Book recommendations for you from the Autoblog staff

When you’re as obsessed with cars as we are, the passion doesn’t end when the key is taken out of the ignition. (Though who uses a key to start a car anymore?) Once the snow starts falling and the tracks shut down, and the mountain trails are no longer passable, we like to sit by the fire, coffee (or whiskey) in one hand, book in the other.

These stories range from nonfiction to fiction, novels to photo essays, but all of them inspire us, and help keep boredom at bay when the weather turns bleak and the fun cars get stashed away.

'Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans'

Have you seen "Ford v Ferrari" yet? If you want another perspective on the epic battle on- and off-track between the companies (and strong personalities that ran them, and drove for them), you should read the book that inspired the earliest drafts of the movie back in the early 2010s. The script and actors changed, but the underlying story hasn’t – and A.J. Baime’s book tells the tale in a captivating, engrossing way.

This isn’t dry, dull history. It’s a vibrant story of anger, revenge, carburetors, and the ever-present danger of instant fiery death if the man or machine gets something wrong. Add the larger than life characters of Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari, complex men with very different motivations playing an expensive and dangerous game of chess while talented engineers and drivers carry out their wishes on the ground. I read it in two or three obsessive sessions – Baime’s story flows cinematically, and the subject matter is riveting. Read it and watch the movie to get two perspectives on the same legendary grudge match. – Alex Kierstein, Senior Editor

'And on That Bombshell: Inside the Madness and Genius of Top Gear'

Richard Porter is a funny, funny man. It’s no wonder he was a script editor during the golden age of Top Gear, writing lines for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May before a fracas sent the trio to Amazon with a new show. His “And on That Bombshell: Inside the Madness and Genius of Top Gear” isn’t so much a history of the show as it is a series of anecdotes – very funny and revealing anecdotes – about some of the bits you’ve always wondered about. Was the show actually scripted? “Of course it was,” Porter tells us. “All television is scripted.”

Porter covers a lot of ground, and anyone who enjoyed the show in its heyday will find lots of fascinating insights into how it was made and some surprisingly poignant moments. And Porter deftly covers the scandal that ended the show, a swing by Clarkson at a well-loved producer, and he hits the right tone. Good news! The Dacia Sandero gets more than a few pages, and the bottom line is that the little insights you can’t find anywhere else, served up by the ultimate insider, are worth the price of admission. You can read our full review of the book here. – Alex Kierstein, Senior Editor

'The Americans,' by Robert Frank

In addition to being a raw and honest portrait of 1950s America, I find this book to be a good example of how concept can transcend technique — critics sometimes disparaged Frank’s technical skills, like his exposures not being “good” — but in my opinion, if there are any technical “flaws,” they are immaterial as they do not detract from this book’s effectiveness.

Jack Kerouac (Frank was friends with Kerouac, Ginsberg, and other artists of the time) wrote the introduction for “The Americans.” And while Kerouac’s words pair beautifully with Frank's images, what I love about this book is that the photographs stand alone and read together as poetry in their own right. - Eddie Sabatini, Production Manager

'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'

'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72,' by Hunter S. Thompson

Like Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson was a journalist interested in pushing boundaries.

“Las Vegas” follows a weekend road trip gone wrong, or right, I suppose you could say. A long drug-fueled journey into the desert, in search of the American dream.

“Campaign Trail” features the articles that Hunter S. Thompson wrote for Rolling Stone magazine while covering Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.

Works like these, and “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” get co-opted by party culture (some people try ill-advised re-creations of the road trip from “... Las Vegas”) but they are much more than drug manifestos. They are portraits of Time and Place that drive straight to the heart of the human condition, however ugly it can get. They are strange, funny, scary, unique, and filled with beautiful writing:

“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.” - Hunter S. Thompson, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” - Eddie Sabatini, Production Manager

'Travels with Charley: In Search of America,' by John Steinbeck

Published in 1962, “Travels with Charley” is a snapshot of America as seen through the eyes of one of its greatest novelists. In it, Steinbeck hits the open road with his poodle Charley in a truck fitted with a camper. The book chronicles their journey — the places they go, the people they meet, the food they eat — as well as the culture of a country undergoing rapid technological and political change. It’s unlikely to have you yearning for the good old days, but it might just inspire you to get a dog and a pickup and see the country for yourself. - John Beltz Snyder, Senior Editor