This week's goal: to finish reading "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" by Lynne Truss. In theory, it is a great book for me. The gist is that grammatical errors run rampant today (don't get me started on "its" and "it's") and that those of us who cringe when we see these abominations of nature in use are not alone. It speaks to me. The author writes about a seemingly dry and boring subject in a very easy, clever, and funny way. She makes me laugh. The book is small enough to carry around in my bag but meaty enough to keep me occupied when I am waiting around for someone or riding the Metro. It is tiny.

In reality, it is a great book for me, BUT. . . . But, there are errors. How can this BE?! Maybe it is a British thing, but I'm pretty sure that "Mr." requires a dot at the end. Commas are missing. Then, suddenly, they appear where they oughtn't. I'm not certain that her rules on semicolons are accurate. And I, for one, love the "Oxford comma" or the "serial comma" and don't understand why anyone would not use it here, there, and everywhere. Finally, with no real explanation, or, for that matter, evidence, Truss claims, "lawyers eschew the comma as far as possible." Um, no.

Although I agree with this reviewer's assessment, I am still reading, and most of the time enjoying, this book for several reasons: the writing style reminds me of Nicholson Baker's style, which I dig; the topics are interesting and informative; and I love it when other people rant about bad punctuation.