Jack Lynch’s fabulously readable Guide to Grammar and Style will be useful in making your writing clearer and more effective. Mr. Lynch, an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University, himself writes in an approachable and entertaining style. Organized by topic, the Guide is fun to peruse. Here are a few samples:

Ain’t. There’s a venerable bit of schoolyard wisdom: “Ain’t ain’t in the dictionary, so ain’t ain’t a word.” There’s only one problem with this pithy apothegm: it ain’t true. …

Clearly, Obviously, Undoubtedly. My English professor instincts kick in — my Spidey-Sense starts tingling — whenever I see these words. Too often they’re used when something is unclear and doubtful, but the author simply doesn’t know how to make the point convincingly. …

Wasted Words. Many words and phrases rarely add anything to a sentence. Avoid these whenever you can. A very short list of some of these offenders: Quite, very, extremely, as it were, moreover, it can be seen that, it has been indicated that, basically, essentially, totally, completely, therefore, it should be remembered that, it should be noted that, thus, it is imperative that, at the present moment in time. These are fine in their place, but they often slither into your writing with the sinister purpose of tempting you into the sin of padding your sentences.