A Book On Spelling? There's Nothing Like It Except Maybe Library Edition Dictionaries...

...and most of us--even those of us who love etyomology--aren't that crazy about reading dictionaries. That is part of it. The other is the getting of the history of words with a dictionary is haphazard at best.

Along comes Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling. I know of no other book quite like it. I love June Casagrande's Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs--Even If You're Right and Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun and Spite and even Lynn Truss's British hardass take on punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. I remember reading a book on the origins of the alphabet back in the early 60s. This, however, is the only one I know that capsulates the history of spelling (more or less).

I found it funny and disturbing. (I don't suppose one expects a book on spelling to be disturbing.) But take the word "e-mail." As an editor I've been fighting to keep the hyphen because the word is short for electronic mail and the hyphen preserves that origin. There! There on the cover is "e-mail" spelled "email." Guess I'm fighting a losing battle. Which, after all, is the point of this book.

Don't let the fact that you now know the point keep you from reading it. If you love words and history, you'll be entertained.

Thank you, David Wolman.

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Reviewed for Amazon by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the award-winning Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.

Carolyn's Top Ten Book Picks for Writers

Ta da!! Here they are. My top ten choices for writers.

Every one of these books will inspire writers to do bigger and better things with their publishing careers. You'll find a little of everything here. From books on speaking better (which is my number one way to promote a book by the way--one I mention in The Frugal Book Promoter) to perfecting your understanding of grammar and style.

You'll find my top ten choices for mainstream reading at MyShelf.com. You'll also find my Noble (Not Nobel!) Awards there.

Top Ten Best Books for Writers



Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies by June Casagrande

Art of Assessment by Magdalena Ball

Speak with Passion by Pam Gilbreath Kelly (because an authors' best path to promotion is speaking!)

Speak Up! & Succeed by Nance Rosen (see above)

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey (grammar and diagramming)

The Describer's Dictionary by David Grambs

Rereadings by Anne Fadiman

Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers by Shel Horowitz (e-book)
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Carolyn is the author of The Frugal Book Promoter, winner of USA News Best Book award and the Irwin Award, and The Frugal Editor, also a USA Book News Best Book in its category. Learn more at my temporary website, www.AuthorsDen.com/CarolynHowardJohnson.