Sometimes the Magic Works - Terry Brooks

This is a great book if you're half way though a manuscript and starting to wonder if all the time and effort you're putting into writing are worth it. Half biographical, half instructional, the book is completly uplifting. It also reminds you that publication is as much about luck as it is about skill and makes you long for that time when editors actually had the time to, well, edit books.

Pros: lots of interesting anecdotes that illustrate the ups and downs of the publishing industry and encourage you to try regardless of your chances

Cons: not as much advice on writing as I personally would have liked, but an easier read than a lot of other guides out there