One day, I asked the members of the Writing list, "What are your favorite books on writing?" Here are their answers (more or less), about 60 of them in the order received.
---
Greg Gunther

"The Renegade Writer" by Linda Formichelli

For Freelance Journalists. New and helpful. Not the usual 'show don't tell.' One-page query kind of advice. Great information on her website -- like her review copy helper. http://lindaformichelli.com/.

Many may know Linda from her writings for The Writer's Digest, too.

Dawn Goldsmith

"Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande

This book influenced me enormously. The first time I encountered suggestions that are now commonplace in books on writing -- morning pages, ask your dreams, write every day, etc.  Most helpful was her admonition to *notice* like a writer, to see in *every* situation you meet the possibilities of plot and character, to run constantly through your mind the words to describe the situation you've just left.  Make that a constant practice and you're on your way.

Michael Wright

"Writing Freelance" by Christine Adamec

A good book  for a beginner to learn the basics of writing and selling. Author discusses generalities more than giving definite instruction. She does include a chapter on the importance of good record-keeping and the book  includes  at least 15  pages of samples as visual aids to the novice writer.

June Gallant

"The Everything Writing Well Book" by Pamela Rice Hahn

At 305 pages, this book discusses everything from style to copyright matters to specialized writing. Easy to read style. I find myself reaching for it often as a reference and as a refresher when I am unsure of how to do a certain piece of work. Excellent book and handy guide.

June Gallant

"Canadian Writer's Handbook" by Richard Davies & Glen Kirkland

A very detailed book in 3 sections; How to write an essay, Specific forms of writing and representing,  and The conventions of writing. It contains a wealth of information prepared for senior-level students focusing on the practicalities of writing effective essays. With 9 pages of practice essays included and an excellent glossary, this book keeps me coming back time after time.

June Gallant

"The Complete Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction And Getting It Published" by Pat Kubis & Bob Howland

My favourite reference book. Designed for both beginner and professional, it strips away the mysteries of the publishing industry, it takes you through the steps of preparing a complete manuscript and guides you on how to approach agents and publishers. I will use often throughout my writing career. Detailed and concise. A valuable guide for fiction and non-fiction writers.

June Gallant

"Points of View" by James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny, eds. Penguin Books, 1956.

My favorite writing book, probably out of print. Little writing advice, but great reading.  A teach-by-example anthology of stories organized by the author's point of view in telling the story.

Wayne Scheer

"Palm of Your Hand" by Steve Kowit

My all-time favourite. Each chapter concerns a different poetic 'device' and includes examples from well-known writers. Several 'exercises' at the end of each chapter with worthwhile instruction. Example: turn a childhood memory into an interesting poem. Provides guidance in the process. My friends have found it helpful, too.

Susan Constable

"The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative" by Vivian Gornick .

(and)

"Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory" by Maureen Murdock

These books both deal with the philosophy of memoirs--what a writer needs to do to make a memoir meaningful for readers--and give examples. Murdock is particularly interested in spiritual issues, and includes some exercises toward the end of her book, but those are not the most important parts. If you're in the "don't know how to begin" box, these books will help you get started.

Carter Jefferson

"The Writer's Guide to Character Traits" By Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.

Examines personality types revealing motivations behind a range of behaviours. Easy to follow quick-reference lists.  Charts and case scenarios supply the psychological background to make characters believable. Easy to keep your characters "in character." From mild-mannered mums through to serial killers, with traits from 'normal' to 'extreme.'

Carole Sutton

"The Art of Fiction" by Ayn Rand

A breakdown of language with philosophical implications.  What writing should be from a romanticist's perspective: the world as it could be and should be, based on the author's values.  The author should ask, "What abstraction do I want to convey, and what concretes will convey it?"  Focus on the message, the "why" and the "what." 

Doug Bushong

"Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card (and) "Description" by Monica Wood

Helps the writer avoid shopping/laundry lists types of descriptions and replace them with confident handling of Point‑Of‑View descriptions.

Sanchona

"Stein on Writng" by Sol Stein

Stein writes primarily from the standpoint of an editor, but also covers most forms of writing. The chief emphasis is on fiction, but he has a fairly long section on non-fiction. Since I try to make my fiction sound like fact, however fantastic the setting may be, I found the non-fiction section also helpful.

