Four valuable reference books

6 comments August 7th, 2008

Awhile back, someone asked about the books I often refer to and how expensive they are. Yes, it helps to be on a mailing list, but the few books I have received were unsolicited with no strings attached. I don’t do actual book reviews, but these four have received a certain amount of publicity in my column and, recently, this blog.

I Googled the following four titles, and each time I was directed to Amazon, where apparently every book ever published is for sale, new and used, at bargain prices — plus $3.99 shipping.

“Garner’s Modern American Usage,” a hardbound book weighing in at nearly 900 pages, is available starting at $18.10.

“Right, Wrong , and Risky” by Mark Davidson starts at $11.70.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, the one I use because The Associated Press recommends it, starts at an amazing $7.95.

And you can get a paperback copy of John B. Bremner’s “Words on Words” for as little as $3.95 — all of the above plus shipping, of course.

You can build quite a library without ever leaving your home — if, as Groucho once said, that’s your idea of a good time.