Thursday Thirteen #4

Thirteen Things Reference Books I most use when writing stories (with Amazon links for more information where I could find the book listed)

1. Roget's Thesaurus: I've yet to find a better thesaurus than the one that has evolved through Longman to Penguin.
2. The Story of Western Architecture: More about the history of the development of architecture and the social and economic setting for that development than a manual of style (although it does cover that too)
3. A History of England (Sir Keith Feiling): Not the best or most up to date history of England but it's a book I've had a long time and I know where to find what I'm looking for in it.
4. The Wordsworth Dictionary of the Underworld (Eric Partridge): Good for ideas for characters' criminal schemes and associated language.
5. The Book of Comparisons (The Diagram Group): I was taught to make sure my answers and data made sense in science at school by comparing them to other things I knew. This is the best book I know for helping with that and it avoids putting in details that are just silly too.
6. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: An essential reference to classic works, authors and publishers but also a mine of concepts.
7. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: Does for Science Fiction what The Encyclopedia of Fantasy does for fantasy.
8. Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics: A great read with some really odd and nasty characters in it's pages. Pretty much all of them real. Some of them still alive. A great source of ideas for characters.
9. The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land: Where The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a serious work this is a comic guide to fantasy cliches. Very useful for avoiding the danger of slipping into dangerously over done territory.
10. The Encyclopedia of Forensic Science (Brian Lane): There are a fair number of books like this on the market. I bought this one as a present for a friend and then kept it having found a better present. Lots of inspirational material again with many case studies accompanying the entries on a variety of macabre happenings that are ideal for inflicting on characters.
11. The New Metric Handbook: Where The Story of Architecture is a book about the development of architecture this is a useful guide to the layout and structure of buildings. Just beating Neufert to a place on this TT because it got me through my final year degree project. Rather pricy but if you want to know what a particular building will have in it and how it is laid out this is the book.
12. Food in England: An essential guide to the evolution of cooking in the UK including recipes and lots of other useful information that is great for adding colour to stories.
13. Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names: Gary Gygax, one of the original creators of Dungeons and Dragons, had put out a lot of books trying to milk his name over the years. This is one of the few that I've found to be worth the money (I did get it in a sale). Listings of names by gender, country and time period along with useful notes on how a culture usualy puts them together and some additional sections on special cases like place names and names for Inns and Taverns.
14. Oxford Senior Dictionary: My very battered dictionary that served me through school. Not the best or most complete dictionary I have but a handy quick reference.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Thomma Lyn
2. jenny
3. Randa Clay
4. Fence
5. Nicole Austin
6. Nancy Lindquist
7. Michelle M Pillow
8. Crystal Jordan
9. HighlandAmy
10. Susan Helene Gottfried
11. Janet
12. Lori
13. colleen gleason
14. This Eclectic Life
15. Joely
16. Nicholas
17. scooper
18. Dane Bramage
19. karen (miscmum)
20. Lulu
21. Language Boy
22. Nancy
23. Christine d'Abo
24. Nadine

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