I recommend and reference a lot of books, movies, articles, and podcasts on The Every Day Novelist. The following is an attempt to collect them all into a single reading list. Those of you who follow me elsewhere find some overlap with my Autodidact’s Reading List, but mostly this is tailored for writers.
The Every Day Novelist
These are books written as a direct result of The Every Day Novelist podacast
Becoming an Every Day Novelist by J. Daniel Sawyer
Business 101 by J. Daniel Sawyer
Business
S-corp vs. C-corp vs. LLC
Tax Savvy for Small Businesses
The Business Rusch: Discoverability Series
How to Increase Book Discoverability with Meta Tags
Making Tracks: A Writer’s Guide to Audiobooks and How to Produce Them by J. Daniel Sawyer
Metadata for Self-Publishers
Playing the Short Game by Douglas Smith
Some Might Call it Infringement Article on copyright and the boundaries of fair use
The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman
The Creative Penn Podcast
The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood by Joe Eszterhas
The Freelancer’s Survival Guide by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Pulp Jungle: The Definitive History of the Pulp Era by Frank Gruber
The What, Why, and How of Content Tagging
WIRED Magazine article on the effect of DRM on customers
Craft
This section includes resources that bear directly on the craft of writing
Article: Empathy Depends on a Cool Head as Much as a Warm Heart
Just Write Youtube Channel
Dan Wells’s 7-Point Plot Lecture
David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants
Ira Glass on Taste
Is it Racist to Mention Skin Color? by Robert J. Sawyer
MIT Lecture by J. Michael Stracynzski
The Shapes of Stories Lecture by Kurt Vonnegut
The Six Main Arcs of Storytelling
The World’s Last Night and Other Essays by C.S. Lewis
Tolkien’s Middle-Earth curriculum by James Morrow. Good worldbuilding resource.
Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien
Writing Into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith
Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman
Writing to Sell by Scott Meredith
General Education
This section includes resources on mythopoetics, psychology, worldbuilding, science, history, and anything else that can come in handy for the writer constructing brave new worlds
1491 by Charles C. Mann
American Nations by Colin Woodard
Anatomy of a Motive by John Douglas
Appendix N by Jeffro Johnson
Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
Color: A Natural History of the Palate by Victoria Finlay
Combatting cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan
Connections by James Burke (miniseries)
Council on Foreign Relations YouTube Channel
David Hume: The Essential Philosophical Works
EconTalk podcast
Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
The Gulag Archipeligo by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast
Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
How to Cheat at Everything by Simon Lovell
How the Scots Invented the Modern World
I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me by Jerrold J. Kreisman
Joseph Campbell: Hero with a Thousand Faces A brief film introducing the Jungian hero archetypes as re-interpreted by Joseph Cambell
Maps of Meaning University of Toronto lecture series on psychology, archetypes, and mythopoetics, taught by Jordon Peterson.
Mind Hunter by John Douglas
The Naked Scientists podcast
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
Planet Money podcast
Playing at the World by Jon Peterson
Psychological Subtleties, vol 1 by Banachek
Richard Feynman Lectures
Rites and Symbols of Initiation by Mircea Eliade
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy and Paul Wilson
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Bible Geek podcast
The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke (miniseries)
The Masks of God by Joseph Campbell
The Morphology of the Folktale by V. Propp
The Riddle of the Resurrection by Tryggve Mettinger
The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society by Arthur J. Deikman, M.D.
Throwing Lead: A Writer’s Guide to Firearms and How to Use Them by J. Daniel Sawyer and Mary Mason
Today I Found Out YouTube Channel
Two Treatises of Government, John Locke
VisualPolitik YouTube Channel
The Fact and Fiction of Martian Dust Storms NASA Article
Novels
1984 by George Orwell
24 Hours by Greg Iles
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Ghostly Christmas Present by J. Daniel Sawyer
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
A Midnight Line by Lee Child
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Alaska by James Michener
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein (from the collection The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag)
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
An Instance at the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
And Then She Was Gone by J. Daniel Sawyer
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Arthur by Stephen R. Lawhead
At The Edge of Nowhere by J. Daniel Sawyer
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Aztec by Gary Jennings
The Best American Mysteries of the Century
Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Bio of a Space Tyrant Series by Piers Anthony
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
Blood and Weeds by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Bodies in the Basement by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
A Boy and His Dog, by Harlan Ellison
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein
Candide by Voltaire
The Case of the Backward Mule by Earl Stanley Gardner
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Chicken Noodle Gravity by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Cicero: Selected Works
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
The Coffee Service by J. Daniel Sawyer
Cold Duty: Selected Readings from the Diary of a Gelusian Repairman by J. Daniel Sawyer
Coleridge: Poems
The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
The Complete HP Lovecraft
Complete Stories of Robert Bloch
Conan the Barbarian Series by Robert E Howard
Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn by Piers Anthony
Crudrat by Gail Carriger
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Death World by Harry Harrison
The Deep Blue Good by John D. Macdonald
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Doc Savage: The Sinister Shadow by Kenneth Robeson (Lester Dent)
The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
Down From Ten by J. Daniel Sawyer
Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
Dune by Frank Herbert
Earth Abides by George Stewart
Earth Search by James Follet (BBC Radio adaptation)
Edgar Allan Poe, The Works of
The Empty House by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Essays of E.B. White
Exodus by Leon Uris
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Farnham’s Freehold, by Robert A. Heinlein
Faust by Goethe
Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
The Final Formula by Becca Andre
Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers
Funeral Hats by J. Daniel Sawyer
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
The Gap Cycle by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes by Lawrence Block
The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A Heinlein
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Guy de Maupassant, The Complete Works of
H. Beam Piper Megapack
Hadrian’s Flight by J. Daniel Sawyer
Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson
The History of Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Ideas, Inc. by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Illiad by Homer
Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony
The Inferno by Dante
The Invaders Plan by L. Ron Hubbard
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
It: A Novel by Stephen King
James Bond series by Ian Flemming
John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The Killings at Badger’s Drift by Caroline Graham
The Knife Slipped by Earl Stanley Gardner
The King James Bible
Knock by Frederic Brown
LA Confidential by James Ellroy
Lie Down with Lions by Ken Follett
The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler
Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Lord Byron: The Major Works
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet
The Man in the Rain by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
The Man Who Traveled in Elephants by Robert A. Heinlein (from his collection The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag)
The Mark of the Beast by Rudyard Kipling
Mark Twain Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches & Essays 1852-1890
Mary Shelley: The Ultimate Collection
Mary Wollstonecraft, The Complete Works of
The Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein
Middlemarch by George Elliot
Misery by Stephen King
The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais
Mort by Terry Pratchett
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
North and South by John Jakes
The Odyssey by Homer
The Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
On The Beach by Nevil Shute
The Open Source Woman by J. Daniel Sawyer
Once a Hero by Michael A. Stackpole
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger
Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
P.G. Wodehouse, The Collection
The Philip K. Dick Collection
Pick a Card by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Portable Nietzche by Frederich Neitzche
The Postman by David Brin
Prey by Michael Crichton
The Professor Challenger series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Poetics by Aristotle
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Proverbs
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
Rear Window by Cornell Woolrich
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
Requiem by Robert A. Heinlein
The Republic by Plato
The Resurrection Junket by J. Daniel Sawyer
The Road to Gandalfo by Robert Ludlum
Robert Service, The Best of
The Robert Silverberg Megapack
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Rocketship Gallileo by Robert A. Heinlein
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein
Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks
The Satires of Juvenal
The Serpent and the Satchel by J. Daniel Sawyer
Sculpting God by J. Daniel Sawyer
Shelley’s Poetry and Prose
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Shoes I Wore This Morning by J. Daniel Sawyer
Shogun by James Clavell
The Short Novels of John Steinbeck
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Silent Victor by J. Daniel Sawyer
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Society of Miserable Bastards by J. Daniel Sawyer
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Smoke Rings by J. Daniel Sawyer
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Source by James Michener
Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein
Speeches that Changed the World
Spencer by Robert B. Parker
Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster
The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
The Stand by Stephen King
The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein
Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein
Starman’s Son by Andre Norton
Stone Cold by Robert. B. Parker
Suave Rob’s Double-X Derring-Do by J. Daniel Sawyer
Suave Rob’s Rough-n-Ready Rugrat Rapture by J. Daniel Sawyer
Sunday Morning Giraffe by J. Daniel Sawyer
Stories from the Twilight Zone by Rod Serling
Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Thousand-Headed Man by Kenneth Robeson (a.k.a. Lester Dent)
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by Robert A. Heinlein
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Edgar Allan Poe, The Works of
Franz Kafka, The Works of
Oscar Wilde, The Works of
Shakespeare, The Works of
The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
They’re Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson (from his collection Bears Discover Fire)
Time For The Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Caroll
Trouble in Paradise by Robert B. Parker
Tunnel In The Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Ulysses by James Joyce
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Very Bad Deaths by Spider Robinson
Waldo and Magic, Inc.by Robert A. Heinlein
Wasted Youth by Jim Steinman (from the Meatloaf album Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell)
William Blake: Complete Collection
Witch World by Andre Norton
The Martian, by Andy Weir
Movies
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
The A-Team (series)
The Alien Quadrilogy
Babylon 5
Back to the Future
The Big Lebowski
The Big Sleep
Black Mirror
Brazil
Captain’s Holiday, episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Cast Away
Chinatown
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Devil’s Advocate
Dick Tracy (1990)
Die Hard
Dogma
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Who
Dudley Do-Right
Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man
Eyes Wide Shut R-rated version / Unrated version
Friday the 13th
The Godfather
Goldfinger
Halloween
The Hateful Eight
House, M.D.
Independence Day
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (DVD / Blu-Ray)
Jewel of the Nile
The Life of David Gale
Lost
Madame Curie
Magnum P.I.
Mad Max
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Midsomer Murders
The Mikado
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
NCIS
Paths of Glory
Predestination
Psycho IV
Pulp Fiction
The Quiet Earth
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reservoir Dogs
The Rocketeer
Romancing the Stone
Schindler’s List
Scream
Sherlock
Star Wars
Stephen King’s Misery
THX 1138
Tremors
Top Gun
The Trouble with Tribbles classic Star Trek episode
The Usual Suspects
WarGames
Yentl
Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues
ZooTV
The Wizard of Oz