Here are 28 books that Unflubbify Your Writing fans have personally recommended if you like Unflubbify Your Writing. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Best Punctuation Book, Period: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer, Editor, Student, and Businessperson

John Irvin Author Of Make Your Writing Zing With Proofreading A Through Z!: Tips for Writers, Authors, and Publishers Alike

From my list on for writers who care about their words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a writer since I was fourteen (possibly before that) and I’ve been an official freelance proofreader/copyeditor since 2019. I’ve published over thirty books and proofread or copyedited over sixty-two manuscripts as of this writing. I’ve garnered enough experience in both fields to, at least, be considered.

John's book list on for writers who care about their words

John Irvin Why John loves this book

This was one of the first books I bought when I started my proofreading career. It has come in handy so many times and still does as a refresher. It not only shares the grammar or punctuation rules for one style, but has actual comparison lists for each style out there. Want a good reminder about the rules that guide the best writing? This is one of the best books to have on your library shelf, period.

By June Casagrande ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Best Punctuation Book, Period as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This all-in-one reference is a quick and easy way for book, magazine, online, academic, and business writers to look up sticky punctuation questions for all styles including AP (Associated Press), MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and Chicago Manual of Style.

Punctuate with Confidence—No Matter the Style

Confused about punctuation? There’s a reason. Everywhere you turn, publications seem to follow different rules on everything from possessive apostrophes to hyphens to serial commas. Then there are all the gray areas of punctuation—situations the rule books gloss over or never mention at all. At last, help has arrived.
 
This complete…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Writer's Compass: From Story Map to Finished Draft in 7 Stages

John Irvin Author Of Make Your Writing Zing With Proofreading A Through Z!: Tips for Writers, Authors, and Publishers Alike

From my list on for writers who care about their words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a writer since I was fourteen (possibly before that) and I’ve been an official freelance proofreader/copyeditor since 2019. I’ve published over thirty books and proofread or copyedited over sixty-two manuscripts as of this writing. I’ve garnered enough experience in both fields to, at least, be considered.

John's book list on for writers who care about their words

John Irvin Why John loves this book

If you’re struggling to find the right plot progression, this book helps with tips on how to map out the storyline. It’s helped me tremendously in several of my own novels. Any writer who cares about making an exceptional plot should have this book in their personal library.

By Nancy Ellen Dodd ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Writer's Compass as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Map out your idea and finish your story in 7 stages!

This book will show writers how to develop their ideas into a finished novel by working through it in 7 stages, while learning how to mapping out their story's progress and structure so they can evaluate and improve their work. It teaches writers to visualize their story's progress with a story map that helps them see all the different components of their story, where these components are going, and, perhaps most importantly, what's missing.

The book simplifies Aristotle's elements of good writing (a.k.a. that each story should have a…


Book cover of The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

John Irvin Author Of Make Your Writing Zing With Proofreading A Through Z!: Tips for Writers, Authors, and Publishers Alike

From my list on for writers who care about their words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a writer since I was fourteen (possibly before that) and I’ve been an official freelance proofreader/copyeditor since 2019. I’ve published over thirty books and proofread or copyedited over sixty-two manuscripts as of this writing. I’ve garnered enough experience in both fields to, at least, be considered.

John's book list on for writers who care about their words

John Irvin Why John loves this book

Another excellent book about plot and the importance of making sure you have a good one. The difference between a good plot and a great plot is a bestseller. If you want your story’s plot to speak of mastery, do not miss out on reading this insightful book. Add it to your personal library for good measure. It’s always a good idea to have it there, so you can reference it in the future even after finishing it.

By Martha Alderson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Plot Whisperer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover how to create stories that build suspense, reveal character, and engage your audience with this ultimate guide to writing.

When it comes to writing bestsellers, it's all about the plot. Trouble is, plot is where most writers fall down-but you don't have to be one of them. With this book, you'll learn how to create stories that build suspense, reveal character, and engage readers-one scene at a time.

Celebrated writing teacher and author Martha Alderson has devised a plotting system that's as innovative as it is easy to implement. With her foolproof blueprint, you'll learn to devise a successful…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Start Your Proofreading Side-Hustle: Maximize Your Writing Skills

John Irvin Author Of Make Your Writing Zing With Proofreading A Through Z!: Tips for Writers, Authors, and Publishers Alike

From my list on for writers who care about their words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a writer since I was fourteen (possibly before that) and I’ve been an official freelance proofreader/copyeditor since 2019. I’ve published over thirty books and proofread or copyedited over sixty-two manuscripts as of this writing. I’ve garnered enough experience in both fields to, at least, be considered.

John's book list on for writers who care about their words

John Irvin Why John loves this book

This book played a part in my main source of income. Starting my own proofreading business wasn’t easy. I did have help from others, but I wanted to mention this book as a good starter to give insight and ideas on how to start your own freelance proofreading business. You can start it as a side-hustle, or you can go full-time, it’s up to you!

