Biographies

• Defining the World by Henry Hitchings (biography of Dr. Samuel Johnson)
• The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester (the making of the Oxford English Dictionary)

Charities

• Our Future Depends on Our Literacy — Support a group that knows that our future depends on our literacy.

Grammar

• Between You and I by James Cochrane and John Humphrys (hilarious little book about bad English)
• Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Conner (lighthearted guide to grammar)
• Woe Is I Jr. by Patricia T. O’Conner and Tom Stiglich (children’s version)

Lexicons

• Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage by Richard Allsopp (multiple words for the same thing)
• Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Roget (classic reference)
• Word Nerd by Barbara Ann Kipfer (delightful collection of 18,000 words)

Punctuation

• A Dash of Style by Noah Lukeman (the “art” of punctuation)
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (hilarious guide to commas, apostrophes, etc.)

Writing

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, and Roger Angell (classic reference)
• The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan and Barry Buzan (brainstorming with graphical outlining)