Wednesday, November 10, 2010

And Now, a Word from our Commenters

First of all, a huge thanks to Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming for pre-ordering The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith for me after I won her Party Time contest. I heard about The Marbury Lens when I read Carolina Valdez Miller's awesome review, and I knew I had to read it. My book arrived on Monday, and it's moving straight to the top of my TBR pile.

Second of all, the winners of my Back From Hiatus contest have selected their prizes:
How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy will be going out to L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick.
Hooked will be going out to Jeannette Levellie at Audience of One.
Either Hooked or Manuscript Makeover will be going out to Julie Musil. I'm not going to say which because Julie said either one would be fine, and I want to surprise her.

And third of all, several commenters were kind enough to tell me which are their favorite non-fiction writing books, and I thought I'd share those with you. It sounds like there are some great books in here, and I'll be sure to check them out. I hope you will, too!
Characters, Emotion, & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress
Barnes & Noble - book of writers quotation
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (2 mentions)
On Writing by Stephen King (2 mentions)
Chapter by Chapter
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Discovering the Writer Within by Barry Lane and Bruce Ballenger
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
Writers on Writing edited by James N. Watkins
You Can Write a Mystery by Gillian Roberts
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass
The Thinker's Thesaurus


What book (fiction or non-fiction) is at the top of your TBR pile?

Have an wonderful Wednesday, Everyone!

33 comments:

Theresa Milstein said...

Thanks for letting us know what the winners chose. There are some great writing books out there. I have several on my pile - some read, some not.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Glad everything is going so well. As I mentioned earlier, Plot & Structure...a major must!!

Joanne said...

There are a couple of books here I definitely need to pick up. But right now, in the midst of a kitchen re-do and Thanksgiving, my reading is light. I can't wait to get back to it!

angelarene said...

The one I want to read most, even though its not on the list is Saving The Cat by Blake Snyder...its for screenplay writers but everyone says it has a lot of good tactics for writers to use :)

Brian's Home Blog said...

The winners are getting some great books, hooray for them!!!

Talli Roland said...

Congrats to the winners!

On top of my TBR pile right now.. hm. There is a big stack of books beside my bed. I'm not sure what's on top!

Les Edgerton said...

Congratulations to the winners! If those who chose my lil' blue book, Hooked, wish to, I'd he delighted to sign it for them. If you wish, please contact me at my email (butchedgerton@comcast.net) and I'll send you my mailing address. Just include a SASE and you'll have made my day.

For an addition to your nonfiction writer's books, may I suggest the book I think is without peer for memoir and autobiography writing? It's "Your Life as Story" by Tristine Rainer. Imo, there's not another book on this genre even close to its quality.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

I'm about to start FALLOUT by Ellen Hopkins. I'm excited to finally read one of hers.

I just finished A SWIFT PURE CRY by Siobhan Dowd. It was horrible and beautiful all at once.

Happy reading, Susan!

Amy

Old Kitty said...

This was such a fun hiatus return giveaway!!!! Thank you lovely Susan and CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!! Yay!

I've got squillions on my TBR pile. Squillions!! I don't know where to start...!!!

Help!! LOL! Take care
x

Creepy Query Girl said...

Yeah, I just completely blew through my tbr pile and now need to take a look at my tbo pile. The last one to bite the dust was 'eat pray love'- it was good but the movie was horrible (imo). I actually didn't blame my husband for not being able to sit through it. And that's saying something.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss susan! hooray for the winners of those cool books! it was a lot of neat book you talked about that could be a big help for writers. now im real happy youre back from that hiatus thing. yikes! last time you got a book that got at the top of the pile you stayed away til you got it read. i think it was that mockingjay one. i hope that lens ones not gonna keep you away again cause you just got back.
...smiles and hugs from lenny

Lindsay said...

Congrats to the winners.
My TBR pile is HUGE at the moment, but I'm still having a 'first draft = no reading' ban at the moment. But once the draft is over, I'll be headfirst into the pile. :)

Jai Joshi said...

