Book Recommendations for the Writer that Doesn't Read

[BT Jones]

Ok, so it is increasingly clear that not being an avid reader is (quite obviously) a major hamstring twinge in my quest to get my writing up to the level I want it. I'd love to love reading but I don't and never really have. But I am trying (I am 5 chapters into To Kill a Mockingbird as of last night!

Can anybody give me some suggestions for novels I could read that might help me as a writer? I'm looking for edgy, alternative, immersive adult sci-fi, with strong characters.

I'm going to give 1984 a crack after Mockingbird. But then what?

 

[BAYLOR]

Dearhbird Stories by Harlan Ellison . Yes they short stores but I think he fits the bill of what your looking for . One suggestion with Ellison, always read his book Introductions , It part of the fun of reading . He is a truly great writer one the best of all time and very edgy. Other short stories to look for by him. I have no Mouth But I must Scream, Paladan of the Lost Hour , Repenat Harlequin Said the Ticktock Man .

Bloodstone by Karl Edward Wagner This is first the book in dark fantasy series with science fiction elements . It also fits the adult requirement and It fits the strong character requirements. The main character Kane is immortal heroic villain/antihero . He is absolutely not a nice guy at all. but he's a fascinating protagonist. The book itself is well written and flat out fun to read.

The Star Rover by Jack London This is his only fantasy novel it also happens to be his least known novel and its quite anything else he ever wrote. Its the stir fo a straitjacket Deathrow inmate who while transcends mediation ( to make his existence in the jacket bearable0 discovers that he astral pjoecjt himself into his past lives at will. The book is epic in scope and scale , as journalisms access time space and history. Its a great book with interesting ,Ain character. You can find this book online via project Gutenberg.

Excavation by James Rollins An adventure in the vein of Indian jones but with lots of science fiction elements. Rollins is a a quick and fun read,.. I think you would like his novel.

Which bring another point in your quest to read books. make sure they book that you actually enjoy reading because , It difffukt to impposble to make yourself read a book that don't enjoy.

The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgeson This is short novel about 186 pages was originally published in 1908 and has never been out of print . Its ghost . science /fiction/ Horror novel . Its quick and excellent read . This book has been described as one the best ghost stotirsd in the English language . Its worth checking out

The Dark World by Henry Kuttner . A science fiction novel with a very usual protagonist

Black Gods Kiss. by C L Moore. comprise all of here wonderful Jirel of Joiry Stories

The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon . Theses Jewels can fresh reality and do many things good or evil depending upon the user.

Islandia By Austin Tappan Wright. A Utopain Novel about and that Never was but you wished existed . The book is well written with a story well told.

The City of the Singing Flame by Clark Ashton Smith one the great sci fantasy short states ever written . I think you defiantly like Smith's stories, His prose is without equal and he is a story teller with few equals. He wrote sequel to this story Beyond the singing Flame and yes he can be very edgy There is website called The Eldritch Dark which has all of his stories on line list ed alphabetically . Other stories by him that I would recommend, Double Shadow , The Weaver in the Vault, The Death of Malygris , The Vaults of Yoh Vombus ( one the in-stations for literally inspirations the film Alien.

The High Crusade by Paul Anderson. Super advanced Aleins invade medieval England with the believe that the primitive humans will be easy to defeat. Lets hjust say, things don't work out quite the ways the Alien planned . This book is hilariously funny. !

Silverlock by John Myer Myers . A comic fantasy novels of stuck up socialite named Shandon Silverlock who get shipwrecked on Island called The Commonwealth which is populate by all the chapter of Myth and Literature . This another book that is a blast to read. Sivlerlock has one comic mishap after another trying to find his way across this Strange island. It's wonderfully funny stuff.

Conan The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E Howard one the 100 best fantasy novel ever writer , This books got everything you want.

Lest Darkness Falls by L Sprague De Camp A 20th century man named Martin Padwasy gets hit with bold of lightning and finds himself in 5th Center Rome . This was one the first alt hoister novels ever written. Its terrific book loot of humor and adventure and fun to read.

