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Dreyer's English
How many books on writing can you call a page turner? This is one of the few. Great advice and immensely accessible.
Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace
This was the standard companion for all my students when I taught on the university level. The advice here is simple and concrete. My favorite book on style.
They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing
This book is for general argumentative writing. It’s a trove of rhetorical devices (“moves”) on both the sentence and paragraph level that are effective in persuasive writing. Full of examples.
Stephen King On Writing
I’m a big fan of King’s fiction writing, and few writers in popular culture are as good as he is. But he’s also got great advice on writing, like this: “If you don’t have time to read, you can’t be a writer.”
On Writing Well
Zinsser’s book is a classic and one of the few you can read cover to cover. One of my favorite bits of advice comes from this book: “people see your writing before they read it.”
Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing
Truly a joy to read and a longtime favorite of mine. Trimble’s book is indeed a conversation.