Good *recent* books ?

[Typ616]

Haven't seen a thread on great (recently released) reads for us voracious readers. If I missed it, mods feel free to kill this or merge...

One I've really enjoyed is "The Martian" by Andy Weir. Not all that Scifi per se, more about ingenious ways to stay alive. An astronaut is presumed dead in a sandstorm and gets left behind on Mars with very limited means of survival. But he's kind of a MacGyver (without the mullet)... Gotta figure out food, O2, power, contacting earth...

If you are any kind of engineer, or have ever gotten out of a bind with duct tape, you will love how clever this book is. I also like how it's written, sarcastic and self deprecating... Everyone I've recommended this book to also loved it, so I'm putting it here...

Your turn ?

[id10t]

Both Little Brother and Homeland by Cory Doctorow. Available Freely (creative commons) at craphound.com

[Rot 911]

Typ616, thanks for starting this. Always like seeing what others are reading. Just ordered "The Martian!" Here is what I am reading right now: New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd.

"Edward Rutherfurd celebrates America’s greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga, weaving together tales of families rich and poor, native-born and immigrant—a cast of fictional and true characters whose fates rise and fall and rise again with the city’s fortunes. From this intimate perspective we see New York’s humble beginnings as a tiny Indian fishing village, the arrival of Dutch and British merchants, the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the convulsions of the Civil War, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near demise of New York in the 1970s and its roaring rebirth in the 1990s, and the attack on the World Trade Center."

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Typ616

Haven't seen a thread on great (recently released) reads for us voracious readers. If I missed it, mods feel free to kill this or merge...

One I've really enjoyed is "The Martian" by Andy Weir. Not all that Scifi per se, more about ingenious ways to stay alive. An astronaut is presumed dead in a sandstorm and gets left behind on Mars with very limited means of survival. But he's kind of a MacGyver (without the mullet)... Gotta figure out food, O2, power, contacting earth...

If you are any kind of engineer, or have ever gotten out of a bind with duct tape, you will love how clever this book is. I also like how it's written, sarcastic and self deprecating... Everyone I've recommended this book to also loved it, so I'm putting it here...

Your turn ?

I loved that book!! I worked in that field for a long time and it really captured the feel of JSC and how engineers approach things.

Here's a good one if you like zombie/post-apocalyptic stuff:

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End - Kindle edition by Manel Loureiro, Pamela Carmell. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

I've read a lot of these books and Apocalypse Z (and it's two sequels) is the best.

If you're into horror:

Origin - Kindle edition by J.A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

I actually found Origin to be so horrific I would classify it as "disturbing". Hard to put down, though.

[herr_oberst]

My summer reading so far...

"Arsenal of Democracy" - the story of how the Ford Motor Company went from building cars to building bombers during WWII. I honestly couldn't put it down.

(After I finished this, I read another book by this same author "Go like Hell" - the story of the Ford GT40. I should have read this years ago.)

"Beast" Roger Penske takes advantage of a rule change to build a motor for the Indy 500 in complete secrecy. I absolutely did not do it justice with my synopsis. This is a great book...

In addition to these, I just read, for the first time, two Tom Wolfe books, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerene-Flake Streamlined Baby" and "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid test".

(I should have read these years ago, too, but both are interesting as a look back on how we got to where we are today...)

"The Man in the White Suit" by Ben Collins - this is the story of The Stig, and this is the book that got Ben Collins ostracized by the guys on Top Gear

Currently reading an old novel by Tom Robbins...

[recycled sixtie]

I am currently reading In Stitches by Anthony Youn MD. It is all about the process and education of him becoming a doctor. It is so funny.
Guy.

[LakeCleElum]

Always room for another book thread here - I like the idea of recommending "NEW" books....The website GOODREADS.com does that, you can get email notifications

An old thread here has some great suggestions:

*** Official "Recommend a Book/Author" Thread ***

[LakeCleElum]

Stevens Pass - The Gateway to Seattle - by JoAnn Roe

For you history and railroad buffs:

Stevens Pass has always had an aura of mystery about it. Even while Seattle boomed during the great gold rush of the 1800's, there remained no way to cross the formidable North Cascades. Inspired by the Orient trade, railroaders spent years looking for a suitable route over the mountain until surveyor John F. Stevens discovered a pass in 1890.
The Great northern Railroad lent romance to the crossing of Stevens Pass. But its real saga consisted of the nearly superhuman feats of construction crews, ghastly design mistakes, unpredictable acts of nature, and the determination of magnates, despite countless unforeseen obstacles, to connect communities by rail.
The other half of the saga consists of individuals who traversed the mountains, built crude homes, and schooled their children at home or in drafty log schoolhouses with few books. Nefarious pioneers took advantage of the isolation to work scams, fight, steal, and even murder.
More than a regional history, this story tells of the Wellington disaster, a killer avalanche; the period when ski jumping events grew crowds of thousands; the growing efforts of the United States Forest Service to serve recreational seekers; and the scoundrels and heroes of the new frontier.
I enjoyed this book immensely, and learned a lot about an area in history that at one time was sitting in my own backyard, so to speak.

[rcooled]

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest.




Not all that recent, but one of the most interesting books I've read in quite a while. If you had the ability to travel back in time, could you prevent this from happening?

[glewis80SC]

Stephen King: Doctors Sleep

[vash]

here's a quick read.

[white85carrera]

On my doorstep today-hot off the press.

I liked the Shackleton saga, this sounds interesting as well.

[sammyg2]

This morning I started reading a book called "The Cameron hydraulic data book" again.

This is one of those books that I've picked up and read from a hundred times, but I've never actually read it all the way through front to back.

I dunno if anyone would be capable of doing that without having an aneurysm.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

This morning I started reading a book called "The Cameron hydraulic data book" again.

This is one of those books that I've picked up and read from a hundred times, but I've never actually read it all the way through front to back.

I dunno if anyone would be capable of doing that without having an aneurysm.

I actually have this book. Good reference material along with Mark's and the Bosch Bible.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by white85carrera

On my doorstep today-hot off the press.

I liked the Shackleton saga, this sounds interesting as well.

Ordered yesterday. I saw him interviewed and he was terrific.

[Rick Lee]

I have some trans-Atlantic flights coming up and am working which books to bring. One is First Kill Your Family, which is about child soldiers and was a gift from a client, whose husband is the author. I feel obligated to read this one, but am not really itching to do so.

[nota]

the Beatles '' tune in '' [history of the early years]

next a new terry Pratchett ''the long war''

[Bill Douglas]

Now that I'm all grown up I only read James W Hall books. The sad thing is I'm running out of books to read (James if you are reading this please get back to work and finish your latest book.) They are all novels with the stories based in Miami, Biscayne Bay, Blackwater sound. GREAT reading!

[Taz's Master]

I really enjoyed Rick Atkinson's: An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle and The Guns at Last Light. Time well spent.

[LeeH]

I just finished this one, which I found entertaining in a twisted way:
http://www.amazon.com/Blackbirds-Chuck-Wendig/dp/0857662309

Haven't read this one yet as it just came out, but my niece wrote it so it's next on the list:
Amazon.com: Servants of the Storm eBook: Delilah S. Dawson: Books