Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading is a new feature of GoingWare's website, where I will publish reviews of my favorite books as I read them. In particular, I am going to feature each of the books that I recommend in GoingWare's Bag of Programming Tricks.

I won't just review technical books, but any book that I read that I think would be worth your time and money to buy and read.

Now that I am both an Amazon Associate and a Powell's Partner, you can help me earn a part of my living from my writing by purchasing the books I review here from either Amazon.com or Powell's City of Books. The choice is up to you: Amazon usually has a better price on new books, while Powell's often has used copies for sale even cheaper.

Powell's is located in downtown Portland, Oregon, and is worth the cost of airfare and hotel to visit just for the experience of shopping in what I'm pretty sure is the world's largest brick-and-mortar bookstore. I always go when I'm visiting my mom, Pat Crawford, who lives in the area.

And yes, if I read a stinker, I will write a disfavorable review so you won't waste your money, or more importantly, your time. I am not just here to flog merchandise, but to provide a useful service.

Coming Soon: Review of The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

The first book I will review is one that I just finished reading a couple of days ago. The years I spent writing articles such as my programming tips have been so enjoyable that I have developed an interest both in learning to write better, and in writing professionally.

So I was quite struck to find Julia Cameron's The Right to Write in Second Read Books & Coffee back in Rockland, Maine, near Owl's Head, where Bonita and I used to live before we moved back to Canada. I read a few pages in the cafe, realizing that someday I must read the whole thing, but at the time my work was quite hectic. I did not buy the book because I did not have the time to devote to reading it.

I bought a copy recently as a gift for a friend back in Maine. She is a freelance book editor, who would also like to write professionally. She is unable to because editing for a living has made her so critical of her own writing that she cannot write at all. She has forgotten how to write rough drafts!

I decided I would read my friend's gift before I sent it to her. Yes, that means that I will be giving a used book as a gift. I hope she will understand. For me, Cameron's book has restored the joy of writing that years of stultifying grammar school English classes took away.

I will have more to say about Cameron's work soon, in particular just what she says to work such miracles. The Write to Right is a profoundly important book, one everyone should read, not just professional writers.

Please bookmark this page and come back soon!

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