Favorite Writing Craft Books
Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia HighsmithWriting Tools by Roy Peter Clark
Leaving A Trace by Alexandra Johnson
You Can’t Make This Stuff by Lee Gutkind
The Lie That Tells The Truth by John Dufresne
Is Life Like This? by John Dufresne
A World of Curiosities by John Oldale
Object Lessons from the Paris Review: The Art of the Short Story Aspects of the Novel by E.M.Forster
Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach
The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker (2004)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
Revising Fiction: A Handbook for Writers by David Madden
The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers by Laura Oliver
Single Scene Short Stories edited by Margaret Bishop
Telling It Slant: Writing & Shaping Creative Nonfiction by Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola
Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas
The Faith of A Writer: Life, Craft, Art by Joyce Carol Oates
Advice To Writers edited by Jon Winokur
For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham
Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway (3rd ed.)
The Get Away Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life by Ann Patchett
Movies of the Mind by Colleen Mariah Rae
Building Fiction: How to Develop Plot & Structure by Jesse Lee Kercheval
How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas G. Foster
A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft (eds.) Andrea Barrett & Peter Turchi
If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland
Leaving A Trace by Alexandra Johnson
You Can’t Make This Stuff by Lee Gutkind
The Lie That Tells The Truth by John Dufresne
Is Life Like This? by John Dufresne
A World of Curiosities by John Oldale
Object Lessons from the Paris Review: The Art of the Short Story Aspects of the Novel by E.M.Forster
Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach
The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker (2004)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
Revising Fiction: A Handbook for Writers by David Madden
The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers by Laura Oliver
Single Scene Short Stories edited by Margaret Bishop
Telling It Slant: Writing & Shaping Creative Nonfiction by Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola
Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas
The Faith of A Writer: Life, Craft, Art by Joyce Carol Oates
Advice To Writers edited by Jon Winokur
For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham
Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway (3rd ed.)
The Get Away Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life by Ann Patchett
Movies of the Mind by Colleen Mariah Rae
Building Fiction: How to Develop Plot & Structure by Jesse Lee Kercheval
How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas G. Foster
A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft (eds.) Andrea Barrett & Peter Turchi
If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland
Favorite Story Collections
Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Tenth of Dec – Stories by George Saunders
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Animal Crackers by Hannah Tinti
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
The Real Thing: Stories and Essays by Doris Lessing
The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Infinite Passion of Expectation: Twenty-five Stories by Gina Berrault
The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don Delillo
The Lives of Rocks: Stories by Rick Bass
Leonard Michaels: the Collected Stories
Long, Last Happy by Barry Hannah
The New Yorker Stories by Ann Beattie
The Liliac Bus by Maeve Binchy
The Matisse Stories by A. S. Byatt
Nights I Dreamed of Hubert Humphrey: Stories by Daniel Mueller
This is Not Your City: Stories by Caitlin Horrocks
2012 Best American Short Stories Edited by Tom Perrotta
The Spot: Stories by David Means
Last Call by K. L. Cook
Love Songs for the Quarantined by K. L. Cook
Pulse: Stories by Julian Barnes
The Same Terrible Storm by Sheldon Lee Compton
Drastic: Stories by Maud Casey
After Rain by William Trevor
Taking Care by Joy Williams
Progress of Love by Alice Munro
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Who Will Run The Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore
Women in Their Beds by Gina Berriault
You Won’t Remember This by Kate Blackwell
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver
How Animals Mate by Daniel
All Things, All at Once by Lee K. Abbott
Winter Count by Barry Lopez
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Tenth of Dec – Stories by George Saunders
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Animal Crackers by Hannah Tinti
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
The Real Thing: Stories and Essays by Doris Lessing
The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Infinite Passion of Expectation: Twenty-five Stories by Gina Berrault
The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don Delillo
The Lives of Rocks: Stories by Rick Bass
Leonard Michaels: the Collected Stories
Long, Last Happy by Barry Hannah
The New Yorker Stories by Ann Beattie
The Liliac Bus by Maeve Binchy
The Matisse Stories by A. S. Byatt
Nights I Dreamed of Hubert Humphrey: Stories by Daniel Mueller
This is Not Your City: Stories by Caitlin Horrocks
2012 Best American Short Stories Edited by Tom Perrotta
The Spot: Stories by David Means
Last Call by K. L. Cook
Love Songs for the Quarantined by K. L. Cook
Pulse: Stories by Julian Barnes
The Same Terrible Storm by Sheldon Lee Compton
Drastic: Stories by Maud Casey
After Rain by William Trevor
Taking Care by Joy Williams
Progress of Love by Alice Munro
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Who Will Run The Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore
Women in Their Beds by Gina Berriault
You Won’t Remember This by Kate Blackwell
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver
