There are a few reasons I wanted to make a Favorites/Recommendations page. First, though I have an About Me page, I feel like showing you the media and other art I love is a much better way to help you get to know me as a person.
Second, who doesn’t love finding new books (and movies and TV shows and . . .) to love?! If you like what I write or some of what I read, chances are you might like some of the unfamiliar titles as well. So give them a try if they look interesting!
Third, it can serve as a reminder of the importance of consuming for artists. When authors are asked for advice for aspiring writers, usually their advice comes in this order:
- Read (read a lot, read widely, read voraciously in your genre, read like a writer).
- Write (write a lot, write every day, nothing you write is ever wasted, write what you love, experiment with your writing).
Along with helping you learn to write well, consuming great art can inspire you and remind you why you create.
So happy consuming!
Nonfiction:
- Spilling Ink
- The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults
- Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
- Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction
- The Heroine’s Journey: For Writers, Readers, and Fans of Pop Culture
- The Well-Crafted Sentence: A Writer’s Guide to Style
- The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents
- Writing Excuses podcast
- The Prodigal Tongue
- Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
- Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- The Hiding Place
- The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity
- Everything Sad Is Untrue
Fantasy:
- Harry Potter
- Iron Trial
- The Whisperwicks
- Half Upon a Time
- Ella Enchanted
- Just Ella
- Goose Girl
- Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel
- Furthermore
- Atlantia
- Upside Down Magic
- Spirit Animals
- Magic Treehouse
- Dragon Masters
- Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
- Wishmakers
- Story Thieves
- The False Prince
- Fablehaven
- Ranger’s Apprentice
- Princess Academy
- Leven Thumps
- Inkheart
- Into the Mist
- Cece Rios
- The Eighth Day
- The Stormlight Archive
- The Lord of the Rings
- An Ember in the Ashes
- Name of the Wind
- The Stardust Thief
- The Scholomance
- The Dollmakers
- Magic’s Most Wanted
- Skyborn: Sparrow Rising
Science Fiction:
- The Lunar Chronicles
- Chaos Walking
- The Host
- Ender’s Game
- Dark Life
- Kalahari
- The Martian
- Project Hail Mary
- Coldwire
- Legend
Paranormal:
- Ophie’s Ghosts
- Lockwood and Co
- The Ghost Squad
- Witching’s
- The Ghostkeeper
- Twilight
- Witchlings
Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic:
- Hunger Games
- The Giver
- Maze Runner
- Masterminds
- Feed (Newsflesh Book 1)
- Matched
- The City of Ember
- Last Kids on Earth
- Red Rising
Horror:
- Coraline
- The Nest
- The Hungry Forest
- I Am Not a Serial Killer
Mystery:
- Anything by Agatha Christie
- The Golden Spoon
- The Westing Game
- Raven Gallows
- Lockwood and Co
- Sense and Second-Degree Murder
Thriller:
- Stars and Smoke
- Lock In
- Long Way Down
- The Firekeeper’s Daughter
- The Reckoners
Romance:
- Pride and Prejudice
- Edenbrooke
- This Time it’s Real
- People We Meet on Vacation
- Love and Other Great Expectations
- Attached at the Hip
- Twelfth Knight
- The Hanging City
- Once Upon a K-Prom
- Meet Me at Midnight
- Glamourist Histories
- City of Nightmares
- Casters and Crowns
Historical Fiction:
- The Book Thief
- Ophie’s Ghosts
- Babel: An Arcane History
- The Lady Astronaut of Mars
- Out of the Easy
Contemporary:
- The Outsiders
- Junie B. Jones
- The Hate U Give
- All My Rage
- Frindle
- Mustaches for Maddie
- Virtually Me
Other Novels:
- The Midnight Library
- Cloud Cuckoo Land
- Ella Minnow Pea
- Airborne
Graphic Novel:
- Himawari House
- Heartstopper
- Anzu and the Realm of Darkness
- Fantastic Tales of Nothing
- The Ghostkeeper
Classic Literature:
- Tom Sawyer
- A Wizard of Earthsea
- The Little Prince
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- Lord of the Rings
- Pride and Prejudice
- Peter Pan
- The Secret Garden
- As I Lay Dying
- The Odyssey
Short Stories:
- All Summer in a Day
- To Snare a Moon
- The Lottery
- The Faery Handbag
Poetry:
- Emily Dickinson
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Paulo Leminsky
- Basho
- Anis Mojgani
- Walt Whitman