Jurgen a Comedy of Justice by James Branch Cabell . A fans satire written 1919 and banned in Boston and New York . Its story of a medieval pawnbroker Jurgen who is middle-aged and unhappily married and which he live his life over and marry the woman he really wanted . He get his wish and that when the problems really start for him. Cabell is master of Ironic Humor

His most famous quote " The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible world and the pessimist fears that this is true "

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Waystation by Clifford Simak

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison

Earth Abides by George Stewart

Daybreak 2250 AD by Andre Norton

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

The Humanoids by Jack Williamson

The Veils of Azlaroc by Fed Saberhagen

Bolo and Rogue Bolo by Keith Laumer

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny

A Canticle of Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

The Stand by Stephen King

The Anubis Gates by Time Powers

Jack Faust by Michael Swanswick

Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

Dune by Frank Herbert

Tales from the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

The Uth of the New Sun series by Genre Wolfe

The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Those listed on theater part of the list also good books and would be worth you while , Ive just run out of steam on my descriptions.

 

[ckatt]

Other short stories to look for by him. I have no Mouth But I must Scream,

This is a fantastic story, but it's also maybe the darkest piece of fiction I have ever read. I usually recommend people don't read it unless they have a lot of fortitude.

I'd like to chirp in with the recommendation that you read some modern sci-fi books as well. Some people just prefer classics and that's fine, but if you're looking to get published today you ought to read what's being published today.

I used to read only a handful of novels a year but when I got serious about writing I knew I was going to have to read more. So now I try to read about two novels a month. My goal is 20 novels for 2020. (Still, I know there are some people out there that read a hundred books a year. If you read 1 hour a day consistently throughout the whole year you could probably read about 50 books--Unless you throw Brandon Sanderson into the mix.)
Anyway, what I've been doing is alternating between a book published in the last five or so years and a book published any time before that.
Some of my favourites of the more modern I've read this year are:


Agency by William Gibson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - Actually, I'd say you should read the whole trilogy though the first is the best.


Also, the more you read the easier and faster it gets, like any skill.

 

[DLCroix]

Hi! Well, I have built my entire thematic and influence corpus (yes, I subscribe to what Harold Bloom says) based on the following authors. And beware, not all of them are sci-fi:
1. Arturo Pérez-Reverte and the saga of Captain Alatriste. Historical novel.
What did this author teach me? A clear example of how to have an MC in the first person but who becomes omniscient since he tells in retrospect the things that he did not witness or in which he did not participate directly. In particular, the novels El Sol de Breda and El Oro del Rey are very rich and useful to learn how to make descriptions that catch the reader and make him feel as if he were really walking through the old ports of Cadiz or Sevilla. The Sun of Breda makes you feel the misery of the Spanish thirds, but also the glory of their acts of valor. Highly recommended the movie Alatriste. The moment when, after so much desperation and hunger, Alatriste tells a badly injured colleague: "Breda has surrendered", unforgettable.
2. The same Arturo Pérez-Reverte, but with Cabo Trafalgar. Also historical novel.
This book serves to wake one up as a writer in many ways:
A. The almost vulgar nonchalance of the type of omniscient narrator that Pérez-Reverte uses to recreate the historic combat of Cape Trafalgar aboard the Antilla, a two 74-gun bridges that he invents for the novel. I don't really read yet another author who is more entertaining telling precisely something as tragic as a battle.
B. The way this omniscient narrator allows multiple points of view to be used to address the feelings of different characters.
C. The glory. Again. Something that Pérez-Reverte had already done superbly in El Sol de Breda now, in Cabo Trafalgar, makes it simply a masterpiece. Of all the books I have read, that last paragraph is the best, and also an epic ending, which draws tears.
3. James Ellroy. Black novel.
What did this author teach me? Brazen, above all brazen. Learn to swear and use street slang with style.
Synthesis. Sometimes as raw as a shotgun blast to the head.
Development of the plot. How your various MCs manage to solve intricate police puzzles and mysteries.
4. Dashiell Hammett. Police and black.
The author of the Maltese Falcon and one of the pioneers of social criticism that has made the crime novel constitute a genre apart from the police one that existed until then.
5. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes. What can I tell you?
Elegance. Phlegm. The first rudiments of the detective method.
6. Anthony Burgess. Earthly Powers. The Clockwork Orange.
Also elegance, but with a good dose of sarcasm. The case of The Clockwork Orange, very useful for portraying slang such as nadsat in a way that does not need side notes.
7. Peter Benchley. Jaws.
Handling suspense in the well-known Jaws saga. It catches you, you can read it in a day.
8. Herbert Marcuse. Eros and Civilization. Philosophy.
I personally think that a sci-fi writer must have a minimal ideological base in their stories. This isn't just about leather suits and blasters. I also recommend Nietzsche. Erich Fromm.
9. Stephen King. Everything is Eventual. Terror.
The master. This particular book is very useful for brainstorming or learning about writing short stories.

