My Bookshelf
If reading and loving books is a pre-requisite to becoming a writer, I am halfway there.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
- Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder by Jill Badonsky
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
- Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson
- Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg
- Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women’s Lives by Rosemary Daniell
- Poem Crazy: Freeing Your Life with Words by Susan G. Wooldridge
- This Year I Will…:How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True by M. J. Ryan
- Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful and Live Intentionally by Patti Digh
- Page After Page by Heather Sellers
- Art and Soul by Pam Grout
- We are Not Alone – The Writer’s Guide to Social Media by Kristen Lamb
- Are you there Blog? It’s Me, Writer by Kristen Lamb
And here are some favorite children’s and young adult books:
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (the series was great, but the first one is my favorite)
- From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
- The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards
- Redwall by Brian Jacques (the entire series is excellent!)
- Matilda by Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
- The Borrowers by Mary Norton
- The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
Most of those I would call Middle Grade rather than Young Adult. Young Adult tends to be older and darker.