Babette James

I spent way too much time picking out pretty flower pictures last week, (but  it was fun,  lol), so for today’s Thursday Thirteen, a simpler random selection of some non-fiction books on my reference shelves.  Non-writing craft this time:

1. The History of Pirates by Angus Konstam
2. Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by W.B. Yeats
3. Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier by Alan K. Bowman
4. Twin Telepathy by Guy Lyon Playfair
5. The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts, and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages by J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann
6. Survival Skills of the North American Indians by Peter Goodchild
7. Ancient Inventions by Peter James and Nick Thorpe
8. The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare by Chris Smith
9. The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A Guide to Healing, recovery and Growth by Glenn R. Schiraldi
10. Gunpowder- Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World by Jack Kelly
11. A Knight and His Horse by Ewart Oakeshott
12. Stonehenge – A History in Photographs by Julian Richards
13. Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology by James MacKillop

Hmmm, does it looks like I might write fantasy? Or maybe it’s a book addiction.

What are some interesting or favorite reference books on your shelves?

What do your shelves say about you?

Photo: Sanja Gjenero

Thirteen books on my reference shelves that I have opened in the last month:

1. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed, by Karen Elizabeth Gordon. -You’ll never look at learning grammar quite the same way again!
2. The Synonym Finder, J.I. Rodale – Don’t leave home without it.
3. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 16th Ed., John Bartlett; Justin Kaplan, General Editor – I enjoy using quotations as chapter headings and idea prompts.
4. G.M.C.: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, by Debra Dixon. A must read.
5. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss. -I love this book.
6. 21st Century Synonym and Antonym Finder, Edited by The Princeton Language Institute. – So handy when you can only think of the total opposite of the word you really want.
7. Foclóir Póca English-Irish/Irish-English Dictionary, An Gúm- Because: Níl ach beagáinín Gailige agam. lol. Very, very little.
8. The Romance Writer’s Phrase Book, by Jean Kent and Candace Shelton – Useful stepping-off point for getting past first draft brain freeze moments to dodge the picky internal editor. So what did he do with his eyebrows, ah, right, onwards . . .lol.
   
9. First Draft in 30 Days: A Novel Writer’s System for building a complete and cohesive Manuscript, by Karen S. Wiesner – Because I am a Pantser who wants to be more organized, somehow.
10. The Writer’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler – Another must read.
11. Prescription For Plotting Popular Fiction, by Carolyn Greene – Excellent resource on plotting and organizing your writing.
12. Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance, by Angela Knight – A lively, entertaining, and useful how-to. Well, it is Angela Knight, of course!
13. Scene and Structure, by Jack M. Bickham – Because scene is believing. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

What are some of your favorite reference books to keep handy?