By Ashan R. Hampton ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Start Your Proofreading Side-Hustle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Proofreading is a highly marketable skill that makes for a great side-hustle or second income, especially for teachers. As more people write a variety of content across numerous industries, opportunities abound for professionals with above average language skills to bankroll their knack for words into a profitable home-based business.
Now more than ever before, the stage is set for good writers, editors, proofreaders and teachers to sharpen their skills and promote their services. The field of freelance proofreading is wide open with potential clients everywhere. For the curious and the determined, Start Your Proofreading Side-Hustle: Maximize Your Writing Skillsanswers the…


Book cover of Get Rich In Spite of Yourself

Robert C. Worstell Author Of Get Your Self Scam Free

From my list on helping you learn how to make honest money online.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been scammed several times. Even getting out of one and then being suckered into another. So after the last time, I just quit buying stuff until I'd gotten how and why I could get flim-flammed to begin with. So people could wise themselves up and get their freedom back. It only took a couple of years of my life, but I was able to use all my experiences of being scammed, so the research technically started many years earlier. I've got several degrees including a doctorate, and have published hundreds of titles from the research I've done in various fields. Even one on how to research.

Robert's book list on helping you learn how to make honest money online

Robert C. Worstell Why Robert loves this book

This is a rare book, but in spite of the 1945 language, the author breaks down the principles of financial success. It tells what can motivate you to succeed, and what will be your ruin. When I reviewed this again recently, I was surprised how many of these key principles were common in other success and “make money” books. Well worth getting your own copy if you can find it.

By Louis M. Grafe ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Get Rich In Spite of Yourself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Many rich and successful men and women," declares the author of this helpful book, "have no more brains or energy than anyone else. They are usually driven to success. "Frequently they are so helpless they can't stop moving ahead even when they want to. Their money is made in spite of themselves!" Louis M. Grafe, who made his own fortune, lost it, and then went on to earn another fortune, presents an astonishingly simple formula for wealth and success. He has tested it in his own experience and has found that it has brought wealth not only to him but…


Book cover of The Empty Canvas

Elisa Pezzotta Author Of The Prison of Time: Stanley Kubrick, Adrian Lyne, Michael Bay and Quentin Tarantino

From my list on timeless books about time.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a baby, I was fascinated by shadows, how they lengthened and shortened till they disappeared, and how they moved their position around me and objects. I used to play with Barbies; I invented stories that lasted for days, progressively postponing the main events in favor of their preparation. Progressively, I became accustomed to my relatives’s death and their funerals. I realized that time connected these observations and games as much as the novels and films that I loved. In my list, you can find stimulating books where Time shyly shows itself on a stage.         

Elisa's book list on timeless books about time

Elisa Pezzotta Why Elisa loves this book

In this novel, time becomes almost a character. It is an empty time, although so heavy and thick, to fill in all the space around the protagonist Dino and to enter into him.

Art and sex, the only Dino’s activities, are not characterized by their distinctive passion and enthusiasm that sometimes destroy and sometimes raise a man. Art and sex become a dead pastime dominated by time alone.      

By Alberto Moravia ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Empty Canvas as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of The History Of The Siege Of Lisbon

John Krich Author Of Music in Every Room

From my list on travel across cultural borders.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I followed a girlfriend on the hippie trail through Asia (see: Around the World In A Bad Mood) at 25, I had my life changed from fledgling novelist to travel writer—when, despite my professed difficulties, major magazines started calling me to see the world on their dime. I also was able to center three more book accounts of my wanderings on major life passions (Latin baseball, Brazilian music and Chinese food), so that I had enriching experiences even when the royalties weren't. I have taught courses on "travel lit" everywhere from Berkeley to Kuala Lumpur and honed a philosophy of travel writing as the ultimate in wide-eyed amateurism.

John's book list on travel across cultural borders

John Krich Why John loves this book

In the hands of Jose Saramago, a baroque stylist yet radical thinker, this tale of a reclusive proofreader and the definitive account of a 12th-century battle moves between the most stubborn boundary of all—separating the present from a still vivid past and a place where many of his Portuguese countrymen still live.

By José Saramago ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The History Of The Siege Of Lisbon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An editor at a Portuguese publishing house, Raimundo Silva, undertakes to rewrite a crucial episode in Portuguese history as a romantic saga, with the amorous encouragement of his supervisor.


Book cover of Building a Housewife's Paradise: Gender, Politics, and American Grocery Stores in the Twentieth Century

Xaq Frohlich Author Of From Label to Table: Regulating Food in America in the Information Age

From my list on explain the origins of our industrial food system.

Why am I passionate about this?

