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What Is Stephen Harper Reading?

Books Read in 2007

* = reread;

= Canadian

81. Persuasion by Jane Austen*
80. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*
79. Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham
78. The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham*
77. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen*
76. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham*
75. Don Quixote by Cervantes
74. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
73. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
72. Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood
71. Andy Nebula : Interstellar Rock Star by Edward Willett
70. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
69. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3) by Philip Pullman
68. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) by Philip Pullman
67. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman
66. Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie*
65. My Own Places: Poems on John Constable by Don Kerr (poetry)
64. Walking at Brighton by Dave Margoshes (poetry)
63. Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man by Eric Wright
62. Learning on the Job by Robert Currie (poetry)
61. Women of Influence by Bonnie Burnard
60. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy*
59. The Analects by Confucius

58. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
57. The Aging Cheerleader's Alphabet by Jeanette Lynes (poetry)
56. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg *
55. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
54. Cold Service by Robert B. Parker*
53. Bad Business by Robert B. Parker*
52. A Cold Coffin by Gwendoline Butler*
51. Crows Can't Count by A. A. Fair
50. Half the Sky by Judith Krause (poetry)
49. Circuitry of Veins by Sylvia Legris (poetry)
48. Iridium Seeds by Sylvia Legris (poetry)
47. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
46. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
45. The Virgin in the Garden by A. S. Byatt
44. Today I Belong to Agnes by Glen Sorestad* (poetry)
43. Death In The Air by Agatha Christie*
42. By The Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
41. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
40. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
39. Beneath That Starry Place by Terry Jordan
38. The Darkest Road (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 3) by Guy Gavriel Kay
37. The Wandering Fire (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 2) by Guy Gavriel Kay
36. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
35. Little Town On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder*
34. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
33. The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 1) by Guy Gavriel Kay
32. Though Lovers Be Lost by Roger Moore (poetry)
31. At Bertrams Hotel by Agatha Christie*
30. The Witches by Roald Dahl
29. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
28. Deenie by Judy Blume
27. The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes
26. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
25. Miramar by Naguib Mahfouz
24. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
23. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
22. Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
21. The Bostonians by Henry James
20. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
19. Venus Rising by Laura Burkhart (poetry)
18. The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchy*
17. The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz
16. Hot Money by Dick Francis*
15. Volpone by Ben Jonson
14. The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke
13. The Endless Knot by Gail Bowen
12. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie*
11. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
10. Hundred-Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker
9. A Guide to Animal Behaviour by Douglas Glover
8. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
7. Nerve by Dick Francis*
6. Emma by Jane Austen*
5. Bartholomew Fair by Ben Jonson
4. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
3. The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
2. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
1. Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

Books Read in 2006

* = reread

A Reading Diary (Alberto Manguel)*
Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery)*
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)*
Anne of the Island (L.M. Montgomery)*
Anne of Windy Poplars (L.M. Montgomery)*
Anne’s House of Dreams (L.M. Montgomery)*
Backwater Mystic Blues (Lloyd Ratzlaff)
Black Mischief (Evelyn Waugh)
Bleak House (Charles Dickens)*
Blood of Angels (Allan Safarik)
Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
Burying Ariel (Gail Bowen)*
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)*
Decline and Fall (Evelyn Waugh)
Emma (Jane Austen)*
Falling Slowly (Anita Brookner)
Flight of Aquavit (Anthony Bidulka)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)*
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)*
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)*
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)*
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)*
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)*
I’m Frankie Sterne (Dave Margoshes)
Jazz (Toni Morrison)
Ladder of Years (Anne Tyler)*
Laterna Magika (Ven Begamudré)
Lucky Man (Victor Enns)
Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)*
Mog on Fox Night (Judith Kerr)
Molly’s Veil (Sharon Bajer)
Nerve Squall (Sylvia Legris)
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)*
Olivia Forms a Band (Ian Falconer)
Persuasion (Jane Austen)*
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)*
Rainbow Valley (L.M. Montgomery)*
Rilla of Ingleside (L.M. Montgomery)*
School Days (Robert B. Parker)
Scoop (Evelyn Waugh)
Searching For Caleb (Anne Tyler)*
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)*
The Beet Queen (Louise Erdrich)
The Devil In Babylon (Allan Levine)
The Glass Coffin (Gail Bowen)*
The Last Good Day (Gail Bowen)
The Loved One (Evelyn Waugh)
The Odd Women (George Gissing)
The Pickwick Papers (Charles Dickens)*
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark)*
The Secret Lives of Sergeant John Wilson (Lois Simmie)
The Time In Between (David Bergen)
This Way The Road (Nina Berkhout)
Tropical Classical (Pico Iyer)
Vile Bodies (Evelyn Waugh)
What The Body Remembers (Shauna Singh Baldwin)

Vonnegut’s Rules For Writing

I always enjoy reading what writers have to say about their craft, and there are often some bits of advice that they share with aspiring writers. I’ve just discovered that Kurt Vonnegut has a list of Eight Rules For Writing Fiction.

Here are a few of them:

• Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
• Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
• Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

I’m not sure I agree with the second suggestion—what about the description of the setting (e.g. James Lee Burke’s Louisiana)?

Posted by Amy in Writing

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 25th, 2007 at 8:27 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Vonnegut’s Rules For Writing”

Eight rules for writing fiction - John Baker’s Blog says:

[…] Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1999). This was suggested by a post on Books, Words & Writing. […]

April 2nd, 2007 at 2:41 am

Books, Words, and Writing

Vonnegut’s Rules For Writing

One Response to “Vonnegut’s Rules For Writing”

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