Ahenburg, K. (2002) The Mourner's Dance: What We Do When People Die. New York: North Point Press (A division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Ashenburg has written a book about ritual. To quote the author, "...some are born adept at ritual, some become adept, and some have ritual thrust upon them" (p. 73). This book could as easily be listed in the chapter on intercultural communication, because she explores both the rich and endlessly inventive rituals of different cultures as well the changing face of mourning from the Roman era to the present. Ashenburg not only looks as the verbal and nonverbal rituals, but examines keepsakes, prescribed bereavement garb, cemeteries, mourning etiquette, and various ways of commiserating. If you've ever wondered how, in the wake of death, you can go on living, this could be an important book for you.

Cooper, J., & K. D. Weaver. (2003). Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. The authors present evidence that shows that girls and young women are being left behind on the road to information technology. The authors document the digital divide—the unequal opportunity and unequal attention that disenfranchises girls from the technological revolution. The strength of the book is in the guideposts the authors provide for overcoming the problem—solutions ranging from family dynamics and teacher-student interactions to the gender organization of schools and school systems. After an introduction to the problem, they discuss computer anxiety, the social context of computing, expectancies and the computer, and then a series of chapters on solutions. The book addresses timely and important issues.

Corballis, M. C. (2002). From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Corballis's theory is that language evolved from manual and facial gestures. Using evidence from anthropology, animal behavior, neurology, molecular biology, anatomy, linguistics, and evolutionary psychology, he makes the case that language developed to supplant gestures. This is a lively, well-constructed read for those interested in how humans became the extraordinary creatures they are.

Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. New York: Cambridge University Press. This is an investigation into the impact of the Internet on language by one of the world's foremost authorities on language. He is the editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia. Although much has been written about the potential negative effects, Crystal contends that the Internet enables a dramatic expansion of language in range, variety, and the potential for personal creativity. He examines the language of e-mail, chat groups, and virtual worlds, the languages of the Web, neologisms spawned by electronic communication, new forms of punctuation, formatting, and greetings, new types of graphic communicational devices, and the future of language and languages in an electronic age. Although the book is accessible to anyone who has used the Internet and who has an interest in language issues, it tends toward a sophisticated, academic, intellectual approach with footnotes, references, and indices of both authors and topics.

Gonzalez, A., M. Houston, & V. Chen. (2003). Our Voices: Essays in Culture, Ethnicity, and Communication, 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Company. The theoretical view that guides these editors is "that race, culture, gender, class, and ethnicity are not 'external' variables but rather inherent features in an ongoing process of constructing how collectively we understand and participate in the larger social, cultural, and political discourse" (p. xiv). Collectively, the editors have selected essays that "explore the rich variety of communication practices within a broad cultural spectrum" (p. xvi), and each new edition keeps the material up-to-date and sensitive to changing cultural forces and patterns.

Levy, D. M. (2001). Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age. New York: Arcade Publishing. This is a fascinating examination of written forms from grocery-store receipts and greeting cards to identity papers and e-mail messages. Levy examines the continuing transition from print to digital and what this means at both practical and symbolic levels. This is a book that you can read thoroughly and about which you can think deeply.

MacNeil, R. & W. Cran (2005). Do You Speak American? A Companion to the PBS Television Series. New York: Nan A. Talese (An imprint of Doubleday; a division of Random House, Inc.). The dramatic conclusion MacNeil and Cran come to is that the standard for American English—if a standard exists—is changing quickly and dramatically. This book follows the journey of the authors from the Northeast, through Appalachia and the Deep South, and west to California as they observe everyday verbal interactions and host interviews with native speakers as they glean the linguistic quirks and traditions characteristic of each area. Their 8 chapter headings forecast the issues they address: 1) "The Language Wars," 2) "Changing Dialects: Dingbatters Versus Hoi-Toiders" 3) "Toward a Standard: Putting the 'R' in 'American," 4) "This Ain't Your Mama's South Anymore," 5) "Hispanic Immigration: Reconquest or Assimilation?," 6) "Bad-mouthing Black English," 7) "Language from a State of Change," and 8) "Teaching Computers to Speak American." If you have a serious interest in English and the way language changes, an interest in the current cultural influences on language, and how the final decisions about language rest with "the masses, people nearest the concrete, having most to do with actual land and sea" (Walt Whitman, p. 201), then you will love this book and the way the authors engage readers in their study and observations.

McWhorter, J. (2000). Spreading the Word: Language and Dialect in America. Portsmouth, NE: Heinemann. (This annotation is based on the review provided by Sabee, C. M. (2004, January). Communication Education 53(1), 126-128.) McWhorter discusses different ways people in America speak English and argues that nonstandard dialects are not bastardizations of Standard English but alternate variations upon the basic plan of English, of which Standard is but one. He provides an overview of linguistics, illustrates how English has changed, compares Black English to other dialects, and shows how language has changed around the world. Christina Sabee says that several humorous claims "provide the book with an interesting color and give it a feel much like that of an after dinner speech providing an informative, entertaining presentation" (p. 127). McWhorter offers an opportunity for non-experts to update and increase their knowledge about language and dialect in our diverse society and schools.

Mindell, P. (2001). How to Say it for Women: Communicating With Confidence and Power Using the Language of Success. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Press. Mindell, an expert on professional communication, shows women how to transform themselves by transforming their language. Empowerment, according to Mindell, comes through shedding weak words, phrases, and gestures and choosing the right word or sentence as well as speaking, reading, writing, leading, dressing, and interviewing effectively. She has packed this book with practical tips, techniques, and examples. This is a commonsense approach to successful business communication.

[No author]. (no date). Owl Handouts Indexed by Topic. Writing Laboratory, Purdue University. Retrieved March 30, 2005, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index2.html. At this website there are hundreds of links to writing resources of all kinds grouped under such topics as writing, punctuation, professional writing, spelling, sentence construction, parts of speech, writing in the job search, English as a second language (ESL), and research papers. This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in improving his or her use of language.

Tannen, D. (2001). Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men in the Workplace: Language, Sex, and Power. Reprint edition. London, UK: Quill. This is the third, after That's Not What I Meant: How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Your Relations With Others (1986) and You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (1990), in this series of investigations into what we say and how we say it. In this book, Tannen focuses on informal and formal conversations in the workplace, especially gender differences in conversational style, although age, class, ethnic, and geographical distinctions are also discussed. The book is designed to assist women in the workplace in becoming confident and competent.

[No author]. (no date). Writing resources. Allan K. Smith Center for Writing & Rhetoric, Trinity College. Retrieved March 30, 2005, from http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/writcent/writ.html. This is a website of links to writers' desk references, documentation and citation guides, and other aids and references. On the home page are links to research tools, teaching resources, and more, such as 10 writing online centers; rhetoric, writing, and language websites; and miscellaneous sites. A useful resource.