Diana Hacker (1942–2004)

I initially bought this back in 2011 thinking I was going to need it for some college courses. Turns out I didn't.

But, as a "writer", I found it to be quite the indispensable tool and still use it as of today. I keep it on my bookshelf right by me. It's great for bloggers, writers, and students.

The "tabs" provide easy access for the sections you might need: composing/reviewing; academic writing; sentence style; word choice; word choice; grammatical sentences; ESL challenges; punctuation; show more mechanics; research; MLA (Modern Language Association) citations; APA/CMS (American Psychological Association)/(Chicago Manual of Style) citations; and basic grammar.

It can function not only as a textbook of sorts as well as reference for any kind of writing: creative, letters, blogs, or academic papers.

This is one of the rare reference novels I take with me on vacations in case I want to do some writing.

Of course, I should probably get a more recent version, this book is still in great shape. show less

If you want a dense, comprehensive writing and style guide, the Bedford Handbook may be what you're looking for. It's the most portable (yet helpful) style guide I've come across in my quest for a style guide to end all style guides (which I have not yet found!).

It covers all those gotchas of the English language, ranging from punctuation, grammar, formatting, and even proper citations (in all the major association formats).

Definitely a good guide for those interested in honing their skills show more in writing, especially those who face trouble in areas of grammar and punctuation. show less

This is a really, really good little manual, especially concerning its size. I've read a lot of short ones that are filled with too much prose to make them useful, or that don't have the examples or specifics I need. There's only been one thing so far, a specific example of a rule, that I looked up and couldn't find, and I wasn't able to find it anywhere online, either. Only the good ol' Chicago Manual of Style helped me out and since I have a hard copy of that, too, I'm good to go. (I like show more having hardcopies because sometimes my Internet is just too slow.) Highly recommended. show less

This is, hands down, the best go-to guide for the three most common writing styles (APA, MLA, and Chicago) I have ever come across. This "Pocket Style" is much better than Hacker's other, larger and more detailed manuals as it gets straight to the heart of things. There are links to her website provided in each section if one wishes to have more details.

I always ensure to have this manual near me when writing essays as the guides for how cite different items in the various styles is one of show more the most helpful things to have around. show less