Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch thriller, and Marilynne Robinson's National Book Award-nominated novel Lila.
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly; Little, Brown, 400 pp.; fiction
In Michael Connelly's 19th Harry Bosch mystery, the only fresh evidence in the LAPD's warmest cold case is a mushroomed bullet removed during an autopsy from a mariachi band guitarist's spine. Ten years earlier, he had been the accidental victim of a suspected gang-related drive-by shooting in Los Angeles' Mariachi Plaza.
The case was never closed and the victim has just died of complications from the wound a decade later. So the LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit has assigned hardboiled veteran homicide detective Harry Bosch and his new rookie partner to untangle the perplexing crime.
As usual, Connelly stirs the plot early on. Bosch is paired with inexperienced 28-year-old Lucy Soto, a Hispanic uniform cop promoted, perhaps prematurely, after her heroic standoff during a gang shootout. Higher-ups at LAPD are overanxious to strut the case publicly. Political implications underlie every step. A sleazy former mayor with greedy aspirations gets involved. The investigation runs into unexpected twists and detours.
USA TODAY says ***1/2 out of four. "The author writes smart procedurals for breakfast."
Lila by Marilynne Robinson; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 261 pp.; fiction
Robinson returns to the mythical town of Gilead, Iowa, with the story of Lila, married to the widowed, elderly John Ames.
USA TODAY says ****. "An exquisite meditation on loneliness, family, and faith of all kinds."
Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah; Riverhead; 352 pp.; fiction
Farah's latest centers on Bella, a Somali and cosmopolitan fashion photographer who lives in Rome.
USA TODAY says ****. "Absorbing and provocative."
Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz; Little, Brown, 528 pp.; non-fiction
A biography of the great soul singer; Ritz co-wrote Franklin's 1999 memoir, From These Roots.
USA TODAY says ***1/2 out of four. "Comprehensive, illuminating."
Lincoln and the Power of the Press by Harold Holzer; Simon & Schuster, 768 pp.; non-fiction
Holzer colorfully details how Honest Abe was something of a Great Manipulator, skillfully managing the press of 19th-century America in his efforts to end slavery and save the Union.
USA TODAY says ***1/2. "Mines a worthy vein in the study of Lincoln's link to modernity."
Contributing reviewers: Don Oldenburg, Carmela Ciuraru, Roberta Bernstein, Gene Seymour, Matt Damsker