Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Ten recommended books for writers... Eleven if you count mine...

Thanks to the researchers at Online College Courses for these suggestions, extracted from their post: 
"50 Books That Will Make You a Better Writer."

Notable Writers (41 thru 50 on their list)
  1. On Writing by Stephen King: The wildly popular horror master writes his autobiography with heavy emphasis on how literature and his struggles with substance abuse came to shape his career and personhood — for good and for ill.
  2. Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury: Ray Bradbury’s excellent essay series hemorrhages joy over the writerly arts, and he sincerely hoped they would come to inspire later generations to pick up their pens and express themselves.
  3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: Although I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings involves former Poet Laureate Maya Angelou’s memoirs rather than a reflection of her illustrious literary career, it does serve as an intimate, first-person glimpse at one way a writer’s soul might form.
  4. The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers edited by Vendela Vida: Everything readers want to know about this book can be found right there in the title. The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers comes packed with candid literary discussions by the illustrious likes of Haruki Murakami, Marjane Satrapi, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Lethem, Tom Stoppard, Paul Auster, Dave Eggers and plenty more.
  5. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: Writers in search of a little inspiration might want to follow some (but certainly not all) of Hemingway’s actions. Surrounding himself with a new environment, new experiences and some of the most creative people in the world at the time (Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and a whole host of others) opened himself to ideas that came to impact his legendary oeuvre.
  6. The Writing Life by Annie Dillard: Anyone dismissing writing as an easy art would do well to pick up The Tinker at Pilgrim Creek author’s memoir. Here, she openly discusses the agony and the ecstasy of literary inspiration and perspiration.
  7. Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster: Despite being published in 1972, this series of Cambridge University lectures by celebrated English author E.M. Forster drops some incredibly timeless, even fresh, advice bombs.
  8. The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera: The Art of the Novel serves as both a work of literary criticism and analysis and a self-reflective career memoir.
  9. On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner: Writing and other creative pursuits offer up solace for anxieties big and small, an overwhelming, evocative and bittersweet sensation John Gardner relates with deep thought and emotion.
  10. The King’s English by Kingsley Amis: Fans of rollicking semantics debates will enjoy this fun read by a British author who finds himself enchanted by American English.
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Oh yes, and my book, which did not make this distinguished list:
Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way

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