Off the Bookshelf: Early Summer 2017

A photo of the Kindle cover for Thrawn, with the Jersey shore in the background.

I got a respectable jump on my Summer Reading List for 2017 in late May and June, reading five books by June 30 (though I got in the last one, Revenger, with only a few hours to spare). It was a good reading pace, and it puts me on target to finish the 17 books … Read more

Summer Reading List 2017

Several difference science fiction book covers shown side-by-side.

Welcome to Nuketown’s 10th annual summer reading list! As with previous years, this year’s list is heavy on space opera and military science fiction but includes a smattering of fantasy. It includes 17 novels, 1 novella, and 8 graphic novels. That’s one more novel than my Summer 2016 reading list. It’s a stretch, but I’m … Read more

Assembling Nuketown’s 2017 Summer Reading List

A human warrior stands with two blades drawn while a winged creature - perhaps a griffin - rises behind him.

It’s nearly summer, which means it’s high time for me to be putting together my 2017 Summer Reading List. Last summer I read 16 books, 1 novella, and 8 graphic novels. This year I’m looking to do that one better by reading 17 books and 8 graphic novels.

That’s a hell of of a stretch, but with my summer vacations and monthly camping trips with the Boy Scouts, I’m thinking I’ll have the time I need.

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Off the Bookshelf: The Lost Fleet, Storm Front, Fuller Memorandum

A drop ship from the cover art for The Lost Fleet: Victorious

I’m in the midst of my spring reading doldrums. Between work, Cub Scouts, and baseball, most of my free time is accounted for. If I’m honest, when I do have free time I’m more likely to spend it catching up on episodes of Legion or The Flash than I am picking up one of the … Read more

Going digital with the Kindle Paperwhite

Looking back at Nuketown’s “Technology” category, I’m surprised how little I’ve written about the Kindle Paperwhite, especially considering just how much time I’ve spent using the device. I wrote about e-readers once — when I got my original Kindle Touch back in 2012. Since then I’ve upgraded to the Kindle Paperwhite (Amazon), which offers a crisper … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Late Summer 2016 Reading

A saucer-like starship looms large.

It’s a more than a little strange to be writing about the last of my Summer 2016 reading list in Winter 2017, but damn it, I told myself I was going to write this column and I’m not letting myself off the hook. As I wrote in updates to my “Summer Reading List 2016” column, … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Island Reading 2016

Two books -- Lobster Johnson and Crusade -- rest on rocks next to a fire pit. A fire can be seen burning in the upper portion of the photograph.

One of my family’s long-standing traditions is spending time at our friends’ cabin on Butler Island on Lake Champlain. It’s rustic in the extreme (though less so than the early years) with minimal power, an outhouse, and (thankfully) no Internet. It’s a great opportunity to hang out with the family, hike, swim, and read a … Read more

Top of the Pile: Battleworld!

Myriad superheroes battle in space.

The Marvel comic book multiverse collapsed in upon itself in Summer 2015. As the various worlds ended, a new one was forged by its all-powerful god, Doctor Doom. This new world — Battleworld — drove a summer’s worth of of spin-off stories as Marvel cancelled every one of their regular books and replaced them with … Read more

Why I have a Summer Reading List

The paperback book "Crusade" lies face down on a rock next to a fire.

Why do I have a summer reading list? Two big reasons: 1) because I need time for myself, to be alone with the book, the plot, and the mental scenery I’m constructing and 2) because it gives me a project that I’m completely in control of. It wasn’t always this way. Reading used to be a … Read more