Among all writing advise there is one, which I find the most compelling one: Write a lot, read a lot. I'm trying hard to write a lot, keeping up with my daily writing goal and most of the days I'm succeeding. Well, reading is a whole different animal. Still, I do what I can.
Here's my bookshelf:
Books I have (and want) to read because they are part of the culture. Books kids read in high school and I missed just because they were not on our reading list. I have to catch-up on these books:
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (tick)
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (tick)
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (tick)
- This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Of Mice and Man by John Steinbeck
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Frankenstein by Marry Shelly
- War of Wolds by H.G. Wells
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Sanctuary by William Faulkner
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Etc.
Some books I actually read in German, but to get the original language I probably want and need to read them again:
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (all five books of the trilogy)
- The Innocent Abroad and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I read the original and I would really love to see how they translated the Spanish
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R. R. Tolkien
- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- Snow Falling in Cedars by David Guterson
- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- Gone with the Wind by Maragret Mitchell
- Etc.
Of course, I also want to keep up with emerging good stuff:
- A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck (tick) - this was a writing tip from writing excuses and I love it!
- Amped by Daniel Wilson (tick)
- Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich (tick)
- Time Keeper and The Five People you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (tick, tick)
- Myth Man by Alex Mueck
- Shambling Guide to NYC and Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty
- Empire State by Adam Christopher
- Etc.
Additionally, further advise from fellow writers who already made it is part of the reading list:
- On writing by Stephen King
- Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress
- Crafting Unforgettable Characters by K.M. Weiland
- 500 Ways to Tell a Better Story by Chuck Wending
- Etc.
And last but not least, there is the long, long reading list and so little time:
- Robot Dreams and Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
- Anything from Philipp K. Dick
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
- Plot Against America by Philipp Roth
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
- Perfurme by Patrick Süskind
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
- Cider House Rules by John Irving
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Kiss the Girls by James Patterson
- Starship Troopers by Robert A. Henlein
- Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
- The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende
- and many, many more
Happy reading
Your writer in a foreign land
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