A twofer:
My one thought during the LONG time I was reading Theodore M. Bernstein's The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage was: "OMG! I'll never put finger to keyboard again." By the end, though, I had relaxed. Realizing it was published in 1965 helped lots.
I tackled it because something I read said it was complete and often funny. Complete? Yes. Often funny? Not often enough. I did learn things, and I dog-eared pages. But now I'm tired of it and will continue to rely on instinct as to which preposition is required by a listing of what-seemed-like-every verb in the English language.
Tessa gave me Home Is Where the Cat Is for Christmas. (Which means book-life on the unread shelf is currently five and a half months. AARGH!) Home has pleasant drawings by a Leslie Anne Ivory, pages too nice to be dog-eared, and many quotes about cats from a variety of authors. My favorite is "You can keep a dog, but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic creatures" by a George Mikes. (page 6)