I'm not even looking at my to be read pile at the moment because I'm trying not to distract myself from revision. Argh! I can't wait to be out of this stage.

That's a great list of non-fic writing books though. I haven't looked at some of those.

Jai

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Next on my writing book list are The Art of War for Writers and Writing the Breakout Novel. And from this post, I'll be adding Plot & Structure.

I'll put in another plug for HOOKED. Les Edgerton knows his stuff and provides amazing examples to illustrate his lessons. I LOVED it!! :-)

Hema Penmetsa said...

Just reading the titles of the books is making me want to run to the book store! Thanks for sharing them, Susan! I really like the one by Strunk & White, too.

As for your question about what non-fiction book I like (hope mentioning a non-writing-instructional book is ok!), it is: 'Discovery of India' by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It is a beautifully written book.

Btw, I love the new background of your blog!

About Me said...

Congrats to the winners! Several of the books you gave away I already own- some really good books on writing.

What's on my TBR pile? HG Wells' "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man'. Currently crawling through "Await your reply"

Emy Shin said...

Woohoo, congratulations to the winners!

Thank you so much for showcasing these books, Susan. After this, I'm excited to go buy some of the craft books recommended here. :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

congrats to the winners.
I really should read The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. I just haven't yet.

Shelley Sly said...

Congratulations to the winners! Those are fabulous books!

Thank you for making this list of resources -- very helpful! I'm currently reading "Thanks, But This Isn't For Us" by Jessica Paige Morrell. I've found it to be pretty informative, I'm even taking notes on ways to fix my MS.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Congratulations for the winners! (Very cool that L.E. stopped in!)

I'm almost finished with The DUFF...I think LIAR is next in my pile...

TerryLynnJohnson said...

Hey, I won Shannon's contest too! She ordered Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner for me! Woo!

Lydia Kang said...

I have too many things on my TBR list! I still have to finish reading Graceling.
Congrats on winning!

The Happy Whisk said...

Hi. Up next for me to read is Diary of a Wimpy Kid - The Ugly Truth. Just got it yesterday, with the hat, but I'm waiting for my next day off, to crack it open.

My new book, hot ginger peach tea, my snowman blanket, the Christmas lights on and the ringer off. Ah ....

Patti Lacy said...

FIVE more days till my deadline's done and I will finish my SECOND read of The Glass Castle, read my first Mary Conneally and Myra Johnson books.

CANNOT WAIT!!!

Patti

Jackee said...

A great list of ref books! Congrats to the winners of your favorite ones. I'm waiting (somewhat) patiently to get James Scott Bell's book on revision and self-editing. That one and the Nancy Kress one mentioned above and ones I've really been wanting to read!

Have a wonderful night, friend. Enjoy Marbury!

Tess said...

Too many in my TBR pile! I think the next one is The Star Garden by Nancy Turner...it's adult book which is a change from my usual MG fare but I read the first two in the series so need to read the last.

Unknown said...

I really want to get though Elizabeth Bowen's Death of the Heart.

DL Hammons said...

THE FALL - Book two of THE STRAIN trilogy is on the top of my TBR list. Soon!!

Lisa Gail Green said...

Very cool! On my TBR pile - Crescendo. And I think I'm going to go read some right now!!

Jeanette Levellie said...

You are wonderfully generous,Susan. I can't wait for Hooked to arrive!

At the top of my tbr pile? Hungry River, a Yangtze novel by Millie Samuelson.

Unknown said...

Welcome to My World by Miranda Dickinson. I'm very excited to read it... wishing it was in my mailbox right now.

Plain Jane said...

Gone With the Wind. I don't know how I have never read it, but I was wanting a classic love story and this was recommended. I plan on starting it next week.

Meghan Ward said...

Right now I'm reading Stephen Elliott's The Adderall Diaries and I have about 15 books in my list after that. First up? Yiyun Li's The Vagrants.