Hello all! I figured since I’ve been talking about writing, it might be fun to list some fiction that features writing! This was actually a surprisingly hard list to come up with books for though. Either I don’t read enough books starring writers or there aren’t many of them (which is weird cos there’s a cliché about a lot of authors writing about writers)
The Angel’s Game– you guys know I love Shadow of the Wind and this sequel is almost as good. Where the first Cemetery of Forgotten Books focused on reading, this one focuses on writing! And man, Zafon clearly knows what he’s doing there!
I Capture the Castle– this begins with the best opening line of all time: “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” So yeah, it’s about writing- but also SO MUCH MORE!
Fangirl– one of my favourite things about this book (apart from the romance, obviously) was how well Rowell managed to capture that feeling of writing. Though everyone has a different style, this managed to capture something universal about the process.
Shosha– Ahh Bashevis Singer- everything he writes is lyrical and fairytale-esque. I can’t gush enough about his writing! This is a little different to other books on this list though, since it’s only partly about the journey of the author, and more about a lost world, an enduring love and the shadow of a future that threatens to overwhelm it all.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying– this was an excellent book about a struggling poet- but obviously being by Orwell it’s not as simple as that. It’s also about conformity, “the money-world” and the question of whether we should follow our dreams at all…
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Do you know any good books about writing? Let me know in the comments!
The only one of these I’ve read is Fangirl but oh I loved that book. Cath’s passion for writing is the same way I feel about writing, though I feel she’s more dedicated to her writing than I have been to mine in the past. Cath is just one of those characters so many people can identify with, and the romance in Fangirl was amazing as well, definitely my favourite part of the story too. 😀
Great post. 🙂 ❤
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Ah yes I totally agree with you- I loved the writing parts in this. hehe fair enough. I totally agree with you 😀 Thank you! 🙂 ❤
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That’s all right! 🙂 ❤
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I haven’t read any of these, but they sound so interesting!
I do like L. M. Montgomery’s take on writing in the Emily of New Moon series, though.
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Thank you! Oh yes, I’ve been meaning to read that!! I think I’ll really like it 😀
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Didn’t Stephen King write a book about writing too? I can’t really recall the name, nor have I read the book, but I do think he wrote one though 😀
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He wrote A Memoir of the Craft. Great book that had me laughing and learning 🙂 I will have to try a few of these books listed as well.
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Good to know- thanks for the tip!! Awesome 😀
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Oh I didn’t actually know that tbh, since I’ve really not read many of his books 😉
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Good choices! Fangirl is a good example for all of us amateurs. I’ve owned I Capture the Castle for like ten years, I had no idea it was about writing! I’ve been planning on reading it next year 🙂
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Thank you!! hehe yes! Oh you must read it- it’s a wonderful book!! 😀
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Only thing that comes to mind for me is Sandra Brown’s Envy which features a writer who ghost writes as himself basically but it’s also a romantic thriller twined into the book he’s writing.
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Oh cool!!! That sounds like such a good book- I really wanna check it out!!
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When I started blogging and reviewing books, Shadow of the Wind is one the first book that caught my attention and that I quickly went on a hunt to get my hands on it. I… still haven’t read it and… still remember all the praise you gave to each of the books in that series. I think I’ll make it a 2018 goal to read it. Enough stalling! It needs to be read! 😀
The only book about writing that always pops into my mind is the one that Stephen King wrote about writing… I think everyone in the world has heard about it already and I think it holds a lot of valuable info. Oh.. in fact.. didn’t Neil Gaiman write something recently that touches on writing? Or maybe it has nothing to do on writing too.. I haven’t seen it being read and reviewed a lot.. It’s called The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction. Honestly, I got no clue what it is really about, but I did come across some random article that talked about writing and quoted parts of that book.. Might be something worth discovering.. It is Neil himself, after all, right? 😛
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Oh I really think you’ll enjoy that!!! hehehe I think it’s worth reading next year for sure 😉 You can thank/blame me later 😉
Ahh yes I’m hearing King is a good writer for this (confession: I don’t read much of his work, so I wouldn’t know) Oh I didn’t know that about Gaiman’s book- I’ve read so much of his other work, I’ll admit I’m now really curious about that! hahaha yes!!
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Oh, I’ll definitely remember who to blame/thank (I don’t know anyone else who’s read the trilogy) 😂 The book by King I speak of is the Memoir of the Craft or something. I didn’t know about till I started blogging and a writer mentioned it having great tips for fellow writers. Hahah yeh, it’s one of Gaiman’s recent and I never looked into cause I think it’s classified as non-fiction and.. well.. it would have been a huge mistake to make his non-fiction my first book by him! 😂 Hope you enjoy it if you ever try it out, I’d be curious to know what it’s actually abouy hahah
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hahahaha 😂 Oh cool! Well that sounds great. hehe yes- you should start with one of his books for sure- another recommendation you can blame me for 😉 😂😂 Thank you- I don’t read much non-fiction, but I’ll have to check it out 🙂
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Fangirl looks interesting. I can’t think of any stories about authors right off the bat. Quite a few with journalists and I even remember one Nora Roberts (mystery) which featured a writer… Hmm… will think a bit more on that.
