Love Woke Gaming? Readers share 76 books like Woke Gaming...

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

Here are 76 books that Woke Gaming fans have personally recommended if you like Woke Gaming. 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 Love and Electronic Affection: A Design Primer

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 didnā€™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?

If we want to heal the world, we first need a little love. Some might not associate games with emotions, care, and love, but they couldnā€™t be more wrong. I think about all the virtual creatures, critters, characters, and real friends that I have connected with through games. Love and Electronic Affection provides a fantastic overview of love and affection in games like Dragon Age, Life is Strange, and Bioshock.

By Lindsay D. Grace,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love and Electronic Affection as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Love and Electronic Affection: A Design Primer brings together thought leadership in romance and affection games to explain the past, present, and possible future of affection play in games. The authors apply a combination of game analysis and design experience in affection play for both digital and analog games. The research and recommendations are intersectional in nature, considering how love and affection in games is a product of both player and designer age, race, class, gender, and more. The book combines game studies with game design to offer a foundation for incorporating affection into playable experiences.

The text is organizedā€¦


Book cover of Play Like a Feminist.

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 didnā€™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?

If we want a better world, we have to be able to enact change. Play Like a Feminist is about feminism, equality, and games. But itā€™s also really about how we make change, how we rise up, and how we lift others up. Games can help to reveal not only the problems, but how we can protest those problems and make solutions. It shows us that play itself can be a form of protest.

By Shira Chess,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Play Like a Feminist. as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An important new voice provides a riveting look at why video games need feminism and why all of us should make space for more play in our lives.

"You play like a girl": it's meant to be an insult, accusing a player of subpar, un-fun playing. If you're a girl, and you grow up, do you "play like a woman"--whatever that means? In this provocative and enlightening book, Shira Chess urges us to play like feminists. Furthermore, she urges us to play video games like feminists. Playing like a feminist is empowering and disruptive; it exceeds the boundaries of genderā€¦


Book cover of Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning

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 didnā€™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?

If we want to inspire the world, we need to start by teaching the next generation. Gaming SEL shows us how games can teach important skills like compassion, care, and perspective-taking. Dr. Farber, the bookā€™s author, and I have collaborated on research in this area, and it is exciting to see the power of games in helping our students learn, grow, and care about each other.

By Matthew Farber,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Games enable children to practice emotions in spaces that are free from actualized consequences. With thoughtful guidance, games can help children manage emotions, perspective-take, demonstrate empathic concern, and exhibit prosocial behaviors.

Emerging research suggests that these competencies-also known as social and emotional learning (SEL) skills-are, in fact, teachable. In Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning, Matthew Farber investigates the rich opportunities games have in supporting SEL skill development. Experts from the fields of education, game development, and SEL-including folks from CASEL, the Fred Rogers Center, Greater Good in Education, iThrive Games, Minecraft Education, and UNESCO MGIEP-shareā€¦


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorā€”and only womanā€”on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route upā€¦

Book cover of Video Games Save the World

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 didnā€™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?

So games just may help solve the worldā€™s problems. Letā€™s share the news with everyone, including kids! Video Games Save the World does just that. It uses kid-friendly language, examples, and illustrations of how gaming is helping us make positive change. For instance, it talks about the fantastic organization Games for Change, and all different types of games including indie games and VR games.

By Heather E. Schwartz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Video Games Save the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

To save the world, one must play video games. Sounds ridiculous, right? But in reality many people are looking to video games to tackle many of the world's problems. Take a closer look at the ways in which video games can help save the world.


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?

Iā€™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 itā€™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. Itā€™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 Schreierā€™s book instead digs into the ā€œindustryā€ 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.ā€¦

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 businessā€¦


Book cover of Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984

John Wills Author Of Gamer Nation: Video Games and American Culture

From my list on video games and popular culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a university academic who writes and teaches on American popular culture. Iā€™ve played video games all my lifeā€”I remember first playing Breakout and Boot Hill at the local arcade back in the late 1970s as a young child, and yes, I had an Atari VCS. Today, I write, teach, and exhibit work on the history of video games, especially how games depict and connect with the USA. I still play video games, probably too much, and my favorite console is the Sega Dreamcast.

John's book list on video games and popular culture

John Wills Why did John love this book?

I love this book. Itā€™s an exquisite and beautiful coffee table title by Van Burnham, but that description really doesnā€™t do it justice. You can dip in and out of some wonderful features that chart the history of video games written by academics and other experts in the field. It is totally accessible and fun and the artwork is fantastic. Rejoice in old pixel video games you remember or have never heard of. The second volume is due out imminently and is totally brilliant. Buy both and enjoy!

By Van Burnham,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A gloriously illustrated history of the videogame and its legacy for both our mindscapes and video technology.

It was a time when technology was king, status was determined by your high score, and videogames were blitzing the world... From Pong to Pac-Man, Asteroids to Zaxxonā€”more than fifty million people around the world have come of age within the electronic flux of videogames, their subconscious forever etched with images projected from arcade and home videogame systems.

From the first interactive blips of electronic light at Brookhaven National Labs and the creation of Spacewar! at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; to theā€¦


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Book cover of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier,

The coaching book that's for all of us, not just coaches.

It's the best-selling book on coaching this century, with 15k+ online reviews. BrenƩ Brown calls it "a classic". Dan Pink said it was "essential".

It is practical, funny, and short, and "unweirds" coaching. Whether you're a parent, a teacher,ā€¦

Book cover of How to Do Things with Videogames

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?

Iā€™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 itā€™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?

