English reference books?

Kate of Lokys

For my birthday this year, my grandmother has announced that she wants to buy me an English reference book of my choice. It's a thoughtful gift; I just did an undergrad degree with a double major in English and sociology, and in September I'll be starting a Master's in English at the University of Western Ontario.

The trouble is, I have no idea what a good reference book is. For citation stuff, I always just use the OWL at Purdue.

Does the official MLA handbook have material that isn't available online, though? Or are there any definitive texts on writing/editing/revising that I really should have? As much as I'm tempted to just ask for a gift card so I can snag some Ciardi or something, I do think I should take advantage of her generosity and request something both useful and relevant.

So, English students, professional writers and editors, or other fans of prose: if you had to pick a single reference book to use for the rest of your life, what would it be?

PirateJon

Dunno.

But I've given "The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinary Literate" and it was well recieved.

LoveIsUnity

I'm working on a PhD in English right now. I have the most recent MLA handbook, but it doesn't really have anything that the OWL website does not. Let me rephrase that: it doesn't have anything useful that the OWL website does not. The first few chapters deal with finding a research topic, doing research, not plaigirizing, etc... Hopefully, you already know about that.

A lot of people really like the Strunk and White guide to style. I haven't spent much time with it, but it seemed solid from what I remember.

Is your heart set on a reference guide, or would you be open to a collection of literature? A Norton Anthology in your area of specialty (if you know) is another thoughtful gift that you're certain to spend more time with than a reference guide. My specialization is Literary Theory, and I would have loved to receive a copy of Richter's The Critical Tradition when I was accepted to graduate school.

Congrats on the acceptance. Feel free to PM me if you need any further recommendations.

Kate of Lokys

"The Highly Selective" etc looks interesting - I love obscure words.

Strunk and White is good, but we already have two or three copies floating around. It's a pretty slim book, too.

Norton Anthologies are great in general, but I don't really know what I'll be specializing in yet, and I already have the Short Fiction and the Modern and Contemporary Poetry.

Any other recommendations?

Kingthlayer

When I was working on my English degree every one of my professors swore by "The Ready Reference Handbook." It does its job well enough and it fits in my back pocket. I've never had a problem finding exactly what I need in it. It's nothing fancy but it works.