Booking Through Thursday: Grammar

Booking Through Thursday
In honor of National Grammar Day … it IS “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?

More importantly, have you read them?

How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

In some past BTT questions (which were in an old blog that I can no longer link to), I've repeatedly expressed my feelings for the proper use of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Here's two previous posts I wrote that tackled this subject:

Wrong word, Right use (or vice versa)
Speak English (here I voice out my frustration with the popularity of "txtspk.")

As for owning grammar books, yes, I do have some. A few of them were my books in school and were required for the curriculum. Others were extra books I got when I went to university (like Kate L. Turabian's "A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations"). I also have a scriptwriting book written by Filipino writer Ricky Lee called "Trip to Quiapo." It is titled as such because of his premise that Quiapo, a place in the heart of Manila, can be reached through many routes. The point is you'll get there.

My grandfather also owns a lot of English grammar and writing books, many of which he got when he went to the U.S. to study. Most of his books are from the 1950s and 60s. The good thing about them is that many of the rules then about grammar still apply today, so I got to use them.