Happy New Year! As I look back on the past year, one of the things that always stands out are the great books I read. Last year I did a breakdown of the 7 Best Books I Read In 2017 and had a lot of fun looking back and sharing those books with others.

This year I read even more geeky science fiction and fantasy novels and some other fun adventure stories. I also made time for books that would help me in my career and in growing Under the Capes. Since this site is all about helping nerds grow their own business, I had to make sure to include a couple of those books too.

Here are my favorite books of 2018:

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

This was a fantastic entry and renewal of the Red Rising Saga. The original trilogy deals with a rebellion set in a futuristic society spread out across the solar system.

Iron Gold is the start of a new trilogy set 10 years after the seemingly conclusive first trilogy. This book starts with the fact that things aren’t as finished as they thought. It is a really cool look at the aftermath of some choices and turns already very detailed characters into even more complex and flawed. Many of the decisions made by the main characters are tough to agree with which makes it even more engrossing.

This book is also different from the earlier trilogy because it follows 4 narrators instead of the single main character of the first 3 books. This was a great move to expand the universe and tell a more diverse story.

Artemis by Andy Weir

Andy Weir’s breakout novel The Martian made my 2017 list (and most likely everyone else’s thanks to the success of the movie) and this is an excellent follow-up. Weir brings a really similar style to this book but uses it to tell the story of a heist/corporate sabotage on a Lunar colony. The protagonist is another intelligent, dryly funny person except for this time it’s a she and she’s a criminal. The story moves along at a great pace and just like The Martian and it includes some interesting, scientifically backed problem solving and some on-the-fly improvisation when things inevitably don’t go as planned.

I listened to the audiobook for this and The Martian and think they both really add to the experience. Artemis is narrated by Rosario Dawson who does a fantastic job with the tense moments and hitting the comedic timing.

The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente

This was a really cool story for fans of mystery novels and comic conventions. Specifically, if you’ve attended San Diego Comic-Con, the setting of the book, you’ll see this story perfectly captures the setting and feel of the convention and takes you to many familiar SDCC locales. The story itself has a great pace and keeps you engaged the whole way through and offers up a satisfying conclusion to the who-dun-it.

I got to speak with author Fred Van Lente in Episode 47 of the podcast about his experience as a comic book writer and frequent comic-con attendee and how he’s made the switch to novels.

The Players Guide to Dungeon Crawling by Matthew Phillion

Last year’s list included The Indestructibles, the first book in Matthew Phillion’s superhero series.  While the Indestructibles has fun with the superhero genre, Dungeon Crawlers dives into roleplaying games and fantasy stories as 6 regular gamers are pulled into a tabletop RPG. The idea of people being sucked into a game or thrown into a fantasy world has been done before but this book has a great tone and dives right into the action.

The 6 characters are all really cool and they come together to form a pretty badass party. As more of a novella, I only wish this had been longer. But, this first book and the two that have been released since are coming together into a solid episodic series.

Another reason this book deserves a spot on this list is it encouraged me to try Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, leading to a long year of roleplay gaming. The book doesn’t require any knowledge of RPGs to be enjoyed, but be warned: it might cause you to start.

I talked with Matthew Phillion about his writing career in Episode 19 of the podcast and had such a good time I asked him back for Episode 51 to talk specifically about writing habits and productivity. Speaking of productivity…

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts

I got a lot out of this book by Ryan Holiday, who is the author of several other great books on Marketing and Stoicism. Creating a perennial seller should be the goal of any artist and/or business and this book provides great examples and a clear outline for how to do so. My goal for the podcast and Under the Capes in general has always been to creating something that is just as valuable months or years after the episodes are released.

The book is broken up into four parts: creating, editing and positioning, marketing, and building a platform for sustained success. The actionable tips are great and the stories of perennial sellers throughout history really serve as great examples.

So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport

This was a really great book for evaluating your career path and helping to determine your top priorities for your work. The argument that “following your passion” is a trap that can ultimately lead to unhappiness and failure is supported pretty strongly.

This may seem like a strange book to recommend when this site is all about nerds building businesses out of their passion projects. However, Newport isn’t really warning against building a business you’re passionate about but against building a business with only passion. Newport even admits that the subject was chosen to be remarkable. More importantly, the alternative strategies are practical whether you buy into his initial argument or not.

The real main argument is that if you want a fulfilling career you need to develop career capital in the form of skills, which you can then leverage to assert more control over your job, find your mission and ultimately become much more satisfied.

I found this book really useful for helping me keep my career on the right track and found myself highlighting a lot of great advice and stories. I will definitely be referencing this a lot in the coming months as I use it to help direct my life plan.

What books did you enjoy last year? If you’d like to see reviews of everything I read in 2018 (and pretty much ever) you can connect with me on Goodreads!