory text, and a good job has been done to balance brevity and accessibility with useful content.
That being said, I personally didn’t learn anything new per se from reading Copywriting Made Simple. If Mr Albrighton possesses any unique insight into the job, he’s keeping it to himself. What I found more useful was the number of sources referenced on topics like NLP and the deeper psychology behind consumer behaviour.
New copywriters will certainly improve their craft by reading this book. Older hands, meanwhile, should view it as a starting point to explore the research underpinning its core ideas.
Grammar for Grown-Ups: Everything you need to know but never learnt in school
Author: Craig Shrives
Reviewer: Frankie Weaver, friend of the company
Who will enjoy this book? Whether you’re struggling with your grammar in general and need reminding, unsure if you’ve put that hyphen in the wrong place or just miss out the occasional capital letters, this book will no doubt help you. Separated into four parts:
punctuation
miscellaneous
parts of speech
easily confused words
…each one focuses on a common mistake made by many others.
What did Frankie think of it? What I really enjoyed about this practically life-saving book is that it has all the tricks of the trade you can think of that can possibly go wrong within your grammar.
In the past I’ve often got confused with colons so reading this was very useful. It gives you the definition of the term and then gives examples on when to use them and when not to use them.
I managed to discover many new words and meanings I never knew existed, like confident, confidant and confidante. Confident is someone with confidence. Confidant is someone whom private matters are confided. I found out that the words confidant and confidante are interchangeable, but strict grammarians reserve confidant for males and confidante for females. That’s just one eye-opening example but I picked up loads more.
My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?): Old-School Ways To Sharpen Your English
Author: Caroline Taggart and J. A, Wines
Reviewer: Jake, friend of the company
Who will enjoy this book? If you're an adult looking to brush up on your grammar, My Grammar and I is the right choice for you. The book is separated into topical sections which are further broken down into chapters regarding particular queries. This means it's easy to flick through to the information relevant to your needs.
What did Jake think of it? Before opening the book I was worried it would be a boring and obnoxious read. After attempting Eats, Shoots and Leaves (see below) I'd been left with a slight fear of books on language. This wasn't helped by The Times' suggestion that it 'would do for grammar what Eats, Shoots and Leaves did for punctuation' being splashed across the blurb.
Thankfully, it didn't.
My Grammar and I is humorous and enjoyable from the outset but always well detailed. Here Taggart and Wines have found a balance between interesting and informative that rarely falters. They sacrifice neither chattiness nor jargon and break the book up with anecdotes to keep the page fresh and friendly.
However, as the book is so concise in its delivery I wouldn't suggest reading it through in one go. That may pose too much information for you to handle! Keep it by your desk or in the bedside table for those occasions when you're being niggled at by a grammar-related problem and want quick relief.
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
Author: Mark Forsyth
Reviewer: Sue Keogh, Director at Sookio
Who will enjoy this book? This is for people delight in language and are fascinated by style rather than those looking for a strict rule book. Broken into short chapters, each one focusing on an 'element of eloquence' with which most people will be unfamiliar - anadiplosis, chasmus or adynaton, anyone? - it's an easy, charming read.
What did Sue think of it? What I really enjoyed about this intelligent and witty book was the breadth of examples woven into every paragraph to back up the author's points, spanning Milton, Shakespeare and Orwell to Katy Perry, Queen Victoria and Star Wars.
So you have an story about seven-year-old Tolkien being told off by his mum for writing about a 'green great dragon' which leads into an explanation of word order - the sort of thing we all understand without ever having been taught.
And I never realised that when you repeat a word with a different vowel the order is always IAO: the pitter patter of tiny feet; hip hop music; flip flops. The book is full of neat little examples like that which make you go 'oooh, of course!'
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Author: Lynne Truss
Reviewers: Jake and Sue
Who will enjoy this book? People who already have great grammar skills who get wound up by other people getting it wrong.
What we thought of it: Sue tried reading this book when it came out in 2009, but couldn't get past the first chapter. The author was complaining about things which, to be honest, don't seem worth getting worked up about.
Fast forward to 2014 and Jake had a similar problem; the book feels more about the author's irritation with people not knowing the rules than an effort to help them improve.
So, for example, Truss gets annoyed in a petrol station at people selling CD's and recalls being appalled as a teenager at the carefree spelling errors in her pen-pal's letter.
The problem is that there is some really useful stuff here that will help you get to grips with apostrophes, commas, dashes and more, but to get to it you have to get past all these moments where she is throwing up her hands in horror.
For Who the Bell Tolls: One man’s quest for grammatical perfection
Author: David Marsh
Reviewer: Christine, web copy specialist at Crocstar and friend of the company
Who will enjoy this book? Those who want to understand grammar better, without it getting all complicated. Also people who think grammar is there to help you not trip you up.
What did Christine think of it? I really liked this book - it’s warm, funny and easy to follow. David doesn’t tell you off for not knowing things, rather he tells you not to worry too much so you feel reassured.
He’s extremely knowledgeable and helps you remember the important bits with the help of song lyrics and amusing anecdotes.
One of the things I really like is that David is the production editor of The Guardian and edits the style guide. You get the feeling he really knows his stuff and that you can trust what he says.
For example, did you know you can split an infinitive? He tells you that lots of ‘rules’ have been applied to English from Latin, which is why they aren’t logical.
His relaxed and progressive approach encourages you to think about how grammar can help your writing become more clear, rather than fussing over archaic rules.
I'd encourage language lovers and grammarphobes alike to take a look at this book. It's a fun read and seriously helpful, too.
Write Every Time (Or Is That 'Right'?) Cool Ways To Improve Your English
Author: Lottie Stride
Reviewer: Alex, Brand Strategist and friend of Sookio
Who will enjoy this book? If you want to relearn the core fundamentals of the English language then this book is right for you. It would also be of great merit to someone learning English, or as a school or university aid.
What did Alex think of it? Unfortunately for me this book missed the grammar (or should that be punctuation?) mark. Designed as more of a language dictionary than a guide I found it quite studious. The chapters are clear, concise and easy to read, but the content is very academic and focused on learning the English language.
It was delightful to relearn my nouns, pronouns and adverbs, the theory behind which you take for granted when speaking and writing English everyday.
Each section gives you clear definitions and examples that are effective and accessible. Stride has also added fun facts and extras along the way, the latter of which I found most interesting; a small note on cutting back on unnecessary words was helpful, as well as plurals in hyphenated words.
My favourite section of this book by far was the punctuation chapter. A simple, easy refresher of the rules that was useful to someone who already has a good grasp of the English language in general.
It was refreshing to be reminded of the rules in a way that wasn't snobby or over intellectualised. Over all it is a great book, just not quite right for this reader unfortunately.
Tell us about your favourite grammar and punctuation books
Do you have a book to recommend? Tell us about it in the comments below.
