Recommended Reading and ResourcesI had to draw the line somewhere because I don’t think anyone will really benefit from a list of all the books, magazines, websites and blogs I’ve read in my life. So I’m listing the books and web resources that I’m either currently engaged with or have made a significant impact on me. I hope to update these lists from time to time, and to save me from getting too anal-retentive about how I organize the lists, I’m saying right now there is no significance to the order of the lists.
I invite your suggestions! If you know about a book, magazine, website, blog or other source that should be on one the lists, please send me an email. Brain & Neuroplasticity Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance by Rosanne Bane My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. The Brain that Changes Itself: Personal Stories of Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge The Owner’s Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research by Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D. Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life by Joseph LeDoux Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph LeDoux The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind by Elkhonon Goldberg Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves by Sharon Begley The Brain Has a Mind of Its Own: Insights from a Practicing Neurologist by Richard Restak, M.D. Brain Work and Brain in the News FREE subscriptions from the Dana Foundation; visit www.dana.org for a variety of great information BrainBlog www.neuropsychological.blogspot.com/ Writing – Inspiration Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance by Rosanne Bane The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting from Frustration to Publication by Ralph Keyes The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland Dancing in the Dragon’s Den: Rekindling the Creative Fire in Your Shadow by Rosanne Bane If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda UelandBecoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott www.helpingwriters.com hosted by writing consultant, literary agent and ghostwriter Scott Edelstein helps writers reach their goals faster, with less effort, stress, and expense Writing – Craft On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler Your Book Starts Here: Create, Craft, and Sell Your First Novel, Memoir, or Nonfiction Book by Mary Carroll Moore Writing the Wave: Inspired Rides for Aspiring Writers by Elizabeth Ayres Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. LeGuin The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader and the Imagination by Ursula K. LeGuin The Passionate, Accurate Story: Making Your Heart’s Truth into Literature by Carol Bly How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner www.helpingwriters.com hosted by writing consultant, literary agent and ghostwriter Scott Edelstein helps writers reach their goals faster, with less effort, stress, and expense Writing – Getting Published The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book by Susan Page How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen Give ‘Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook Writing the Breakout Novel: Insider Advice for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level by Donald Maass The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner Writer’s Market and its many variations including the online subscription available at www.writersmarket.com Writer’s Digest magazine The Writer magazine www.helpingwriters.com hosted by writing consultant, literary agent and ghostwriter Scott Edelstein helps writers reach their goals faster, with less effort, stress, and expense Creativity The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron The Creativity Habit by Twyla Tharp Dancing in the Dragon’s Den: Rekindling the Creative Fire in Your Shadow by Rosanne Bane Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Life, Paint and Passion: Reclaiming the Magic of Spontaneous Expression by Michell Cubley and Stewart Cassou Drawing on the Artist Within by Betty Edwards The Creative Fire (CD) by Clarissa Pinkola Estes www.43folders.com Merlin Mann, who hosts this site, defines it as: “43 Folders is focused on an arc about how to improve the quality of your career and life by managing your attention in a way that allows you to work your ass off on the creative projects that matter most to you.” Fiction – General Honestly, there are just too many to choose from, but here’s a seriously edited and reduced list. All of the Disc World novels by Terry Pratchett. Yes, technically Terry Pratchett is a fantasy writer and he is first on my list of Science Fiction and Fantasy, but just in case some of you think you don’t like fantasy, I’m putting Terry here too because he is an amazing author. He’s laugh-out-loud funny (seriously, I laugh out loud in public, even in airports which can get you in trouble with TSA, when reading Terry Pratchett). He can do more with dialogue than any other writer I know. Read his books – you’ll be glad you did. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen The Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Nonfiction Dance of the Dissident Daughter is a paradigm-shifting book) The Joy Luck Club, The Hundred Secret Senses and pretty much everything else by Amy Tan Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden Fiction – Science Fiction and Fantasy All of the Disc World books by Terry Pratchett, especially the Sam Vimes series and the Granny Weatherwax series and the Death series and oh seriously, read them all (see note under Fiction – General) All of Robin Hobb’s books All of Connie Willis’s book, especially The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether and oh, just read them all All of Sherry Tepper’s books All of C.J. Cherryh’s books All of Lyda Morehouse’s books as Lyda Morehouse and as Tate Halloway David Brin, especially the Uplift series, Earth and Kiln People Neil Gaiman Lois McMaster Bujold: I didn’t like the Miles Vorkosigan series, but I do like the Sharing Knife series and the Curse of Chalion series Orson Scott Card: I didn’t like the Ender series, but I like the Homecoming series and nearly everything else of his Tim Powers Quarantine by Greg Egan Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde It may not be PC in some circles, but I enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books Shadow Dancing in the Dragon’s Den: Rekindling the Creative Fire in Your Shadow by Rosanne Bane Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams Shadow in America edited by Jeremiah Abrams A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche by Robert A. Johnson Writing Past Dark: Envy, Fear, Distraction and Other Dilemmas in the Writing Life by Bonnie Friedman Awakening in Time and Embodying Spirit by Jacquelyn Small Facing the Shadow in Men and Women (audio cassette available used from Amazon.com) Seriously, you’re still reading this? Go read a good book! |
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