13 books like Re-Start

By Dan Sugralinov,

Here are 13 books that Re-Start fans have personally recommended if you like Re-Start. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Dungeon Lord

Edwin McRae Author Of Skulls of Atlantis

From my list on characters who empower others as they level up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a LitRPG author and narrative designer for the video games industry. I’ve written and designed for many RPGs and have always found it satisfying when the player character’s actions tangibly improve the in-game situations of the NPCs. In my own LitRPGs and interactive fiction, I intentionally place the player characters within communities they will come to care about and see grow as their own personal power grows. To me, a character build is more about relationships than upgrades. Stats are just numbers until they affect the lives of others. Then they become story.

Edwin's book list on characters who empower others as they level up

Edwin McRae Why did Edwin love this book?

Edward Wright is portalled into an RPG world as a bad guy, but he’s determined to use his dark powers for good. What’s lovely about The Wraith’s Haunt is that Edward doesn’t just build a dungeon. He builds a community. He offers shelter for the disenfranchised, many of them monsters, and knits a motley, heart-warming alliance for the betterment of all. And this is all done within the comfortable progression architecture of a classic dungeon core LitRPG. 

By Hugo Huesca,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dungeon Lord as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dark forces have extended Edward Wright an offer of incredible power at a terrible cost...

...and Edward has chosen to make them regret it.
 
When Edward is swept into the world of Ivalis as a Dungeon Lord, the Dark's most powerful servant, he has no servitude in mind. He'll oppose the evil plans of the Dark god Murmur, whatever it takes.

Through only his wits and his guts to help him survive a weakened arrival, Edward must rise to power if he is to earn the right to live another day.

But in the battle between Dark and Light, what…


Book cover of Temple of Sorrow

Edwin McRae Author Of Skulls of Atlantis

From my list on characters who empower others as they level up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a LitRPG author and narrative designer for the video games industry. I’ve written and designed for many RPGs and have always found it satisfying when the player character’s actions tangibly improve the in-game situations of the NPCs. In my own LitRPGs and interactive fiction, I intentionally place the player characters within communities they will come to care about and see grow as their own personal power grows. To me, a character build is more about relationships than upgrades. Stats are just numbers until they affect the lives of others. Then they become story.

Edwin's book list on characters who empower others as they level up

Edwin McRae Why did Edwin love this book?

Devon Walker is a rare breed of main character in LitRPG. A well-written female! And while there’s a lot of focus on her classic fantasy character build, there’s as much story time spent on town building and community management. Devon forms strong bonds and friendships with the NPCs of this fantasy RPG world and she does her best to improve their ‘lives’. Stonehaven League is as much about building character as it is about character build.

By Carrie Summers,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Temple of Sorrow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Devon Walker has one chance to turn her life around.
A half-wit ogre, a legion of overgrown jungle beasts, and a power-tripping AI are trying to stop her.

#1 Bestseller in Role Playing and Fantasy | #1 Bestseller in Video Game Adaptations | #1 Bestseller in Metaphysical and Visionary Fantasy | #1 Bestseller in Dragons & Mythical Creatures | #1 Bestseller in Cyberpunk | #1 Bestseller in Virtual Reality

Relic Online is the hottest new game out there, and it’s Devon Walker’s best hope for escaping her hard-knock life. Thanks to her rocking achievements in other games, she’s been hired…


Book cover of One in the Gut

Edwin McRae Author Of Skulls of Atlantis

From my list on characters who empower others as they level up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a LitRPG author and narrative designer for the video games industry. I’ve written and designed for many RPGs and have always found it satisfying when the player character’s actions tangibly improve the in-game situations of the NPCs. In my own LitRPGs and interactive fiction, I intentionally place the player characters within communities they will come to care about and see grow as their own personal power grows. To me, a character build is more about relationships than upgrades. Stats are just numbers until they affect the lives of others. Then they become story.

Edwin's book list on characters who empower others as they level up

Edwin McRae Why did Edwin love this book?

