First, a disclaimer: If you really can't be persuaded to give up writing, the following will not help you. 
        Still here? Okay, now lets' look at a few bits of stuff that I have stashed on the bottom shelf of my reference library. All have been helpful to me at times, which may be as much an admission of my ineptitude as it is of their worth. Some I got as gifts. If you have a "writer" friend and you don't know what size/taste/color he wears, you can always give a book. And a book on what? Why, writing, of course. He doesn't dare tell you how much he was looking forward to a good supply of Scotch or a DVD of the Best of Victoria's Secret. He is expected to schmoo over your thoughtfulness.
        And that's how I got some of mine. But they all have proved useful and I describe them here in the hope that one or another may be useful to you, either as a writing aid (or a gift.)
  
First, Webster. There is Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms. It's a sort of Thesaurus for folks who know what the general idea is, but, no, I really meant the opposite. It's easier to navigate that the old, brown Roget's. Anyhow, Merriam Webster, Inc. is the source.
  
Beside it I have another, fatter book, Reader's Digest Flip Dictionary. It is "flip" in that it allows you to start with the definition and find the word or words that mean what is defined. I find it useful in the "hey, lookee there" way that many encyclopedic works supply: I am looking for something and run across something else of interest. That allows me to forget the item I was seeking, however. Published by Reader's Digest Books.
  
If you are a normal American, you might live your whole life without needing any foreign words or phrases. If you are of the abnormality associated with writing, however, you will, at times, coax your characters away from Indianapolis and into other countries. English still works, of course, wherever American dollars are recognized, but if you want your reader to know that one of your people is authentically foreign, it's a nifty shortcut to have him say something in his native language. If he's talking to Americans he might only speak his own lingo in cursing his guests, but you still might find that useful. So, Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Abbreviations, Kevin Guinagh, H. H. Wilson, New York."
  
Now, let's get into stuff more applicable to we ink-strained wretches. There is a Thesaurus of Alternatives to Worn-out Words and Phrases. It's a neat little book just full of the phrases we unimaginative sods use every day. Of course, it's dated; our media and our government coin more daily, but it is a dandy way to remind oneself that he is badly cliché-ridden. Robert Hartwell Fiske, Reader's Digest Books.
  
Now, another Reader's Digest book: Roget's Descriptive Word Finder. It's a sort of tame, user-

friendly Roget. It includes a "quick word finder" for everyday concerns and situations.
  
For pure fun, try A Dictionary of Catch Phrases by Eric Partridge, Dorset Press. You've heard the phrase many times, "rarin' to go." See Partridge and find that it's late 19th Century. If you're in the process of writing a novel about the Napoleonic Wars, it simply won't do. (But why bother anyway? Tolstoy and those lads have it covered.)
  
A useless tome I use to balance the colors of the Reader's Digest books is Writer's Encyclopedia from Writer's Digest Books. It does define a bunch of writery phrases, such as "hiatus" and "carpal tunnel syndrome." Since it's a hard-bound textbook, there's nothing in it less than about a decade old. If you want to live in the past, go get a copy. Mine was a gift from someone who shoved it at me and said, "You write."   A book I wouldn't be without is Words into Type from Prentice Hall. It describes the process of getting a scribble to a book. It's a style manual, sure, but so much more. It actually describes the processes along the line, even covering printing, bookbinding and choices of paper. Mine is old, it doesn't cover the electronic world, but if you have good style and dynamics, the rest can be learned.
  
Finally, and most important, I use two usage guides. One is my Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. The other, of course, is The Chicago Manual of Style. Not only will one of these keep your work free of awkward or ignorant usages, it will serve as a potent silent partner when you and your editor get into a "No, I think it should be this way" argument. Maybe your editor doesn't agree with Fowler, but she can see that you are thorough and dedicated.
   
I have other nifty books in my reference collection. Simple dictionaries of the "Spanish/English" variety and two editions of Bartlett's Quotations. A real-live, brown, soft leather Roget's. Finally, for pure fun, I have an old and a newer Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
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