Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include Carve the Mark, the new sci-fi thriller by Veronica Roth.
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth; Katherine Tegen Books, 468 pp.; fiction
Remember how The Hunger Games kicked off the young-adult dystopia boom?
Carve the Mark may do the same thing for Star Wars-y, teen-friendly intergalactic mythologies.
Popular Divergent author Veronica Roth heads to space to kick off not a trilogy but a duology, one that offers shades of George Lucas sprawl and influence, Game of Thrones clan intrigue and a little Romeo & Juliet-style romance.
The ice planet Thuvhe is at the heart of the conflict between a peaceful nation that bears its name and a warring faction of former cosmic nomads called the Shotet.
Teen brothers Akos and Eijeh Kereseth are kidnapped from their Thuvhe homes on orders of Ryzek Noavek, the young, insecure Shotet dictator who wants to rule their entire world.
Even more fearsome on the surface is Ryzek’s sister, Cyra.
Paste BN says *** out of four stars. “Roth carves her mark as she continues her ascent in a universe of young-adult stars.”
My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King; Henry Holt, 356 pp.; non-fiction
A posthumous memoir by the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. (she died in 2006); based on taped interviews.
Paste BN says *** stars. “Eloquent, at times painful and ultimately inspirational.”
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran; Putnam, 469 pp.; fiction
Who will get custody of little Ignacio El Viento Castro Valdez — his young, undocumented Mexican mother, or the Indian-American couple in California who foster him?
Paste BN says ***½ stars. “Pulses with vitality.”
In the Great Green Room by Amy Gary; Flatiron, 279 pp.; non-fiction
A revealing biography of Margaret Wise Brown, author of many children’s books, most famously the 1947 children’s classic Goodnight Moon.
Paste BN says *** stars. “A stirring evocation of a woman who insisted on freedom in her art and in her love life.”
The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian; Doubleday, 304 pp.; fiction
In this mystery thriller set in small-town Vermont, gorgeous sleepwalker Annalee Ahlberg disappears from her bed one night when her husband is away on a business trip.
Paste BN says ***½ out of four stars. “Bohjalian at his best…this is a novel worth losing sleep over.”
Contributing reviewers: Brian Truitt, Charisse Jones, Steph Cha, Emily Gray Tedrowe, Patty Rhule