Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY’s picks for book lovers include a new book about America's modern first ladies, and the companion volume to the Broadway hit, Hamilton.
First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower; Harper, 380 pp.; non-fiction
In First Women, author Kate Andersen Brower lifts the curtain of secrecy that shields the women who have lived in the White House from Jacqueline Kennedy through Michelle Obama, and shows the bonds, tensions and personal tests that connect them. "What makes them so compelling is their shared humanity, their imperfection," Brower writes.
The role of a presidential spouse is difficult, hard to quantify and often viewed through a lens of sexism. Because they are so often involved in the softer sides of policy — mental health or beautification or fitness — first ladies seem fodder for the lifestyle sections of websites, newspapers or magazines. They don't really do anything, do they?
But their influence outweighs any government official's. They are usually the first and last people a president sees each day, and their support or scorn can boost a government initiative or doom it. Ronald Reagan's crusade to limit nuclear weapons may have failed if not for his wife's enthusiastic support.
And woe betide a staff member who gets on the wrong side of a first lady.
USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four stars. “A gossipy, but surprisingly deep, look at the women who help and sometimes overshadow their powerful husbands.”
'First Women' peeks inside the White House
Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter; Grand Central, 288 pp.; non-fiction
A companion volume to the smash Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton, by the show’s creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
USA TODAY says ***½. “A must-read for admirers — whether you’ve scored a ticket or not.”
'Hamilton' the Broadway musical is now a dazzling book
Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen; Random House, 272 pp.; fiction
The Pennsylvania valley that the Miller family of farmers has lived in for 200 years will soon be flooded for a government project; daughter Mimi narrates the story.
USA TODAY says ****. “A breathtakingly moving look at a family and a community coming to terms with life and loss.”
Still waters run deep in Anna Quindlen's 'Miller's Valley'
Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America by Douglas Brinkley; Harper, 589 pp.; non-fiction
Historian Brinkley makes the case that FDR remade the nation's environment and created an enduring legacy.
USA TODAY says **** stars. “Rightful Heritage is a big book about a pivotal time in American history. Brinkley writes admiringly of Roosevelt's record, but his tone is backed up by a rich trove of research.”
War saves Helen Simonson's slow-burning 'Summer'
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson; Random House, 473 pp.; fiction
Young schoolteacher and aspiring writer Beatrice Nash moves to Rye, England, for a new job the summer of 1914.
USA TODAY says ***. An “ultimately rewarding and moving novel.”
Contributing reviewers: Ray Locker, Elysa Gardner, Patty Rhule, Jocelyn McClurg