Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include Mindy Kaling's new memoir Why Not Me?, and two back-to-school picture books for kids.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling; Crown, 226 pp.; non-fiction
Why Why Not Me?
Whether a serious question or a playful attempt at modesty, the title of Mindy Kaling's second book suggests she's an underdog. But the likable star and creator of The Mindy Project is one of TV's highest-paid actresses, with a rabid fan base. Whether she likes it or not, Kaling has become an actress and writer who can sell a book on the promise of herself alone.
The title does fit in with the self-deprecating humor of Kaling’s first book, the best-selling Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). The two are ideal companions, with Why Not Me? delivering more of what Kaling did well before: Funny, thoughtful essays and anecdotes written in the star’s trademark voice. But this time around, things are just a little more grown-up.
Paste BN *** out of four. “This is Kaling at the height of her power.”
The Year of Fear: Machine Gun Kelly and the Manhunt that Changed the Nation by Joe Urschel; Minotaur, 269 pp.; non-fiction
Chronicles the 1933 kidnapping of a tough Oklahoma oil magnate, Charles Urschel (no relation to the author), and the manhunt that ensued.
Paste BN says ***1/2. “Entertaining… As for Machine Gun Kelly, author Urschel draws a humorous portrait of this fabled but doomed dude.”
Monkey: Not Ready for Kindergarten; written and illustrated by Marc Brown; Knopf, 32 pp., for ages 3-7; fiction
Monkey’s worried he’ll never be ready for kindergarten. “What if they have peas for snacks? / What if they don’t have red crayons?” The first day of school is well-trodden ground in picture books, but Brown smartly sets his in the time leading up to it.
Paste BN ***½. “Kids will be comforted by Monkey’s shy hopefulness and the kind patience of his parents.”
Alphabet School; written and illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson; Simon & Schuster / Paula Wiseman Books, 32 pp., for ages 4-8; fiction
As in his Alphabet City, Stephen Johnson again finds the shapes of letters in everyday scenes — only this time he has gone to school. His beautiful paintings capture an “S” made from the orange twist of a recess slide, or a “C” in the golden arc of a classroom globe’s frame.
Paste BN says ***. “Kids will enjoy seeing the familiar as unfamiliar all over again.”
Purity by Jonathan Franzen; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 563 pp.; fiction
Purity Tyler (nicknamed Pip), saddled with $130,000 in student debt, is lured into the world of a mysterious Julian Assange-like figure named Andreas Wolf.
Paste BN says ***1/2 out of four. “Wildly entertaining… frequently hilarious.”
Contributing reviewers: Kelly Lawler, Matt Damsker, Eliot Schrefer, Jocelyn McClurg