5 video game books to start (or complete) a bookshelf

Cover to A History of Video Games in 64 Objects. Image via Dey St. Books.

Whether you prefer to just look at art, read more about the worlds you inhabit, or cook up new recipes, these 5 gaming books will make a killer collection.

You don’t really need to read a ton to enjoy certain video games; you certainly can, if you seek out the lore or pick text-heavy genres like RPGs. But even if you’re not a huge reader, there are a lot of video game books to at least put on your shelf and look like you’re a bit more literary than you might actually be.

Of course, all of these books and similar titles would make for some great gifts for birthdays or gamers in your life. Let’s get into it, shall we?

World of Warcraft: The Cookbook

We like eating. We like video games. Why not combine the two? That’s pretty much the impetus behind World of Warcraft getting its own cookbook. If you’re not sure about it, we did go through and review it upon its release.

Blizzard’s really leaned into this, though, also releasing a cookbook for Hearthstone.

What we’d really like to know is where our Breath of the Wild cookbook is, Nintendo. (But more on Zelda later.)

Tales from the Sea of Thieves

In-universe books can be sometimes a bit hit or miss. It’s just the nature of translating one medium to another (you know, like quite a few comic book movies). However, a good, recent choice comes in the form of Tales from the Sea of Thieves, which does not feature Sean Astin but does feature sea shanties, as promised in the product description.

Of course, if you want to go more classic, there’s a three-volume set for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that collects that game’s lore.

But let’s face it: we’ve only scratched the surface of video gaming books. Let’s get to some serious franchises and their paper-and-ink tie-ins.