8. "Bad Language: Are Some Words Better Than Others?" Edwin L. Battistella (Oxford University Press, 240 pages, $29.95). This book reminds us that language is the basis of the last acceptable prejudice: There is no snobbery as safe as looking down your nose at people for their grammar, vocabulary or accent. As Battistella shows, this kind of condescension often comes from misunderstandings and myths about the way language works. An even better myth-buster is the 1999 book "Language Myths," edited by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill (Penguin, 188 pages, $14).