Jump to : Resource Books for Artists | Resource Books for Writers | Craft Books | General Non-Fiction | Fiction Books | Fun & Games | Art Books & Posters | Movies | Music
Books - Resources for Artists
| Painting Light with Colored Pencil by Cecile Baird Before I picked up this book, I hadn't really considered producing "serious" artwork using coloured pencils. Painting Light with Colored Pencil is a real eye-opener as to what can be achieved with this underused medium, and I'm excited about digging out my box of pencils and giving it a try. Read a review of Painting Light with Colored Pencil |
| The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by Alan Lee The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook is a lovely coffee-table collection of concept drawings done by award-winning artist Alan Lee relating to The Lord of the Rings books and movies. Read a review of The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook |
| The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy by Qu Lei Lei The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy presents illustrated step-by-step instructions and explanations of the technique for producing Chinese calligraphy. The photographs and diagrams are extensive and make the process clear and understandable. Read a review of The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy |
| The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron The Artist's Way is the classic guide to forging a healthy creative path. In addition to Cameron’s own spiritual and creative struggle, The Artist’s Way is based on the insight gained from teaching creativity classes for ten years. Read a review of The Artist’s Way |
Books - Resources for Writers
| On Writing by Stephen King The story of how Stevie King gradually became best-selling horror writer, Stephen King, is fascinating for anyone – whether a writer or reader. If you’ve ever asked, been asked, or wanted to ask a writer how they do it, where they get their ideas from, here’s your answer. And you get the answer from one of the most famous of today’s popular writers. Read a review of On Writing |
| The Right to Write by Julia Cameron The Right to Write is Cameron's follow up book to The Artist’s Way, written especially for writers. Cameron includes more of her wisdom and encouragement, many fun and challenging writing exercises, as well as the staple Morning Pages and Artist Date suggestions made famous in The Artist’s Way. Read a review of The Right to Write |
If you're looking for gifts for fiction writers, you might like to visit the Fiction Writing Shop at BellaOnline.
Books - Craft Resources
| The Home Guide to Craft by Katherine Sorrell The Home Guide to Craft covers so many crafts, ideas, and projects that it will keep an enthusiastic crafter busy for years. There are two projects included for each craft, complete with step-by-step instructions and matching high quality photographs of the process and the finished item. Read a review of The Home Guide to Craft |
Books - General Non-Fiction
| The Inspired Heart : An artist's journey of transformation by Jerry Wennstrom The Inspired Heart is the story of the spiritual journey which took artist Jerry Wennstrom from reckless creativity, through letting go and the destruction of his artwork, into a spiritual awareness and understanding and eventually a return to deeper creativity. Jerry discovered how to use the creative process and his created work to connect to the source of creativity and the universality of dualism – life and death, the cycle of constant renewal. Energising. Read a review of The Inspired Heart |
| How to Have a Beautiful Mind by Edward De Bono If you haven’t read De Bono before and are looking for an overview of his concepts, this book probably serves as a good one-stop summary. Most of the book deals with holding interesting conversations, and would be useful for anyone having difficulty holding their own at networking functions, conferences, and cocktail parties. Read a review of How to Have a Beautiful Mind |
Books - Fiction
| Self by Yann Martel I’m tempted to say that Self is the one of the most creative books I’ve read in a long time. It is certainly the most imaginative and unusual “biography” I’ve read. Read a review of Self |
Books - Fun & Games
| Amazing “Aha!” Puzzles by Lloyd King Amazing “Aha!” Puzzles is a genuine “All Ages” book that will be enjoyed by anyone with a little patience to let their mind mull over a brain teaser. This fun book contains more than 300 lateral-thinking puzzles that will keep you entertained for hours. Read a review of Amazing “Aha!” Puzzles |
| Team Challenges by Kris Bordessa Team Challenges is a resource book packed with ideas and activities for encouraging and developing children´s creativity, lateral thinking, and communication skills. I'm very impressed with the ideas in this book and there are probably enough tasks here to occupy a group for a full school year. Read a review of Team Challenges |
Art Books & Posters
 | Renaissance by Andrew Graham-Dixon Renaissance is a beautifully produced collation of Graham-Dixon's articles together with hundreds of high quality plates, and makes an excellent coffee table book. Read a review of Renaissance by Andrew Graham-Dixon |
 | Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo Da Vinci’s talents are a supreme example of what can be achieved when the right and left hemispheres of the brain are balanced and integrated. Da Vinci was a highly creative artist, but also a very logical and precise engineer and scientist. More about the life and art of Leonardo Da Vinci. |
 | René Magritte Do you need to stimulate your mind, or fancy playing with some imaginative ideas for artwork? Get some inspiration from surrealist painter and sculptor, René Magritte. More about the artwork of René Magritte. |
 | Salvador Dali Salvador Dali was a surrealist artist, born in Barcelona, Spain in 1904, who preferred to paint while hallucinating. More about the artwork of Salvador Dali. |
Movies to stimulate your creativity
| Pirates of the Caribbean 2 : Dead Man's Chest The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was made as a stand alone, but its success paved the way for not just one sequel, but two. The only problem was not having a script ready. And none of the costumes remained from the first movie. Read a review of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 : Dead Man's Chest |
Music
| The Art of Music Production by Richard Burgess If you're thinking of a career behind the scenes in the music industry, you will find plenty of advice and inspiration, while musicians and songwriters will find this book invaluable in making an informed decision on the type of producer you need to work with to complement your skills. Read a review of The Art of Music Production |
