Here are 100 books that How to Build a Car fans have personally recommended if you like
How to Build a Car.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I grew up watching Formula 1 as a fan, and have been lucky enough to turn my passion into my career as a journalist. I’ve covered F1 races since the early 1990’s, travelling around the world and getting to know many of its biggest stars. One of my proudest moments was winning a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for my contribution to motorsport journalism. Even though F1 has changed over the years – especially becoming a lot more commercial – I think the fundamentals remain: it's of the very best drivers in the very best cars going at it wheel-to-wheel in that all out quest for victory. That’s why I love it.
The late Gilles Villeneuve may not have been Formula 1’s most successful driver, indeed he never won a world championship, but that did not stop him earning legendary status for his antics being the wheel.
Labelled ‘the craziest devil’ by some of his rivals, Villeneuve was a driver who fans loved because he was always pushing to the maximum and could only operate at the limit – which made him spectacular. I only got to hear about Villeneuve after he died, but I found there was no better book to shed light on what he was like as a driver and as man than Donaldson’s brilliant biography.
Gilles Villeneuve became a legend in his own time, a driver whose skill and daring personified the ideals of Grand Prix racing, the pinnacle of motor sport. With his flamboyantly aggressive, press-on-regardless style in his scarlet Ferrari, he captured the imagination of a vast international audience as no other driver has in recent times.
I grew up watching Formula 1 as a fan, and have been lucky enough to turn my passion into my career as a journalist. I’ve covered F1 races since the early 1990’s, travelling around the world and getting to know many of its biggest stars. One of my proudest moments was winning a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for my contribution to motorsport journalism. Even though F1 has changed over the years – especially becoming a lot more commercial – I think the fundamentals remain: it's of the very best drivers in the very best cars going at it wheel-to-wheel in that all out quest for victory. That’s why I love it.
Despite his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna’s legend still lives on strong in Formula 1. There have been many books written about him, but the one I have enjoyed the most for the way it both explored the man and career, and the impact of his tragic passing, is this one.
Richard Williams is a fantastic writer and he captures brilliantly just why Senna had this aura – which seems to get bigger with every passing year.
The most definitive and compelling book about the legendary racing driver, now a BAFTA award-winning documentary.
'For the casual racing fan it's a mighty good read, for the Senna fan it's indispensable' Time Out
Millions of people around the world watched in horror on that fateful day in Imola at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when Ayrton Senna's car careered off the track at 190mph. The greatest driver in Formula One history was dead.
In this classic sports book, Richard Williams explores the complex Brazilian who was a hero in his own country and an icon to everyone who…
I grew up watching Formula 1 as a fan, and have been lucky enough to turn my passion into my career as a journalist. I’ve covered F1 races since the early 1990’s, travelling around the world and getting to know many of its biggest stars. One of my proudest moments was winning a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for my contribution to motorsport journalism. Even though F1 has changed over the years – especially becoming a lot more commercial – I think the fundamentals remain: it's of the very best drivers in the very best cars going at it wheel-to-wheel in that all out quest for victory. That’s why I love it.
The status of Formula 1 legends is not just reserved for drivers, because there have been other big personalities involved in grand prix racing who became household names too.
One of those was commentator Murray Walker, who became the voice of F1 on both television and radio. I grew up listening to Walker on the BBC, so it was little wonder that this mini-autobiography Bedside Wheels became such a big hit for me.
In it he recounted some of his funniest moments covering the sport, as well as offers insight into just why he became famous for his commentary gaffes – which he insists throughout are not gaffes, but predictions that are immediately proved wrong!
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
I grew up watching Formula 1 as a fan, and have been lucky enough to turn my passion into my career as a journalist. I’ve covered F1 races since the early 1990’s, travelling around the world and getting to know many of its biggest stars. One of my proudest moments was winning a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for my contribution to motorsport journalism. Even though F1 has changed over the years – especially becoming a lot more commercial – I think the fundamentals remain: it's of the very best drivers in the very best cars going at it wheel-to-wheel in that all out quest for victory. That’s why I love it.
