The Grammar Devotional, a Review

I owe you all an apology. You may have come to expect my posts on Mondays, or at least earlier in the week than Thursday. I’ve been spending every free minute pouring over the latest, greatest, newest, most information-packed (should we add another adjective?) grammar books on the market – to pick one to give away for my first contest.

I’ve learned some exciting rules and stylistic conventions I didn’t know before. (Because I’m one of those geeks who thinks grammar truly is exciting!) I’ve made up my mind that, in my purely subjective opinion, every writer should have a copy of The Grammar Devotional by none-other than Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty.

A devotional? For grammar?
Maybe it’s because of my background in inspirational / self-help and Christian writing, but I absolutely love the idea of a “devotional” just for grammar. Like any good devotional, Fogarty’s book inspires and educates. Open it up to any page, read a snippet, and you will walk away saying either:

“I didn’t know that!” or…

“Hmm… I did know that, but what a cool way of reminding me!”

In the author’s words, The Grammar Devotional contains: “daily reminders of our basic tenets; inspiring profiles of writers and grammarians who have helped English evolve to what it is today; and quizzes, word scrambles and word searches to help solidify newly learned tips.”

Yes, you have choices…
I love Grammar Girl’s laidback approach to grammar. She admits that many “rules” grammar purists put forth are really just style guidelines. Writers – especially American writers — have choices.

Instructors who teach certain style guidelines as the “only right way” to do something aren’t acknowledging the various (often conflicting) language resources available. Writers often get into disagreements with other writers, vehemently defending their stance, which they learned from Mr. Barnes in 10^th grade English so it MUST be right. Well, The Grammar Devotional clears that up immediately. Fogarty tells you when a rule is a rule and when a rule is just a convention, ripe to be broken.

Timely style basics
The Grammar Devotional is about as cutting edge as a grammar book can be. The author discusses the difference between “disc” and “disk” and why CamelCase (you know, those obnoxious capitalized letters in the middle of a word) should only be used in a formal company name.

Personal note: Companies, please stop doing this! It’s become a cliché! And is as annoying as extraneous exclamation points! Thank you!

Why Grammar Girl rocks
Following her appearance on Oprah after the release of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, Mignon Fogarty has become the country’s “go-to girl” for grammar. Her latest book proves the title is well-earned. She’s fun, inspirational, to-the-point, and let’s face it, her little cartoon avatar is just plain cute.

Yes – I want to be grammar girl; can’t you tell? I think there’s more than enough room on the Web for two perky grammar bloggers, don’t you?

Our contest…
The winner is… Rene Rothschild. Special thanks to fellow freelancer Thursday Bram at www.thursdaybram.com for picking the random number to select our winner.