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Oh it was really good 😀 That’s cool- I think I’ve heard of that- it sounds pretty good 😀
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Nice feel-good romance with a touch of mystery.
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Awesome 😀
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Like Lashaan, I also thought about Stephen King’s On Writing as I am reading this post- this is one of the books that I go back and reread once in a while! Nothing like learning from one of the grand masters himself 🙂
The Shining (also by Stephen King) comes to mind as well! To be honest I am always too scared to read this book (even the movie trailer gives me nightmares) :’)
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Oh cool!!! I didn’t actually know about that, cos I’ve not read many King books. But that’s so cool 😀 hahaha me too!! They’re a little bit outside my comfort zone 😉
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I don’t read Stephen King books much nowadays because they scare me too much- they are outside of my comfort zone too haha 🙂
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haha I can totally relate- I feel the same way!!
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Yes Fangirl really did focus well on writing and the feeling of writing! And it is strangely hard to think of books featuring writers and writing… I feel like there are a lot of movies featuring writers but I haven’t come across many books. Maybe Strange the Dreamer? Though the character is more of reader and researcher than a writer. Actually I can think of a lot of books featuring bookworm characters and library-dwellers, but not necessarily writers!
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I know right!! I really liked how Rowell captured that! And yes, it’s really strange. I think you’re right about it being in a lot of movies. Ah I’ve not read that yet- but I’m seriously looking forward to it (more and more now you mention that!!!)
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I don’t have any recommendations, but I do want to read all of these! Great post. 💖💕
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Oh I’m glad! Thank you so much!! ❤
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Oh that’s a great selection! The only book I’ve read here is The Angel’s Game and I loved it so, so much. I really need to read Fangirl at some point 🙂
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Thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you liked that one and I really think you’ll enjoy Fangirl 😀
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Ahh I love the idea of this post! Fangirl and I Capture the Castle are both fantastic, two of my favourite books! I agree it does seem hard to think of books about writing – the only two I can think of are Misery by Stephen King, and Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Aisha Malik, both of which I would highly recommend!
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Oooh I just thought of another one- The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood!
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Ooh great- especially since someone I know just recommended I read more Atwood 😀
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She is a fantastic author. Have you read any of her other books? If not, I have plenty of recommendations 🙂
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I’ve only read Handmaid’s Tale, but have been wondering about the Crake one? (can’t remember the title right now 😉 )
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Ooh yes Oryx and Crake is good, but very weird! But I like weird stuff. I would also really recommend Cat’s Eye, and The Edible Woman. And as I know you are a Shakespeare lover, definitely pick up Hag Seed, which is a retelling of The Tempest! I thought it was excellent.
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Oh great!! Thank you that’s great to know 😀 Oh cool! Thanks so much for all the recommendations!!
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Ahh thank you so much!! I’m so glad you love those!!! 😀 Ahh cool- a lot of people are mentioning King- I really haven’t read much of his work (hence why I’ve not mentioned it lol) Thank you!! 😀
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I haven’t read any of them, but I have Fangirl sitting on my bookshelf. It’s to be read next. 🙂
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Oh cool!! I really hope you enjoy it 😀
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I do too. It’s packed in my bag and I’m going to start reading it asap.
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Awesome!! 😀
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Such a cool post!! I loved Fangirl so much… A Room of One’s Own by Viginia Woolf is a really great non-fiction on writing, and it’s an amazing book! I didn’t know that Orwell book at all.
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Thank you so much!! Ah it’s such a great book! Oh cool- I’ve not actually read that. 🙂 Oh I really recommend it 😀
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Some great picks here! I have only read I Capture the Castle and Fangirl but I absolutely loved both of them. Will have to have a look at the rest 🙂
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Thank you!! Ah I’m so glad you liked those!! I can definitely recommend the others 😉
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I swear I add more books into my tbr pile every time reading your posts… Found another couple here that I haven’t read and wondered to myself why I haven’t done so yet 😀 Shosha has got me proper intrigued!
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Haha well that’s so cool!!! I’m glad 😉 Ooh well I hope you check it out 😀 😀 It’s by a Noble Prize Winner, if that can tempt you further 😉
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This is a very cool post! I like how you didn’t list craft books for books about writing. I hate reading those because they scramble my process and make my brain anxious.
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Thank you so much!! hehe I’m the same- they’re not my favourite way to learn either 😉
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I loved Fangirl and know exactly what you mean about showing a part of the process. It gives me a sense of what you found in the other books… This is just simply a divine list.. I suspect of grown up books that I should read! #oops
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Ahh yes I know right!! Aww thank you!! 😀 I’m so glad 😀 hehehhe
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OMG I just finished both The Shadow of The Wind and The Angel’s Game this month and these two books have just been pure magic! What have i been doing so long without not having read such a book man? Have you read the third part? How is it? -Avi
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Ahh yes they really are!!! You’re so right!! I know!! Yes, I have, it was good too- but not as good as the first two in my opinion (but then, that was hard to live upto 😉 )
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Yes I know, it’s rare in series for the other books to be better than the first one but I’m hoping to buy is soon and see how the strings are tied up because the ending of the angels game was anything but clear lol
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I totally get that!! Brilliant! hehe I get that- hope you enjoy 🙂
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