I remember the first time I saw the name Gary Gygax. I was in 1oth grade, standing in a corner store in Oscoda, Michigan. It was a narrow aisle, packed with all manner of toys, model cars, and books. Some friends told me of game using a complex set of rules, twenty-sided dice, and sheets of graph paper. They’d sent me to the store to take a closer look at the game, the rules of which lay within the confines of some books. The name Gary Gygax was emblazoned upon the back of a the Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook, right next to the TSR branding. The book explained how the player could create...

Friend of mine sent a huge, well vetted list of books he recommends taking for a spin this summer. Some are deep, others are light, but most slant toward science fiction. These recommendations are from a guy I trust, and has pointed me to book after book which I’ve enjoyed to no end. He recommended George RR Martin’s ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ series about two years ago — one of the best series of books I’ve ever read, period. I still lament some of the great characters he’s killed off. Check out the list in the first comment from this post. Worth your time.