| When I was little, my favorite book of all time was The Little Engine That Could. My mom says she read it to me so often that she had the book memorized. Apparently, so did I - if she turned to the wrong page and kept reading from memory, I would call her out on it. (Which would probably explain why she was tired of my not reading on my own...all the more reason to teach your children early, yes?) Now, we had many books at home, but there were always those few that stood out. With my own son, I'm finding the same phenomenon - there are certain books he loves, and he will keep pull those out from his little cubby while others gather dust. Some of these books are touching, others are beautiful, and still others just beg for small fingers to touch their pages. Here's a short list of favorites. |
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  | Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less  No, I don't normally read business books. But I've been trying to expand 12Writing into something profitable, and this book came highly recommended. But you shouldn't read this book just because you're maybe interested in business - this is actually a book about building a solid foundation for any organization. |
Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah is one of the most entertaining books I've read this year. It starts with a simple premise: a young Muslim Palestinian-Australian high school student decides (while watching Friends ) that she will begin wearing her hijab full-time. And from there, Abdel-Fattah takes on all the trials and tribulations of high school: test prep stress, racism, dating, choosing not to date, weight, running away - even pimples. And not only does she cast these disasters in the appropriate context of "this is the end of my world!" of teenage angst, but she makes it fun and engaging. As a writer, I was particularly impressed by the delicate use of voice - it's a rich cast of characters, each one unique, and each one revealed with both humanity and interest. |
Roxana Saberi's Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran chronicles her experiences as a prisoner in Iran's Evin Prison.For me, it's very hard to imagine what she went through. She was imprisoned for over a hundred days, and during that time she was often told that they would keep her locked up for ten years. Roxana's Interview on the Tavis Smiley Show gives an idea of just how difficult it must have been, and yet it also shows the poise and reflection of someone who is braver than she herself would ever admit. For more information, see Roxana's Interview with Paul Morton of The Millions. |
yields nearly 45,000 book titles, and an additional 2,700 in movies and television.
, End in Fire
, and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
.| Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Interactive Edition (9th Edition) On the outside, it resembles a classic literature textbook - a hard cover, lots of pages, and a rich collection of stories, poems, and screenplays. What separates this text from the others, though, are the essays on craft. I own the 3rd Edition of Kennedy's book, and I regularly refer to it for everything from teaching meter to understanding plot. In addition to the literary and critical essays, it offers a great selection of authors and several complete novels. As an introduction to literature and writing, it's hard to beat this book - especially at the used-book price. (I bought my copy for fifty cents at a used book store)  |
Do not underestimate the importance of punctuation in writing. As Truss points out in this handy book, slight changes in punctuation can seriously affect the meaning of a sentence:A woman: without her, man is nothing.Note, however, that this book strictly follows British conventions for punctuation. Although still very helpful, Americans will find a few differences between standard American usage and standard British usage. Overall, though, the examples are entertaining, helpful, and memorable. |
| Looking on Amazon for books on writing prompts, Jack Heffron's The Writer's Idea Book came up as a source of over 400 prompts and encouraging advice. In the reviews, Heffron's readers dubbed the book "insurance against writer's block" for "writers of any genre." Although almost all the reviews as of today are positive (19 of 22 readers gave it 5-Stars), one reader pointed out that the prompts tended to focus on finding inspiration from everyday objects rather than the wonderful or the unexpected. Another reader - a poet - felt that Heffron's focus on fiction is very apparent. She writes that the prompts tend to be helpful for narrative prose, but that there's a distinct lack of poetry exercises or the kind of inspiration that helps start a poem. |
| Most fiction is really about the personal disasters of life. Conflict springs from impossible situations for which our protagonists are ill-equipped. In The Unthinkable, Amanda Ripley presents the reactions of people who have faced deadly situations ranging from September 11th to stampedes at Mecca. Interspersed among the personal stories are reports of scientific studies which cast light on the human behaviors which lead to both panic and survival. It's a fascinating read with great insights into cultural psychology. |
| Few things are more rewarding than a book about writing written by a writer. In Paragons, we get the best of two worlds: a collection of twelve short stories written by some of the best authors in the genre coupled with craft essays in which they discuss the source of their ideas and the art of getting them on the page. Besides providing excellent tips for writing well, the book delivers a good dose of perspective. It shows us that all writers - even established writers - must rely on the fundamentals of storytelling as they face their own doubts about writing. Divided into six sections, Paragons devotes individual sections to plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, and style. |
| Science requires facts. Fiction requires speculation. To write science fiction, you need an elegant merger of the two. Kaku's Physics of the Impossible provides exactly the kind of reference a science fiction writer needs. In careful scientific detail, he lays out what we know about the universe and how we might eventually build the tools and weapons that litter science fiction like so many shiny toys... |
| Natalie Goldberg writes that memoir "is taking personal experience and turning it inside out. We surrender our most precious understanding, so others can feel what we felt and be enlarged" (quoted from John Thorndike). She sees writing as a Zen approach to expressing our deepest thoughts and developing a relationship with the mind. Reading an interview with her (see below), I was struck by her dedication to writing as not only an art form, but as a way to deepen our inner connections. Her latest book takes this approach to memoir, discussing how we can learn to trust our memories for the page. Interview - Natalie Goldberg with Ascent Magazine Natalie Goldberg Website - Workshops and Retreats | |
| As writers, we must ask ourselves whether we want to write about facts, or if instead we are aiming for a different level of truth. We also have to ask which which aspects of writing we value. Are we in this for the money? To express our innermost thoughts? Or simply to produce art? I haven't read James Frey's book, but the scandal it generated was impressive. As a writer, I am torn. He duped millions before being exposed, but he wrote well enough to pull it off. Do we call this impressive? Or inexcusable? Oprah's Response to Being Duped The Smoking Gun Investigation: "A Million Little Lies" |
takes the brooding male of literature, drops him on a planet filled with dust and wind and insects that give Starship Troopers a run for its money, and provides us a moving story of a man who must face loss, a disbelieving military, and his own deepest fears. has taken aim at Twilight
, and the result is pretty funny. I just found Nightlight at Barnes and Noble last night, and the first few pages were so funny I had to buy it.
