The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Fourth edition

This is our everyday reference dictionary of choice. It is a clean, unassuming dictionary. Not only does it have definitions and occasional illustrations, but it includes useful charts and tables and extensive biographical and geographical entries. Over 200,000 words. The accompanying CD-ROM includes 68,000 pronunciations and a search capability.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Fifth edition due for release November 1, 2011.

Roget’s International Thesaurus

Next to your dictionary should sit a thesaurus. It comes in handy when you’re having trouble thinking of a word with the precise meaning you need. An index of words and their multiple meanings leads you to appropriate entries from which to choose.

Publisher: Collins

100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses

The editors of the American Heritage Dictionary have compiled detailed definitions of 100 easily confused words. This book can help you increase your vocabulary or steer you clear of common usage problems.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Elements of Style
Fourth Edition
William Strunk, Jr., E.B. White, Roger Angell

This quintessential reference includes rules of usage, composition, style, and more. This classic should be in every writer’s library.

Publisher: Longman

The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need:
A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment
Susan Thurman

This small, almost pocket-sized book is a well-organized, easy-to-use guide to parts of speech, sentence structure, and punctuation. An entire chapter is devoted to common errors.

Publisher: Adams Media

Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing:
The One Book That Shows You How to Make What
You Say as Good as What You Mean
Claire Kehrwald Cook

Although we always recommend having an editor check your important drafts, from time to time we all wind up editing our own text. Although a little dense, this book has useful information you can apply to improve your writing.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
For style guides, please see Your Projects—Our Recommendations.