12 Books (not about writing) Writers Should Read

When I started writing this blog post, I had planed on telling you why you, as a writer, should read each of these books that isn't about writing. Then I realized I was doing you, as a writer, a great disservice.

These are great books. You don't need my "why" they're worth reading. 

Once you've read them, maybe you'll have your own reason for suggesting writers read them.

Maybe your reason and mine will be the same.

Perhaps not.

Doesn't matter.

Here's the list. Enjoy.

The Things They Carried – Tim O'Brien

Man’s Search for Meaning – Victor E. Frankl

One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez

Maus – Art Spiegelman

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway

Sixty Stories – Donald Barthelme

A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson

The White Album – Joan Didion

The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell

Beloved – Toni Morrison

Here are 6 more, because ... well, because a dozen is just not enough:

In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash – Jean Shepherd 

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World – Cal Newport

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear  –  Elizabeth Gilbert

A Thousand Mornings – Mary Oliver 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho

And, finally, here are 6 more that you've probably read, but deserve to be reread now that you've put in some time as a writer: 

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss

The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 

This was a tough exercise. Consider trying it yourself. 

List 12 books to recommend to writers ... but none of the books can be about writing.

You'll force yourself to make uncomfortable decisions, 'cause making a list of 250 books is easier, but not really that helpful.

Difficult decisions like how do I pick only one from Hemingway? Or how do I leave certain authors off the list altogether? Like Twain. And Austen. And Haley. And Faulkner. And Baldwin.

Told you it's a tough exercise.

But it forced me to think about writing. And reading. And my approach to my craft.

I found it worthwhile.

Hope you do, too.

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Of course, I also suggest you read books about writing: 17 Books Writers Must Read

And you might be interested in  Ernest Hemingway's suggested reading list for aspiring authors