Mastering English

TIME named this American English writing style guide one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923. It teaches you how to write in an active voice, omit needless words while creating something interesting. A must-read for every aspiring writer.

Based on the title alone, you'd know how tricky the English language can be. Does the panda eat shoots and leaves, or does it eat, shoot and then leave? This wonderfully witty book wants us to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are.

Published in 1811 by soldier Francis Grose, this book was meant to be a guide in street slang for the gentlemen. Learn how the Georgians and early Victorians would insult each other and find out how some of today's words and derivations have come about in this quirky little volume.

This book is a hilarious A-Z of ironic observations on language, politics, religions and other targets, for example "Quotation, n. The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. The words erroneously repeated." LOLs for sure.

How did sayings like "power to the people" or "till death do us part" come to be? In this book, Mark Forysth brings us through a journey to understand the history and context behind the phrases, and how they've evolved over time. Packed with a ton of obscure, entertaining facts and trivia - you won't even notice the time flying by!

Dangling modifiers, split infinitives? What are those? This book will get you up to speed with complicated terms and weed out all the difficult grammar rules to make it simple.

How did English become the main language of the world? Joseph Piercy tracks the evolution of the English language from the last 2000 years.

Did you know that 'Almost' is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order? Or that 'Stewardesses' is the longest word you can type solely with your left hand? This book is full of fun facts about the English language. Super good read!

The Queen's English shows how the English language, used properly, has great power to instruct, move and entertain people, but used incorrectly, can lead to a lack of clarity and confusion. Quite a hilarious read - especially because the English language has so many confusing rules!

"What not to Write" deals with all the awkward issues - acronyms, ambiguity, American-English, bureaucratese, business English, captions, cliches, grammar, hyphens, jargon, punctuation, quotations, sexist writing, spelling, writing letters and much, much more. Truly a must-read if you're trying to improve your writing skills.

A poor command of English is a considerable obstacle, and this books helps to make sure you get over it. It starts off with the basics - simple rules that give structure to the language, before going to more complicated issues. Great for both native and non-native speakers.

Sharpen your language skills and navigate your way around grammatical minefields with this entertaining and practical guide.

Here's one way to be a better writer. Arm yourself with an arsenal of new words!

This book harks back to a golden age of teaching, providing a comprehensive introduction to the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. With everything from reading efficiently and mastering grammar, to grasping paper and mental arithmetic, this comprehensive tome rallies through the gamut of fascinating content.