Books for Writers and Editors
Writing
The Art and Craft of Feature Writing – William E. Blundell
Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott
Line by Line: How to Improve Your Own Writing – Claire Kehrwald Cook
The Word: An Associated Press Guide to Good News Writing
The Writing Book – George Kennedy
Uncovering the News: A Journalist’s Search for Information – Lauren Kessler
Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process – Peter
Elbow
Writing Without Teachers – Peter Elbow
Writing Well – Donald Hall
Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers – Jacques Barzun
The Writer’s Art – James Kilpatrick
On Language – William Safire
Working With Words – Brian S. Brooks
Write to Learn – Donald Murray
Read to Write – Donald Murray
The Art of Fiction – John Gardner
On Writing Well – William Zinsser
Best Newspaper Writing (yearly) – Don Fry, editor
English Prose Style – Herbert Read
How to Lie With Statistics – Darrell Huff
Becoming a Writer – Dorothea Brande
The Complete Plain Words – Sir Ernest Gowers
The Practical Stylist – Sheridan Baker
Reporting
Reporting for the Media – Fred Fedler
The Complete Reporter – Julian Harriss
Headlines and Deadlines – Robert E. Garst and Theodore Bernstein
Grammar
A Grammar of the English Language – George O. Curme
The Elements of Grammar – Margaret Shertzer
Grammar for Journalists – E.L. Calihan
When Words Collide: A Media Writer’s Guide to Grammar and Style – Lauren
Kessler and Duncan McDonald
American Usage and Style: The Consensus – Roy H. Copperud
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage – H.W. Fowler
Elements of Style – William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Harbrace College Handbook – John Hodges
Words
The Joys of Yiddish – Leo Rosten
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations – John Bartlett
Crabb’s English Synonyms – George Crabb
Words on Words – John Bremner
The Careful Writer – Theodore Bernstein
Roget’s International Thesaurus
Modern American Usage – Jacques Barzun, editor
Reverse Dictionary – Theodore M. Bernstein
Miss Thistlebottoms Hobgoblins – Theodore M. Bernstein
Rules for Writers – Diana Hacker
Practical English Handbook – Floyd Watkins
Watch Your Language – Theodore M. Bernstein
A Dictionary of Usage and Style – Roy Copperud
Research
The World Almanac
Finding Facts Fast – Alden Todd
The New York Times Guide to Reference Materials – Mona McCormick
Fiction and Nonfiction
Essays of E.B. White – E.B. White
Slouching Toward Bethlehem – Joan Didion
The John McPhee Reader – John McPhee
The Orwell Reader – George Orwell
The novels of Graham Greene (writing with economy and power)
The short stories of John O’Hara (dialogue)
The Autobiography of William Allen White
All the President’s Men – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (watch the
movie, too)
Design
The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook – Tim Harrower
Newspaper Layout and Design – Daryl R. Moen