Weekend picks for book lovers
What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY’s picks for book lovers include a rockin' new bio of Sun Records' founder Sam Phillips, and the latest zany Shopaholic novel.
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll by Peter Guralnick; Little, Brown, 784 pp.; non-fiction
Anyone casually familiar with rock ‘n’ roll history knows that Sam Phillips was present at the creation. If he didn’t exactly invent it, as the title of Peter Guralnick’s new biography proclaims, Phillips midwifed the new music, raising it to pop daylight from the streets of Memphis.
He produced seminal recordings by the likes of Ike Turner, B.B. King, and Howlin’ Wolf – helping to establish the blues and gospel basis of rock – and discovered Elvis Presley, whose fusion of black and white country styles made him the first, and most legendary, pop-rock star.
Phillips was in the right place at the right time, but he was far more than lucky. He had vision and a love of black music bred from his earliest days as an Alabama schoolboy. In Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll, we meet a driven, disciplined dreamer moved by the sharecropper songs and church music of African-American heritage.
And so he learned how to record live music at a local radio station, and saved just enough money to open his Memphis Recording Service – which grew into his mini-empire, Sun Records – with the goal of recording black artists.
USA TODAY says **** stars out of four. “Superb… Sam Phillips may well be the capstone to Guralnick's career.”
A rockin' bio of the man who discovered Elvis
House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure; Sourcebooks Landmark, 409 pp., fiction
In 1886 New York, an architect is forced to pay off his son’s gambling debts by a colorful if murderous gang that muscles him into masterminding break-ins at rich clients’ homes.
USA TODAY says ***. “A rollicking story….great fun.”
Fiction roundup: New 'Shopaholic,' Jojo Moyes
Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella; The Dial Press, 345 pp.; fiction
Sophie Kinsella’s latest comic novel finds Britain’s Becky (Bloomwood) Brandon and entourage in America and piled into an RV in search of her missing father.
USA TODAY says ***. “Escapism that will make you giggle out loud.”
'Charlie Mike' explores plight of veterans
Charlie Mike: A True Story of Heroes Who Brought Their Mission Home by Joe Klein; Simon & Schuster, 320 pp.; non-fiction
Follows veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as they fight through guilt, injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
USA TODAY says ***1/2. “Few writers have captured the grief and suffering of combat veterans making the transition from war to home better than journalist Joe Klein.”
Albom's 'Magic Strings' hits right notes
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom; Harper, 489 pp.; fiction
Plucks at heartstrings with the fictional story of Francisco Presto, a gifted guitarist and singer whose life intersects with major events of the past century.
USA TODAY says ***. “Cleverly zips the reader through Frankie’s saga… Albom’s love for music is richly apparent.”
Contributing reviewers: Matt Damsker, Jocelyn McClurg, Ray Locker, Patty Rhule