Albert Ervine

"Writing for a Reason" by Dee Brock

Highly enlightening. It's a 1978 Study Guide prepared by for the Dallas County Community College District.  Covers basics, such as unity, order, completeness, coherence, the sentence, the paragraph, etc.  Also tackles the report, epistemology, fallacies (superb section), the persuasive essay, the evaluative essay, etc. Format includes objectives, focus questions, and various exercises.

Paul Fein

"How to Grow a Novel" by Sol Stein

Good for craft nuts and bolts.

Richard Lewis

"The First Five Pages" by Noah Lukeman

Good for sellable novels & agent representation.

Richard Lewis

"On Becoming a Novelist" by John Gardner

Good for novel as art.

Richard Lewis

"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Novel" by Jane Smiley

Good for intellectual discussion and synopses of 100 novels.

Richard Lewis

"Elements of Style" by Strunk & White

Online at http://www.bartleby.com/141/, this is the classic must-have reference book for any student and conscientious writer.

Gary Presley

"The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler

Explains the principals of the mythic structure to create narratives for fiction and non-fiction. Based on works by Joseph Campbell, it has been used by the movie industry for innumerable films and books. Defines character archetypes and stages of the Hero's Journey. Chapters have exercises to help the writer. It's a book that captures the imagination.

Ginny Wagner, Greg Gunther

"The Chicago Manual of Style" by University of Chicago Press Staff

Needed  for every writer. You need to understand grammar rules before you can break them.

Rick Bylina

Various dictionaries and thesauruses.

Essential references.

American Heritage and Webster's dictionaries in their various incarnations are good. Computer dictionaries at your fingertips are very useful. Dictionary.com is the best, giving you simultaneous definitions from many dictionaries. http://www.dictionary.com.

Roget's International Thesaurus is the standard, but http://www.thesaurus.com gives you many more synonyms, plus antonyms. The dictionary is accessible from the thesaurus site, and vice-versa.

Greg Gunther

"Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss

The most complete rendering on what to do about commas before breaking the rules.  It helped fix my most hideous grammar problem.

Rick Bylina

"Scene and Structure" by Jack M. Bickham

Best ever for crafting a scene and structuring your novel whether or not you're a novice.

Rick Bylina 

"Conflict, Action & Suspense" by William Noble

A good read, but I don't go back to it much.

Rick Bylina 

"Setting" by Jack M. Bickham

Very good at identifying the requirements and reasons for effective setting.

Rick Bylina

"Beginnings, Middles & Ends" by Nancy Kress

A very helpful book for those who find their stories waning in the middle.

Rick Bylina

"Plot" by Ansen Dibell

Interesting, but didn't do much more me. Plotting doesn't seem to be the biggest issue with what I write.  Still if you do have problems plotting out your story, this covers most everything you need.

Rick Bylina

"Revision" by Kit Reed

Revision makes or breaks most novels. Some writers can't seem to face the prospect of cutting their favorite scenes, characters, or subplots, even when it is evident that the story suffers with them there.  This book helps by asking some of the questions you need to ask yourself.

Rick Bylina

"Between the Lines" by Jessica Page Morrell

This is a wonderful new book (2006). She pulls from some of the best and then distills the information into easily digestible bites.  Along with "Stein on Writing," this book can make your manuscript closer to saleable.

Rick Bylina

"Goal, Motivation and Conflict" by Debra Dixon

Helps you understand what drives your characters.

Rick Bylina

"111 Don'ts for Writers" by Maren Elwood

Published 1949. Although some of the don'ts are now out-dated, some are still practical. More for experienced writers interested in craft.

Rick Bylina

"Fiction Writing Demystified" by Thomas B. Sawyer

It had some good points, but I think others have done it better.

Rick Bylina

"The Writer's Guide to Character Traits" by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.

There are tons of good information here if you do not have a handle on who your character really is, but I found it tough to wade through.

Rick Bylina

"Story" by Robert McGee

Even though it's for screenwriting, it is an unbelievable book on the concepts of story telling.  It is not for the faint of heart and some of the material is quite dense, but if mastered, it raises the writer's awareness to the next level.

Rick Bylina

"Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass

An excellent book that smacks you in the face with reality about what it is going to take to make that WIP get published and get you a career in writing.

Rick Bylina

"The First Five Pages" by Noah Lukemann

Another excellent smack in the face with reality book about how easy it is to be rejected for a weak start to your novel.  The second half is not as strong, but still contains valuable information.

