diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 63a2677..45fa547 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -20,14 +20,14 @@ ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
 
 Optional features are off by default and enabled with:
 
-- `-DITCH_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON` — Google Benchmark suites.
-- `-DITCH_BUILD_FUZZERS=ON` — libFuzzer targets (Clang only).
-- `-DITCH_BUILD_TOOLS=ON` — the `itch-tool` CLI.
-- `-DITCH_BUILD_PYTHON=ON` — the pybind11 Python bindings (needs the `python`
+- `-DITCH_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON`, Google Benchmark suites.
+- `-DITCH_BUILD_FUZZERS=ON`, libFuzzer targets (Clang only).
+- `-DITCH_BUILD_TOOLS=ON`, the `itch-tool` CLI.
+- `-DITCH_BUILD_PYTHON=ON`, the pybind11 Python bindings (needs the `python`
   vcpkg feature: `-DVCPKG_MANIFEST_FEATURES=python`).
-- `-DITCH_WITH_ARROW=ON` — Apache Arrow / Parquet export (needs the `arrow`
+- `-DITCH_WITH_ARROW=ON`, Apache Arrow / Parquet export (needs the `arrow`
   vcpkg feature: `-DVCPKG_MANIFEST_FEATURES=arrow`).
-- `-DITCH_BUILD_DOCUMENTATION=ON` — the Doxygen `docs` target. Build it with
+- `-DITCH_BUILD_DOCUMENTATION=ON`, the Doxygen `docs` target. Build it with
   `cmake --build build --target docs` (needs Doxygen; the modern theme is fetched
   automatically). Output is written to `docs/html`. The same documentation is
   published to GitHub Pages from `main` by `.github/workflows/docs.yml`.
diff --git a/python/README.md b/python/README.md
index 71a9a1b..def69ad 100644
--- a/python/README.md
+++ b/python/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# itchcpp — a fast, drop-in backend for the pure-Python `itch` package
+# itchcpp, a fast, drop-in backend for the pure-Python `itch` package
 
 `itchcpp` is a native (C++) NASDAQ TotalView-ITCH 5.0 parser, order-book engine,
 and analytics layer exposed to Python via pybind11. It is built to be a
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ event (`S` with `event_code == b"C"`).
 
 ## What is exposed
 
-- **`itchcpp.messages`** — every message class under its exact upstream name
+- **`itchcpp.messages`**, every message class under its exact upstream name
   (`SystemEventMessage`, `StockDirectoryMessage`, `AddOrderNoMPIAttributionMessage`,
   `AddOrderMPIDAttribution`, `OrderExecutedMessage`, `NonCrossTradeMessage`,
   `CrossTradeMessage`, `NOIIMessage`, `MWCBDeclineLeveMessage`,
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ event (`S` with `event_code == b"C"`).
   `to_bytes()`, `set_timestamp(ts1, ts2)`, `split_timestamp()`,
   `get_attributes(call_able=False)`, plus the `message_type`, `description`,
   `message_size`, and `price_precision` metadata.
-- **`itchcpp.parser.MessageParser`** — `parse_file`, `parse_stream`,
+- **`itchcpp.parser.MessageParser`**, `parse_file`, `parse_stream`,
   `parse_messages(data, callback)`, `get_message_type(bytes)`, and the `message_type`
   filter.
-- **`itchcpp.indicators`** — the field code lookup tables (`SYSTEM_EVENT_CODES`,
+- **`itchcpp.indicators`**, the field code lookup tables (`SYSTEM_EVENT_CODES`,
   `MARKET_CATEGORY`, `TRADING_STATES`, `ISSUE_SUB_TYPE_VALUES`, ...).
 - **Native extras** (not part of the pure-Python API): `itchcpp.book`
   (`BookManager`, `L3Book`, `Bbo`) for single-pass order-book reconstruction, and