I love to read. I’m generally about halfway through three or four books at any given time, and I PROMISE I’ll get back to them at some point. You know how it goes.

Reading, for me, is some combination of inspiration, mental workout, and perspective. I think anyone who reads seriously is inspired by what they read, whatever that may be — I’m certainly neither special nor alone in that regard. So much of my creative output is narrative that books are how I recharge, finding new ideas and interesting twists on old ones. Even though I’ve mostly worked on video games, the core ideas I get from books are still incredibly valuable, adapted to the work I’m doing (or even just providing an idea). I also find that putting mental effort towards visualizing what I’m reading, rather than watching it on a screen, helps me better visualize my own work, and keeps me sharp. The same is true for the perspective that books provide. It’s extremely important to me to continually broaden my horizons and keep looking at things from different angles, just to keep my content fresh. Books are a helpful shorthand way for me to get a different perspective than I might have otherwise.

Here’s a short list of what I’ve been reading (or rereading) lately:

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

D&D 5th Edition Player’s Handbook, by Wizards of the Coast

Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Making Money (Discworld), by Terry Pratchett

The Scar, by China Mieville

I try to keep things varied, although I admit I’m not very good at it. I’m always interested in recommendations, although I’m appallingly bad at getting to them in a timely manner.