Improving one's writing:

     I have been surfing the web quite a bit lately, seeing what others have to say about how to improve one’s writing. There is plenty of information out there, some are lists of techniques used by other successful authors and some are helpful comments added by quests. I was struck that few people notes the power of reading as being extremely influential in helping create a better writer. I made frequent comments that reading is the most important activity, short of actually writing, that a writer can do to improve their own writing.

Markus Zusak The Book Thief

    I was recently looking back at some of the books that I’ve read this past year for titles that I’d either recommend or have recommended. Topping the list was “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Zusak was a very young author when he began receiving awards and recognition for his first several YA novels. “The Book Thief” is a story of a young girl living in Germany in the 1940s. The plot involves life, death and the main character’s discovery of the power and meaning of literary works. This was actually recommended to me and after reading it I passed it on to someone else. I would definitely place this on a must read list of modern literature.