This very short book--103 pages--would be a perfect thing for a brand-new writer to read about the process of writing a novel. It's encouraging, and it covers the basics of fiction clearly, so it would make an excellent starting point. I wouldn't recommend it for people who have read a lot of writing books, because it contains very brief descriptions of the same ideas that appear in pretty much all of them. It's good, coherent coverage of those concepts, but I didn't learn anything new from the book.

If I can finish reading The Terror by the end of the year, that'll be an even 40 books for 2007! Which, given the constant and unyielding assaults upon my ability to concentrate, would be more than decent.