Off the Bookshelf – Lord of Light, Kaiju Preservation, Empire’s Ruin, Shards of Earth, Thinking with Data

Glowing red tendrils of matter erupt into space

Summer 2022 is over, but the Nuketown summer reading list continues. I didn’t make as much progress on the list as I’d hoped this summer. I never quite got into that morning walk & audio book routine, nor the morning coffee and print book routine, so progress was slow. I also only made it to the … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Lost Fleet, Lord of Light, Mountains of Madness

Two human figures view an Antarctic landscape.

It’s a cold, dark winter … but this edition of Off the Bookshelf brings a little light, a lot of heroics, and, ok, mountains of madness. Maybe avoid the last one if you’re not in the right headspace… The Lost Fleet, Books 1-6 I won’t lie – winter’s been tough. Lots of work, family, and … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Summer’s End 2021

For the first time in years, I completed my summer reading list during the summer. The final tally was 15 books (11 novels, 3 non-fiction books, 1 short story collection), 2 novellas, and 8 graphic novels. So what were the standouts on this summer’s reading list? Children of Time and its follow-up Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky easily top the … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: The Ancient Ones, Excession, Wise Man’s Fear

The trailing edge of this summer’s reading list included David Brin’s The Ancient Ones, Iain Bank’s Excession, and Patrick Rothfuss’s The Wise Man’s Fear. It also saw a considerable slow down in my reading pace due to the style of book I was reading. While The Ancient Ones was a breezy comedy, Bank’s Excession – … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Fall, The Last Emperox, The Dreaming Stars, Auberon, The Bohr Maker

Nuketown’s Summer Reading List for 2020 is in full swing. During my summer vacation at Lake Champlain, I finished up Fall (or Dodge in Hell) and knocked out The Last Emperox, The Dreaming Stars, and Auberon (an Expanse novella). I also launched into The Bohr Maker, which I completed when I got back from the … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: The Unicorn Project, Bone Silence, Arcana of the Ancients

Nuketown’s summer reading list for 2020 is in full effect. In May and June, I finished two books – The Unicorn Project and Bone Silence – and picked up Arcana of the Ancients, a hefty new science fantasy RPG  sourcebook for my new lunchtime campaign. The Unicorn Project The Unicorn Project (Amazon), Gene Kim’s follow-up to The Phoenix Project … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: The 5th Season, Salvation Lost, Recursion

Nuketown’s 2019 Summer Reading List is finally complete. After beginning in May 2019, I finally finished the last book on the list – The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – in February 2020. That left me free to get in a few new books before brainstorming my (probably much shorter) 2020 summer reading list. … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: The Past Through Tomorrow, The Goal, The Light Brigade

A space-suited (battle armored?) figure flies through blue light.

I went Old School with the first two books on my list on my summer reading list: Robert Heinlein’s The Past Through Tomorrow is a collection of his “Future History” short stories, novellas, and novels written in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a time when the future was atomic, women working in space was a radical idea, … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: The Prefect, Big Ships, Things from the Flood

An arrow-like space ship dives in front of a cluster of space stations.

I’m making slow progress on my Winter 2018-19 reading list, partially because I’m still working my way through Getting Things Done and mostly because I got Civilization 6 for Christmas. Nothing devours time like a Civilization game. Nothing. That said, “slow progress” isn’t “no progress” and while I haven’t been reading at my summer pace, I did finish a few … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Early Summer 2018

Starships battle in deep space.

My 2018 Summer Reading List is under way. It’s been a mixed bag of inspiration, drudgery, endurance, and wonder. Personal Kanban I started off with Personal Kanban (Amazon) by Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry. It’s the first-ever non-fiction book on my summer reading list and it was a useful one. The book’s all about … Read more