Books for writers that aren’t about writing
June 9th, 2005 by Bill
I’ve been neglecting my blog lately. And when I haven’t, I’ve been a little off its supposed writing theme. It’s partly because I’ve been reading a lot (when not working to pay the bills.)
But for people who write, reading is part of writing. The only way to write well is to write a lot and to read a lot. Here’s what I’ve been reading lately (links go to Amazon.com, by the way):
- All Marketers Are Liars : The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World (Seth Godin)
- The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Thomas L. Friedman)
- Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm Gladwell)
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
- Exuberance : The Passion for Life (Kay Redfield Jamison)
None of these books is about writing yet each has everything to do with writing. At least, I think so. They are, taken the right way, about how you do what you do, and why. They don’t discuss writing as such but, if you’re attentive, you can see how each is invaluable to a writer.
And if nothing else, they’re all great as brain food. (And if I ever got off my behind I’ll write proper reviews or whatever about each of these. This post is really just my way of saying, “Hey - here are some great books.”)
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