Good books to expand my vocabulary and writing skills?

Question

I need to expand my vocabulary and writing skills any suggestion on good books to read during the holidays? I am a college student

Answer 1

Exit Strategies by Catherine Todd has a lot of law jargon in it, as well as typically intellectual speech, so is a very good read. Beautiful Atrocity by Mallory Evans is also good, using such words and matutinal and zaftig freely.

Answer 2

I have found that the best way to do this is to just read everything. The more you read, the more you learn. If you don't know a word when reading, pick up a dictionary and look it up. Make sure you know how to pronounce it, too, so that you can use it in speech as well as in writing. When you read, notice the different styles of writing. Experiment by writing short stories or passages in those styles. Find out what makes you really like certain styles or plots, and write them down. Refer back to that list when writing, so you can write in a way you will like. I would say that when reading, try to read more books from a while ago (such as Jane Austen's books, or even Anya Seton--Katherine is an amazing novel), because they tend to have more "big" words than books placed nowadays. (although books from now can be a very good resource too). Plays are good, but they're not the best for vocabulary or learning to write, because they're speaking, and it's very different from novels, and because that kind of writing is so limited. Unless, of course, you want to be a play write. Then, by all means, read a play. I also find that crossword puzzles (relatively hard ones, at least) help with vocabulary. Other word games, too.

Hope this helps. =]

Answer 3

Books To Improve Vocabulary

Answer 4

I think expanding your vocabulary and writing skills is a great idea. Reading does help you out and it may inspire you in so many ways.
I started writing... about three years ago and my vocabulary has expanded greatly, as well as my grammar and speaking skills. My writing skills of course went up as well. What got my inspired was the Harry Potter series, especially the fifth Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling. Here are a few other books I would try to help you get started:

1. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series (1-4)
2. Wolf: The Journey Home by: 'Asta Bowen
3. Kira-Kira by: Cynthia Kadohta
4. After Hamlin by: Bill Richardson
5. The Sight by: David Clement-Davies
6. Marley and Me by: John Grogan

I hope I answered your question! Have fun!

Answer 5

Learning new words does not insure that you will express yourself well in writing. There's grammar and punctuation of course, and then there's the matter of style. The first three elements - vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation - can be studied and learned. But to learn to write things that other people enjoy reading, you must develop a style. It's more difficult to "learn" style but you can begin to develop your own by reading other good writers. Read a lot - books, magazines, newspapers. By all means, read things you enjoy. Some of your answerers have suggested specific titles and many of them are good ones. Keep seeking out other suggestions. Your vocabulary will also improve as you read.
Start writing. Write letters. Write the assigned papers for your college courses. Ask friends who you think write more eloquently than you do to critique your writing. Keep writing.
This isn't something you can do over a long holiday weekend. It will require that you commit to a life-long effort.

As your first "critique" of your writing, I'll begin by analyzing your question. You have a run-on sentence which is not a question, yet you placed a question mark at the end. You neglected to put a period at the end of the last sentence. The sentences "any suggestion on good books..." and "good books to expand..." don't have a subject or verb.

Answer 6

Read just about anything you see as you pass by everyday life, like the signs on billboards, if you're in doubt then make sure to check it out in your dictionary. Personally the books I found that helped me a lot in vocabulary and writing would be Edgar Allan Poe's Collection of Poems and Short stories (Though I am really a person into deep, tragic and macabre literature) I especially liked The murders in the Rue Morgue(Mysterious yet somehow humorous), and another book is Poetry Speaks, which is a collection of poems from several different inspirational authors, including Sylvia Plath (My favourite), T.S Elliot, H.D. etc. It also includes 3 CDs, of the authors in the book reciting their own poetry, though some recordings are a little too shabby, I find it historical and inspirational.

Answer 7

Google "Vocabulary from Classical Roots" and check out the workbooks. We use it in homeschooling and I really think the upper grade level books are tough enough even for most college students.

I was an English major in college. I love words!

Also - if you're interested in actual reading as opposed to workbooks, try some additional Mark Twain. Older writing styles take more thought, but are still entertaining. Twain's Joan of Arc is great. Kipling and Hawthorne would be good authors to read as well.

I don't have as much time to read for my own pleasure as I'd like, so sometimes I settle for short stories. I have found lots of them available for free online. You'll even find short stories by those old authors I mentioned.

Just to show you how sick I really am, I go to the college bookstore and buy the Literature/English books even though I'm not in the classes. They often have a great compilation of Literature. They are often availble used and would be great to use over holidays.

I find lots of used testbooks at ecampus.com

Have fun!

Answer 8

Well, this isn't really an answer to your question since I'm not referring to a "book", but there is an interesting UN site to increase your vocabulary and be humanitarian as well.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

It's a free, non-profit site that claims to donate, through the United Nations, 10 grains of rice for every word you get right. They give you a word and four choices of words, you find the synonym to the given word.

Learn a word and feed the hungry! Somewhat better than strenuous reading of a book.

Good luck with the grammar! English is a grammar freak.

Answer 9

There are so many great answers here and I have to agree with most of them. The most efficient and significant vocabulary building tactic that I used was to start with books in a preferred genre. Then as I would read and come across a word I didn't understand, I would reread the sentence a few times. Before I looked up the definition, I would attempt to define it through context and then verify it. You'd be surprised at how many times you really do understand a word's meaning. Since the words were related to an experience, the knowledge stayed with me as opposed to monotonous drills.

If you're into Sci-Fi/Horror, I highly recommend H.P. Lovecraft.

Answer 10

Keep up with current events. Some newspapers have a higher reading level than others (like the New York Times, or Washington Post) and though I am a vocabulary buff / wordsmith, I still find words that I don't know anything about.

Any word I come across, I write down on an index card and look up on the internet. The key to remembering the word is writing it's definition down, as well as a sentence that illustrates it's proper use.

In high school I also received word of the day emails, and I used those to make lists that I studied. Eventually many of those words made their way into my daily vocabulary, and people began to ask if I went to sleep with a dictionary under my pillow.

The key is writing it all down, giving yourself another memory to recall what the definition is...

Answer 11

To the person who says reads lots and write a lot to expand vocabulary and writing skill, you make it sounds like it is easy which is not. Depending on the person and their brain functions are only able to handle what they can. Even though, your way is more likely the only way as to repetition of reading and writing to get good at building vocabulary and writing skills. Good Luck.