While Ryan is your usual ‘disaffected gamer becomes hero’ type of main character, his trajectory isn’t the standard empowerment fantasy you see in LitRPG. In a VR game where the freemium players are zombies and the premium players get to be zombie-hunting ‘survivors’, Ryan masters his zombie build and then sets about tearing down the classist pay wall. If you’ve ever wondered what a zombie revolution would look like, then you’re in for a treat with Headshot Online.

By Matthew Siege,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked One in the Gut as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Every week, I rise from the dead...Headshot has just gone live and the whole world's playing the new Artificial Reality blockbuster. Unfortunately, unless you can buy your way onto the Survivor's side, you can only participate as a Zombie. Each week, the forces gather to tear each other down to the bone… until, at week’s end, the Apocalypse is reset.Ryan's played the Beta for months, but now that his favorite game has launched, he finds it consuming his life—even as he struggles to decipher whether or not there's actually a way to succeed if you're not willing to Pay to…


Book cover of Biomedical Self-Engineering

Edwin McRae Author Of Skulls of Atlantis

From my list on characters who empower others as they level up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a LitRPG author and narrative designer for the video games industry. I’ve written and designed for many RPGs and have always found it satisfying when the player character’s actions tangibly improve the in-game situations of the NPCs. In my own LitRPGs and interactive fiction, I intentionally place the player characters within communities they will come to care about and see grow as their own personal power grows. To me, a character build is more about relationships than upgrades. Stats are just numbers until they affect the lives of others. Then they become story.

Edwin's book list on characters who empower others as they level up

Edwin McRae Why did Edwin love this book?

Carl is an unhealthy old man who gets the break of a lifetime when a strange accident enables him to upgrade his DNA. Not only is it like taking a sip from the fountain of youth, but Carl can also adopt some of the sensory super powers that animals have. But rather than this turning into another boring superhero story, Biomedical Self-Engineering is the story of a nice guy whose positivity brushes off on almost everyone he encounters. Carl’s not out to save the world. He’s just out to make each day a little better for himself and others.

By Jon Svenson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Biomedical Self-Engineering as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Divorced and working as a security guard in Portland, 73 year old Carl is attacked by an unknown creature before he is able to taser it to death. After being released from the hospital, he discovers by accident that he is unwittingly acquiring DNA samples from other people he touches. 
He discovers a number of shocking facts about himself when a blue box appears in his right eye, Most importantly, he discovers that his health is nowhere near to what he assumed it would be. Can he reverse the negative aspects of his health using these blue boxes somehow? And…


Book cover of Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice

Kat Schrier Author Of We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics

From my list on why games might save humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first realized the power of games when I won the Geography Bee in my elementary school. I had been playing Carmen Sandiego, which encouraged me to study maps and read almanacs. I started to see how games could motivate interest in all different topics. But I didn’t realize I could make games until I was a graduate student at MIT, and I made an augmented reality game to teach history. Since then I have been designing games to inspire connection, care, and curiosity. I am Associate Professor and Director of Games at Marist College, and I have designed media for organizations like the World Health Organization, Scholastic, and Nickelodeon.

Kat's book list on why games might save humanity

Kat Schrier Why did Kat love this book?

Gaming is culture. If we want to redesign our culture, and make it more equitable, we need to look at gaming. Woke Gaming has useful examples of challenges to racial inequality, such as the board game DiscrimiNation or fan responses to games like The Legend of Zelda and World of Warcraft. Systemic change is hard, but necessary, and this book helps us to imagine a better world.

By Kishonna L. Gray (editor), David J. Leonard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Woke Gaming as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From #Gamergate to the 2016 election, to the daily experiences of marginalized perspectives, gaming is entangled with mainstream cultures of systematic exploitation and oppression. Whether visible in the persistent color line that shapes the production, dissemination, and legitimization of dominant stereotypes within the industry itself, or in the dehumanizing representations often found within game spaces, many video games perpetuate injustice and mirror the inequities and violence that permeate society as a whole.

