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Read any good books lately?


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I know there are a few book worms on here. Just looking for some good recommendations.

 

I like mostly sci-fi/post-apocolyptical stuff, but just throw out anything good you've read lately.

 

I did just finish The Hunger Games trilogy and I'm pretty excited for the movie to come out this March.

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http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/default%202/d17c6d167196ae559325a615a41434d414f4541.jpg

 

Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder, a friend of mine.

 

Incredible first novel. Written by gear head, racer, co-founder of FlatOut Motorsports. Some of you met him when his team raced at Mid-Ohio a few years ago.

 

A few of you on CR have inscribed copies of the book on their way here as we speak. They were shipped Wednesday. The book is also available as an e-book. Steve emailed me yesterday to say that the book is already in its second printing and also that his second novel in the series is scheduled to go to print this coming summer.

 

He's coming to Ohio this October to visit and I think we'll have an open house for him at the hangout.

 

From Libdrone Books review: http://libdrone.info/2011/05/31/book-review-purgatory-chasm-by-steve-ulfelder/

 

Steve Ulfelder’s Purgatory Chasm was a very different kind of reading experience for me. Protagonist Conway Sax is kind of an anti-hero. A former race car driver and car mechanic, on parole after serving time for manslaughter, Sax is stumbling through his life and stumbles upon a complex and many-layered case involving drugs, murder and money. While the librarians have not classified Purgatory Chasm as a mystery, it contains some elements of that genre, as well as some elements of the thriller or action novel.

 

Conway Sax is a recovering alcoholic and a devoted member of his rather bad ass local AA group, the Barnburners. An obnoxious member of that group asks Sax for his help in recovering his vintage Mercedes which has been at a mechanic’s shop for some time, and the shop is not doing any of the restoration work that had been ordered. While Sax clearly does not care for Tander Phigg, his obnoxious acquaintance, he will never refuse help to anyone in the Barnburners and so begins looking into Motorworken and its owner Ollie and his employee, Josh. Few things are as they appear and Sax is drawn into trying to solve the mysteries he uncovers. Occasionally, Sax’ interest and ability in solving crimes seems a bit contrived, but by and large the character comes across as a street-wise tough guy who uses both brains and brawn, as Tander Phigg is killed and the police suspect him of involvement in the crime.

 

Purgatory Chasm is to a large extent, a “men’s novel”. For the most part, the book’s few female characters play secondary roles and most of the interactions are between Sax and his Barnburners sidekick Randall, and with the late Tander Phigg’s son Trey. There is a lot of fighting, a lot of fast driving and a lot of straight male camaraderie. If you enjoy novels about bad boy anti-heroes, Purgatory Chasm is well-written, richly plotted and a lot of fun.

 

You can buy the book many places; here is the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Purgatory-Chasm-Mystery-Steve-Ulfelder/dp/0312672926

 

Racing expenses written-off the taxes as "advertising?" Steve's "book car" :)

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If timelines like Pulp Fiction and Memento don't confuse you:

 

Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti

By Genevieve Valentine

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jfsj4BjHL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

 

It's a great book with a unique style of writing. The author puts you right into the Uncanny Valley of writing and gets you to feel what the audience feels which really makes the eerie nature of the circus come alive. It's post-apocalyptic steampunk with just a hint of supernatural. The only issue isn't really a problem, but more of a potential stumbling point for some readers. The author moves back and forth between the present and past with not much more indication than a break between parts. It'll take a couple paragraphs to pick up where she's brought you, but it's not a big deal and kind of adds to the mood of the book. If jumps like that don't bother you, then I think you'll enjoy this book.

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I know there are a few book worms on here. Just looking for some good recommendations.

 

I like mostly sci-fi/post-apocolyptical stuff, but just throw out anything good you've read lately.

 

I did just finish The Hunger Games trilogy and I'm pretty excited for the movie to come out this March.

 

 

I think you'd like this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/River-Gods-Ian-McDonald/dp/1591025958

 

River Of Gods

 

This ambitious portrait of a future India from British author McDonald (Desolation Road) offers multitudes: gods, castes, protagonists, cultures. Nine disparate characters, including a cop, a scientist and a stand-up comic, act out their related dramas—be they personal, political or of the mystery-thriller variety—in successive chapters within each of the book's five sections. In the India of 2047, genetically engineered children comprise a new caste, adults can be surgically transformed into a neutral gender, a water war has broken out as the Ganges threatens to run dry, AIs are violently destroyed if they approach levels akin to human intelligence, and something strange has just appeared in the solar system. The deliberate pace and lack of explanation require patience at the outset, but readers will become increasingly hooked as the pieces of McDonald's richly detailed world fall into place. Already nominated for both Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke awards, this is sure to one of the more talked-about SF novels of the year.

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I just started reading World War Z last night. So far, I'm very much enjoying it - it's definitely living up to the hype.

 

Rob suggested Fight Club - I second that. In fact, that was the last book I read (before starting World War Z). It's a relatively short read. I was also amazed at just how well the movie was adapted from the book.

 

I wish I had more time to read.

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For the car enthusiast in you, Tommy Byrne's autobiography. Its the story of a guy who could compete with the likes of Ayrton Senna yet fizzled out because of his own admitted shitheadness. And he's an instructor at Mid-Ohio now.

 

http://www.crashorbyrne.com/

 

Great book, great guy. I've heard him tell a couple of the stories from the book in person and he's a riot to talk to.

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I like mostly sci-fi/post-apocolyptical stuff, but just throw out anything good you've read lately.

 

I have been reading a "post-apocalyptic" series from S.M. Sterling called The Change series. Basically one day, across the word basically all modern advances stop working and the world is thrown back into an age before gun powder again. The 8th book in the series came out this year and the 9th is due out in 2012.

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