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What every journalist's bookshelf should have

© Mai Hoang

If you want to be a journalist, you know that you like to write. Most likely you also like to read. You also know that there are many books on journalism. You simply can't learn to write an article from a book. You can, however, use these as a resource to make your writing much stronger.

Over the years that I have pursued a career in journalism, I have read many books. I find the books I'm going to list here useful. Not all these books are about journalism, but they can be very useful to the aspiring journalist.

These books can be bought at your favorite bookstore or an online bookstore like amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

Associated Press Style and Libel Manual, Norm Goldstein, ed.

This book is sometimes refered to by professionals as the "journalist's bible." This book shows the proper way to refer to different people, places, and things. This book also shows the rules of libel, as well as other rules of the Associated Press.

Associated Press Guide to Newswriting

This book contains everything you wanted to know about newswriting. You shouldn't strictly base your journalism writing on this book, but it's a great start!

Woe is I and The Elements of Style

I have found these two books the perfect grammar guides. Woe Is I is fun to read, while The Elements of Style is short and to the point. Anyone who wants to improve their grammer should read these books.

On Writing Well

Although it doesn't deal with journalism directly, it is a good source for all non-fiction writers!

There are many more books so search for them. If you find one that rocks your world, please me know! Happy reading!