words and language

What impressed me most about this book was its ability to combine practicaility with an engaging format to draw the attention of even the most reticent of readers. You may have picked this book up out of desperation, realizing that your vocabulary had a dearth of good, strong, "SAT words" and desiring to remedy that as quickly as possible. Or you may be like me, and have a passion for the English language in particular, and for learning new things (and new words) in general. Whatever your initial motivation, this book will not disappoint you. The quizzes I found to be extremely helpful; repetition, in my opinion, is the best means of reinforcement. I also enjoyed the detailed word histories that illuminated the meanings of some of the more esoteric words, and gave me confidence to incorporate them into daily conversation, knowing that I could concisely explain the word's meaning if asked.

If you are looking for a quick fix to your "SAT word" deficit, however, this may not be the right resource for you. The chapters are rather lengthy, and even with diligence the book takes a considerable amount of time to work through. But for a word lover like me, the journey is well worth the time and effort.