Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY’s picks for book lovers include a new thriller with, yes, Girl in the title.
The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney; Ballantine, 336 pp.; fiction
Here’s a suspense novel that begins with a premise to instantly give city dwellers the chills: searching for a decent apartment on a limited budget.
Emma and Jane, the alternating narrators of The Girl Before, are presented with an interesting potential solution to that problem. There’s a gorgeous minimalist house, available in London, for a reasonable rent. Perfect, right? The catch is that Edward Monkford, the house’s famous architect, is preposterously selective about who gets to live there.
Both of them pass his strenuous test.
Jane lives there “Now,” as Delaney’s chapter headings tell us, while Emma lived there “Then,” making her the “girl before” of the book’s title. Precisely what happened during her spell in Monkford’s sleek, enigmatic house is the question that drives the plot.
The Girl Before has been optioned for the movies by Universal, with Ron Howard penciled in to direct.
USA TODAY says *** out of four stars. “Worth a few hours of idle pleasure.”
Read this thrilling new 'Girl' before the movie
A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage and My Life by Ayelet Waldman; Knopf, 219 pp.; non-fiction
Waldman chronicles her short experiment with LSD to treat raging mood swings that therapy and the usual pharmaceuticals were no longer able to blunt.
USA TODAY ***½ stars. “Relentlessly honest …a fine read.”
How LSD helped Ayelet Waldman have 'A Really Good Day'
Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story by Alexandra Wolfe; Simon & Schuster, 256 pp.; non-fiction
Peeks into the lives and dreams of the young wizards of the tech world only to find that these nerds with money carry on much as the cast of Silicon Valley on HBO.
USA TODAY says *** stars. Wolfe “captures the absurdity of this brave new world… but also conveys the dreams and the passions that can shape a world's economy.”
New book goes inside Silicon Valley, where money can't buy cool
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth; Katherine Tegen Books, 468 pp.; fiction
The author of the Divergent trilogy for teens returns with an intergalactic tale about conflict on the ice planet Thuvhe, featuring a Romeo & Juliet-style love story.
USA TODAY says *** stars. “Roth carves her mark as she continues her ascent in a universe of young-adult stars.”
A strong heroine carves her mark in Veronica Roth's latest
All Joe Knight by Kevin Morris; Grove Press, 353 pp.; fiction
The hero of this debut novel, buffeted by mistakes in money and marriage, is left pondering what happened to his American dream.
USA TODAY says *** stars. Morris “has put a spotlight on a lower middle class that gets little attention in contemporary fiction.”
Contributing reviewers: Charles Finch, Sharon Peters, Ray Locker, Brian Truitt, Mark Athitakis