. . . And Grammar Girl saves the day, yet again!

I have to say, before I start my review, that I am extremely conscious of my grammar in this space. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't make any mistakes!

I had the amazing opportunity to meet Grammar Girl, a.k.a. Mignon Fogarty, in mid-June, at a writing program I was attending. Just from watching her walk up onto the auditorium stage, I could tell she was one of the kindest and most genuine people I had ever met. She answered all of our dumb questions that she'd heard countless times before and pretended like they were all new, something I can respect. (I'm not a great liar.) She was (and, of course, still is) such a wonderful person, and she signed my copy of Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students, saying "Mind your P's and Q's!", which I thought was just hilarious. I knew that I liked her the minute she started ranting about the incorrect expression "begs the question" (which is featured in this book, by the way).

But, anyway, about the book. That's what a review is for, isn't it?

I'm not sure if GG included exactly 101 words, because I didn't go through and count them, but I'm sure she did. Every single one of them taught me a great lesson about words and grammar. Since (a word included in the book!) I am a bit of an English nerd, I found this very interesting. The thing I love about Grammar Girl is how she presents great stylistic advice without being wordy or pretentious. Someone with her level of grammatical skill could've made a conscious decision to write like she was writing an article for the New Yorker, but GG speaks like a normal person, which is something I appreciate. She didn't go into this book trying to impress a bunch of snooty, m(o)ustache-twirling literary people with her mellifluous prose.

Some of my favorite entries were: Ax (I never knew "axe" was British!); Begs the Question, mentioned earlier; Bring and Take; Decimate; Donut (who doesn't love those?); Eldest; E-mail Versus Email; and many more. Obviously, a lot of them were my favorites.

Even if you're not a complete English nerd like I am, this book will do wonders on your grammar. Give it a try! I guarantee the next e-mail (email?) you compose will be better!