Bibliopost number 2 - Dieselpunk / Steampunk!

I swear I have a proper blog post brewing, I swear!  I just need a second to get it written ...

For now, I just wanted to update you on what I'm reading (original bibliopost in case you missed it) ; I've finished Alas, Babylon a post-apocalyptic story written in 1969.  It had a sort of painful innocence to it - we here in 2010 are much more hardened to the possibility of amageddon - but it was pretty good. Kudos for the attempt at racial equality.

I also finished The Hunger Games, and, great Cthulhu, I almost couldn't put it down!  It was fantastic!  I fully intend to buy the other two as soon as I get some money.

Briefly, it was set in a nicely-concieved Dieselpunk world where, after WW III, all the land that's left in America has been devided up into districts. Each district has a specail production (coal, agriculture, etc) and all are ruled by a central district where the priviliged live. Each of the other districts must send two of their children (1 boy, 1 girl) to compete in a winner-takes-all-losers-die game for the entertainment of the rich and as punishment to the poor (for a past rebellion).

I love post apocalyptic stories - Steven King's The Running Man and The Long Walk are two of my very faves with the national-horrible-game theme - but I was blown away by this one. The characters are likeable (or hateable as the case my be) and tension runs through the book like a live wire.  The young girl (whom I expected to annoy me) was smart and capable (read: the anti-Bella-*gag*Swan) but not so much so as to seem unbelievable.

I highly recommend this read!

I'm still slogging through Son of the Circus (John Irving) and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Steig Larsson) and still wondering what everyone loves so much about the latter one. *grimace*

I have started Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson) and must stand corrected.  I have NOT ever started this book. (Sorry, Dad) I have never read this book at all before.  I had it confused with another one, I guess (something about a guy living in an underground world?  Something about a bridge down there? Sci-fi? Fantasy?)

So the good part is that I have finally started Snow Crash and am enjoying it. The bad part is that out there somewhere is a book that was highly recommended to me that I've started twice but never finished. Gah!

So, what are you reading?  Do you enjoy post apocalyptic / dieselpunk type stuff too?  Any recommendations?  I need more stuffs on muh Kindle!

Oh, and speaking of dieselpunk and steampunk, check out our newest steampunk and dieselpunk t-shirts over at Evil Genius Tees!  (Yes, I see that the formatting is borked over on the EG Concepts blog. argh!)