People tend to think of food as being simple and self-evident, or at least feel it should be. In fact, almost every aspect of modern food has been dramatically reshaped by science and technology. Something that fascinates me as a historian is thinking about past transformations in our foodways and how they explain the social tensions and political struggles we live with today. My book From Label to Table tells a biography of the food label, using it as a prism to explore Americans’ anxieties about industrial foodways. I found these books to be an excellent primer for understanding the emergence of America’s packaged food economy and its many problems.

Xaq's book list on explain the origins of our industrial food system

Xaq Frohlich Why Xaq loves this book

Consumers in America today take for granted what it means to go to a supermarket and pick from shelves upon shelves of products. But this is, from a historical perspective, a weird way to shop for food.

Deutsch’s book is an excellent study of the “self-service revolution” in food retailing. She also breaks down all the gender, race, and class dimensions to it in a way that will make the reader rethink the “ease” and straightforwardness of supermarket shopping.

The most powerful aspect of this book was how it challenged me to think about all the work that goes into shopping. What once required skill and savvy to negotiate prices and manage customer relationships was transformed by supermarkets, through store layout and other tactics, to bury the politics of shopping for food.

By Tracey Deutsch ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Building a Housewife's Paradise as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Supermarkets are a mundane feature in the landscape, but as Tracey Deutsch reveals, they represent a major transformation in the ways that Americans feed themselves. In her examination of the history of food distribution in the United States, Deutsch demonstrates the important roles that gender, business, class, and the state played in the evolution of American grocery stores.

Deutsch's analysis reframes shopping as labor and embeds consumption in the structures of capitalism. The supermarket, that icon of postwar American life, emerged not from straightforward consumer demand for low prices, Deutsch argues, but through government regulations, women customers' demands, and retailers'…


Groceries by Herbert Scott

Elizabeth Zelvin Author Of The Old Lady Shows Her Mettle

From my list on poetry books about real life.

Why am I passionate about this?

A poet for fifty years, I'm proud to say that nobody's ever said, "I didn't understand your poem." The rhythms, images, and words in these books are in plain English. They have feeling and authenticity in common. They make connections. After a reading once, a woman said, "I feel as if I know your whole family." I feel the same about the authors of these books. I'm also interested in my quirky kind of American Jewishness at a time when it's in the news but complicated and misunderstood. Some of the books I chose reflect that.

Elizabeth's book list on poetry books about real life

Elizabeth Zelvin Why Elizabeth loves this book

I loved this book because it proved that you can write poems about the simplest, most everyday experiences and make them fresh, funny, fascinating, and new.

The whole book consists of poems based on the poet's experience working in a grocery store in the Midwest. I've never looked at groceries the same again.

And who knows? Inside every ordinary-looking clerk, maybe there's a poet.

By Herbert Scott ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Groceries by Herbert Scott as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Braving the Storm, Volume 1

Heather Morris Author Of Three Sisters

From my list on surviving and survival.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a young girl, I had an amazing man in my life – my great grandfather who taught me survival is your victory in life. Growing up in rural New Zealand, he survived the Boer War, the harsh realities of living during World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the natural disasters of rural life as a farmer. He taught me that surviving whatever I was confronted with, came down to luck, recognising when luck came your way, making your own luck, being prepared to adapt quickly, considering your family and friends when choosing your path. He was the least educated, but the wisest person I ever knew. 

Heather's book list on surviving and survival

Heather Morris Why Heather loves this book

Personal reveal – I love weather. I am in my happy place with a good thunderstorm overhead, shaking my house, lighting up my backyard in the dead of night. And so, I was drawn to read Braving the Storm.

The entire eastern seaboard of the United States is struck by Superstorm Nicole. The power grids fail, millions of residences and businesses are unprotected, in the dark. Anarchy erupts as gangs rule the streets forcing residents to make a choice; leave their homes or stay and fight. Four families flee the city, and join together, to live in a cabin in the middle of the forest and try to wait it out, survive.

This is a scenario not beyond the realm of possibility. Braving the Storm can also be read as a survival guide.

By Jennifer Brooks ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Braving the Storm, Volume 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Superstorm Nicole hits the entire U.S. eastern seaboard at once, the Eastern Power Grid fails and plunges half of the country into a complete blackout--no power, no phones, and no cellphones. Hospitals, banks, and grocery stores stop running, and chaos rules. Cities are controlled by gangs, and citizens have two choices: leave their homes or fight for what supplies are left. Luckily some people are ready. Four families from Pittsburgh flee the city and join together to live in a cabin in the middle of the forest and try to wait it out. But when IS the power coming…


Book cover of The Best Punctuation Book, Period: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer, Editor, Student, and Businessperson
Book cover of The Writer's Compass: From Story Map to Finished Draft in 7 Stages
Book cover of The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in zombies, the apocalypse, and civilization?

Zombies 143 books
The Apocalypse 85 books
Civilization 234 books