Entertainment, Books - Army Times

Hot books take chill out of winter nights

The personal, the practical, the adventurous

It’s cold outside, and people are hibernating. So this winter, pinch your pennies and curl up with an inexpensive form of entertainment: a good book. There are many to choose — from Jodi Picoult’s latest family drama to Michael J. Fox’s second memoir.

‘Beat the Reaper’

By Josh Bazell Little, Brown, $24.99

What it’s about: A former Mob hitman turned doctor runs for his life when a hospital patient/mobster discovers his new identity.

Why it’s hot: It’s a funny take — think “Scrubs”/“The Sopranos” — on the seedy side of the medical profession, written by a medical resident.

A taste: “An impulse hit me. ‘Kill.’ All around the room, knees, eyes, and throats lit up like targets in a shooting gallery.”

On sale: Now

— Carol Memmott

‘The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon’

By David Grann, Doubleday, $27.50

What it’s about: Col. Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in 1925 while looking for a mysterious ancient civilization in the Amazon.

Why it’s hot: Brad Pitt. He’s awaiting the first draft of the film script and thinking of playing Fawcett in the movie.

A taste: Fawcett “was believed to have such unrivaled powers of endurance that a few colleagues even claimed he was immune to death.”

On sale: Feb. 24

— Jocelyn McClurg

‘The Associate’

By John Grisham, Doubleday, $27.95

What it’s about: A young associate at the world’s largest law firm is forced into a scheme to hide a secret from his past.

Why it’s hot: Grisham’s fans live for his legal thrillers — and this one’s a classic story of a fledgling attorney pushed to his moral limits.

A taste: “Seven years of school, great success as a student, and it was all coming down to this — the miserable life of an unwilling spy.”

On sale: Jan. 27

— Carol Memmott

‘The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude’

By Carol Lay, Villard, $18

What it’s about: Lay, a cartoonist who was 30 pounds overweight for most of her life, turns 50 and decides to diet.

Why it’s hot: The popular graphic-memoir format is a perfect fit for Lay’s inspiring tale — and her amusing color drawings make her weight-loss story go down easily.

A taste: “I didn’t know it but I was drugged by food — stupefied.”

On sale: Now

— Carol Memmott

‘Beautiful Americans’

By Lucy Silag, Razorbill, $16.99

What it’s about: A debut novel about four American teens who run wild while spending their junior year of high school in Paris; first in a planned trilogy.

Why it’s hot: Fiction for the “Gossip Girl” crowd by a 26-year-old former book publicist who also happens to be the daughter of author Jane Smiley (“A Thousand Acres”).

A taste: “I’m ready for Paris to just burn itself all over me.”

On sale: Now

— Jocelyn McClurg