I purchased this eBook for just a couple of bucks through Goodreads' daily sales offer. Reading about writing is hardly ever fun; but, I have to say I really enjoyed this book. The author teaches the English language to foreigners and has her teaching skills finely tuned.

In this book, she has gathered together some of the more common problems writers seem to have about writing. She touched on many of my own problems I have with writing. This will definitely be one of my top go-to books. I now wish I had a hard copy.

One thing I have learned from this book is that the rules for writing are forever changing. What I may have learned in high school, back in in the 1980’s, may no longer apply today. I was surprised to find some rules of writing were more about style rather than being a hard and fast rule. It will depend on your editor, your teacher, your boss. This book was published in 2008 and I’m sure there have even been changes since then.

You can stay up-to-date by following her on Facebook (Grammar Girl); subscribe to her free weekly Grammar Girl podcast at iTunes; or subscribe to e-mails from her Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips website. ( )

I have a few grammar-type books ..which ostensibly help one distinguish between "affect" and "effect"....and similar difficult grammatical issues. But Mignon has a lovely way of putting things and comes up with sensible compromises to current grammar and tricky problems. I think it's a really useful reference. Happy to recommend it and happy to take her advice on a few things where the formal rules don't seem to work too well. ( )

I learned several tips for improving my grammar. After being an author for three years, I'm still brushing up on all things grammatical. Sometimes it makes my head spin. Grammar Girl made refreshing my brain fun. The only drawback was that I wish there was less ad lib. But despite the ad lib, reading her how-to book like a novel allowed me to study her style and observe how she incorporates what she teaches. ( )

Very good book to have for future refference! ( )

If you write for business or pleasure this is an excellent resource. It's not a style guide (there are already gazillions of those) but it does tackle 24 of the most common grammar 'issues' by offering easy tips and memory tricks to help you remember grammar rules. The author also produces a weekly podcast on the topic and offers an email mailing list with even more tips for better writing. ( )

First, I have to say that I love Mignon Fogarty, and I think she's a genius for marketing a "how-to-improve-your-writing" book with a title that includes the words "quick and dirty." People are looking for a quick fix (hence the "quick"), and any time you can convince people that they're getting away with something (the "dirty"), you are likely to attract readers. Forgarty focuses on grammar issues, but in the context of writing. Issues are addressed and explained one at a time, allowing the audience to select more pertinent and helpful chapters.

This is the one book I recommend to my high school seniors at the end of their illustrious career. I tell them everyone needs to know how to write well, and I then promote the book. They're usually sold when they hear "quick and dirty." I loaned my copy of the book to friends who are trying to get through a writing class or requirement. I do keep a copy in my classroom, but for students, I'm more likely to recommend the student edition of the text. This makes a great resource for budding and struggling writers. ( )

My life would be less frustrating if everyone read this book.

I can be a little (annoyingly) pedantic when it comes to grammar and usage. I'm not concerned about dangling prepositions or split infinitives, but my god, it gets to me when people misuse "affect" and "effect," comma splice, or think that "e.g." and "i.e." are interchangeable. And don't even get me started on "your" and "you're."

Although I expected this to be kind of dry, I found myself laughing out loud. I thought I would know everything in it, but I learned quite a bit (like about misplaced modifiers). Did you know that a bad apostrophe (like "banana's for sale") is called the greengrocer's apostrophe? Have you heard the term "CamelCase" before?

Fogarty made it clear what the traditional rules were, what is currently acceptable even if it's not traditional, and what varies from style guide to style guide. There's even a little bit of linguistic history thrown in as a bonus.

I'm off to give this book to all of my coworkers. I hope that won't offend them. ( )

If you're like me and have trouble figuring out where commas go and which words to use when, its really nice to have a book handy that can give you clear cut examples. And I've looked at lot of them...and frankly half of them put me to sleep. This one though is a quick, easy read and a handy reference tool to have around. Mignon puts things in easy to understand format and uses some creative/humorous examples to illustrate what to use when. Its now a permanent part of my collection and sitting in easy reach for when I have a question come up on the tricky topic of grammar (actually...I think I need a second copy just to keep at work.)

Interesting and great fun. This goes with Grammar Girl's podcasts about usage and the English language. ( )

As a language arts teacher, I have referred to, tabbed, and dog eared this book so many times my students begin to groan when I pull it out! Ms. Fogarty puts challenging grammar points so simply with creative situations that I've read portions to my 8th graders because I couldn't put it any better. This is the go to book when I can admit I don't know the answer. ( )

Excellent grammar review! ( )

Fogarty has a style that is unequalled in grammar circles. She is approachable, humble, and fun, yet clear, concise, and very thorough. She does our work for us, searching several grammar authorities on different topics, and condensing the answers to fit real life. Her book has elevated my editorial confidence! Listen to her podcast at iTunes or www.quickanddirtytips.com. She truly makes grammar fun! ( )

http://bookchronicle.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/nonfiction-grammar-girl%e2%80%99s-... ( )