Words on Words: The Columbia Dictionary for Writers

Good guidance on common language usage problems and pitfalls. I keep a copy close by and have bought copies for friends who write. Worth the money.

This book is an invaluable, witty, trenchant resource. If you're looking for a writing/grammar guide that gets to the root of language -- to the etymology of the words we leverage day-in and day-out -- then you've found it. I use it all the time. (And Bremne's sardonic humor makes me laugh.) Again, invaluable. Here's just one example: ENVY/JEALOUSY Envy is stronger than jealousy and embraces coveting, as can be glimpsed from the derivations of the words: envy from Latin "invidere," to look at with malice; jealousy from Latin "zelus," zeal, emulation.