Writing: a work and a craft. Books and reading: gifts and a treasure.

(My wife, a professor of reading: she, also, is a treasure. See, writing-reading? Get it? Good 🙂  It is good.)

As are these Recommended Readings. Are you an intrigued literary explorer? Searching for stories? Jewels of word-studded books? Here you go, and, oh, I’ve slipped my books in as companions to your search…

[Disclaimer: billyhawes.com utilizes Amazon Associates, linking to products on Amazon as an affiliate, providing the means to receive a small cut of the purchase—with no extra cost to the customer: you, our fearless otherworldly adventurer.]

WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR:

Baseball Boys: Collision 
My first novel. Description and reviews available with the included links. Thank you for your interest.

Hands on? Print Paperback
On screen? eBook
Maybe you’d rather listen? Audiobook

Boy Who Wore Dimple Marks: A Jake Jones Story 
Book No. 2. Description and reviews available with the included links. Thank you for your interest.

Hands on? Print Paperback
On screen? eBook

RECOMMENDED BY THE AUTHOR:

NOTE: Treasure trove always under construction. More riches to be added.

Acuff, Jon:

  • Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters
    If you listen to our podcast—Matt Garman and me on TNC Podcast—you know that I reference and recommend Acuff’s work and perspective often. We both do. In fact, Matt recently read Start and we’ve been talking even more about the book. We also tease that we should call the podcast Ape Acuff or Stuff Acuff Likes for better audience recognition or even just a name that provides future listeners some idea of what we’ll be talking about, but we can’t go away from Thursday Night Conversations—that’s what we do, Matt and I. And Acuff. We invite Jon into the conversation all the time, whether he or his followers know it or not. Nonetheless, we think it’s stuff Acuff would like, and we also think you’d like Acuff’s stuff.
  • More to follow …

Auxier, Jonathan:

  • Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes
    Well-written action & adventure fantasy authored, it so happens, by a classmate of Sarah’s at Trinity Western University in Canada. Great read for middle schoolers, give or take, who enjoy a good story with a wealth of word-play in-between.
  • Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard: A Peter Nimble Adventure
    A sequel of sorts to above. Auxier continuing to make TWU proud. I just wanted to write TWU, because my wife has a hoodie with it, in giant, stiff letters, sewn across the front. That otherwise soft sweatshirt could stand up and clap for Jonathan Auxier on its own, upon the size and strength of those letters: TWU. And it should: they are wonderful books, and the narrator himself says that an author is to be honored.
  • The Night Gardener
    A good, old fashioned ghost story. Victorian “horror,” in which the author states he strives for one of those stories with both horror and humor. Well done, and says some good things in its craft.

Garman, Matt:

  • Reluctant Guardian: A Christian Supernatural Thriller
    Reluctant Guardian is the first novel by my brother-in-law and TNC Podcast partner, Matt Garman. You may have heard us talk about it on the podcast. Matt’s known to tell a good narrative, and this story pulls you along. His novel offers glimpses of other realities, by weaving the perspectives of various characters and is also a powerful reminder that each life and the decisions made by the person living it count in the grand scheme always unfolding: since there is a power behind them. Reading Reluctant Guardian makes me want to pay attention to what is important. Namely, prayer, and its power. Which is shown to be needed in this story, as we have some slicing and dicing with supernatural swords swung by spiritual forces, fighting for souls.

Heppner, Vaughn:

  • Friend and successful author with many book titles, including the popular the Lost Starship series: the first novel alone having over 3,500 reviews on Amazon!

Olson, Jeff:

  • The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness
    Highly recommended by Nike Performance trainer, Ryan J Flaherty, on The Tim Ferriss Show podcast. It was cool, because Flaherty—who’s Twitter bio is simply: “Believer | Nike Performance”—said, for his top book to recommend outside of the Bible he’d go with The Slight Edge. Most definitely bent to self-help, Olson’s book isn’t Scripture (what else is?), but it does provide valuable insight and encouragement, and Flaherty mentioned it was one of two books he has his performance clients read while training under his guidance.

Palacio, R.J.:

  • Wonder
    It didn’t make me cry! It was the dust (almond harvesting!) and the smoke (the better part of a 100 wildfires burning in California!), mixed in the air with the Bay Area September-record-setting heat leaking into the Central Valley (now there’s a statement: the Bay’s temperatures scorching the valley!). Click here for Wonder book review blog post.

Ramsey, Dave:

Stanley, Thomas J. and William D. Danko:

Vance, J.D.:

Walls, Jeannette:

  • The Glass Castle: A Memoir
    The #1 selling nonfiction book on Amazon as of 8/14/17 with a major motion picture released on 8/11/17. A fantastic book, incredible story, that I read a couple of years ago. Sort of mind-blowing is Jeanette Walls’ life experience.
    In fact, not long ago I picked up the book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis  to begin reading because I’m hoping it’s like The Glass Castle. That, and because it was HIGHLY recommended by one of my longtime friends. He said it was the best book he’d read in awhile. That’s making me imagine it may soon have it’s own place on this list of treasures. We’ll see. Ironically, it’s only two spots behind The Glass Castle on Amazon, the two books having recently swapped places according to the up and down arrows and number system.