Fred Shapiro, the editor of The Yale Book of Quotations we interview in this week's "Behind the Dictionary" feature, recommends these books on the history and importance of quotations:

The Quote Sleuth by Anthony W. Shipps

Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar Misquotations by Ralph Keyes

They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions by Paul F. Boller

The World in a Phrase: A History of Aphorisms by James Geary

We asked author Michelle Richmond, whose latest novel is The Year of Fog, about books that inspire her writing. She graciously sent us these picks: (Thanks, Michelle!)

The Death of a Beekeeper, by Lars Gustafsson
"This beautifully humane and intellectually playful novella about disease, death, and the noble desire to 'begin again' is in my annual rotation. I love Gustafsson's use of lists to reveal his protagonist's most intimate self."

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Want to get your students (or children) excited about reading? We thought so. So we called up Georgia Scurletis, the amazing curriculum expert -- and veteran New York City high school English teacher -- who puts together our Visual Thesaurus lesson plans, for her advice. Georgia's picks:

A classic: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
"A love story that even a feminist can love... This novel turns the Cinderella tale on its head and allows students to see the Victorian Age through the eyes of the young impish narrator Jane. It's chock full of challenging and rich vocabulary, but the kids are motivated to keep reading since the narration is so compelling."

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We asked Tim Maleeny, the author of the thrillers Stealing the Dragon and the newly released Beating the Babushka, what's he's been reading lately. Here are his picks:

A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read. "A smart and provocative novel featuring Madeline Dare, one of the most compelling characters to appear in a long time. Suffused with a dry wit and social commentary that illuminates both the characters and the world we live in, this is one of the best written books I've read in a loooooong time."

The Sacred Cut by David Hewson. "Hewson might be the best writer working today when it comes to capturing a sense of place. This intricate investigation of a grisly murder in Rome maintains terrific pacing from the first page without sacrificing attention to detail. You can practically feel the cobblestones beneath your feet as you turn the pages."

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Michael Erard, the linguist and author we feature in this week's Behind the Dictionary column, recommends The Freudian Slip, by Sebastian Timpanaro, "a resounding rebuttal of Freud, in which you learn a lot about speech errors and Freud."

Margalit Fox, the author of Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind and the subject of last week's fascinating Behind The Dictionary interview, suggests these books on the linguistics of sign language:

The Signs of Language by Edward S. Klima and Ursula Bellugi

Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf by Oliver Sacks

The Resilience of Language: What Gesture Creation in Deaf Children Can Tell Us About How All Children Learn Language by Susan Goldin-Meadow

Debbie Shults, the veteran teacher and literacy coach we interview in this week's "Teachers at Work" column, recommends these books for promoting literacy in science classrooms:

The Physics of Baseball by Robert Adair. "At first glance this book looks rather dry, but the illustrations are fascinating. This is a book that makes science and math relevant to many young athletes. This book is part of a series on the physics of different types of sports."

Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Disease by Jeanette Farrell. "This book tells the history of small pox, malaria, tuberculosis, plague, leprosy, cholera, and AIDS. Fascinating photographs and other visuals and extremely interesting stories about these diseases make this book irresistible to many students."

The Isaac Newton School of Driving: Physics and Your Car by Barry Parker. "This is a fun book. Parker grounds all his science in pop culture and writes in a very casual, non-scientific sounding way. Books like these help make science and math relevant to all learners."