I can give you some classics on word origin:
 
Wildred Funk's WORD ORGINS AND THEIR ROMANTIC ORIGINS, Funk & Wagnalls
Joseph Shipley's DICTIONERY OF WORD ORIGINS, NY: Philosophical Library
J.L.Dillard's AMERICAN TALK: WHERE OUR WORDS CAME FROM, NY: Vintage
and a really interesting book, which I'm sure is out of print but
which you could probably get thru inter-library loan:
Hannah Campbell's WHY DID THEY NAME IT...?
 
Campbell's book tells you how Bourbon, invented by a Baptist minister,
came to be called Bourbon; the romantic story behind the naming of
"Dr. Pepper"; and why Weaties had to have been named by a woman. Lots
of fun.
 
Of course, nothing beats the OED.
 
        --Bill Murdick