book crush thursday: The Book of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

People are developing new and exciting ways to use the quotation mark every day. In fact, there are literally "millions" of ways to use these little word adornments to express yourself. -- Bethany Keeley

Here are quotes as we love them best: Doing horrible damage to the English language. -- from the back cover

I don't know whether to call this a book, an ab exercise, or therapy. Because The Book of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks is certainly all three.

... And I am really struggling with the impulse to pepper the rest of this post with possibly unnecessary quotation marks. I mean... really struggling. But I'll spare you.

So. It's about the unnecessary quotation marks. I mean... need I say more? It's a collection of all those signs and notices that just arbitrarily add quotes, or decide that a quotation mark is a form of emphasis. We've all seen them. And maybe (hopefully) winced.

But if you're like me--and like followers of Bethany Keeley's hilarious blog--you reinterpret those marks as signs of sarcasm or code words... and then, instead of cringing, we all get to laugh.

And we laugh a lot.

As in: this book incapacitated my whole family. 

And it was certainly a great excuse to get out my snarky inner proofreader, and let her have a good run around the block.

So please do yourself a favor, and spend some time with this book. And then spread the word.

Because the more of "us" who know how to "use" quotation marks, the "better" our "communication" will be.

(I could only hold out for so long, guys.)

Recommendation: Under no circumstances would I eat or drink while reading this book. Nope. I would probably choke, in a moment of hilarity. (Seriously. Even just preparing this post, and browsing her book while I do... I'm wiping away tears.)

Certainly read this with friends, though. Quotation marks are best shared.