The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation

Informative, even fun (for a certain class of reader, among which I fit in). Really great material, well cross-referenced and with nicely crafted examples. It's just that... I suppose one must be a bit of a prescriptivist to write a usage manual, but getting preachy — e.g., “They won't succeed” when discussing attempts to solve the English gendered-pronoun problem — seems shortsighted. Counterproductive, even: the entire point of language is to adapt to changing human needs, and it is not up to him to decide what those needs are.

I learned a great deal: about usage that I already comply with but without having known why; about grammatical terms and concepts I'd heard but never understood; and about mistakes I tend to make. (Blush.) I took lots of notes, placed bookmarks, and hope to remember to refer back to them over time. And, again, I really just enjoyed myself. Garner writes crisp sentences that are a real pleasure to read.