Nuketown’s Summer Reading List for 2023 is off to a strong start. I started a week earlier than normal – my traditional kickoff is Memorial Day Weekend, but hey, I make the traditions. I finished three books on my reading list and kicked off two more. You can track my progress on Goodreads and The Story Graph.
Dead Moon by Peter Clines
One of the first books on my summer 2023 reading list, Dead Moon (Amazon) is a fast-paced scifi/horror novel that’s like a mash-up of Apollo 13 and Resident Evil … on the Moon. It’s a fun read, and nominally part of the Threshold Universe (14, The Fold), though no knowledge of the previous two books is needed.
If you’re looking for a fun popcorn horror read this summer, Dead Moon is a good pick.
Dragons of Deceit by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis
Dragons of Deceit (Amazon) took longer than I expected to set up its core time travel premise; it feels like we won’t get into the meat of this new series until Book 2. Still, it was fun visiting old friends; the book reminds me just how much the Dragonlance series influenced my own campaigns (wizard towers, knightly orders, magic tests, etc).
Stress-Proof Your Life by Eliz Greene
The sole non-fiction book on my summer reading list, I picked up Stress-Proof Your Life: High Performance Under Pressure (Amazon) as a freebie at HighEdWeb 2022. Eliz Greene gave the keynote at that conference, and she did a great job. Unsurprisingly, the book echos the premise of her keynote, which is that stress – and the cortisol that it produces – is dangerous to our bodily health. Sustained stress increases your chances of a heart attack, so logically, you want to come up with a way of mitigating it. It’s a decent read, but to get the most out of it, you really need to do the included workshop-y style exercises.
Next Up
- Matter by Iain Banks – (Amazon) – Book 8 of the Culture series.
- Machine by Elizabeth White – (Amazon) – Book 2 of the White Space series.
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Cover art for Dragons of Deceit. Credit: Wizards of the Coast.