Now we start with the science fiction authors.
10. Michel Houellebecq. The Elemental particles. Sci-fi speculation or prospective.
Sarcasm. And crying. Yes, crying. Not recommended for depressives. But a very tender, endearing story, behind an interesting theory.
11. Dan Simmons. Hyperion. Endymion. Ilium. Olympus.
Again, why do I tell you? Another teacher. There you have daring, suspense, speculation and excitement all rolled into one.
They are long books, yes, but they give an orientation on how to order the paragraphs, how many pages the chapters should be, the handling of parallel arcs, etc.
12. William Gibson. Neuromancer. Accelerated Monalisa. Among many others.
Immortal. The genius of cyberpunk. Conceptual synthesis and dare.
13. Alan Dean Anderson. Star Wars, a new hope.
Safety pin. The novelized version of the film is far more raw, it describes to you what a blaster shot actually does to a human being, even if it is a stormtrooper. Still a great influence when it comes to describing action scenes.
14. Donald F. Glutt. Star Wars, the empire strikes back.
Following the trend set by Dean Anderson, in this other version of the novel F. Glutt pulls out of his hat a couple of scenes that do not appear on film that are simply glorious: the heroic sacrifice of a rebel pilot, for example.
15. Frank Herbert and sons. The entire Dune series.
Another unmissable. Teacher. Unforgettable, considering the series is from the 60s, I think.

 

[BAYLOR]

Rendezvous in Black by Cornell Woolrich
Night Has thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

 

[StevenF]

Thanks for all these recommendations. I've also realised I have a lot of catch-up reading to do, including some classics.

 

[Brian G Turner]

But then what?

It's worth checking out some classics, but you'll probably need to read more recent fiction. Read your own genre as much as you can - for SF, something like this list would be a good starter:

The 100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Books on Goodreads

Dystopias, alien invasions, regenerated dinosaurs, space operas, multiverses, and more, the realm of science fiction takes readers out of this world ...

www.goodreads.com

Also try books from general bestseller lists, and read across different genres.

There are a lot of seriously good novels out there, but you have to find the ones that appeal to your personal tastes - everyone is different. And don't be afraid to put down a book you can't get into and pick up a different one.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

personally I’d ask why you don’t like to read and what mediums you do enjoy and why. Writing isn’t just about novels - there are so many forms and ways to approach a piece of work these days

 

[BT Jones]

personally I’d ask why you don’t like to read and what mediums you do enjoy and why. Writing isn’t just about novels - there are so many forms and ways to approach a piece of work these days

I really enjoy reading non-fiction like biographies, travel books, stuff like that. With novels... I don't know. I think I've just given up on Mockingbird. I just couldn't devote any more time reading about two kids from the deep south running around being kids. I'm sure the legal crux might have been worth persisting for but... I started 1984 last night but only got in 3 or 4 pages before I fell asleep. It was very good though. Straight away it had me doubting whether I should even bother trying to write when there was already something this good out there!

It's really just having the time. On the 3 evenings a week I write, then I am writing till about 11:30 and the last thing I want to do after that is read. The other evenings I have a drink and watch TV shows or movies. After that, I may or may not be in the mood.

Another major factor in my reluctance to read was to not be overly dissuaded to keep on going as a result of reading something in my target genre that was far better than I could ever come up with.

