Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include William Shatner's affectionate memoir about his friend Leonard Nimoy, and two children's picture books for Black History Month.
Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner; St. Martin's Press, 275 pp.; non-fiction
Star Trek fans looking for a trip down Memory Alpha lane should enjoy Leonard, William Shatner’s tribute to fellow icon Leonard Nimoy, the unemotional Mr. Spock to his passionate Captain Kirk.
Nimoy’s eclectic biography serves as the book’s spine, as Leonard describes his Boston upbringing in a family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants; his pre-Star Trek journeyman's career; his emergence as a star and his achievements in directing, poetry and photography.
Shatner revels in the Spock-like intellect and curiosity of Nimoy, who died last February at age 83, just one year before the franchise's 50th anniversary.
Not surprisingly, Leonard reveals much about Montreal native Shatner, since their lives became forever intertwined after the 1966 TV premiere, with Spock the reflective, intellectual yang to Kirk's swashbuckling, pleasure-seeking yin.
Paste BN says *** stars out of four. “Those who can't tell a Romulan from a Klingon can find satisfaction, too, as Shatner…explores the nature of male bonding and the connection created over years of competition, collaboration, triumph and loss.”
Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennant-Moore; Hogarth, 290 pp.; fiction
Debut novel takes a realistically flawed young woman on a journey around the world, from small-town California to Paris to New York to Sri Lanka.
Paste BN says *** stars. “An often entertaining and thought-provoking debut…leaves the reader ready to hear more from Tennant-Moore and her distinctive voice.”
Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass; written by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko; Orchard Books/Scholastic, 32 pp., ages 4-8
Children's picture book Two Friends imagines the meeting between two great progressive minds of the 19th century. When writer/orator Frederick Douglass joins abolitionist Susan B. Anthony at her home for tea, the two activists hope to expand the right to vote.
Paste BN says ***½ stars. “Remarkably light on its feet, the composition of the pages lively and dynamic, and the political figures rendered with high-beam charm.”
Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans; written by Phil Bildner, illustrated by John Parra; Chronicle Books, 44 pp., ages 5-8
This picture book recounts the true story of Cornelius Washington, a trash collector famed in New Orleans for singing and dancing while he worked. Cornelius faces his most daunting task yet — helping his beloved city rise again from “a gumbo of mush and mud” after Hurricane Katrina.
Paste BN says ***½ stars. “The heroics of a street cleaner — what a refreshing topic.”
Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe by Dawn Tripp; Random House, 315 pp.; fiction
Historical fiction explores the real-life relationship between painter Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz.
Paste BN says **** stars. “Fascinating… erotic and evocative from the first page to the last.”
Contributing reviewers: Bill Keveney, Kelly Lawler, Eliot Schrefer, Patty Rhule