I am excited to announce a new feature on Scout & Catalogue - Look! Book! I am a lover of books but no one reads more than my good friend Julie (namesake of the La Julia necklace in the shop) and so I've enrolled her to do a little book reco every first Tuesday of the month. Julie spent 6 years working in the publishing industry in London before coming back to Canada and can read faster than anyone I know (a necessity for the job I suppose). She is constantly handing me books as I walk out her door and I know that she is the perfect person to let us know what we should be reading - whether it be well crafted fiction, that perfect easy read or, in this case, a non-fiction gem. And so I will leave her to it:
LOOK! BOOK! by Julie ////// The Elements of Style
The first book in Scout & Catalogue’s recommendation feature is the essential guide for writers, Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. It is a harsh and entirely refreshing read for anyone who writes.
My three favourite Strunk and White principles are, “Omit needless words”, “Write in a way that comes naturally” and “Be clear.” But there are forty others alongside confident explanations to encourage you to become a better writer. It is especially helpful if you read them aloud in your best Katherine Hepburn voice, whiskey in hand, “Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!”
The Elements of Style started life in 1918 as a handbook for university students and eventually made its way onto the bestseller lists. My edition, given to me by my brother-in-law Joe (a reporter), is accompanied by Maira Kalman’s wonderful illustrations.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, illustrated by Maira Kalman and published by Penguin.
