Reddit reviews An Introduction to Language, 9th Edition

Deaf people whose fist language is a sign language think in that language. They even sign to themselves in the same way that speakers mumble to themselves sometimes when thinking. Sign language, cognitively and linguistically, is nearly identical to spoken languages. Try to think of it in the same way you do any other foreign language, with the exception that it is physical/visual rather than auditory.

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I'm a big fan of Fromkin's An introduction to Language

I'll second the recommendation of The Language Instinct. Pinker approaches it from the perspective of a cognitive scientist, but it's a good book if you want an overview of linguistics and linguistic theory (although some of his claims are controversial and as breads mentioned, it's somewhat outdated).

As for English syntax, I don't think there are any books out there intended for the layman, so your best bet would probably be to pick up an introductory textbook with a syntax unit. I'd recommend Language Files from the Ohio State University Press. It's an excellent and comprehensive introductory text, one of the best.

An Introduction to Language by Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams is also well-regarded, but I haven't taught from it, so I can't speak to it personally.

Oh man, there are no good books. If you're a linguistics noob and a psychology noob, try out these two books:

1. An Introduction to Language, Fromkin
   
   
2. Psychology of Language, Harley
   
   I have older editions of both of these books and I think they're fine to start out with. I would read at least some of the language processing/acquisition, phonetics, phonology, and syntax chapters in the Fromkin book [Parts 2 and 3 - chapters 8 and the first half of 9], and then move onto Harley's, which is much more about modern research. It can be a bit dense, which is why I suggest the Fromkin stuff first.