On Books

piled booksBooks are a very important part of my life. From as far back as I could remember going to the library was the closest thing I knew to heaven. At Julia A. Stark Elementary School, heaven was at the end of the second floor hall. Then, when I was old enough to go into town by myself I would take my pile of books to be returned, walk the mile down to the Ferguson Library, and sit on the worn, half-moon marble steps of the children’s entrance. They opened at nine. Every Saturday I was there at a quarter to, waiting for the librarian to unlock the door and let me in. And not just to the library. That unlocked door also let me into the world of books—a world that matched my imagination, and then pleasantly surpassed it, pulling me along. It was a world that encouraged my curiosity with an enveloping embrace. A world that was open, unconditional, and eager to have me.

Here are a few of my favorite books and writers—in no particular order:

Writing

  • Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
  • The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
  • The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard
  • The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes
  • Art & Fear, David Bayles & Ted Orland
  • Mastering Fiction Writing, Kit Reed
  • The Art and Craft of Storytelling, Nancy Lamb
  • If You Want to Write, Brenda Ueland
  • Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
  • Steering the Craft, Ursula K. Le Guin
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
  • Writing Begins with the Breath, Laraine Herring
  • Between the Lines, Jessica Page Morrell
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Renni Browne & Dave King
  • Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns
  • (And just because) A Writer’s Paris: A Guided Journey for the Creative Soul, Eric Maisel

Writing for Children

  • Writing Fiction for Children, Judy K. Morris
  • Writing Picture Books, Ann Whitford Paul
  • The Giblin Guide to Writing Children’s Books, James Cross Giblin
  • What’s Your Story?, Marion Dane Bauer
  • Take Joy, Jane Yolen
  • It’s a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World, Olga Litowinsky
  • The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, Nancy Lamb
  • Creating Characters Kids Will Love, Elaine Marie Alphin
  • How to Write for Children and Young Adults, Jane Fitz-Randolph

Writing Poetry

  • A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver
  • Poetry Matters, Ralph Fletcher
  • Celebration of Bees, Barbara Juster Esbensen
  • A Poem Making, Myra Cohn Livingston
  • A Kick in the Head, Paul B. Janeczko
  • Writing Toward Home, Georgia Heard
  • The Poet’s Handbook, Judson Jerome
  • The Art and Craft of Poetry, Michael Bugeja
  • Haiku: A Poet’s Guide, Lee Gurga
  • The Haiku Handbook. William J. Higginson

Some of My Favorite Children’s Writers

  • Cynthia Rylant
  • Richard Peck
  • Deborah Wiles
  • Jane Yolen
  • Gary Paulson
  • Patricia MacLachlan
  • Kevin Henkes
  • Kate DiCamillo
  • Polly Horvath
  • Christopher Paul Curtis

Some of My Favorite Children’s Poets

  • Joyce Sidman
  • Valerie Worth
  • J. Patrick Lewis
  • Eve Merriam
  • Jane Yolen
  • Lilian Moore
  • X.J. Kennedy
  • Myra Cohn Livingston
  • Kristine O’Connell George
  • Jack Prelutsky
  • Rebecca Kai Dotlich
  • Paul B. Janeczko

Some of My Favorite Children’s Books

  • Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
  • Hanne’s Quest, Olivier Dunrea
  • Red Sings from Treetops, Joyce Sidman
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
  • The Year the Swallows Came Early, Kathryn Fitzmaurice
  • The Aurora County All-Stars, Deborah Wiles
  • The Great Frog Race, Kristine O’Connell George
  • Animal Poems, Valerie Worth
  • All the Small Poems, Valerie Worth
  • The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
  • The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
  • The Clown of God, Tomie dePaola
  • Today and Today, Issa/G. Brian Karas
  • The Library, Sarah Stewart
  • The Gardner, Sarah Stewart
  • The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems, Michael J. Rosen
  • Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Getting Near to Baby, Audrey Couloumbis
  • Cricket Never Does, Myra Cohn Livingston
  • Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White
  • Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Judi Barrett
  • The Dot, Peter H. Reynolds
  • The Jamie and Angus Stories, Anne Fine

Some of My Other Favorite Writers

  • Virginia Woolf
  • Marilynne Robinson
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Eugene O’Neill
  • Truman Capote
  • Horton Foote
  • Eudora Welty
  • Willa Cather
  • Barbara Pym
  • Carol Shields
  • Wendell Berry
  • William Maxwell
  • Pete Hamill
  • E. B. White
  • Joseph Mitchell

Some of My Other Favorite Poets

  • Mary Oliver
  • Jane Kenyon
  • Chiyo-ni
  • Pablo Neruda
  • Anna Akhmatova
  • Linda Pastan
  • ee cummings
  • Jane Hirshfield
  • Stanley Kunitz
  • William Carlos Williams

Some of My Other Favorite Books

  • A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean
  • Dubliners, James Joyce
  • A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
  • The Pearl, John Steinbeck
  • Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
  • Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
  • Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
  • Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
  • The Great Gastsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • My Ántonia, Willa Cather
  • A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote
  • One Christmas, Truman Capote
  • The Grass Harp, Truman Capote
  • The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Howard’s End, E. M. Forster
  • The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
  • To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
  • Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
  • Jacob’s Room, Virginia Woolf
  • They Came Like Swallows, William Maxwell
  • So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell
  • The Hours, Michael Cunningham
  • Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie
  • Up the Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell
  • My Ears are Bent, Joseph Mitchell