Creating a Genre Writers' Reading List

Between fiction, craft books, business, and personal development, I have abundant material to study. I already read casually. Always have. Now it is vital to take a structured approach or track what I learn. I need to keep organized.

My six Reasons for Formalizing a Reading Plan

• Further familiarization with the cannon and contemporary slate of work
• Further development as a writer and a creative person
• Background reading for research
• Study the craft
• Gain publishing savvy
• Develop a successful author mindset

Things to Consider

I’m looking to read classic and contemporary fiction broadly and concentrate on my genres, reading craft and author-related books. To take notes on a writing life from multiple sources to build that understanding of what a writer should learn and needs to achieve to make it. I also need to read books on the business of publishing/self-publishing. Finally, looking to read research around my own fiction.

There is so much missing from this list. It lacks biographies, history books, and science books as some examples I’ll keep in mind for the next round.

This isn’t a recommended list. It isn’t optimized by most effective or most useful. I picked up most of my book collection at thrift stores and book sales. This is me working with what I have. It was hard to narrow the list down to just these titles. My plan was to stop at 100. That wasn’t enough. By my count, there are 156, but I’ve read many of these before, and some are collections of essays. So I’ll only be doing some selected reading from them.

The short story collections will be added and then continue forward to the end of the year. I’ll break them down into manageable pieces as I go.

I plan to finish this list before December 31. This is what the rest of my year looks like, as to close reading. I’ll still be reading internet articles, newsletters, and miscellaneous material. However, those will not have dedicated time blocks, and I’ll have to fit them around my writing/reading schedule.

This is my reading plan. I will do close readings and turn my notes into reviews/commentary/analysis.

So Anyway, Here is the List