In
The Way We Talk Now,
linguist Geoffrey Nunberg collects the
commentaries that he presented on
NPR's radio show
Fresh Air. They mostly deal with various quirks of present-day
American English. The
essays are fairly interesting. Since they were designed to be appreciated while driving through traffic, they are light and a fast read.
For example, one article talks about how the term
literacy has broadened to include concepts of
cultural knowledge, and others discuss the history of the term
chad and various
euphemisms for corporate
layoffs. Several articles explore the
terminology and
communication patterns of the
Internet.
I'd recommend the
book, since it's entertaining. Since each essay is 2 or 3 pages, it would be a good choice during an airplane ride or a situation when you expect interruptions. However, other books, such as
Steven Pinker's
The Language Instinct, provide a more substantive introduction to
linguistics.