Second book down for this year: (and third one started; see here) Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami.
I'm not looking to become a novelist anytime soon. I don't think I have "a book in me" like others. But Novelist as a Vocation is more an autobiography by Murakami than a real "how to become a novelist" guide. Combine this with Murakami's What I Talk about When I Talk about Running and you have a good, although potentially biased, picture of the guy.
My favourite quotes from the book:
I think chaos exists in everyone’s minds. Chaos is in my mind, and in yours as well. It’s not the sort of thing, though, that in daily life needs to be given form and openly shown to others.
If you want to come face-to-face with the chaos inside you, then be silent and descend, alone, to the depths of your consciousness. The chaos we need to face, the real chaos that’s worth coming face-to-face with, is found precisely there. It’s hiding right there, at your very feet.
If you always see things from your own standpoint, the world shrinks. Your body gets stiff, your footwork grows heavy, and you can no longer move. But if you’re able to view where you’re standing from other perspectives—to put it another way, if you can entrust your existence to some other system—the world will grow more three-dimensional, more supple.
All creative activity is, to some extent, done partly with the intention to rectify or fix yourself.
Also, I currently track all my reading on this page.