What I liked about this book is its uniqueness; the author loves long sentences and doesn’t shy away from talking about them, throughout the book. I read this years ago, and I think it is time for a re-read. I have often marveled at the beauty of a sentence that, even when it runs over a few lines, manages to convey so much to its readers, without confusing or boring them.

While the popular opinion is shorter is better – and yes, it often is – it is also because writing longer sentences that work requires effort, and planning.

So I enjoyed this for

its excellent grammar lessons (even those who don’t care for long sentences will benefit)
the many examples of beautiful (and not so beautiful) sentences of varying lengths
showing its readers how to craft sentences;
and last but not the least, the smartly placed chapters with clever titles that help readers build upon what they have learned earlier in the book.
That said, I have to mention that the author does enjoy short sentences too (though it might not be too evident as you read the book!).

A great book for anyone who wants to, well, write better sentences!!

thanks to netgalley for the digtal review copy of this book. all opinions are my own

I really enjoyed Brooks Landon's way of writing about syntax and writing itself. It can be quite difficult to write a readable book about the art of writing, since too often the reader gets lost in analysing the sentences themselves, rather than reading them for the information they can provide. Landon's enthusiasm clearly shines through in 'Building Great Sentences'. At university I often found myself inspired by professors in subjects I previously found rather boring, and Landon achieves the same thing. However, with this kind of topic, it is difficult to sit down and read the book in one sitting. It took me quite a long time to read this book, because it is the kind of reread you occasionally revisit or open when you're searching for something in particular.

I'd definitely recommend this to people like me who are interested in linguistics and language. There are some great tips any aspiring writer can pick up as well, while also being an enjoyable read.