Drawing from groundbreaking research on counter and oppositional gaming and from popular games such as World of Warcraft and Tomb Raider, Woke Gaming examines resistance to problematic spaces…


Book cover of Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry

Caleb J. Ross Author Of Suddenly I was a Shark! My Time with What Remains of Edith Finch

From my list on to defend your video game obsession to non-gamers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lifelong video game obsessive. I think about video game worlds and my relationship with them in the ways most people think about family vacations to the beach or a trip with friends to Las Vegas. Every game I play is an opportunity to experience a new world, and a new culture, and to change myself along the way. Video games are a younger industry than either the music industry or the movie industry, but it’s more than 2.5x bigger than those two industries combined! There are reasons humans are so enamored by video games. The books on my list explore those reasons.

Caleb's book list on to defend your video game obsession to non-gamers

Caleb J. Ross Why did Caleb love this book?

Sometimes, defending your video game obsession means acknowledging that the video game industry is flawed. It’s best not to avoid necessary conversations about the negative impacts that video games can have on families and on personal health.

But while it would be tempting to cite flawed studies about games as a precursor to violence (a sub-recommendation for more about such flawed studies would be The Gaming Mind: A New Psychology of Videogames and the Power of Play by Alexander Kriss), Jason Schreier’s book instead digs into the “industry” part of the video games industry to explore systemic problems like overwork, the lack of unionization, and incredible wealth inequality.

The video game industry is huge (like, really huge. Like, 2.5x the size of the movie and music industry combined huge). Its enormity, combined with its lack of regulation and oversight, makes for a difficult foundation on which to build a life.…

By Jason Schreier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Press Reset as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart-and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.

Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.

The business…


Book cover of How to Use the Laws of Mind

Christopher A. Pinckley Author Of State of Mind 2.0: 11 Lessons of the Most Productive People on the Planet

From my list on leveling up spiritual entrepreneurs & artists.

Why am I passionate about this?

After decades of trial and error, reading hundreds of books and applying the lessons I learned, practicing thousands of hours of meditation & emotional integration work, landing in jail multiple times, battling 20 years of chronic fatigue, surviving a prolonged life/death illness, losing everything, becoming homeless, and rebuilding myself anew, I’ve seen a few things. When I emerged from the abyss, and without my conscious awareness of the fact, I had become transformed. I had become who I’d been seeking all along. Now I hold the space for my clients to express themselves unconditionally, access their deeply held suppressed emotional charges, and shatter the beliefs that keep them tethered to an outdated reality that is fast becoming obsolete in the New Earth.

Christopher's book list on leveling up spiritual entrepreneurs & artists

Christopher A. Pinckley Why did Christopher love this book?

The first, biggest breakthrough I had in life with business, money, and creating what I wanted came when I began reading Dr. Joseph Murphy. I started with his first book The Power of Your Subconscious Mind but my favorite is How to Use the Laws of Mind. Dr. Murphy explains how it became his life mission to interpret the metaphors and hidden messages within the bible into real-life methods on how to harness your own subconscious mind to create the life that you deserve. When I began utilizing affirmations it changed my life.

At the time I was a struggling personal trainer trying to figure out how to get clients in an area swarming with hundreds of other trainers trying to do the exact same thing. When I began utilizing the affirmations in his books it changed everything. Overnight, I booked out solid and became successful. If you want…

By Joseph Murphy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Use the Laws of Mind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is one of Dr. Murphy’s best books, on a par with his classic The Power of your Subconscious Mind.<.I> It explains the difference between the conscious and subconscious mind, and how the two work together to create the reality of the individual.

