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