My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?): Old-School Ways to Sharpen Your English [Kindle Edition]

This book would be the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who is genuinely interested in why we write the way in which we do, or who likes doing what's right and proper. --Basingstoke Gazette, October 08

"a useful book for anyone with an interest in the English language and an excellent stocking filler" --Wolverhampton Chronicle, October 2008

"a useable refresher... pedants will also find answers to those evergreen contentious teasers" --Bounemouth Daily Echo, January 2009

"sensible and concise... shows you how to make our wonderful, fluid language work for you rather than against you" --Good Book Guide, December 2008

"beautifully produced... a lot of fun" --Tribune, November 2008

If you belong to the generation who missed out on being taught grammar at school then out this book on top of your Christmas wish list. If you were taught, then put it on your wish list. Everyone should have this book, in fact.

It's a little gem

For anyone who has ever had a problem with dangling modifiers and split infinitives, or for those who have no idea what these things even are, "My Grammar and I" provides all the answers. Taking you on a tour of the English language, through a veritable minefield of rules and conditions for the grammatically unaware, and highlighting the common pitfalls that every English language user faces on a day to day basis, "My Grammar and I" also offers amusing examples of awful grammar, while steering you in the direction of grammatical greatness. Factual and witty, "My Grammar and I" is the perfect gift for all English language sticklers for Christmas 2008.

We're not grammar ogres or ruler-wielding schoolma'ams - we're actually a couple of perfectly nice people who think that English is a beautiful and very subtle language and should be encouraged to stay that way. And we're aware that lots of people would love to speak and write better English; but either they were never taught grammar in the first place, or it was so long ago that they have forgotten, and they're a bit nervous about looking stupid if they get it wrong. Which is why they put an apostrophe where it has no business to be, or say 'between you and I' because they retain some vague idea that 'me' is wrong.

This book sets out to make these people feel a bit more comfortable and confident. Yes, it tells you the rules, but it also acknowledges that change is always happening in a living language, so what was an unbreakable rule ten years ago may be edging its way into the dictionaries now (how cool is that?). It offers ways round the rules for those times when you simply don't know the right answer. And it tries really hard not to be pompous, which means there are a few silly examples to break up all the bossy stuff, and we've found a way to put in a bit about sex.

Caroline Taggart is the bestselling author of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School. Born in London of Scottish parents, she spent her childhood in New Zealand and went to university in Sheffield. Confused for some time, she has now lived in Pimlico for 25 years and thinks of herself as a Londoner, but continues to change allegiance whenever it suits her, particularly during the rugby season. She has worked in publishing for nearly 30 years, the last 18 of them as a freelance editor of non-fiction. She has edited innumerable natural history titles, notably Jonathan Scott's Big Cat Diary books and the tie-in to the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs, as well as books on gardening, cookery, health, witchcraft, pop music, the Blitz, the D-Day landings, the workings of the House of Commons and the English language. She has also written a handbook for mature students and an encyclopedia of dogs and is the editor of Writer's Market UK 2009. J. A. Wines is a graduate of Oxford University. A freelance writer, compiler and copy editor, her work includes the bestselling Mondegreens: A Book of Mishearings.