It's a bit of a conundrum.

 

[DLCroix]

I really enjoy reading non-fiction like biographies, travel books, stuff like that.

Hi! I think it should work exactly the other way around. I mean, not that you arrogantly say "I can do this much better", but the feeling is close. I don't know, maybe my family is like that; for example, my grandfather was a policeman, a sergeant in a poncho and horse in the rain, one of those skinny old men with mustaches and two blunderbuss or shotguns clipped on the chair that later became a guard of presidential palace; or everything I know about weapons and martial arts was taught to me by my older brother, who was an Army officer; for example, sometimes we would watch a movie together and he would shake his head and say, "no, that kind of explosive doesn't work like that." Worse when it was a science fiction movie: "lasers are not seen in space," he said with a smile.
Perhaps that is the main reason that I have never set a fighter fight in space and have based my entire saga on a planet where everything happens below and is even more old-fashioned. He was the one who introduced me to the first authors, Asimov, Bradbury, K. Dick. I guess now he must be smiling out there, somewhere, wherever he is. Also, he used to say that commandos only go to hell to find reinforcements and regroup. Militarys. They think so. So him often thought.
But I am getting off the thread. The point is that, based on what Harold Bloom says, it is not that we are in competition with the authors that we like or frustrate us because of their immense ability; but, whether we like it or not, in an unconscious way we will always want to overcome them; therefore, becoming aware of this process should free us from anguish and become it a creative engine. In any case, it is a desire for cultural exchange; not marketing like I said out there.
And beware for travel books, are a detail that you don't have to ignore. In fact, much of what is in Burgess's Earthly Powers is basically a travel book in the guise of a novel. A great influence, going back to Harold Bloom, who now makes me notice those details every time my characters are in a new place so that I can convey them to the reader. Or Ali Bey's travels in Morocco, also half a travel book and novel.
Perhaps, since you have a clearly more poetic and conceptual streak, as I mentioned in the Critics, William Gibson could be an author who could entertain you more and does not have such extensive books as a Peter Hamilton or a Simmons (they have easy 200K). But instead, Gibson can give you some very useful lessons on how you manage to convey a feeling or a color or an aroma to the reader with nothing more than two or three words. Amazing.
Now if you want to get hit in the head, try The Nova Express by William S. Burroughs. You know, "word falling, image falling". That book is great; nobody usually understands it, until you realize that the narrator who tells the story is actually ... (I'm not going to spoil it, no way).
Roger Zelazni: Creatures of Light and Darkness.
Another blow to the head. Enigmatic, lyrical, magnificent. To suit you, I think. Also another great conceptualizer; something is left spinning in a line you just read and you realize that the guy has just described a terrifying atomic explosion or so.

 

[Astro Pen]

Don't macho it! I'd start with bite size pieces. Avoid 600 page tomes like Fall on Hyperion or Dune for now.
One man shorts collections like The Illustrated Man or The Terminal Beach are good warm-ups. As are the old edited collections like the New Worlds SF series

Really, sampling zillions of shorts is the fast forward to finding writers you like rather than ploughing through a staircase of novel 'recommendations'.
(Persevere with 1984 though, it is totally relevant to the world today)

I don't think people can really tell you what to read because the endeavor is not about someone else's taste, it is about your journey of discovery.
So go explore and tell us what you find.

 

[BT Jones]

Don't macho it! I'd start with bite size pieces. Avoid 600 page tomes like Fall on Hyperion or Dune for now.
One man shorts collections like The Illustrated Man or The Terminal Beach are good warm-ups. As are the old edited collections like the New Worlds SF series

Really, sampling zillions of shorts is the fast forward to finding writers you like rather than ploughing through a staircase of novel 'recommendations'.
(Persevere with 1984 though, it is totally relevant to the world today)

I don't think people can really tell you what to read because the endeavor is not about someone else's taste, it is about your journey of discovery.
So go explore and tell us what you find.

Thanks @DLCroix & @Astro Pen. I think short story collections might be the way to go. I appreciate your response... and @DLCroix, I appreciate the tangent!