As in Murphy’s other books, examples are given of how people overcame problems or manifested their desires by changing their minds through belief, affirmation, and visualization. The chapters deal with: HEALING PRAYER BECOMING SPIRITUAL-MINDED THE CREATIVITY OF THOUGHT THE MEANING OF EVIL THE MEANING OF LIFE CONTROLLING ONE’S FEAR THE POWER OF SUGGESTION MARRIAGE, SEX, AND DIVORCEIn…


Book cover of Tales of Potential: The Cinderella Story You Haven't Heard

Tissa Richards Author Of No Permission Needed: Unlock Your Leadership Potential and Eliminate Self-Doubt

From my list on leveling up your leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a TedX and keynote speaker, leadership expert, and corporate facilitator. I’m also a repeat software founder and CEO. I work extensively with Fortune 1000 and hyperscale organizations to connect leadership and culture directly to organizational outcomes, as well as diversifying C-suites and corporate boardrooms. I’m passionate about guiding leaders to measurable outcomes and helping others learn from failure (yes, it happens to all of us!) Over the years, I’ve learned the key is understanding and embodying your own values so you can build resilience for yourself as an individual, your team, and your organization as a whole. I hope my list of recommended books helps you do just that!

Tissa's book list on leveling up your leadership

Tissa Richards Why did Tissa love this book?

I love a book you can actually take action on and Tales of Potential delivers!

Joanna Bloor makes the case that most decisions about your career happen in a room you’re not in – which means you have to rely on someone else to tell your story and be your advocate. This book outlines exactly how to distill your story down to the most important elements, so it’s easy for others to tell effectively.

You’ll learn how to clearly communicate your potential and capabilities in a way that will have a lasting impact on your life.

Book cover of Oneness

Martha Hunt Handler Author Of Winter of the Wolf

From my list on proving there is life after death.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was brought up spiritually, believing our souls are here for a limited time and for a specific purpose before being reincarnated. But my “knowing” about spirituality was tested when my best friend found her 12-year-old son hanging. As I tried to make sense of this heartbreaking tragedy, I began journaling. Not long after, I began to hear her son’s voice. He explained that my writing was a jumping-off point for a novel. I listened and Winter of the Wolf was born. Researching and writing this novel helped me realign with my beliefs and grow in new and profound ways and it will do the same for readers.

Martha's book list on proving there is life after death

Martha Hunt Handler Why did Martha love this book?

As you open this book, prepare to go on a sacred, experiential journey unlike anything you’ve ever imagined. It’s truly that powerful and life changing. Rasha began a profound conversation with the universal presence, “Oneness” – the Divinity we all share. These teachings empower the reader to take a quantum leap into their own inner depths to harmonize with the powerful energy around us so that our wildest dreams can be realized. If you’re someone who often wonders what life is all about and what our purpose here is, take this journey with Rasha. 

By Rasha,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Oneness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Every now and then a book comes along that is so powerful that words cannot describe the experience people start having when they read it. These rare, life-changing books always seem to show up at the perfect moment in time, exactly when we all need it the most. Oneness is such a book--one that will change your life.

In February 1998, Rasha began a profound dialogue with the universal Presence, "Oneness"--the Divinity we all share. Word for word, she transcribed the principles for a new understanding of the mystery we call "life." These teachings empower us to take a quantum…


Book cover of Saga of Old City (Greyhawk Adventures)

Charles Carfagno Jr. Author Of A Demon's Quest: The Beginning of the End

From my list on fantasy filled with action and mayhem.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an international award-winning fantasy author, who’s been writing since 2003. My love of Dungeon and Dragons and Martial Arts have influenced my writing and created a world full of wonder. I have an extensive background in both Western (Sword fighting) and Eastern Martial Arts, and I use that knowledge to create so many memorable fight scenes throughout the series.

Charles' book list on fantasy filled with action and mayhem

Charles Carfagno Jr. Why did Charles love this book?

The founder of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax also wrote novels, and my favorite book was Saga of Old City. I read this book growing up and let me tell you it was engaging, action-packed, and fun. The character development was fantastic as it follows the journey of Gord; a scrawny street kid that grew into a formidable thief and eventually becomes a powerful warrior who can overcome incredible challenges. 

Book cover of Dungeon Lord
Book cover of Temple of Sorrow
Book cover of One in the Gut

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