My Grammar and I Or Should That Be Me?: Old School Ways to Improve Your English

One area that I have always been awful at is Grammar. I never know what the right word to use is and I know I make tons of mistakes everyday. (If you are Mama's Money Savers regular reader, I apologize if you notice my errors!) Grammar has always been my weak point and even though I used to study it like crazy, I could never grasp it.

Well the book "My Grammar and I...Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right?" by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines, is an awesome reference book that I enjoyed. It basically is "a refresher course for anyone who has ever been stumped by spelling confusion, dangling modifiers, split infinitives, or those who have no idea what these things even are." I found this book to really be a great help and I am trying to incorporate what I learned into my everyday writing.

This book is also set up to be an easy read and is not jumbled or too busy that it is confusing. You can easily pick up this book and read about Spelling, Parts of Speech, Punctuation, or Sentence Structure and learn something. I recommend this book not only for current students, but anyone who like me has forgotten the rules of grammar!

You can read more book reviews (and check out my giveaways) at [...]

If you are interested in brushing up on your writing and grammar skills, I recommend My Grammar and I...Or Should That Be Me? How to Speak and Write It Right by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines.

The book is divided into five chapters: Spelling and Confusables, Parts of Speech, Sentence Structure, Punctuation, and Odds and Ends (Or, Elements of Style). Each chapter lays out the basic rules and examples in a systematic fashion, then quickly lists the most common mistakes.

I was eager to review My Grammar and I...Or Should That Be Me? because of those occasional moments when I'd pause and have to think about the rules for certain things. My spelling skills aren't the strongest and I benefit from having a dictionary on hand. The commonly misspelled words section and the "What Do You Call a Group of?" were interesting.

I appreciate the book most for the errors that it's helped me correct. Here are a few of the things that the book helped clarify:

* Not to capitalize the names of seasons: to write autumn instead of Autumn
* To write "Happy Birthday, Jim and Bea" instead of "Happy birthday, Jim and Bea"
* The plural of talisman is not talismen but talismans
* That the plural of dwarf is dwarfs, but I still think that dwarves is acceptable
* That the singular of graffiti is graffitto and papparazzi is papparazzo, though I'll likely just revise whatever I'm writing to keep using the plural. Graffito sounds strange to me!
* That you're never bored of - instead you're bored by or bored with

Here's a quote that the book uses to demonstrate the proper use of commas, taken from Dick King-Smith's novel Poppet: "He asked beetles and grubs and worms and caterpillars and little lizards and small frogs, and some replied jokily and some replied angrily and some didn't answer." Can you think of ads or signs that have incorrect punctuation?

My Grammar and I...Or Should That Be Me? How To Speak and Write It Right is published by Reader's Digest. It's part of a series that includes i before e (except after c): old school ways to remember stuff by Judy Parkinson and I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School by Caroline Taggart.

Thanks so much to Julie and FSB Associates for this opportunity!

Not only does Reader's Digest offer great books, but this book is a must-have for all grammar geeks! Since I spend a lot of time reading and writing, I must be as grammatically correct as possible. Having this useful tool on my desk has made my life so much easier! Whether you are a grammar geek like me or you just want answers to simple questions, this book is for you. It goes REALLY well with i before e (except after c) and I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School.