Cathleen Schine is often too clever, too cute, by half. Even her titles are irritating. They’re puns. “Alice in Bed” borrows from “Alice in Wonderland.” “The Three Weissmans of Westport” borrows from “The Three Wise Men.” “To the Birdhouse” borrows from “To the Lighthouse.” The new novel--“The Grammarians”--seems to borrow from Henry James, specifically “The Ambassadors,” “The Bostonians,” “The Americans.” (James is mentioned in the story.) But it’s possible Schine is thinking of Muriel Spark: “The Comforters,” “The Bachelors.” (Schine has said that she reads Spark--icy, relentless Spark--when she feels she is in danger of becoming sentimental.) “The Grammarians” follows twin sisters who have an obsessive love of language. They grow up; one becomes a Kindergarten teacher, and the other becomes a copy editor. Their love of words leads to surprising further developments. The copy editor morphs into an Ann Landers-esque columnist, whose focus is words and how to use them. This edito...