Below please find a bit of information and links to help you choose your extra required book for this class. And do please feel free to post your questions or comments about these choices in the Questions forum as part of your own selection process or to add information to the mix for your classmates.

Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life
by Natalie Goldberg
This is one of my all-time favorite books about writing. I have read it more than once. The last time I read it, I read a chapter or two each day as part of my commitment to writing for myself every day. Reading her pages let me feel like I was part of a larger world of writers, as though I was participating in a workshop with other authors or had my own private writing teacher to listen to. I loved it. I've always wondered if I would feel the same way working with her in person, but I find this book and her earlier one, Writing Down the Bones, a marvelous affirmation of what it means to be a writer, a way to feel inspired and connected to a greater whole. (She also includes a "Try This" section at the end of many chapters here. Sometimes I like to open the book at random and follow whatever writing prompt of hers I happen upon there. I like this, too.)

This image and text (above) is from Natalie Goldberg's website (http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/index.html).

Here is a ThoughtCast interview with Goldberg and a short reading from her more recent work (http://thoughtcast.org/casts/natalie-goldberg).
Goldberg interview

And below you can read the first pages of the book on Amazon (just click the Excerpt link to the left of the screen).
Excerpt from Wild Mind

Almost a Woman
by Esmeralda Santiago
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir about a young woman coming of age in the United States. Santiago came from Puerto Rico to New York City as a young girl, and this second autobiography takes us through her young adulthood. Santiago's prose is both accessible and beautiful. I think she captures important realities about growing up in the United States, both as a person of color and as a woman. I've taught this book in several courses, and it's always satisfying to watch it open people's eyes. And at the same time, it's wonderfully human, and I've found both men and women in my classes always relate in a variety of ways to Santiago's experiences growing up.

This image of her book (above) is from Esmeralda Santiago's website (http://www.esmeraldasantiago.com/).

This link offers an interview (text only) with Santiago.
Santiago text interview

And below you can read the first pages of the book on Amazon (just click the Excerpt link to the left of the screen).
Excerpt from Almost a Woman

Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by Laura Hillenbrand
I'm offering this book as one of your options here for a few reasons. I think it's a great read, for one thing. It's a superb example of documented research, but Hillenbrand goes a step further and breathes life into the story. In my mind, it's both beautifully researched and beautifully written---a true example of blending the creative and the scholarly. I'd like to see more scholarly work head in this direction: accessible, well-written and well-documented prose that brings the story to life for the reader.

Here is an video interview with the author discussing some of the people in the book (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/sfeature/sf_hillenbrand.html).
Video interview with Hillenbrand

And below you can read the first pages of the book on Amazon (just click the Excerpt link to the left of the screen).
Excerpt from Seabiscuit