I am often asked, when teaching fiction writing or mentoring writers, for my favorite books and for recommended books on writing.

Favorite Books :

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee                             

In the Woods by Tana French

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen

Dune by Frank Herbert

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel       

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Empire Falls by Richard Russo             

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

True Grit by Charles Portis                              

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot

Almost made the Top Dozen (depending on my mood or who I am trying to foist a book on, may get promoted into the top dozen, which means, of course, demoting one, which is like gnawing off a limb, and besides, can you really tell Scout Finch, Mattie Ross or Woodrow Call they have been demoted?): Jane Eyre - Bronte. The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald, The Moviegoer - Walker Percy, Pride And Prejudice - Austen, Bleak House - Dickens, Catcher in the Rye - Salinger. On bad days, my go-to books: Winnie-the-Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Calvin & Hobbes.

Fiction Writing Guidance - among many good writing books, here are several that have stood out to me:

On Writing by Stephen King

Wired For Story – Lisa Cron

Story - Robert McKee

Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway

The Making of a Story – Alice LaPlante

Behind the Short Story – Van Cleave & Pierce

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel – Jessica Brody