Reading List for Writers, Travelers and Parents
Posted By Annabel Candy On June 4, 2009 @ 1:59 pm In Travel Writers | 12 Comments
An Ever-Growing Reading List
Of course this book list isn’t comprehensive, I’m just trying to get the ball rolling and I’ll be adding to this as I read more and rack my brain for those old favorites.
If there’s anything I’ve missed, or that I need to read, please tell me. I spend so much time researching books and reading book reviews and I’d love to hear your thoughts. After all, word of mouth is always the best recommendation.
This is a list of books that I’ve read and that I’d heartily recommend. I have to say that I rely on my local library and garage sales for books. The Candy family always get each other new books for birthdays and Christmas, and if we’re going traveling I’ll buy some new books for everyone, but otherwise we use the library. Typically we borrow 60 books a week, for a family of five, and most of them get read too.
By the way, I’ve discovered some links to great author websites from doing this, and what a diverse bunch they are, but if I couldn’t find the author’s site I’ve provided a link somewhere so you can find out more if you wish. Forgive me for declaring this page an umlaut and accent free zone. I’m still trying to forgive myself and hope that I don’t feel the need to go back and add them. Happy reading!
Reading List for Writers
A Novel in a Year, Louise Doughty [1]
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron [2]
Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction, Elizabeth George [3]
She makes it sound like hard work though
The Writer’s Guide, Irina Dunn [4]
Great beginners guide for Aussies and Kiwis getting into any type of writing.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss [5]
On punctuation and grammar but an interesting linguistic read.
“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
On Writing, Stephen King [6]
Gotham Writers’ Workshop Writing Fiction [7] Excellent stuff.
The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, Noah Lukeman [8]
Tackles everything you need to know to make sure your manuscript doesn’t end up languishing in the slush pile.
Reading List for Travelers
Undress Me Naked in the Temple of Heaven, Susan Jane Gilman
Dervla Murphy: Pick your destination, she’s been all over the place and writes thoughtfully about her escapades.
Swahili For The Broken-Hearted and The Wrong Way Home [9]
Read a great interview with Peter Moore about travel and writing here [11].
Naked in Dangerous Places, Cash Peters
Reading List for Parents (and the lucky children they read to)
Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl [12]
And all his other books too. Personally I think he’s the best writer ever:)
Kaspar Prince of Cats, Michael Morpurgo [13]
Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey [14]
If you’re a seven year old boy it doesn’t get much better than this
Dr. Dog and Mummy Laid an Egg, Babette Cole [15]
Each Peach, Pear, Plum [16], Alan & Janet Ahlberg
Miffy, Dick Bruna [17]
Mister Magnolia, Quentin Blake [18]
Pukunui, James Waerea and Pat Hohepa
Cleo the Cat, Caroline Mockford
Hairy Maclary, Lynley Dodd
Gordon’s Got a Snookie, Lisa Shanahan [19]
The Great Pie Robbery and Other Mysteries, Richard Scarry [20]
Excellent stories and brilliant illustrations. What more could you hope for? Characters don’t get any livelier than Lowly Worm, Huckle Cat and Bananas Gorilla.
Mrs. Armitage, Queen of the Road, Quentin Blake [18]
Reading List for Preteens
Puberty boy, Geoff Price [21]
Puberty girl, Shushann Movsessian [22]
General Fiction Reading List
Enduring Love & Atonement, Ian McEwan [23]
I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb [24]
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers [25]
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith [26]
If you like this one, the prolific Alexander McCall Smith has a whole series for you. Alexander (I don’t think he’ll mind if we call him that) is a gifted story teller, as good as Roald Dahl. His stories play out slowly and his characters win their way into your heart despite their faults. Alexander has some other series which I love too although Precious Ramotswe from The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency can never be topped. Did I mention that all the stories are philosophical and funny? Well, they are! Alexander also emailed me once to tell me about the books he’s writing now and new ones that are soon to be published.
“Thanks for your generous remarks on Twitter.” @McCallSmith
I’d love to score an interview with him for you soon.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt [27]
The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins [28]
The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory [29]
The Shipping News Annie Proulx [30]
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe [31]
Perfume, Patrick Suskind [32]
Life of Pi, Yann Martel [33]
Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [34]
Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley [35]
The Vintner’s Luck Elizabeth Knox [36]
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee [37]
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernières [38]
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini [39]
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger [40]
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield [41]
The Bride Stripped Bare, Nikki Gemmell [42]
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka [43]
This book was rejected by agents and publishers over and over again before finally being published when the author was 57, and going on to win literary prizes. It’s a brilliant and witty read about immigrants in the UK. Her second novel, Two Caravans, is in the same vein. Love them.
The black book, Ian rankin
The lonely polygamist, Brady Udall
This novel has touched me more than any other book in 2011. It’s about the things we do that get us to the place we are now, about family and the ties that bind us.
