In which attention is given to certain books that writers may find useful

No, Virginia, not everything is on the Net. And if truth be told, you probably wouldn't want it to be! Even the best computer displays have limits (in their ability to reproduce fine details and colors) that simply don't apply to paper documents -- and hey, just try to read a computer screen during a power failure. Feel free to enjoy all the wonders the digital world has to offer; all I'm saying is, remember that the analog world still has its wonders, too! Such as (by no chance whatsoever) the books I'm going to tell you about here...

[top of page] [Requirements] [Accessories]
Requirements

These are necessities, end of discussion. When you begin to 'stock' your literary 'toolbox', these are the books that should be at the top of your to-buy list (assuming you don't already have them).

The Elements of Style The aptly-nicknamed "Little Book", Strunk & White's dynamite-comes-in-small-packages masterpiece. If you're a writer, or aspire to be one, you need this book. Its guidelines are clear and concise, and you should follow each one religiously until you recognize why that guideline exists.
Once you understand the rule, then you can safely get away with breaking it...

As a writer, you need a dictionary! Don't argue, you just do -- and anyone who says different is lying to you, whether they know it or not. Now, which dictionary you need is another matter entirely. There are plenty of worthy choices, and the best way to find out which one will serve your needs is to get cozy with the dictionaries in the Reference section of your local library.

In an ideal world, the Oxford English Dictionary would be the only one you'd want to look at, because it offers everything you want in a dictionary, and then some. Do you live in an ideal world? No? In that case, if you don't need everything the OED has to offer -- and it offers a lot, believe you me -- you should consider an alternative dictionary.

Oxford English Dictionary The ne plus ultra of dictionaries, the one every other dictionary wants to be when it grows up. Includes examples of live usage, etymologies, et cetera ad infinitum, for every word in the English language. The complete OED is (a) 20 volumes and (b) $1,000 US -- and those are the two main reasons other dictionaries exist.
There is also a $250 Compact OED -- the full 20-volume job photographically reduced to fit in one book, which comes with a magnifying glass -- and a $300 CD-ROM edition.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language This is the one I grew up with. It will serve your needs well. It competently covers the basics -- pronunciation and spelling -- plus two Appendices, one that covers Indo-European word-roots, and a second that covers Semitic word-roots.

[top of page] [Requirements] [Accessories]
Accessories

These books may not be 'must haves', but they're valuable natheless. Put it this way: Even if you don't need an 'accessory' book, you won't regret having picked it up.

Thesaurus: The one everybody's heard of is Roget's Thesaurus, first published in 1852 and updated multiple times since then. Can you say "withstood the test of Time"?

Proofreading and such: Haven't actually read it myself, but Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots & Leaves has gotten all manner of favorable reviews. Also, The Chicago Manual of Style is a well-respected compendium of rules that provide de facto standards for pretty much all aspects of text-formatting.

Quotations: Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is the one you know. Originally published in 1855 and going strong ever since -- another "test of Time" deal.

The Bard of Avon: Yeah, William Shakespeare died more than 300 years ago, and so what? If you're not familiar with this guy, you'll be surprised how many phrases in current use were originally coined by him. For 'one-stop shopping', check out The Collected Works of William Shakespeare: the Alexander Text.

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