I fell for Grammar Girl's podcasts, especially those that vindicate and explain my grammar (usage) pet peeves. One example is end punctuation and quotation marks. In America, they generally go on the inside, in case you were wondering. The "Why Are British English and American English Different?" episode explains it. Scroll down to "Typesetters Quotations Versus Logical Quotations." Like Fogarty, I think the American way is illogical, but it's how we do it here, and I get annoyed when I see people doing it wrong. Same with Anglophile spellings. So annoying!
She vindicates another usage choice that drives me crazy. The single vs. double space after a period. It's the 21st century, people. Keyboard letters are different sizes.
The book is full of useful grammar, usage, and writing tips, explained in simple, casual terms, and often with mnemonics and other tricks to help you remember the proper style. She also uses two imaginary characters, Aardvark and Squiggly to illustrate her points. Here's a favorite:
I also appreciate her approach (which reminds me of the editing style of Emily Drabinski, whose goal is to support the writer and help make her work better, not to humiliate her),
(Plus I love that bit about the batteries and film.)
Fun as it is, GGQaDTtBW is non-fiction and a little text booky, so it's not always the fastest read. Then again I doubt you could read most other grammar guides straight through like you can this one.
I consider it my calling to dispel the myth that it's against the rules to split infinitives. It's fine to split infinitives, and sometimes, I split them when I don't have to just to maliciously make a point. p.56