The Best Punctuation Book, Period: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer, Editor, Student, and Businessperson

June Casagrande addresses the different punctuation rules to apply according to the different style guides (i.e., book style, MLA, APA). The comparisons are not only interesting, but informative, thus making the book much more interesting, helpful and understandable for its reading audience. Her layout in the book is excellent and easy to follow. In addition, the author also employs a panel of experts to discuss some gray areas when addressing punctuation rules. I gleaned much information that I was not formally aware of before reading this book. For example, after reading the book more closely, I learned that the apostrophe rule differs in academic writing after reading the book more closely. (My last review was incorrect about apostrophes.) This will serve as a great reference guide I can reference. I also plan to write out a few of the rules so I can remember them more clearly. This book deserves more than 5 stars! Excellent!

Very useful, especially for explaining the different Styles. As a proofreader/copyeditor, it can be confusing jumping between Styles on different jobs. This is a great reference to keep me working in the right Style. I expect it would be useful to anyone writing pretty much anything, as so far I have not had any punctuation question for which this book did not have an answer, and the answers have been amazingly easy to find. This book is well and logically organized. Thank you, Ms. Casagrande!!!

I purchased this book as well as "Grammar 101" (hardcover) from Amazon. While I prefer the print quality and simplicity of the "101" book better for quick references, this is an indispensable tool, and if you write across various styles, it's the better of the two for sure. This book breaks down grammatical and punctuation references and if there are variations in preference between styles, say AP and MLA or Chicago, it offers a handy quick-reference tool to illustrate those differences. I've been a sports and humanitarian photojournalist for nearly two decades and frequently use AP and MLA styles. In addition, I've begun dabbling in novel writing and the book styles are becoming increasingly helpful. If you just want a quick writing reference, I recommend "101" for it's simplicity and elegant layout. If you need to dig deeper into writing variations, grab this one. Better yet, get both!

This is a great book if you want something for a quick answer. I am a writer and although I have the Chicago Manual of Style, it is a large book with a wealth of knowledge: that doesn't mean I want to use that hefty book every time I am unsure about something. So this is a convenient companion to that Bible for writers. Casagrande's rules and recommendations are based on: The Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press Stylebook, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and Webster's New World College Dictionary. She defines punctuation marks, tells you how to use them, then gives examples for how they are used in book editing, news media and business writing, science, and academic styles. There is a useful Appendix with great definitions and examples covering parts of speech: clauses, phrases, sentences, and sentence fragments. A Punctuation A-Z chapter which is like an index or cheat sheet for further usage examples. Also, in case you need more evidence of how invaluable this book is, she used the help of a panel of experts. They are professional editors, copyeditors, and agents. This is a great book to add to your home library. If it had exercises at the end of each chapter, I would have given it 5stars.

I swear my writing has gotten better thanks to this book. Each section breaks down the uses of each punctuation and how you' use them in a plethora of situations. Love how it breaks down the types of jobs and how they would use said punctuations. There's even a glossary at the end showing slang and lingo you may need to know.

I love that this book starts by asking you to add punctuation to an unpunctuated paragraph. This is a great example of how a comma here, an apostrophe there, isn’t necessarily right or wrong depending on the style guide you use. Each punctuation mark has its own chapter. The rules that pertain to that punctuation mark are broken down by the four major style guides: book (CMOS), news (AP), scientific (APA), and academic (MLA). I like this format because it allows you to see the different styles in juxtaposition. You’ll find examples of correct and incorrect ways to punctuate a sentence, and a panel of editors were consulted for their punctuation preference on the more ambiguous rules. The second section is an alphabetized list of commonly confused words and is incredibly helpful when it comes to understanding whether to hyphenate, open, or close a compound word. The Best Punctuation Book is well organized, well thought out, and easy to use. Anyone who wants to improve their punctuation skills will want to add this book to their library.

I recommend this book. It is very easy to understand.

I have a number of books to help me with editing and proofreading, as well as online resources. However, even though I've only had this book for a couple of days, it is now, along with Strunk and White, an essential item on my desk. Highly recommended.

I bought this as an addition to a course I am taking and I would highly recommend getting this book for anyone who is a word nerd. I am training to be a proofreader and editor and this book has some great information in it on the basics and beyond. It is very easy to read and understand--I have at least half of it highlighted now haha.

Ottimo testo

Great book in print and on Kindle, very useful for my business. Shipped rapidly and received ahead of schedule.