Room, Emma Domicile
Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
The Vintner’s Luck, Elizabeth Knox
Reading List of True Stories
The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger [44]
Compelling non-fiction.
Couldn’t Keep It To Myself, Wally Lamb and the women of York Correctional Institution [24]
Tragic memoirs by women who are in jail.
Twenty Chickens For A Saddle, Robyn Scott [45]
Amazing memoir of a childhood in Botswana surrounded by a smart, eccentric family.
Reading List for Thinkers
Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered, Geoff Dyer [46]
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse [47]
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho [48]
Reading List For Business
Cash, Customers and Ads That Sell, Bradley Sugars [49]
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
(Or anything by) Seth Godin
There are so many great books and authors missing here, like Paddy Clarke, Isabel Allende, Graham Greene, Voltaire, Margaret Atwood, Faye Weldon, Doris Lessing to name but a few. Still, it’s a start and I hope there’ll be something new here to entertain you.
Thanks for reading, feel free to add your comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe by email now [50] or to the RSS Feed [51], if you haven’t already, so you don’t miss out.
Good luck with all your plans!
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URL to article: http://www.getinthehotspot.com/reading-list-for-writers-travelers-and-parents/
URLs in this post:
[1] Louise Doughty: http://www.louisedoughty.com/
[2] Julia Cameron: http://www.theartistsway.com/
[3] Elizabeth George: http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/
[4] Irina Dunn: http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Irina-Dunn-Publishing-and-Editorial-Services
[5] Lynne Truss: http://www.lynnetruss.com
[6] Stephen King: http://www.stephenking.com/index.html
[7] Gotham Writers’ Workshop Writing Fiction: http://www.writingclasses.com
[8] Noah Lukeman: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068485743X?ie=UTF8&tag=inthhosp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=068485743X
[9] The Wrong Way Home: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553817000?ie=UTF8&tag=inthhosp-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0553817000
[10] Peter Moore: http://www.petermoore.net/
[11] interview with Peter Moore about travel and writing here: http://www.getinthehotspot.com/inspirational-interview-peter-moore-travel-writer/
[12] Roald Dahl: http://www.roalddahl.com/
[13] Michael Morpurgo: http://www.michaelmorpurgo.org/
[14] Dav Pilkey: http://www.pilkey.com/
[15] Babette Cole: http://www.bloomsbury.com/Authors/details.aspx?tpid=3777
[16] Each Peach, Pear, Plum: http://www.amazon.com/Each-Peach-Pear-Picture-Puffins/dp/014050639X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243825880&sr=8-1
[17] Dick Bruna: http://www.miffy.com/
[18] Quentin Blake: http://www.quentinblake.com/
[19] Lisa Shanahan: http://www.lisashanahan.com/
[20] Richard Scarry: http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/richardscarry/
[21] Geoff Price: http://www.goodtherapy.com.au/products/puberty_boy/249/1
[22] Shushann Movsessian: http://www.shushann.com/
[23] Ian McEwan: http://www.ianmcewan.com/
[24] Wally Lamb: http://www.harpercollins.com/author/index.aspx?authorid=5579
[25] Carson McCullers: http://www.carson-mccullers.com/
[26] Alexander McCall Smith: http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/
[27] Donna Tartt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Tartt
[28] Wilkie Collins: http://www.wilkiecollins.com/
[29] Phillipa Gregory: http://www.philippagregory.com/
[30] Annie Proulx: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Annie_Proulx
[31] Chinua Achebe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe
[32] Patrick Suskind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_S%C3%BCskind
[33] Yann Martel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Martel
[34] Gabriel Garcia Marquez: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez
[35] Walter Mosley: http://www.waltermosley.com/
[36] Elizabeth Knox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Knox
[37] Harper Lee: http://www.harperlee.com/
[38] Louis de Bernières: http://www.louisdebernieres.co.uk/
[39] Khaled Hosseini: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/
[40] Audrey Niffenegger: http://www.audreyniffenegger.com/
[41] Diane Setterfield: http://www.amazon.com/Diane-Setterfield/e/B001H6IYHC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
[42] Nikki Gemmell: http://www.nikkigemmell.com/
[43] Marina Lewycka: http://www.amazon.com/Marina-Lewycka/e/B001JP9Q6O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
[44] Sebastian Junger: http://www.perfectstorm.org/
[45] Robyn Scott: http://robynscott.org/
[46] Geoff Dyer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Dyer
[47] Herman Hesse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse
[48] Paulo Coelho: http://www.paulocoelho.com/
[49] Bradley Sugars: http://www.action-international.com
[50] subscribe by email now: http://eepurl.com/hZFu
[51] RSS Feed: http://www.getinthehotspot.com/index.php/feed/
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