One of the wonderful benefits of being a member of a writing group is that you learn so many useful things. If I hadn’t attended a morning meeting recently, I might never have been introduced to Judith Reeves’ A Writer’s Book of Days. All during the meeting, I kept stealing glances at the somewhat thick orange paperback on Myra’s lap, and before we parted company, I had to ask about it. Intrigued, I ordered the book for my Kindle within the hour, and well, read the review that I just posted on Amazon.

If I had to sum A Writer’s Book of Days in three words, they would be informative, interesting, and motivational.  Ever since a member of my writing group brought this marvelous book to one of our meetings, I’ve been one of its biggest fans. That day, I leafed through Myra’s copy  and ordered my own within an hour. Since that morning, I have perused this volume every day. Today’s prompt is “In anticipation of catastrophe,” and as soon as I read it, memories of hurricanes threatening the coast of SC came rushing back, and I easily wrote a couple of pages.

There are dozens of good books for writers out there but what makes this one unique is that it’s not autobiographical. It’s just straight out good stuff! The reader can open the book to any page be guaranteed to find a list of prompts, an essay on writing (how to get unstuck, for instance), quotes from famous writers, and a plethora of fascinating information (what well-known writers did for their day jobs). I’m still mulling over the ten daily habits that make one a good writer and wondering if I’ll ever fit the bill.

The book is arranged in months, and each chapter is centered around a guideline. July’s is “Kiss your frogs,” and you’ll need to buy the book to better understand what that means. There is an opening quote for each chapter too, and I particularly like September’s by Allen Ginsberg: “Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”

If you’re a writer trying to get your “muse mojo, an English teacher looking for ways to stimulate student writing, or a would-be writer longing to know more about well-known writers and how they do (and did) it, this is the perfect book for you.