{"id":1709,"date":"2012-09-05T01:06:10","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T06:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?page_id=1709"},"modified":"2012-09-05T20:19:58","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T01:19:58","slug":"the-fiction-fifty-2009-2010","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?page_id=1709","title":{"rendered":"The Fiction Fifty (Plus)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fictionfifty\"<\/p>\n

UPDATE: <\/strong>September 5, 2012: I wrote this page in 2009, updated it in August of 2011 when I indicated I had read Maud Casey’s Genealogy, and then let it remain static again. This afternoon, as a break from writing my new novel, Fields of Gold<\/em>, (Perpetual Light <\/em>is in advanced draft, cooling in a drawer), I redd off some of the clutter that had accumulated on this surface, dusted everything, and recommitted to reading steadily in this new academic year.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Heather Sellers<\/a>, a writer and student of the craft and process of writing, has several titles in the “You can do it!” category of guides for people like me who struggle to stay focused and to keep on keepin’ on though our characters continue to speak in clich\u00c3\u00a9s, our descriptions seem overwrought, and we can’t think of any other way to end a story\u00c2\u00a0than to say, “And then a miracle happened and they lived happily ever after!” In Chapter After Chapter<\/em>, she advises that you read 100 books like the one you want to write. “Reading one hundred books can take a whole year,” she cautions. In committing to this year of writing fiction seriously, this year when I will take Perpetual Light<\/em>, my novel begun in 2002, to an advanced draft, I’ve chosen fifty-odd works of fiction, some classics, some contemporary, some story collections, that I think will, at the very least, keep the cadences and the mood of fiction uppermost in my mind.<\/p>\n

The titles are given here in alphabetical order by author. Titles given in bold<\/strong> <\/em>are those I have read. When I have written a review, the title\u00c2\u00a0will be\u00c2\u00a0highlighted as a link to the piece. Watch the colors change!<\/p>\n

Allison, Will. What You Have Left<\/em>
\nBarrett, Andrea. Secret Harmonies<\/em>
\nBerg, Elizabeth. Durable Goods
\n___________. Joy School
\n___________. Range of Motion
\n___________.\u00c2\u00a0Talk Before Sleep<\/em>
\n\u00c2\u00a0___________. What We Keep
\n<\/em>Berne, Suzanne. The Ghost at the Table
\n<\/em>Bradford, Richard. Red Sky at Morning
\n<\/em>Carlson, Ron. A Kind of Flying<\/em> (selected stories)
\n<\/em>Casey, Maud<\/strong>. Genealogy
\n<\/em>Chaon, Dan. Await Your Reply<\/em><\/strong>
\nD’Erasmo, Stacey. Tea
\n<\/em>Didion, Joan. A Book of Common Prayer
\n<\/em>Durrow, Heidi<\/strong>. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky<\/strong>
\n<\/em>Faulkner, William. Light in August
\n_____________. The Sound and the Fury
\n<\/em>Fitzgerald, F. Scott.<\/em> The Great Gatsby<\/em>.<\/strong>
\nHayden, Julie. The Lists of the Past.<\/em> (stories)
\nHood, Ann<\/strong>.<\/em> The Knitting Circle
\n<\/em><\/strong>Jones, Tayari. Leaving Atlanta<\/em>
\nKagen, Lesley. Whistling in the Dark
\n<\/em>Kantor, MacKinlay. Andersonville
\n<\/em>Kyle, Aryn. Boys and Girls Like You and Me<\/em><\/strong>
\n________. The God of Animals
\n<\/em>Landis, Dylan.<\/em> Normal People Don’t Live Like This<\/em>. (linked stories)
\n<\/strong>Lott, Brett. A Song I Knew By Heart
\n<\/em>Lowenthal, Michael. Avoidance<\/em>
\nMallon, Thomas. Henry and Clara
\n<\/em>McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding
\n<\/em><\/strong>Mockett, Marie. Picking Bones from Ash
\n<\/em>Nelson, Antonya. Nothing Right<\/em> (stories)
\n_____________, Family Terrorists<\/em> (novella and stories)
\n_____________. Talking In Bed<\/strong>
\n<\/em>Noel, Katharine<\/strong>. Halfway House
\n<\/em>Rabb, Margo. <\/strong>Cures for Heartbreak
\n<\/strong><\/em>Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead
\n________________. Home<\/em>.
\nRusso, Richard. Empire Falls
\n<\/em>Schutt, Christine. Florida<\/em>
\nSebold, Alice, ed. Best American Short Stories 2009<\/em> (stories by various authors)
\nShields, Carol. The Stone Diaries<\/em>
\nShreve, Porter. <\/strong>The Obituary Writer<\/strong>
\n<\/em>Singer, Katie. The Wholeness of a Broken Heart
\n<\/em>Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge<\/em> (connected stories)
\n<\/strong>Tinti, Hannah. The Good Thief<\/em>
\nTyler, Anne. The Accidental Tourist<\/em>
\n_________. The Amateur Marriage
\n_________. A Slipping Down Life
\n_________. Back When We Were Grownups
\n_________. Breathing Lessons
\n_________. Celestial Navigation
\n_________. The Clock Winder
\n_________. If Morning Ever Comes
\n_________. Ladder of Years
\n_________. Searching for Caleb
\n_________. The Tin Can Tree
\n<\/em>van den Berg, Laura. What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us<\/em>. <\/strong>(story collection)
\nWood, Patricia<\/strong>. Lottery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n