How the books you read growing up still matter
The Thread's Must-Read
"The Force”by Don Winslow
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Don Winslow’s last book, “Cartel,” read like one of those tour-de-force novels writers build up to over the course of a career. It was fiction, but it was deeply reported, not to mention sprawling and cinematic. This makes sense, as several of Winslow’s previous books have been made into movies. “Cartel” is in production now. (You can hear my 2015 interview with Winslow about “Cartel.”)
Given all of that, you’d think it might be years before Winslow turned out another novel, even one that’s less ambitious than “Cartel.” But this summer, a mere two years later, he’s back with the story of Denny Malone, the leader — by rank and conscience — of an elite police force in Manhattan.
Malone is feared and revered, moral and amoral, and acutely aware that policing has never been more dangerous. “Every cop’s got a bulls-eye on his back,” he believes. And not just from the criminals, as we learn.
Winslow understands the culture of policing in 2017, and as Malone and his band of brothers in blue slip ever deeper into the world of the “skels” — people they’re supposed to protect us from — the reader rationalizes along with them.
Don Winslow is a fan of crime writers like Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard. “Those guys,” he said in an interview, “turned crime writing into music.”
Winslow clearly learned from the best.
-K.M.
How the books you read growing up still matter What’s the book you read growing up that still sticks with you? Are you more of a Hardy Boy or a “Harriet the Spy”? A talking badger or a mystery-solving orphan?
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A chronicle of justice delayed "Ghost of the Innocent Man” by Benjamin Rachlin
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Benjamin Rachlin's crisply written new book tells the story of Willie Grimes, who spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit — and the tortuous legal struggle that eventually freed him.
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A novel that rose out of the depths of the recession "Behold the Dreamers" by Imbolo Mbue
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Imbolo Mbue says she didn't intend for the novel to be about immigration. Now out in paperback, it is a 2017 Oprah Book Club selection.
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A topical spin on ancient Greek tragedy "Home Fire" by Kamila Shamsie
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Kamila Shamsie's new book — beautifully written and paced — updates the ancient story of Antigone to tell an explosive tale of two families tangled together by love, grief and religious radicalism.
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An oddball family that can’t connect "How to Behave in a Crowd” by Camille Bordas
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Camille Bordas keeps things light in her smart, charming new novel, but there are serious underpinnings to this story about the youngest member of a family of quirky, emotionally closed overachievers.
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Our hot and heavy love affair with pop music “Good Booty" by Ann Powers
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Although sex is such an inextricable part of pop music, it's easy to overlook. NPR Music critic Ann Powers addresses that in her new book, a portrait of America's obsession with sex as it manifests in pop.
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What it's like to be an immigrant in a time of uncertainty "Refuge" by Dina Nayeri
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Author Dina Nayeri left Iran when she was 10 years old. In a discussion sparked by her new book, "Refuge," listeners called in to share their own stories of immigration, belonging and fear.
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Be more than a bookstore: A brick-and-mortar shop's key to success Barnes & Noble is experimenting with food, Amazon is replicating its online business and an indie shop aims to be part of the community. Ultimately, they all want to sell more books.
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In children's storybooks, realism has advantages Young children have an easier time exporting what they learn from a fictional storybook to the real world when the storybook is realistic, says psychologist Tania Lombrozo.
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Historical fiction and shades of “Goosebumps”: An escapist middle-grade read “Serafina and the Black Cloak" by Robert Beatty
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Meredith Hylton grew up reading historical fiction. She says 'Serafina and the Black Cloak' is exactly what she would have read when she was 12.
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Don't miss Talking Volumes 2017 Get tickets to see Sherman Alexie, Jacqueline Woodson, Amy Tan, Ron Chernow and Dan Brown at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul this fall.
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