punctuation – luna's on line

If, like me, you cringe at the sight of the misplaced apostrophe and other grammatical ‘nasties’, then Eats, Shoots and Leaves is a ‘must-read’ for you.

Lynne Truss offers us her ‘Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation’ as an antidote to ignorance and indifference in the use and application of full stops, commas, question marks and more.

Full of rich and ridiculous examples of how the meaning of the English language can be distorted by the misuse, over-use and lack of use of correct punctuation, this is a hugely entertaining read.

Why the title?

extract from eats shoots and leaves

So thoughtfully and wittily written, if you haven’t already come across it, I commend this book to you!

Find it on Goodreads and check out what other people have to say.

Some find it too preachy, but then I suspect that they’re not grammar gurus or punctuation pendants like me. I mean, who else kicks up a fuss in a Chinese chippy late at night at the sight of baked potatoe’s on the menu? Oh, really? You do? Good for you!

Just remember:

punctuation saves lives

The New Well-Tempered Sentence

As I’ve shared with you previously, my punctuation ‘bible’ is The Elements of Style by William Struck and E.B. White.

The same rules, with lots of entertaining examples and wonderful illustrations, can be found in this little tome: The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed by Karen Gordon.

The title says it all really. The book is hugely entertaining; there is certainly nothing dry or dull about this. Struck & White is a quick and crisp reference book, but Karen Gordon’s offering has totally original explanations of the rules of grammar, together with witty and whimsical illustrations. It is even peopled by a small cast of characters, which you wouldn’t usually expect in a grammar book.

Get hold of a copy if you can. It’s a riveting read!