 

[tinkerdan]

I'd suggest:
Go to the library(or bookstore[the library might be better because the clerk at the bookstore might begin to wonder about you]) pick up books that are close to your perceive genre and read the first page. If it interest you enough then get it and read it. If you can't find one of interest by the time you reach the end of the shelves of that genre then you might be hopeless. My daughter doesn't read(not even my novels)and I would not suggest that she take up writing--although there is that thought that if she did she might somehow become interested in reading--we can only hope.

On the other hand I know a number of people who don't read fiction; however, they love histories and biographies. If you mean that, when you say you don't read, you don't read fiction--that's something different.

 

[The Big Peat]

Based on what you asked for I'd suggest William Gibson, JG Ballard, Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War, and our own Dan Jones' Man O'War.

 

[BT Jones]

I'd suggest:
Go to the library(or bookstore[the library might be better because the clerk at the bookstore might begin to wonder about you]) pick up books that are close to your perceive genre and read the first page. If it interest you enough then get it and read it. If you can't find one of interest by the time you reach the end of the shelves of that genre then you might be hopeless. My daughter doesn't read(not even my novels)and I would not suggest that she take up writing--although there is that thought that if she did she might somehow become interested in reading--we can only hope.

On the other hand I know a number of people who don't read fiction; however, they love histories and biographies. If you mean that, when you say you don't read, you don't read fiction--that's something different.

Yes, precisely @tinkerdan. Prior to Covid, I'd done several trips back home to the UK (I just made it back from the last one before the airport gates shut in March this year). I would usually do at least 1 book per trip. In recent years, I've done 2 x Peter Crouch biographies (a funny UK footballer), the Elon Musk bio, a great book called Factfullness (recommended to anyone who thinks the world is about to crumple), and then 'How to be Right' by James O'Brien.

Conversely, I prefer fiction TV to real life / docos.

 

[Astro Pen]

Yes, precisely @tinkerdan. Prior to Covid, I'd done several trips back home to the UK (I just made it back from the last one before the airport gates shut in March this year). I would usually do at least 1 book per trip. In recent years, I've done 2 x Peter Crouch biographies (a funny UK footballer), the Elon Musk bio, a great book called Factfullness (recommended to anyone who thinks the world is about to crumple), and then 'How to be Right' by James O'Brien.

Conversely, I prefer fiction TV to real life / docos.

Thanks for the Factfulness recommendation, I'll buy a copy

 

[sule]

Have you tried listening to audio books? I know it's not reading, but you could potentially fit them in while you're doing other things (cooking, cleaning, etc.) instead of feeling like you have to block out a period of time to read (which could be affecting your enjoyment of them).

But I also don't think you have to feel obligated to read certain books, or even enjoy reading fiction. Most writers write the books that they would want to read. When I read a book I liked I try to work out afterwards what parts of it I enjoyed and if there were things in it I didn't like or might have wanted to try to do differently. I do the same things with books that didn't work for me but did work for others: What am I looking for as a reader, and what sorts of things would be in my "perfect" book?

Also, read Fahrenheit 451 if you haven't already.

 

[BT Jones]

No, can't say I'm into audiobooks. I'd sooner just watch a film then listen to the audio of one. Maybe it's just me and I am very picky. I'm struggling with 1984 too. I haven't made it through the first chapter yet and, whilst its good and well written, it's just not a very enjoyable experience.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm curious - if you don't read novels, why would you want to write novels? Simply because I can't imagine a film-maker trying to make films without ever watching films, or a video game developer making a video game without ever playing any, or a musician trying to compose music without ever having listened to music. Is it simply that you've got a good idea in your head?

 

[paranoid marvin]

Reading for enjoyment isn't always the same as reading to improve your writing skills.

It sounds a little you're reading the books you feel you ought to read but not the ones you want or might like to read. Nineteen Eighty Four and Mocking Bird a two entirely different types of novel, and it doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't find find interest in at least one. Personally I love Orwell's novel but will probably never get round to reading Harper Lee's as it isn't a genre I think would interest me I may be wrong!)

I also would suggest starting by reading maybe shorter stories so that you find an author whose writing style you enjoy.