More and more good information is available online, but I believe that a writer should have reference books that are handy and reliable. Here are some favorites from my own library. If you’re just starting your reference shelf, get Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary; that will see you through until you can start building your own library.
The List
- Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, revised by Ivor H. Evans
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- A Dictionary of Symbols by J. E. Cirlot
- Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto
- Garner’s Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner
- A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham
- Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (latest edition)
- The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications by Microsoft Corporation
- The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots by Joseph T. Shipley
- The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, edited by C. T. Onions
- Partridge’s Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, edited by Paul Beale
- The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant
- Prentice-Hall Handbook for Writers, by Glenn Leggett, C. David Mead, and William Charvat
- The Stoddard Visual Dictionary by Jean-Claude Corbeil
- Words into Type by Marjorie E. Skillin, Robert M. Gay, et al.
Full disclosure: all book links on this page are affiliate links. That means whenever you click on one, you’ll be taken to the relevant book page on Amazon. If you make a purchase, I receive a small commission.
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