On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Maybe not so obvious, but - Stephen King’s “On writing”. When I read it ages ago, found funny how writing the books is similar to writing the code.

The Soul Of A New Machine, by Tracy Kidder - The history of computing fascinates me, and this is one of my favorite books on the topic. Hackers, by Steven Levy - Again, computing history, and especially relevant to me because I started personal computing in the mid-80s and like reading about the stuff I missed. Levy is always fun to read. There are a lot of good books on the microcomputer revolution, this one is just my favorite. Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott - It's not just a book about writing, but a book about living. Lamott is a born storyteller, and every one of her non-fiction books is inspiring and highly readable. On Writing, by Stephen King - I am not a King fan. The only fiction piece he's written I come back to is The Stand. But the story of how he became a writer, and his life as a writer, gives me hope for my own writing. And his advice is valuable; even if I don't like his books, I can't argue with his success.

On Writing by Stephen King is one of the best books about the craft of not only writing, but any solo creative endeavor. It is also immensely entertaining and dark. The Audiobook is read by the author and he does a great job.

My two favourite books I read this year were both non-fiction: * Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - If you enjoy books about persistence in the face of adversity, this has it in spades. When I was in my 20's I saw the movie "Touching the Void" and remember being in total awe at a human's ability to persevere in seemingly impossible situations. Shackleton and his crew bring this power of determination to another level. * On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Reading this gave me another level of respect for Stephen King. He also pointed me towards another excellent book "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life".

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing

Two things - 1. Seven habits - I can't get past Covey's personal 'experiences'. They are just seemingly so contrived and fake that they just ruin the entire thought process for me. It seems like he had to make up things that related to the covenants. Is that just me? 2. For writing - I would also suggest 'On Writing' by Stephen King for this as a different take. It's probably the best 'how to write' book ever made. It's King's personal take on the theory of writing, with lessons sprinkled throughout. So good.

Machinists handbook from the 60's era. I value it for the pre computer ways of thinking. Lots of gold in that one. MOS 6502 series data book. Moto 6809 Programmers Reference. I actually had someone take me to the local Motorola office to get the 6809 book. Docs were free for the asking, and a kid asking was quite the event. Aspects of that conversation were important to my life. I still have occasion to do paid work, and enjoy fun projects with both chips, and or variants seen today. These are few and far between, but very enjoyable. Mostly perspective and nostalgia in these. It's my roots. The One Minute Manager parable has served me well mentoring and leading. On Writing by Stephen King. Being able to tell a story with clarity has far more utility than one would expect. Besides, I want to write a novel one day. The Art of Electronics, second edition. Probably need to update that one. A Tektronix "How to use an Oscilloscope" book, well matched to my old, analog 400Mhz, 4 channel scope. ANSI / ASME geometric dimensioning, tolerancing, standards books. 2D technical communication remains significant in my life. Recent addition: Mold making Handbook.…

'Salems Lot by Stephen King. Just got done with his memoir/writing guide "On Writing" and it's given me a new appreciation for his style. Currently going back and reading the books of his that I missed in middle school. The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. First book I'm reading on a Kindle, so not yet sure how that will effect my perception of the novel (it is helpful for footnotes I've found). Absolutely fresh SciFi is rare these days so it's wonderful so far.

On Writing by Stephen King (narrated by the author)

Some old that I have re-read, some new, all worth your time: Old Man And The Sea - Ernest Hemingway IQ84 - Haruki Murakami The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch On Writing - Stephen King When Bad Things Happen To Good People - Harold Kushner Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger Notes To Myself - Hugh Prather

Here's another idea: Since your friend is coming out in 9 months anyway and there's so much risk involved in trying to sneak in a programming book, he should probably spend his time developing another equally useful skill: writing well. As many other successful programmers have noted (Spolsky, Yegge) and demonstrated, effective communication, especially through writing, is a very useful and necessary skill for a programmer. So, maybe you should send him just some good books on writing well. In general books, I can think of Strunk and White, On Writing (by Stephen King). But some examples of good writing about programming could also help: The Best Software Writing (edited by Spolsky) Joel on Software (the best articles from his blog) Steve Yegge's blog posts (others might disagree but I think he is an excellent writer). Paul Graham's essays raganwald's old blog - http://weblog.raganwald.com/ James Hague's blog - http://prog21.dadgum.com/ Rands in Repose - http://randsinrepose.com/

Some books that stood out this year (many not for their intended reasons) The 4 Hour Work Week (Tim Ferriss) - In parts entertaining, interesting, self-promoting, educational, inspirational, attractive and undesirable. Definitely worth the read and a great call to action. Will make you consider what you want and how you can achieve it. The Game (Neil Strauss) - Truly interesting story and an interesting view on human dynamics and hacking one of the more important systems (dating). A great view on what is most important - ends or means. Will make you consider how people work, what motivates them and whether success cures emptiness. Losing my Virginity (Richard Branson) - The awesome and entertaining story of Virgin with lots of great advice and startup David vs Goliath inspiration. Will make you consider what determination and the little guy can achieve. Business Stripped Bare (Richard Branson) - Branson's more focused take on business advice and patches on bits of the Virgin story since the first book. Will make you consider the power of being genuine and growing a company with people treated as smart humans. On Writing (Stephen King)…

Linus's biography, Just For Fun, is not bad. I have sentimental attachments to Man Out of Time, the Tesla biography. No Man Knows My History is about Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church. It is naturally controversial to the LDS, for its depiction of Smith as a polygamist con man who fell sideways into a religious racket and never quite fell out. I found it very readable, full of color. It might depend on your interest in the period and the subject matter. Stephen King's On Writing is about half biography, half writing manual. I thought it was terrific. It's had several rereads already.