Weekend picks for book lovers

What should you read this weekend? Paste BN's picks for book lovers include a new novel about Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury circle, and a memoir by film-loving geek Patton Oswalt.

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar; Ballantine, 346 pp.; fiction

The Bloomsbury set, the joke goes, lived in squares and loved in triangles.

In her historical novel about the British bohemians, Priya Parmar conjures up a devastating fictional portrait of one of those triangles — the writer Virginia Woolf (A Room of One's Own); her sister, artist Vanessa Bell; and Vanessa's husband, art critic Clive Bell.

The novel, based in fact but written with imaginative panache, spans a pivotal early period: 1905-1912. With their parents dead, unmarried Vanessa and Virginia Stephen, along with their brothers, have somewhat scandalously set up house in unfashionable Gordon Square in London's Bloomsbury district.

The slice of Bloomsbury pie Parmar carves off for herself is Clive Bell's pursuit of elusive Vanessa, their marriage, and Virginia's jealous and destructive reaction.

Paste BN says ***½ stars out of four. "Gossipy, entertaining… makes for some tasty, frothy Bloomsbury pie."

Silver Screen Fiend by Patton Oswalt; Scribner, 240 pp.; non-fiction

A memoir by the comedian about what he's learned from his obsession with the movies.

Paste BN says ***½. "Engaging… Oswalt's prose is sparkling. "

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant; Scribner, 336 pp.; fiction

In 1985, Addie Baum, as old as the century, is asked to recount "how I got to be the woman I am today." Since the request comes from her favorite granddaughter, it's no surprise that Addie willingly obliges.

Paste BN says ***. "Addie is a good storyteller, and her descriptions … blow away any historical dust."

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 288 pp.; non-fiction

An account of how the USA got books into the hands of millions of GI's during World War II.

Paste BN says **** out of four. "Crisply written and compelling."

The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 228 pp.; fiction

This international espionage caper with some post-9/11 twists tells the tale of a NATO operative who shares a shady past with an African soldier of fortune.

Paste BN says ***½. "Johnson makes a crisp and credible foray into Graham Greene territory."

Contributing reviewers: Jocelyn McClurg, Claudia Puig, Martha T. Moore, Matt Damsker, Kevin Nance