This week, David Baldacci’s latest thriller about the first family, the new installment of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and the return of a classic cult novel about running.
Please Step Backby Ben Greenman
The rise and fall of a fictional funk icon.
Rock Foxx’s story is a sad but typical one for wildly famous funk stars from the '60s and '70s. So why haven’t musicologists heard of him? Because he’s the fake funk icon in New Yorker editor Ben Greenman’s new novel. Foxx achieves wild success and pushes funk forward, only to find his career comes to a complete stop in a whirlwind of rumors about violence, drugs, and sexual deviance. Though fictional, Foxx comes to life through a recorded track by a real cult funk legend, Swamp Dogg. In a short interview, Greenman describes how the song came to be. “When I finished the book, I wrote [Swamp Dogg] with a crazy idea. I had lyrics in the novel that were written by my fake funk star, Rock Foxx. One of the lyrics was never recorded. Would he be interested in recording them? He wrote right back: ‘like a black motherf**ker.’” Listen to the track here.
The Power of Smallby Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval
Why you should sweat the small stuff.
Canned wisdom these days advises you to “not sweat the small stuff,” but you can guess from the title of The Power of Small that authors Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval think that’s wrong. Their new self-help book stresses the importance of small courtesies and gestures. According to the book’s official description, “the real secret to getting ahead in life and in our careers is to refocus our attention on the small details that, if disregarded, can sabotage a multimillion-dollar ad campaign or undermine your most important relationships.” The Power of Small follows up on Thaler’s and Koval’s bestselling last book, The Power of Nice.
First Familyby David Baldacci
The “thinking man’s thriller” about the kidnapping of the president’s niece.
As the world watches every move the Obamas make, David Baldacci turns his lens on a fictitious first family ensconced in a full-fledged kidnapping crisis. Former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are back for the fourth time in First Family. The last time readers escaped into the world of these private investigators was back in 2007, when Simple Genius reached the top of The New York Times bestseller list. This time, King and Maxwell get dragged into the kidnapping of the president’s niece. Publishers Weekly gave the “thinking man’s thriller” a starred review. While Bookologist.com enjoyed the fact that Baldacci took readers into the minds of “the evil doers.”
Tea Time for the Traditionally Builtby Alexander McCall-Smith
The charming 10th installment of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
Still charming. The 10th installment of this popular book series comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed HBO show based on Alexander McCall Smith’s bestsellers. Back in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe, the tough heroine, infiltrates a soccer team in order to solve the latest mystery. She juggles her latest case with the prospect of losing the little white van that has been a trademark for years. The opening chapter begins with Mma Ramotswe drinking tea with her assistant, who is prone to generalizations. “We are becoming lazy, Mma Ramotswe,” said Mma Makutsi one afternoon, as they sipped their afternoon cup of red bush tea in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. “Have you noticed? We are becoming lazy.” She, of course, meant all of Botswana.
Once a Runnerby John L. Parker
The 1978 cult novel is finally reissued.
Those who enjoyed the Boston Marathon on Monday should follow it up with John L. Parker Jr.’s Once a Runner. The 1978 novel—“a cult object among serious distance runners,” according to Marc Tracy at Slate—is finally being reissued (used paperbacks sold for at least $75 on Alibris). It follows Quenton Cassidy, an undergraduate runner at Southeastern University, as he tries to find a way into a race against a world-champion runner from New Zealand. Tracy writes, “The book doesn't just have a cult, in other words—its subject is a cult, and it depicts the cult's rituals in the minutest detail. Parker captures how it all feels: how during a tough workout a random word or phrase will materialize in your mind and be turned over and played with like ‘seals with a beach ball’; how as you wander around a track meet you feel as though your personal record is the dominant fact of your life (‘This gentleman here, perhaps you'd like to meet him, is 27:42’); how after a race your spine feels as though it's "made of bamboo." Reading these dead-on descriptions, a runner feels a pleasurable sensation of recognition. The nonrunner, I assume, feels nothing.”
