Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares: How to Avoid Unplanned and Unwanted Grammar Errors Hardcover – September 1, 2012

Most people would rank reading a book on grammar right up there with getting a root canal or a colonoscopy. Might be necessary, but we probably wouldn't do it for the pleasure.Using celebrities like Johnny Depp, celebrity break-ups like Brad and Jennifer, and sexy examples, Baranick presents grammar in a hilarious way that just may help it stick in our over-caffeinated, YouTubed, smartphoned, chasing-the-next-shiny-thing brains.She makes the point that if we use "whorable spelling," our meaning may be vastly misconstrued. She suggests that choosing "the perfect email title is like the perfect first date outfit. It reveals just enough without giving too much away."She asks:"Have you ever been in the middle of something and you're so excited that you don't want to stop because you're afraid that you will lose your mojo, so you just keep on going and going and going and the next thing you know you miss your period? That, my friends, is how must run-on sentences happen."Her punctuation marks all have personalities. Commas are small and cute and curvy. Colons deserve a drumroll. Exclamation points and questions marks are like Mary Ann and Ginger from Gilligan's Island."Sometimes a period provides too much pause between these two sentences, but the comma doesn't provide quite enough. Luckily the period and the comma had a drunken one-night stand and produced this adorable little spawn they named the semicolon."I'm pretty sure I still won't remember all the grammar spelling and punctuation rules here, but I won't mind looking them up again. Belongs on the bookshelf of all writers (and really, all PEOPLE who ever need to write a resume or email in the course of business).

Missed Periods is a fine read if you need a crash course in Grammar 101. If you're looking for something more advanced, though - this isn't it. Commas, arguably the most complex punctuation mark, are covered in sixteen (small) pages. As a for-instance of key information missing that I'd have liked to have seen covered: while she talks about placing a comma after an introductory clause (If we're going clubbing, I need to bring my ID.) she makes no mention of the fact that the clause would not be offset by commas if it came at the end of the sentence (I need to bring my ID if we're going clubbing.) and that is one of the most frequent issues I come across when I'm editing or proofreading.I was also bugged by the fact that, regarding adding apostrophe-s when making nouns ending in "s" possessive, she takes the stance that it's the reader's choice. Chicago Manual of Style would not agree.Of small annoyance but amusing: the author lambasts her former students for not spelling her name correctly in e-mails requesting grade revisions, assignment extensions, etc., and yet in a sample fictional résumé, she misspells the name of the applicant (Edward Cullens as opposed to Edward Cullen). The height of irony... though perhaps she meant it as a cautionary note about proofreading: make sure you spell your own name correctly on assignments, letters, applications, etc.Finally, while her gimmick of linking grammar to sex and relationships starts out on a humorous note, it starts to sag before you're halfway through the book.My opinion - look for a better grammar primer. This one is like using the rhythm method - totally hit or miss.

This is a fun grammar book. I heard about it in a podcast and I'd recommend it for anyone. Who knew grammar could be this funny!

This book is so fabulous I bought it for all my writer friends for Christmas. Useful information is presented in such an absolutely hilarious way, that you will forget you're reading a book on grammar and think you're having a conversation with a girlfriend over a glass of wine. This is required reading for all grammar nerds. Just buy the book. You won't be disappointed.

Like the author, I am a college grammar professor and a published author, so I read Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares with a critical eye. And oh, what fun it was NOT to have to be critical. Jenny Baranick takes a subject most of us hated learning in school and turns it into a humorous lesson on the quirky rules of our language. Add to that the cultural nostalgia referenced in all of her examples and you have an unofficial grammar guide that is also a romance book...because you will fall in love with English.

I discovered this book, oddly enough, through a sponsored ad on Facebook. The title peeked my interest, so I looked at the "free preview" and knew I had to have this book. I think this book is great because the author uses humor, and relevant situations, to get the information to stick. Yes, there is the usual boring textbook definitions, but it is quickly followed by some well known, real world examples. Definitely a FUN read, even if you have grammar down pat.

Hilariously entertaining grammar might seem like an oxymoron, but English professor, author, and fashionista Jenny Baranick produces grammar advice so full of wit and humor that it will be difficult to believe you've actually just had a grammar lesson. With chapter titles like More Than a Feeling: Commas, readers are certain to find useful tips and even career enhancing lessons on fine grammar.This is a book not just for English teachers, but for any user of the English language.

Missed Periods taught me that sometimes there is no right answer. This book kept me laughing. I will not forget the grammar lessons in this book, which now sits on my reference shelf, because the story lessons are rich. As a reference, it is easy to find what I need in this delightfully funny book about a serious subject.

This book helped me to understand more about grammar.I wish I could come across this knowledge way back.Direct to the point and I like it.

I heard an interview with the author on a creative writing podcast and thought I'd pick up a copy. Anyone who can make grammar interesting and actually very funny, is a bit of a genius in my book! I wish I'd had a copy years ago; to explain all the things I wasn't quite sure of and too afraid to ask!