Writing a novel has been a dream of mine since reading The Outsiders and Vision Quest as a kid. Every couple years I’d write a scene here, a character sketch there or send a snippet of dialogue to myself in an email—only to escape back to reality when school, career or self-doubt got in the way.
Fear and uncertainty guarded my serious exploration of the writing life like a two-headed dog. I was afraid people other than the voice in my head would tell me my writing wasn’t very good. My restless mind craved instant gratification, not a mult-year project with no guarantee of an outcome.
In early 2020, however, I decided to leave my career for reasons I’ll describe in a future post. Around the same time, I read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, which showed me how to face the fear. That led to Save the Cat! Writes a Book by Jessica Brody, where I discovered the roadmap that broke the uncertainty down into manageable milestones. By the middle of the year, I completed an outline for what became A Reason to Run and never looked back.
A number of books have informed my adventure in writing over the past three years. Some are on the craft of writing, itself. Others are non-fiction books about themes covered in A Reason to Run (health & wellness, addiction & recovery, ambition & responsibility, mental health, philosophy and, of course, endurance sports). Plenty taught me how fiction writers write quality coming-of-age and sports fiction stories.
I always find it interesting to hear what books my favorite authors read, so I’ve returned the favor with the list below. I recommend all these titles for different reasons.
To help cull the long list, I’ve noted my top ten-ish non-fiction and fiction selections. I’d love to hear what you think—feel free to email me with your thoughts.
The Short List
Writing Craft
The Creative Act: A Way of Being Rick Rubin
Dialogue, Robert McKee
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
Non-Fiction
ADHD 2.0, Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
The Boys of Winter, Wayne Coffey
Do Hard Things, Steve Magness
Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday
Finding Ultra, Rich Roll
The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus
The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stulberg
Swimming Sudies, Leanne Shapton
Fiction
Beartown, Frederik Backman
Heroine, Mindy McGinnis
In the Wild Light, Jeff Zentner
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis
Once a Runner, John L. Parker, Jr.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
The Rider, Tim Krabbe
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Vision Quest, Terry Davis
You'd Be Home Now, Kathleen Glasgow
The Long List
Writing Craft
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, Seth Godin
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Steven King
Character, Robert McKee
Dialogue, Robert McKee
Story, Robert McKee
Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
The Creative Act: A Way of Being Rick Rubin
Non-Fiction
The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb
The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus
The Boys of Winter, Wayne Coffey
The First Tour de France, Peter Cossins
Waterlog, Roger Deakin
Sprinting Through No Man’s Land, Adin Dobkin
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
Escape from Freedom, Erich Fromm
Tale of the Times: A Runner's Story, Bob Hodge
ADHD 2.0, Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari
Waking Up, Sam Harris
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand
The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday
Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday
Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday
Lives of the Stoics, Ryan Holiday
Courage is Calling, Ryan Holiday
Discipline is Destiny, Ryan Holiday
The Boy Who Would be King, Ryan Holiday
The Road to Sparta, Dean Karnazes
Transcend, Scott Barry Kaufman
The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson
Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke
Do Hard Things, Steve Magness
The Science of Running, Steve Magness
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami
Last Best Hope, George Packer
It’s Not About You, Tom Rath
Finding Ultra, Rich Roll
How to Be Perfect, Michael Schur
Swimming Studies, Leanne Shapton
Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness
The Passion Paradox, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness
The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stulberg
Running is a Kind of Dreaming, J.M. Thompson
Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
Fiction
Beartown, Frederik Backman
Us Against You, Frederik Backman
The Stranger, Albert Camus
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
Vision Quest, Terry Davis
Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis
A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
Girl on the Line, Faith Gardner
Girl in Pieces, Kathleen Glasgow
You’d Be Home Now, Kathleen Glasgow
Making Friends With the Dark, Kathleen Glasgow
Looking for Alaska, John Green
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green
Paper Towns, John Green
The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
The Rider, Tim Krabbe
The Anomaly, Herve Le Tellier
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy
Heroine, Mindy McGinnis
The Runner in Red, Tom Murphy
Soup, Robert Newton
All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven
There There, Tommy Orange
Out of Nowhere, Maria Padian
Once a Runner, John L. Parker, Jr.
Again to Carthage, John L. Parker, Jr.
Racing the Rain, John L. Parker, Jr.
A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell
The Legend of Bagger Vance, Steven Pressfield
Boy21, Matthew Quick
Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Normal People, Sally Rooney
The Ghost Writer, Philip Roth
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
The Beginning of Everything, Robyn Schneider
Extraordinary Means, Robyn Schneider
What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg
Ball Boy, Paul Shirley
Girl Out of Water, Laura Silverman
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
The Escape of Light, Fred Venturini
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
The Serpeant King, Jeff Zentner
Goodbye Days, Jeff Zentner
In the Wild Light, Jeff Zentner
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
Fear and uncertainty guarded my serious exploration of the writing life like a two-headed dog. I was afraid people other than the voice in my head would tell me my writing wasn’t very good. My restless mind craved instant gratification, not a mult-year project with no guarantee of an outcome.