Rick Bylina

"A Writer's Guide to Fiction" by Elizabeth Lyon

Tons of good information from A to Z with a lot of references to secondary books that support the messages in this guide.

Rick Bylina

"The Marshall Plan" by Evan Marshall

For the beginning writer with no bloody clue how to start, this provides the ABC's of what to do very well. I wish I had this book fifteen years ago.

Rick Bylina

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing" by Laurie E. Rozakis, Ph.D.

Soup to nuts is covered in this book, and if you're just starting out, you'll be able to get the broad view of what it takes, but it's too light for the depth you'll ultimately need.

Rick Bylina

"100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know" by Scott Edelstein

Another soup to nuts book that I can't remember getting inspired by.

Rick Bylina

"Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott

All first drafts are shitty! Once you accept in your heart this single piece of wisdom, you may actually be on the road to becoming a writer. A very necessary read into a writer's life.

Rick Bylina

"On Writing" by Stephen King

Another slap‑you‑in‑the‑face‑with‑reality book about the art of writing via his route to attaining his lofty status. I still don't care for most of his bloated books, but he is a GREAT story teller and truly can get to the heart of motivation.

Rick Bylina

"The Courage to Write" by Ralph Keyes

Whenever you feel like you're the only person out there who is crazy to be pursuing writing as a career, pick this book up.  You are not alone, and in fact, are in some great company.

Rick Bylina

"The Frugal Book Promoter" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

If your going to use POD (Print On Demand) technology for your novel, you'll need this book.

Rick Bylina

"Publicize Your Book!" by Jacqueline Deval

Like the "Frugal", it provides a lot of ways to publicize your book.  Not every way works for every writer, but there's much to be considered here.

Rick Bylina

"The Sell Your Novel Toolkit" by Elizabeth Lyon

There's so much to know beyond just writing the novel, and this book covers a lot of it.

Rick Bylina

"Guerrilla Marketing for Writers" by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Michael Larsen.

A good read, but not especially useful.

Rick Bylina

"The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes" by Jack M. Bickham

Basically a companion to "Scene & Structure" in bit-sized chunks.

Rick Bylina

"100 Ways to Improve Your Writing" by Gary Provost

Bite-sized chunks of writing wisdom that shouldn't be forgotten, and are until we age as writers.

Rick Bylina

"First Things First" by Stephen Covey

Not specific to writing, but it does remind you to regain your focus as you lose it to what's important.

Rick Bylina

Merriam-Webster's "Manual For Writers & Editors"

A quick run through on grammar, punctuation etc., and invaluable for the self-publisher for the details needed for designing of a book.

Joanna Weston

"Things Feigned Or Imagined: The Craft Of Fiction" by Fred Stenson

'Funny, wise and fanatic about good writing, which he taught for years.

Joanna Weston

The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (3rd Ed) by H. W. Fowler and R. W. Burchfield

A revised version of an old stand-by on everything you ever wanted to know about predicates and adjectives.

Joanna Weston

Writing Fiction (7th Edition) by Janet Burroway and Elizabeth Stuckey-French

Expensive college text with stories to illustrate each chapter's focus. I personally like that and think it's a strong teaching/learning tool. It's a book I go back to again and again. So, for me it was worth the cost.

Peg Frey

"A Writer's Book of Days" by Judy Reeves

A great way for the beginner who wants to write but doesn't know how to get started.  12 chapters (January - December) filled with tips, ideas, quotes, and a writing prompt for each day.

Karna Converse

"Words Fail Me" by Patricia O'Conner

Subtitled:  What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing and "the other book Bill Strunk would have written, if he'd had more of a sense of humor."

Karna Converse

”Word Painting" by Rebeca McClanahan

This book helps me think about descriptions, and as she writes: "bring forth the attribute of subjects rather than simply explaining or labeling them."  She ends each chapter with three or four exercises.

Karna Converse

Techniques Of The Selling Writer" by Dwight Swain

Highly recommended. He taught creative writing at Oklahoma University for many years and this is considered by many writers to be their "bible."

Velda Brotherton

"Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Recommended essays.

Michael Wright

"Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande

My favorite book on writing, which I reread whenever I need inspiration, though many people feel it's quaint (first published in 1934).

Michael Wright