Contemporary Writing
This portion of the LibGuide is meant to act as a "recommended reading" section because, as you know, writers need to read. We need to stay current in our writing style; this is not to say that nothing can be learned from the classic literary cannon, but the past isn't the present or future. Learn from these recommended readings; as a design flaw, the readings are organized by genre, but you are encouraged to read something you consider to be "out of your genre."
Be open to the experience of the text, the way it feels against the grain of your mind. You never know what you might absorb from reading other author's writing.
Fiction
Cold Mountain by Call Number: PS3556.R3599 C6 1997ISBN: 0871136791Publication Date: 1997-05-16
Gilead by Call Number: PS3568.O3125 G55 2004ISBN: 0374153892Publication Date: 2004-11-19
The Goldfinch by Call Number: PS3570.A657 G65 2013ISBN: 9780316055437Publication Date: 2013-10-22
Home by Call Number: PS3568.O3125 H58 2008bISBN: 184408549XPublication Date: 2008
Housekeeping by Call Number: PS3568.O3125 H6 1980ISBN: 0374173133Publication Date: 1981-01-01
Lila by Call Number: PS3568.O3125 L55 2014ISBN: 0374187614Publication Date: 2014-10-07
Lincoln in the Bardo by Call Number: PS3569.A7897 L56 2017ISBN: 9780812995343Publication Date: 2017-02-14
On Beauty by Call Number: PR6069.M59 O5 2005ISBN: 1594200637Publication Date: 2005-09-13
Paper Is White by Call Number: PS3626.A62545 P37 2018ISBN: 9781612941134Publication Date: 2018-03-13
Skinny Legs and All by Call Number: PS3568.O233 S55 1990ISBN: 0553057758Publication Date: 1990-04-01
American Gods by Call Number: PR6057.A319 A84 2003ISBN: 0060558121Publication Date: 2003-09-02- Rabbit, Run byCall Number: PS3571.P4 R3Publication Date: 1960
The World According to Garp by Call Number: PS3559.R68 W6ISBN: 0525237704Publication Date: 1978-04-24
William Trevor's Selected Stories by Call Number: PR6070.R4 A6 2010ISBN: 9780670022069Publication Date: 2010-11-04
Giovanni's Room by Call Number: PS3552.A45 G5 2016ISBN: 9781101907740Publication Date: 2016-03-01
A Mercy by Call Number: PS3563.O8749 M47 2009ISBN: 9780307276766Publication Date: 2009-08-11
Texts Not Available at Milne
- Tom Robbins, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
- Stephan King, Bag of Bones
Poetry Collections
Life on Mars by Call Number: PS3619.M5955 L54 2011ISBN: 9781555975845Publication Date: 2011-05-10
Behind My Eyes by Call Number: PS3562.E35438 B45 2008ISBN: 9780393065428Publication Date: 2008-01-17
The City in Which I Love You by Call Number: PS3562.E35438 C57 1990ISBN: 0918526825Publication Date: 1990-09-01
Rose by Call Number: PS3562.E35438 R6 1986ISBN: 0918526523Publication Date: 1986-01-01
Repair by Call Number: PS3573.I4483 R46 1999ISBN: 0374249326Publication Date: 1999-06-01
Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Call Number: PS3573.R5327 W3 2003ISBN: 0375415181Publication Date: 2003-10-14
Source by Call Number: PS3554.O798 S68 2002ISBN: 0060935405Publication Date: 2002-11-26
Atlantis by Call Number: PS3554.O798 A92 1995ISBN: 0060553626Publication Date: 1995-09-01
Texts Not Available in Milne
- Ilya Kaminsky: Dancing in Odessa & Deaf Republic
- Linda Gregerson: Prodigal, Magnetic North, Waterborne,& The Woman Who Died in Her Sleep
- Galway Kinnell: The Book of Nightmares, Strong Is Your Hold, & Mortal Acts, Mortal Wounds
- Carol Snow: For
- Carrie Fountain: Instant Winner & Burn Lake
- Natasha Tretheway: Bellocq's Ophelia, Thrall, & Native Guard
- Alice Fulton: Felt, Barely Composed, & Sensual Math
- Tracy K. Smith: Wade in the Water
- Li-Young Lee: The Undressing
- Ruth Stone: Simplicity & In the Next Galaxy
- Edward Hirsch: Lay Back the Darkness & Special Orders
- C.K. Williams: The Vigil, Flesh and Blood
- Franz Wright: Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, God’s Silence, & Wheeling Motel
- Ocean Vuong: Night Sky with Exit Wounds
- Eamon Grennan: Still Life with Waterfall, Out of Sight, & Matter of Fact
- Czeslaw Milosz: Second Space
- Linda Russ Spaar: Blue Venus
- Nikki Giovanni: Chasing Utopia & Love Poems
- Ralph Black: Turning Over the Earth + Bloom & Laceration
- Mark Doty: Still Life with Oysters and Lemon
- Campbell McGrath: Florida Poems & Shannon
Creative Nonfiction/Memoir
The Liars' Club by Call Number: PS3561.A6929 Z468 2005ISBN: 0143035746Publication Date: 2005-05-31
Karen Green: Bough Down by Call Number: PS3607.R43299 B68 2013ISBN: 9781938221019Publication Date: 2013-04-30
This Boy's Life by Call Number: PS3573.O558 Z477 1989ISBN: 0871132486Publication Date: 1989-01-01
Queen of the Fall by Call Number: CT275.L5586 A3 2015ISBN: 9780803280670Publication Date: 2015-04-01
The Devil's Highway by Call Number: JV6475 .U77 2004ISBN: 0316746711Publication Date: 2004-04-02
Syzygy, Beauty by Call Number: PS3606.L453 S98 2012ISBN: 9781936747269Publication Date: 2012-03-20
Texts Not Available in Milne
- Anne Panning: Dragonfly Notes
- Cheryl Strayed: Torch & Wild
- Gregory Orr: The Blessing
- Mary Karr: Cherry, Lit
- Meredeth Hall: Without a Map
Cross Genre
Annotations by Call Number: PS3561.E3717 A82 1995 Other - 4 Hour ReservesISBN: 0811213048Publication Date: 1995-10-17
The Woman Warrior by Call Number: CT275.K5764 A33 1976ISBN: 0394400674Publication Date: 1976-08-12
Zami by Call Number: PS3562.O75 Z23 1982ISBN: 0895941236Publication Date: 1983-09-01
Texts Not Available in Milne
Information Delivery Service (IDS) is a resource available to you through Milne. Through this service, you can request and receive books free of charge; they will be delivered to Milne within at least a week of ordering. If you'd like to get a small taste of the novel, poetry collection or memoir/essays, Google Books is a resource that allows you to read the beginning of a text.
Simply-E is an app developed by the New York Public Library. It allows you access to more than 300,000 e-books and are available to anyone with a library card. An easy way to access all of these books is to sign up for a library card with Wadsworth Library (24 Center Street). Some of the books recommended on this list might be available at Wadsworth, too!
