Bryson's book, which first appeared in 2002 and was followed by a , is pithy, charming, easy-to-read, contemporary and above all useful. I found myself reaching for Bryson often, along with my battered copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage, when I was managing editor of a quarterly book review and later writing newspaper editorials. I still do.

I couldn't help but think of Bryson's great little reference book when I started playing around with WordPal. What the app lacks in charm it attempts to make up in utility. The good news: WordPal is clearly a reference app with a great deal of potential. How could it not be? The English language is so rich and complicated and, as Bryson wrote, "willfully at odds with logic and common sense," everyone from the casual dabbler to the professional scribbler needs a guide to avoid the more pernicious pitfalls.

And the bad news? WordPal is clearly a reference app with a great deal of potential.

WordPal's interface is austere. When you launch the app, you see a primitive menu listing "Word Spelling" and "Word Usage." And that's it. Tap on "Word Usage," and you're given a list of commonly confused words and their proper usage. Tap "Word Spelling" and you get a list of frequently misspelled words, similar to a dictionary but without pronunciations or definitions.

The lists are helpful as far as they go, but simply do not go far enough. Word mavens will feel tempted first to seek out their favorite corruptions of the language. Invariably, they will find themselves saying, "Ah, but what about...!" or "Why didn't they include...?" Here are a few pet peeves of mine that didn't make WordPal's cut: all right vs. alright, acute vs. chronic, avenge vs. revenge, and founder vs. flounder. Readers will come up with enough of their own, I'm sure, to double or triple the size of WordPal's lists in no time.