18 books like How Not to Write a Novel

What to read after How Not to Write a Novel — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Happy Writer Marissa Meyer · 2025 · ★ 4.5 · 409p · ≈ 13h · Moderate If you aren’t suffering, you aren’t creating. Right? Wrong! Writing can and should be joyful, fulfilling… even fun! Applicable to writers in all genres and disciplines—from screenwriters to novelists, journalists to picture book authors, aspiring to many-times published—The Happy Writer is a heartfelt and optimistic guide that will show you the way to a happier writing journey. Part craft… Shares: Writing, Self help

How to Write a Mystery Lee Child · 2021 · ★ 4.1 · 291p · ≈ 9h · Moderate From 70 of the most successful mystery writers in the business, an invaluable guide to crafting mysteries—from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers—“this is a writing guide that readers and writers will turn to again and again” ( Booklist , starred review). Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is known for providing unparalleled resources on the craft, art, and business of… Shares: Writing, Reference, Self help

The four men; a farrago Hilaire Belloc · 1900 · ★ 3.8 · 310p · ≈ 10h · Challenging A “Farrago” is a “confused mixture,” an apt subtitle for this 1911 semi-fictional travelogue and love song to Hilaire Belloc’s home County of Sussex. It is full to bursting with humor, songs (often including scores), speeches, drawings, fables, digressions, poetry, and legends, often partially or wholly invented, but all in service of Belloc’s deep belief in “the character of enduring things.”… Shares: Comedy, Humor

Create Anyway Ashlee Gadd · 2023 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Motherhood and creativity can coexist. You have creative dreams swirling in your heart, but pursuing them while changing diapers and managing the carpool schedule feels impossible. You have no time. No space. You can mother, or you can create. You certainly can't do both (right?!). But what if you could pursue your God-given creative gifts alongside motherhood, for the enrichment of both… Shares: Writing, Self help

Das NEINhorn Marc-Uwe Kling · 2019 · ★ 4.5 · 48p · ≈ 1h · Moderate Im Herzwald kommt ein kleines, schnickeldischnuckeliges Einhorn zur Welt. Aber obwohl alle ganz lilalieb zu ihm sind und es ständig mit gezuckertem Glücksklee füttern, benimmt sich das Tierchen ganz und gar nicht einhornmäßig. Es sagt einfach immer Nein, sodass seine Familie es bald nur noch NEINhorn nennt. Eines Tages bricht das NEINhorn aus seiner Zuckerwattewelt aus. Es trifft einen… Shares: Humor

Figures of Earth James Branch Cabell · 1921 · ★ 4.0 · 136p · ≈ 4h · Challenging The story of Manuel, a swineherd in thirteenth-century France, who becomes Count Manuel of Poictesme. The motto on his coat of arms is "Mundus Vult Decipi"--The world wishes to be deceived. It is in playing on others' expectations that he rises to hero status and becomes Manuel the Redeemer. Shares: Comedy, Humor

Eats, Shoots & Leaves Lynne Truss · 2003 · ★ 3.8 · 209p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Anxious about the apostrophe? Confused by the comma? Stumped by the semicolon? Join Lynne Truss on a hilarious tour through the rules of punctuation that is sure to sort the dashes from the hyphens. We all had the basic rules of punctuation drilled into us at school, but punctuation pedants have good reason to suspect they never sank in. ‘Its Summer!’ screams a sign that sets our teeth on edge.… Shares: Reference, Humor

Le rire; essai sur la signification du comique Henri Bergson · 1901 · 149p · ≈ 4h · Challenging En este ensayo Henri Bergson analiza las diversas cosas que provocan la risa con el fin de determinar los elementos humorísticos que nos hacen reí. Bergson describe la risa como un ser vivo que tiene un objetivo en gran parte social. Henri Bergson (1859-1941) fue el primer gran filósofo del siglo XX. Su originalísima obra, a menudo situada entre el análisis psicológico, la sociología, la… Shares: Comedy, Humor

Side Effects Woody Allen · 1975 · ★ 3.9 · 171p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Allen's third and final collection of humor pieces which originally appeared in The New Yorker during the late 1970s. Shares: Comedy, Humor

The Admirable Crichton J. M. Barrie · 1900 · ★ 3.7 · 86p · ≈ 2h · Challenging The story of the play concerns an aristocratic English family who revert to the state of Nature when shipwrecked on a desert island. While there, they are willing slaves to their former butler, but on return to civilization, the positions are shifted. Shares: Comedy, Humor

The History of England Jane Austen · 1977 · ★ 3.8 · 42p · ≈ 1h · Moderate Includes both a copy of the handwritten and illustrated edition and a printed version, written by Jane Austin when she was sixteen. Shares: Comedy, Humor

Philosopher's Joke Jerome Klapka Jérôme · 1999 · 27p · ≈ 54m · Moderate Shares: Humor

Born a Crime Trevor Noah · 2016 · ★ 4.5 · 304p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would… Shares: Comedy, Humor

Zombies Have Issues Greg Stones · 2014 · 64p · ≈ 2h · Moderate Sock Monkeys have issues with moths. They also have trouble with pterodactyls, home improvement projects, kittens (who tend to unravel them), and paparazzi. They really like bananas, jet packs, sock puppies, and romance, but have MAJOR issues with clowns, embarrassing relatives (King Kong), and gym socks. Through it all, they really adore one thing. Author of the breakout hit Zombies Hate Stuff,… Shares: Humor

Zombies Joseph A. McCullough · 2010 · ★ 3.5 · 80p · ≈ 2h · Moderate The dead have always stalked the dark corners of the earth. Since World War II, the number of zombie outbreaks has increased every year, while governments desperately try to cover up the facts. Zombies: A Hunter's Guide contains all of the information necessary to recognize and combat this growing threat. Beginning with an explanation of the historical origins of zombies, it follows their history… Shares: Humor

Apocalypse Cow Michael Logan · 2012 · ★ 3.1 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate When scientists with warped imaginations accidentally unleash an experimental bioweapon that transforms Britain's animals into sneezing, bloodthirsty zombies with a penchant for pre-dinner sex with their victims, three misfits become the unlikely hope for salvation. Abattoir worker Terry Borders' love life is crippled by the stench of death that clings to his skin from his days spent slaughtering… Shares: Humor

The Art of Zombie Warfare Scott Kenemore · 2010 · ★ 4.0 · 272p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Sun Tzu meets George Romero in Scott Kenemore’s third zombie book. 40 color illustrations Shares: Humor

When werewolves attack Del Howison · 2010 · 182p · ≈ 6h · Moderate “Without a doubt the ultimate guide to werewolves”—and survival tips for when the snarling shapeshifters go on the prowl (HorrorNews.net).   The history of lycanthropes stretches back to man’s beginnings. From cave drawings and tribal folklore to the Inquisition and the twentieth century, man’s fascination with werewolves has never wavered. The field of study has been ripped wide open with… Shares: Humor

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