Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include Never Enough, a biography of presidential contender Donald Trump, and Lauren Groff's new novel about a marrriage.
Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success by Michael D’Antonio; Thomas Dunne Books; 400 pp.; non-fiction
Donald Trump deserves a fantastic biography, a huge biography, the best biography ever. Just ask him.
What he’ll have to settle for instead, at least at the moment, is Never Enough. In it, journalist Michael D’Antonio has written what he calls “the long and hyperactive life” of the real-estate-mogul-turned-reality-TV-star who now leads the Republican presidential field.
Never Enough paints a portrait of a bombastic and boastful man who acknowledges he hasn’t really changed since he was a kid who got into so many scrapes, physical and otherwise, that his parents shipped him off to military school.
D’Antonio tries to put Trump in the context of his times, from the positive thinking of the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale of Marble Collegiate Church, where Trump’s family worshiped, to social scientists studying the narcissism of the late 20th century.
Paste BN says ***1/2 out of four. “Carefully reported and fair-minded.”
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff; Riverhead, 390 pp.; fiction
Two beautiful people meet in college. They have their own sorts of glamour: Lotto (short for Lancelot) is full of passion and charisma, destined for artistic greatness.
Paste BN says ***. “Absorbing…(written in) powerful and exotic prose.”
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal; Pamela Dorman Books/Viking ; 320 pp; fiction
The fictional story of culinary wunderkind turned world-renowned chef Eva Thorvald by debut novelist J. Ryan Stradal.
Paste BN says ***. “Serves up a sweet and savory stroll through the nation’s heartland.”
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling; Crown, 226 pp.; non-fiction
The star of The Mindy Project writes her second book of personal essays.
Paste BN *** out of four. “This is Kaling at the height of her power.”
The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz; Knopf, 416 pp.; fiction
Hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist return in this sequel to Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium mystery series, which started with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Paste BN says ****. “ Lagercrantz takes the reins with prowess… a twisty, bloody thrill ride.”
Contributing reviewers: Susan Page, Eliot Schrefer, Mary Cadden, Kelly Lawler, Patrick Ryan