NOW READING: The Bedford Handbook, Sixth Edition (2002)

After reading three reference books focused on individual words, it’s time for a change. My next book is a reference work that focuses on what to do with all those words. I think this fits my logical progression. The Bedford Handbook will serve as a refresher to a lot of writing basics, some of which I may take for granted and some of which I may have forgotten.

I picked this book up in 2002. It was a required purchase upon starting my freshman year at Lebanon Valley College. The current edition retails for around $96 but I can only imagine what the overpriced college bookstore charged for it back in the day. I recall largely ignoring this book except for the works cited guidelines.

When I went back for a second bachelor’s years later, I poked around a few of the other sections while working on papers. In some ways, I feel bad about ignoring a pricey buy. Then again, the first half of this book appears to cover a lot of writing basics that I already learned in high school. Perhaps that’s why I ignored so much of it at first. Now, I’m going to put my preconceived notions and hubris aside and actually read the whole thing.

Given the different structure of this book (sentences, paragraphs, and chapters!), I have no idea how long it will take me to read. I don’t want to read this book just to cross it off the list. I want to read it with an open mind and try to learn from it if has anything to teach me. It’s been years since I last studied grammar, so I’m sure I will get some refreshers. I just hope that I’m not breaking too many rigid rules (even though there are plenty of writing rules that can be broken).

Monthly update posts will still be the goal, but I suspect I will go a little deeper this time around. I know a few people who teach or have backgrounds in the English language arts. I may pose questions to them (and Facebook friends at large) at various times, whether it be at the end of each chapter or section of chapters. A dose of interaction may be the spice I’ve been missing all this time with Project Bookshelf.