Best bets for your weekend reading: 'Elevation' by Stephen King and more
What should you read this weekend? Paste BN’s picks for book lovers include Stephen King's new novella, "Elevation," and a cute picture book about Guy the beagle, Duchess Meghan's rescue dog.
“Elevation” by Stephen King; Scribner; 160 pp.; fiction
Castle Rock, that most notorious of creepy Maine towns in the Stephen King canon, is the setting for – GASP! – one of the horror master’s most uplifting tales.
King’s new novella is a change of pace in a few ways. It’s a quick, satisfying read, as opposed to his more epic (though still satisfying) recent works like “Sleeping Beauties” and “The Outsider.” And there’s still a weird, unnatural situation (it is Stephen King, after all) but with an undercurrent of humanity and tolerance in the face of modern social strife at the core of resident Scott Carey’s odd tale.
Scott’s a fortysomething divorced guy and a big man whose six-pack days (abs, not beer) are far behind him. He seeks out an old pal, retired Doctor Bob, when he starts to gradually lose weight without actually losing any of his gut.
While Doctor Bob’s at a complete loss, the paunchy-as-ever Scott actually starts to feel lighter on his feet and better as more pounds are shed, though a distraction comes in the form of his lesbian neighbors who let their dogs poop in his yard.
Annoyed, Scott confronts Deirdre McComb and wife Missy Donaldson, who own the struggling local Mexican restaurant Holy Frijole, and a cold war brews between them until Scott realizes just how stigmatized they are in a very conservative Republican community.
Paste BN says ★★★½ out of four. “A feel-good tale with a definite whiff of the bittersweet … a master elevating his own legendary game yet again.”
“His Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle” written by “Guy the Beagle” with Camille March and Michael Brumm; Simon & Schuster; fiction, for all ages
Meghan Markle’s rescue dog gets the royal treatment in this picture book that follows Guy the beagle as he crosses the pond and makes friends with the queen.
Paste BN says ★★★. “Cheekily told, amusingly illustrated … cute.”
“Beyond the Call: Three Women on the Front Lines in Afghanistan” by Eileen Rivers; Da Capo Press, 288 pp.; nonfiction
Rivers, digital content editor for Paste BN's editorial page and herself an Army veteran, looks at the history of women in the military, focusing in particular on their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Paste BN says ★★★. “Makes an important contribution to understanding the evolving role of women in service to their country.”
“The Reckoning” by John Grisham; Doubleday, 417 pp.; fiction
This mystery begins when a World War II hero, a prominent citizen in the small town of Clanton, Mississippi, walks into his church in 1946 and coldly pumps three bullets into the popular Methodist minister, a family friend.
Paste BN says ★★★. Grisham “knows how to spin a yarn … ‘The Reckoning’ is deeper, more ambitious that his usual legal thrillers.”
“My Squirrel Days” by Ellie Kemper; Scribner, 240 pp.; nonfiction
The star of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” writes an offbeat memoir that uses her naive, wide-eyed, perky image to comedic advantage.
Paste BN says ★★★. “A breezy read that has laugh-out-loud moments.”
Contributing reviewers: Brian Truitt, Jocelyn McClurg, David Holahan, Anika Reed
