 | The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal
Buy new: £18.49 / Used from: £9.68 The most complete overview of the entire field of linguistics. Hidden gems on every page. Entertaining, too!
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 | Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field Linguists by Thomas E. Payne
Buy new: £28.50 / Used from: £28.44 A heavy going, but thorough and wonderful handbook for the linguanaut.
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 | The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal
Buy new: £17.97 / Used from: £14.00 An innovative guide to English. A fabulous book, covering nearly every imaginable context of English usage.
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 | Linguistics (Teach Yourself Languages) by Jean Aitchison
Buy new: £5.84 / Used from: £2.94 A basic guide as an introduction to lingustics, covering most simple aspects of linguistics.
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 | Lunatic Lovers of Language: Imaginary Languages and Their Inventors by Marina Yaguello
Buy used from: £29.95 A little wandering, this outlines numerous created languages and language proposals, but indeed is far from exhaustive. Great for the historical conlanger.
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 | The Search for the Perfect Language by Umberto Eco
Buy used from: £3.76 A very interesting but dry look at the history of the idea of a perfect language, from natural tongues to numerous created language proposals throughout the ages.
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 | Loom of Language by Frederick Bodmer
Buy new: £11.57 / Used from: £5.48 Dated and eurocentric, but still exceptionally good as a guide to language and learning Romance and Teutonic/Germanic languages. Also contains info on International Auxiliary Language (IAL) proposals.
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 | Learn Ancient Greek by Peter Jones
Buy new: £7.77 / Used from: £3.50 A witty and humerous introduction to Ancient Greek. Nice. You actually feel as if you are learning something quickly, as well as being amused.
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 | Hammer's German Grammar and Usage by Martin Durrell
Buy new: £18.39 / Used from: £18.00 This is dry. Very dry. But it must be said, it is essential for anyone with a deep interest in the German language. Get the 4th edition, as it uses the new spelling system.
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 | Esperanto (Teach Yourself) by John Cresswell
Buy used from: £20.00 Teach Yourself books are mostly good. I'd read a few bad ones, and then found this one, wihch restored my faith in TY, and enabled me painlessly to learn Esperanto.
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 | Esperanto-English, English-Esperanto Dictionary and Phrasebook (Dictionary & Phrasebook) by Joseph F. Conroy
Buy new: £11.50 / Used from: £54.35 A brief guide to the most popular created language, Esperanto. Does contain some errors, probably the fault of bad editting.
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 | The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Buy new: £6.89 / Used from: £0.01 Why a novel in a languages list? It's what inspired me to start learning Ancient Greek, that's why. Although not much language comes into it, the characters are all linguists, and it's a favourite.
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 | Woe Is I (Expanded Edition) by Patricia T. O'Conner
Buy new: £6.74 / Used from: £2.13 This book is a handy little guide for correct usage of English. Unlike many other guides, it's painless to learn to get the apostrophe right with this book. It is written in American English, however.
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 | Klingon "Hamlet" (Star Trek) by The Klingon Language Institute
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £6.17 Now this is just silly. Great fun. I picked up my copy in a used book store in Alabang, Philippines. The saleslady thought it was a dialect of Arabic.
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 | Learn Latin: The Book of 'The Daily Telegraph' QED Series by Peter Jones
Buy new: £7.11 / Used from: £2.40 A rare thing: a book on a classical language, with entertainment value as well as educational value.
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 | Language in Danger: How Language Loss Threatens Our Future by Andrew Dalby
Buy used from: £0.01 Sometimes a little sensational, a good guide to language decline worldwide.
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