"Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Puncuation" by Lynn Truss

Everybody has the right to be irrationally fanatical about one or two things. Lynn Truss has abused that privilege. Her fanaticism concerning proper punctuation is excessive. At least, that's how the beginning of the book feels. Had the book not been recommended to me by a friend, I no doubt would have stopped reading after the first chapter, wherein she voices her indignation over the deplorable state of world punctuation. As the book proceeded, I began to wonder if her feelings weren't sensationalized to grab readers, for she becomes much more reasonable. Once reasonibility sets in, the book offers a lot of good insights into the use of punctuation. We could all stand to use punctuation a little more, especially those marks other than the comma and period.

One interesting side note is that I found a few punctuation marks in her book, marks in direct contradiction of her stated rules. Now, that's to be expected in any book and would be excusable if it were not for her outspokenness on the subject. So, I checked the internet and found a long list of punctuation errors posted by some critics. I found it amusing.

"The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien

This is easily the greatest book of fantasy ever written. The Silmarillion is the very definition of epic fantasy against which all other fantasy authors dare not compare themselves. I find it impossible to categorize this book with any other work of fantasy, as there are no others like it. I love the style that Tolkien has chosen in which to tell this story. Most fantasy is written from the perspective of the main characters. Fantasy, like most novels, is more about the relationships between the characters than the world. The Silmarillion is quite the opposite. The writing style is more akin to the Bible than any other novel. Tales that could have been told by whole books themselves are condensed to a few pages. The result is a sweeping history concerning which one must constantly remind oneself that it is a novel rather than some ancient mythology from a long extinct religion. It is the Iliad of the 20th century.