Weekend picks for book lovers

What should you read this weekend? Paste BN's picks for the weekend include the new novel for adults by teen favorite Judy Blume.

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume; Knopf, 397 pp.; fiction

Judy Blume was in the eighth grade when, over the span of only a few months, three commercial flights crashed in and around her hometown of Elizabeth, N.J. One of the airliners went down just two blocks away from her junior high school.

In the Unlikely Event fictionalizes the accident-struck town she knew in the 1950s, tracing the lives of its residents as the community is rocked by tragedy after tragedy.

Blume's novels have sold more than 85 million copies, and most of those are accounted for by her plain-spoken and frank classics for adolescents, including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Those readers won't be disappointed here.

But at the same time, In the Unlikely Event has a much larger canvas to play on than do Blume's novels for younger readers; by spanning generations, her book allows for a deeper examination of what it means to seek individuality within the constraints of family and culture.

Paste BN says *** out of four. "Judy Blume is still here, opening our eyes to the daily astonishments of life all these years later."

My Generation: Collected Nonfiction by William Styron, edited by James L.W. West III; Random House; 656 pp.

Essays by the late novelist (Sophie's Choice), including meditative writings on the Nazi horror, Hiroshima and his battle with depression.

Paste BN says ***. 'Eloquent…moving."

Finders Keepers by Stephen King; Scribner, 448 pp.; fiction

A teenage boy and a convict about to get out of prison are both obsessed with a Salinger-like writer.

Paste BN says ****. "The new book is so good, being at least mildly obsessed with it is understandable."

Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor by James M. Scott; W.W. Norton, 648 pp.; non-fiction

A history of Col. Jimmy Doolittle's daring air raid on Tokyo in 1942, which provided the morale boost the United States needed so early after entering World War II.

Paste BN says ***1/2. "Adds depth to a story that many Americans think they already know."

Girl at War by Sara Novic; Random House, 322 pp.; fiction

Ana Juric is a 10-year-old growing up bright, alert and unassuming in Croatia in 1991, and her childhood is about to come to a premature, savage end.

Paste BN says *** ½. "A shattering and promising debut novel."

Contributing reviewers: Eliot Schrefer, Matt Damsker, Brian Truitt, Ray Locker, Gene Seymour