Formula 1 may now be a multi-billion dollar industry that is watched by millions around the world every other weekend, but it was not always like that.
The origins of the sport go back to the start of the 20th century, and I’ve always put history book Power and Glory (which comes in two volumes) as perhaps the best exploration of those early years.
Through his detailed research, and the use of impressive archive photos, William Court’s hefty volumes offer some great insight into the legends of the past where grand prix motor racing was almost unrecognisable from how it is today.
I have loved visiting country houses ever since I was a child. There is something unique about the combination of art, architecture, and people. Over my lifetime, I have been privileged to visit all sorts of houses and castles. I used to work at Christie’s and during that time I visited many country houses, some of which were completely private. It was a natural progression when I moved to Goodwood and became the curator of the art collection, enjoying the house as part of my daily life. The view from my office looks out through the columns of the portico, across the park, with the sea glinting in the distance. What could be better?
This book is a fascinating insight into the sisters of the 3rd Duke of Richmond and their lives played out among the country houses of England and Ireland. They were all brilliant letter writers, and although they were separated for long periods, kept up a constant correspondence. After reading it, I felt I knew the sisters personally, even though they had lived 250 years ago. It became an instant bestseller when it first came out over twenty years ago and was made into a film, with Julian Fellowes playing the 2nd Duke of Richmond.
The Lennox Sisters--great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers--lived lives of real public significance, but the private texture of their family-centered world mattered to them and they shared their experiences with each other in countless letters. From this hitherto unknown archive, Stella Tillyard has constructed a group biography of privileged eighteenth-century women who, she shows, have much to tell us about our own time.
I’ve been fascinated by England’s World War II evacuations since I was a child. Appropriately enough, I first learned of this extraordinary historical event in a story: it’s the reason the Pevensies are sent to the Professor’s house in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the dark days of World War II, more than a million English children boarded trains, buses, and ships, to be picked up and cared for by strangers, in some cases for the duration of the war. It’s a historical event that is as astonishing to me now as it was when I first read of it all those years ago.
I adore all of Emma Carroll’s delicious historical fiction, but Letters from the Lighthouse is my favorite. After the Luftwaffe’s bombings separate them from their mother and older sister, Olive and Cliff are evacuated to Devonshire. There, they end up billeted with the shy and enigmatic young lighthouse keeper, Ephraim Pengilly, who is tasked with taking the children in “whether he likes it or not.” Gorgeously atmospheric (the lighthouse alone – “a beacon to guide the lost to safety” – would have been enough for me), Letters from the Lighthouse also features unexpected friendships, the glimmer of a love story, and a sister who may be a spy.
We weren't supposed to be going to the pictures that night. We weren't even meant to be outside, not in a blackout, and definitely not when German bombs had been falling on London all month like pennies from a jar.
February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees.
Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret…
Marianne Bohr and her husband, about to turn sixty, are restless for adventure. They decide on an extended, desolate trek across the French island of Corsica — the GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath — to challenge what it means to grow old. Part travelogue, part buddy story, part memoir, The…
I have loved visiting country houses ever since I was a child. There is something unique about the combination of art, architecture, and people. Over my lifetime, I have been privileged to visit all sorts of houses and castles. I used to work at Christie’s and during that time I visited many country houses, some of which were completely private. It was a natural progression when I moved to Goodwood and became the curator of the art collection, enjoying the house as part of my daily life. The view from my office looks out through the columns of the portico, across the park, with the sea glinting in the distance. What could be better?
The country house is a subject that has always fascinated me, but I’ve often struggled to define it accurately. Clive Aslet, former editor of Country Life magazine does a brilliant job of refining the topic into very readable, succinct, chapters filled with plenty of anecdotes and charming illustrations. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it all over again.