How Animals Mate by Daniel
All Things, All at Once by Lee K. Abbott
Winter Count by Barry Lopez
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Mostly Favorite Novels & Novellas
Strangers on A Train by Patricia HighsmithThe Lights of the Earth novel by Gina Berriault
Snow Angels A Novel by Stewart O’Nan
Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My Hollywood by Mona Simpson
Adelph by Paulo Coelho
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy
Stiltsville: A Novel by Susanna Daniel
The Laws of Evening by Mary Yukari Waters
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevailier
Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
The Emperor of Maladies by Siddhartha Muk
Death in Summer by William Trevor
Jamrach’s Menagerie: A Novel by Carol Birch
Room by Emma Donoghue
Cross Channel by Julian Barnes
The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Girl from Charnelle by K. L. Cook
Last Call by K. L. Cook
The Diezmo – A Novel by Rick Bass
Purple Adobe by Christopher L. Helvey
A State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Strawberry Fields: A Novel by Marina Lewycka
Run by Ann Patchett
Songs Without Words by Ann Packer
Our Kind: A Novel in Stories by Kate Walbert
A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert
The Night Train (novel) by Clyde Edgerton
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (novel)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Forda
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
The Tongues of Angels by Reynolds Price
A Trial in Summer by Ann McLaughlin
The House on Q Street by Ann McLaughlin
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
Home Safe: A Novel by Elizabeth Berg
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
Half A Life by V.S. Naipaul
Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I Still Dream about You by Fanny Flagg
Snow Angels A Novel by Stewart O’Nan
Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My Hollywood by Mona Simpson
Adelph by Paulo Coelho
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy
Stiltsville: A Novel by Susanna Daniel
The Laws of Evening by Mary Yukari Waters
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevailier
Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
The Emperor of Maladies by Siddhartha Muk
Death in Summer by William Trevor
Jamrach’s Menagerie: A Novel by Carol Birch
Room by Emma Donoghue
Cross Channel by Julian Barnes
The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Girl from Charnelle by K. L. Cook
Last Call by K. L. Cook
The Diezmo – A Novel by Rick Bass
Purple Adobe by Christopher L. Helvey
A State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Strawberry Fields: A Novel by Marina Lewycka
Run by Ann Patchett
Songs Without Words by Ann Packer
Our Kind: A Novel in Stories by Kate Walbert
A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert
The Night Train (novel) by Clyde Edgerton
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (novel)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Forda
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
The Tongues of Angels by Reynolds Price
A Trial in Summer by Ann McLaughlin
The House on Q Street by Ann McLaughlin
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
Home Safe: A Novel by Elizabeth Berg
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
Half A Life by V.S. Naipaul
Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I Still Dream about You by Fanny Flagg
Favorite Nonfiction Books & Essays
“Somewhere Towards the End” by Diana Athill
“Promise Ahead: Vision of Hope & Action for Humanity’s Future” by Duane Elgin
“The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World” by Lewis Hyde
“On Kindness” by Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor
“The Sense of an Ending” by Frank Kermode
“The Immortal Life of Henrietto Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot
“Same Kind of Different as Me” by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
“Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants” by Richard Mabey
“Perplexities of Consciousness” by Eric Schwitzgebel
“Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer” by Tim Stark
“The Book of Imaginary Beings” by Jorge Luis Borges
“Quiet” by Susan Cain
“What the Robin Knows” by Jon Young
“You: An Anthology of Essays Devoted to the Second Person” Edited by Kim Dana Kupperman with Heather G. Simons and James M. Chesbro
“Shott’s Original Miscellany” by Ben Schott
“Clouds” by Eric M. Wilcox
“Imagine: How Creativity Works” by Jonah Lehrer
“Art and Wonder: An Illustrated Anthology of Visionary Poetry” Selected by Kate Farrell
“The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate” by Piero Ferrucci
“Care of the Soul” by Thomas Moore
“Choosing to Love the World: On Contemplation” by Thomas Merton
“The Expanded Quotable Einstein” collected & edited by Alice Calaprice
“Choosing Civility” by P.M. Forni
“Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants” the Brooklyn Botantic Garden
“What the Dog Saw” by Malcolm Gladwell
“The Tower, The Zoo, And the Tortoise” by Julia Stuart
“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell
“Ill Nature” by Joy Williams
“Barrel Fever” by David Sedaris
“Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” by David Sedaris
Favorite Poetry Collections
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
What Have You Lost poems selected & edited by Naomi Shihab Nye
Primitive Mentor by Dean Young
The Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye
My House by Nikki Giovanni
American Primitive by Mary Oliver
The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins
Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
Nine Horses by Billy Collins
Ballistics by Billy Collins
Shore Ordered Ocean by Dora Malech
Say So by Dora Malech
On The Boulevard by Chris Helvey
St. Clare’s Missalette by Pamela Murray Winters
The City in Which I Love You by Li-Young Lee
The Winged Seed by Li-Young Lee
Evening Street Press