Despite the implications of the title, this book is not a how-to book about repurposing Nintendo game cartridges as drink coasters. Itā€™s even better than that (and this is coming from someone who actually does use old, non-functioning game cartridges as drink coasters). 

How to Do Things with Videogames is a plea to non-gaming industries to embrace video games as tools to advance their own products and services. While video game mechanics and visuals have certainly matured since their introduction in the 1970sā€”and that is all quite interestingā€”Ian Bogostā€™s book isnā€™t interested in how humans have advanced video games but instead in how video games could advance humans.

Iā€™ll give a specific example that has stuck with me since my first read of this book. Humans are great with spatial awareness. Video games have an amazing ability to leverage this capability for fun. But why not leverage this capability toā€¦

By Ian Bogost,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Do Things with Videogames as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In recent years, computer games have moved from the margins of popular culture to its center. Reviews of new games and profiles of game designers now regularly appear in the New York Times and the New Yorker, and sales figures for games are reported alongside those of books, music, and movies. They are increasingly used for purposes other than entertainment, yet debates about videogames still fork along one of two paths: accusations of debasement through violence and isolation or defensive paeans to their potential as serious cultural works. In How to Do Things with Videogames, Ian Bogost contends that suchā€¦


Book cover of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

Doug Walsh Author Of The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides

From my list on the video game industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Doug Walsh is the author of over one hundred officially licensed video game strategy guides for BradyGames and Prima Games. From Diablo to Zelda, his work covered nearly every major gaming franchise for two decades.

Doug's book list on the video game industry

Doug Walsh Why did Doug love this book?

Longtime games journalist, Jason Schreier, takes readers within the bowels of gamingā€™s most celebrated studios to reveal the fascinating, yet often cringe-inducing conditions in which modern games are made. Well-researched and fascinating to read, with individual chapters devoted to many of gamingā€™s most recent bestsellers.

By Jason Schreier,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Blood, Sweat, and Pixels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You've got your dream job--making video games. You have a great project, great designs, and clever controls. One morning, you get a call from your producer. Turns out that wall-jumping trick won't work because the artists don't have time to design a separate animation just for the plumber to move that way. Also, your lead designer keeps micromanaging the programmers, which is driving them crazy. Your E3 demo is due in two weeks, and you know there's no way you can get it done in less than four. You'll have to cut out some of the game's biggest features justā€¦


Book cover of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter

Doug Walsh Author Of The Walkthrough: Insider Tales from a Life in Strategy Guides

From my list on the video game industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Doug Walsh is the author of over one hundred officially licensed video game strategy guides for BradyGames and Prima Games. From Diablo to Zelda, his work covered nearly every major gaming franchise for two decades.

Doug's book list on the video game industry

Doug Walsh Why did Doug love this book?

This smart and at-times hilarious book takes serious, analytical, video game criticism and runs it through the meatgrinder of the gaming- and drug-addicted mind of an adult player. It is a memoir, a love story, and a guide to understanding why, as the title suggests, video games absolutely matter.

By Tom Bissell, Tom Bissell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In Extra Lives, acclaimed writer and life-long video game enthusiast Tom Bissell takes the reader on an insightful and entertaining tour of the art and meaning of video games.
 
In just a few decades, video games have grown increasingly complex and sophisticated, and the companies that produce them are now among the most profitable in the entertainment industry. Yet few outside this world have thought deeply about how these games work, why they are so appealing, and what they are capable of artistically. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is a milestone work about what might be theā€¦


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Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didnā€™t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courtā€™s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over womenā€™s reproductive rights placesā€¦

Book cover of Game Over, Pete Watson

Sylv Chiang Author Of Tournament Trouble

From my list on middle grade for kids who love video games.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a middle grade teacher who loves to read. Many of my students prefer to play video games. In fact, some of them have a real aversion to reading. Since I know reading ability is a huge factor in a studentā€™s academic success, Iā€™m always looking for great books to get students to put down their controllers and read. When I couldnā€™t find many, I was inspired to write the CROSS UPS TRILOGY. Iā€™m confident that the books on this list will lure young gamers into their covers with gaming themes, humor, and relatable characters. 

Sylv's book list on middle grade for kids who love video games

Sylv Chiang Why did Sylv love this book?

This zany story about a gamer is packed full of laughs. Pete is looking forward to the release of a new game, but when he sells his dadā€™s old gaming console to afford the new game, things go really wrong, really fast. Letā€™s just say that was no gaming console he sold and now his dad is trapped in a video game. Pete has to save his dad, (and the world) by entering the game and winning! 

While I usually donā€™t like the whole getting-sucked-into-the-game trope, it totally works for this silly style of humor. Illustrations along the way donā€™t just break up the text, they add to the laughs.

By Joe Schreiber, Andy Rash (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Game Over, Pete Watson as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stormbreaker meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid in this hysterically funny, fast-paced novel that follows video game obsessed Pete Watson as he discovers the only thing scarier than espionage is the girl of his dreams. Mega-gamer Pete Watson needs just twenty dollars more to buy the all-new Brawl-A-Thon 3000 XL. So he sells a beat-up CommandRoid 85 arcade game containing top-secret government intel! owned by his boring old dad super-spy trapped inside the CommandRoid!, to an exterminator evil mastermind bent on global destruction!!! Pete's gaming skills are put to the test as he fights evil villains, giant mechanical bugs, andā€¦


Book cover of Love and Electronic Affection: A Design Primer
Book cover of Play Like a Feminist.
Book cover of Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in video games, virtual reality, and space horror?

Video Games 102 books
Virtual Reality 55 books
Space Horror 28 books