The fascinating story of the evolution of the country house in Britain, from its Roman precursors to the present
The Story of the Country House is an authoritative and vivid account of the British country house, exploring how they have evolved with the changing political and economic landscape. Clive Aslet reveals the captivating stories behind individual houses, their architects, and occupants, and paints a vivid picture of the wider context in which the country house in Britain flourished and subsequently fell into decline before enjoying a renaissance in the twenty-first century. The genesis, style, and purpose of architectural masterpieces such…
Being an immigrant from India, a culture that places family values above all else, I am drawn to books that explore family conflicts, secrets, and the triumph of love against all odds. When an author incorporates these themes into a mystery, the book becomes more than a simple formulaic whodunnit story that educates me about the complexities of our lives.
Threat of exposure of a scandalous affair takes Lynley and his sidekick Havers from London into the countryside, where they reveal how a hidden past and the mistaken identity of a father by his son, led to murder. I love it for the writing style – George's later books became too big for me – the characters she creates with such clarity and passion, who are put into situations that threaten their lives, reputation, and ideals.
As the editor of a popular left-wing tabloid, Dennis Luxford has made a career out of scandal. But this time the scoop involves his own daughter. To save the life of his child, Luxford must expose the girl's mother - Eve Bowen, now Under Secretary of State for the Home Office. And Eve refuses to involve the police, convinced that Charlotte's disappearance is just one more shabby tabloid ploy.
Only when events take an unbearable turn is New Scotland Yard brought in, in the guise of Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Barbara Havers. And as their investigations move from…
I grew up on Chicago’s home front during WW2. President Roosevelt wanted everyone—adults and children—to do their part for the war effort. So we neighborhood kids formed a Victory club, where we marched around singing, “Let’s Remember Pearl Harbor,” and other patriotic songs. And though we had fun, we understood the meaning of the gold stars in the windows, and knew that terrible things were happening on the other side of the world. There are so many wonderful books set during this time period, and I can never read enough of them. These books, along with my memories, are what inspire me to write historical fiction of my own.
In this heartwarming novel, we meet William, Edmund, and Anna; three orphaned siblings who are among the children evacuated from London to the safety of the countryside in 1940. I was drawn to the three from the very beginning. They love and care for one another, and are determined to stay together. Despite the cruelty and neglect they face, they can still find humor in the most unlikely situations. But will they find a family that will keep them forever? If I were a character in the story, I would adopt them in a heartbeat.
A heartwarming story about three siblings, evacuated from London to live in the countryside, looking for a permanent home--and a new meaning for family.
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
It is 1940 and William, 12, Edmund, 11, and Anna, 9, aren't terribly upset by the death of the not-so-grandmotherly grandmother who has taken care of them since their parents died.
But the children do need a guardian, and in the dark days of World War II London, those are in short supply, especially if they hope to stay together. Could the mass wartime evacuation of…
Ever since watching the BBC adaptation ofPride & Prejudice, I’ve been fascinated by the Georgian era. At university I always chose modules that connected with the period, which typically focused on the works of Keats, Byron and Shelley. One module introduced me to the essayist William Hazlitt, and my first novel Infelicedrew on his illicit love affair with serving girl Sarah Walker. My début Pandorais vastly different, but both novels required a plethora of research. The books I’ve chosen all helped me bring my writing to life, and I hope aspiring novelists with a passion for the Georgians will find these as useful as I have.
A cultural tour de force, this book includes everything you could ever wish to know about the Georgian era, although it does specifically stick to its latter years (1789-1830). It is a deeply informative read yet the author maintains a lively and engaging tone throughout as he covers a wide range of topics such as the landscape of Regency Britain, travel, law and order, as well as entertainment, health, and sexuality, so it’s just perfect for any reader unfamiliar with the period. In fact, it’s perfect for anyone who already is. Established writers of the genre will surely pick up something new by reading it.
'Excellent... Mortimer's erudition is formidable' The Times
A time of exuberance, thrills, frills and unchecked bad behaviour...Ian Mortimer turns to what is arguably the most-loved period in British history - the Regency, or Georgian England.
This is the age of Jane Austen and the Romantic poets; the paintings of John Constable and the gardens of Humphry Repton; Britain's military triumphs at Trafalgar and Waterloo. It was perhaps the last age of true freedom before the arrival of the stifling world of Victorian morality.
And like all periods in history, it was an age of many contradictions - where Beethoven's thundering…
