In Newley Purnell’s “My Favorite Bloggers’ Favorite Books of 2003,” Dana reveals that her favorite book of 2003 is the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style:

It’s really awesome, and totally scandalous in that they’ve changed a whole buncha rules (no more periods in degree abbreviations! Horreur!) and offered, for the first time, a grammar section.

Choire Sicha says:

clearly: the best book published in 2003 was Joan Didion’s Where I Was From, with its absolutely startling end and painful roaming. Honestly I have no idea if the Didion book was as brilliant as I think it is, as I was overwhelmed this year myself by a return to the California of my childhood. My California, it turns out, was identically fraudulent to hers. Horrible amazing place — soon enough I’ll be compelled to live there as punishment, I’m sure.