In early 2020, however, I decided to leave my career for reasons I’ll describe in a future post. Around the same time, I read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, which showed me how to face the fear. That led to Save the Cat! Writes a Book by Jessica Brody, where I discovered the roadmap that broke the uncertainty down into manageable milestones. By the middle of the year, I completed an outline for what became A Reason to Run and never looked back.
A number of books have informed my adventure in writing over the past three years. Some are on the craft of writing, itself. Others are non-fiction books about themes covered in A Reason to Run (health & wellness, addiction & recovery, ambition & responsibility, mental health, philosophy and, of course, endurance sports). Plenty taught me how fiction writers write quality coming-of-age and sports fiction stories.
I always find it interesting to hear what books my favorite authors read, so I’ve returned the favor with the list below. I recommend all these titles for different reasons.
To help cull the long list, I’ve noted my top ten-ish non-fiction and fiction selections. I’d love to hear what you think—feel free to email me with your thoughts.
The Short List
Writing Craft
The Creative Act: A Way of Being Rick Rubin
Dialogue, Robert McKee
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
Non-Fiction
ADHD 2.0, Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
The Boys of Winter, Wayne Coffey
Do Hard Things, Steve Magness
Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday
Finding Ultra, Rich Roll
The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus
The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stulberg
Swimming Sudies, Leanne Shapton
Fiction
Beartown, Frederik Backman
Heroine, Mindy McGinnis
In the Wild Light, Jeff Zentner
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis
Once a Runner, John L. Parker, Jr.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
The Rider, Tim Krabbe
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Vision Quest, Terry Davis
You'd Be Home Now, Kathleen Glasgow
The Long List
Writing Craft
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody
The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, Seth Godin
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Steven King
Character, Robert McKee
Dialogue, Robert McKee
Story, Robert McKee
Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
The Creative Act: A Way of Being Rick Rubin
Non-Fiction
The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb
The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus
The Boys of Winter, Wayne Coffey
The First Tour de France, Peter Cossins
Waterlog, Roger Deakin
Sprinting Through No Man’s Land, Adin Dobkin
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
Escape from Freedom, Erich Fromm
Tale of the Times: A Runner's Story, Bob Hodge
ADHD 2.0, Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari
Waking Up, Sam Harris
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand
The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday
Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday
Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday
Lives of the Stoics, Ryan Holiday
Courage is Calling, Ryan Holiday
Discipline is Destiny, Ryan Holiday
The Boy Who Would be King, Ryan Holiday
The Road to Sparta, Dean Karnazes
Transcend, Scott Barry Kaufman
The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson
Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke
Do Hard Things, Steve Magness
The Science of Running, Steve Magness
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami
Last Best Hope, George Packer
It’s Not About You, Tom Rath
Finding Ultra, Rich Roll
How to Be Perfect, Michael Schur
Swimming Studies, Leanne Shapton
Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness
The Passion Paradox, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness
The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stulberg
Running is a Kind of Dreaming, J.M. Thompson
Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
Fiction
Beartown, Frederik Backman
Us Against You, Frederik Backman
The Stranger, Albert Camus
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
Vision Quest, Terry Davis
Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis
A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
Girl on the Line, Faith Gardner
Girl in Pieces, Kathleen Glasgow
You’d Be Home Now, Kathleen Glasgow
Making Friends With the Dark, Kathleen Glasgow
Looking for Alaska, John Green
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green
Paper Towns, John Green
The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
The Rider, Tim Krabbe
The Anomaly, Herve Le Tellier
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy
Heroine, Mindy McGinnis
The Runner in Red, Tom Murphy
Soup, Robert Newton
All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven
There There, Tommy Orange
Out of Nowhere, Maria Padian
Once a Runner, John L. Parker, Jr.
Again to Carthage, John L. Parker, Jr.
Racing the Rain, John L. Parker, Jr.
A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell
The Legend of Bagger Vance, Steven Pressfield
Boy21, Matthew Quick
Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Normal People, Sally Rooney
The Ghost Writer, Philip Roth
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
The Beginning of Everything, Robyn Schneider
Extraordinary Means, Robyn Schneider
What Makes Sammy Run? Budd Schulberg
Ball Boy, Paul Shirley
Girl Out of Water, Laura Silverman
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
The Escape of Light, Fred Venturini
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
The Serpeant King, Jeff Zentner
Goodbye Days, Jeff Zentner
In the Wild Light, Jeff Zentner
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
