5 books that actually helped me improve my English

5 books that actually helped me improve my English when I joined the Marketing & Comms team at GroupM (WPP) in London.

English is not my first language, so there is an extra layer to it: grammar, style, tone, vocabulary, and all those little nuances that make writing sound natural. Bonus point 🥇 to anyone who is going to find a typo in my copy 😄

Of course, you can check your grammar with AI today. But if you work in Comms, Marketing, or Content, understanding why something works is still incredibly useful (and we also have to speak out loud, right?). Plus, I think nothing beats your personal writing style.

So:

1) As a Gentleman Would Say by John Bridges. This one I've used to learn how to sound less direct ( 🙃 ). I have found it in London in a second-hand bookstore!

2) Writing Without Bullshit by Josh Bernoff (how to get to the point and save readers' time).

3) English Is Not Easy by Luci Gutiérrez (just a perfect coffee table book with pictures 😁 )

4) My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be ‘Me’?) by Caroline Taggart and J. A. Wines (this one is more serious, covers many tricky aspects of English grammar)

5) The Economist Style Guide (this is a hardcore book; I think it was written for editors. No jokes in this one).

Do you know any of these? What book has helped you with your English or writing?

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