Opinion

Required reading

The Silver Star

by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)

One-time New York Magazine staffer Walls wowed everyone with her stunning and beautifully written memoir, “The Glass Castle,” and followed up with “Half Broke Horses,” based on her grandmother’s life. In her new novel, Walls give us Jean “Bean” and Liz Holladay, 12- and 15-year-old sisters in 1970 California. When their single mother leaves them, they hop a cross-country bus to their widowed Uncle Tinsley, who’s living in the decaying family mansion.

Bad Monkey

by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)

Armed robbery? In Hiaasen’s latest satirical novel, a human arm from a dead man is the evidence Florida Keys cop Andrew Yancy keeps stored in his freezer as he attempts to get to the bottom of a fishy story involving a boating accident and some hungry sharks. At the same time, Yancy must cope with a bad breakup and a nutty neighbor, not to mention the provocative primate that inspires the title of this not surprisingly funny tale.

The Spy Who Loved

The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville

by Clare Mulley (St. Martin’s)

Forget Bond girls. According to the latest biography from Mulley (“The Woman Who Saved the Children”), the charms of Polish-Jewish heiress-turned-British World War II spy Christine Granville were so lethal that she enticed soldiers into surrendering their own garrison and prison guards into releasing partisans. A Doberman even defected. Meanwhile, the twice-married former beauty queen’s lovers included a Polish officer, a French maquis, and her special-ops partner.

Outlaw

Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville

by Michael Streissguth (It Books)

There was a time in the mid- to late-’60s, in post-Hank Williams Nashville, when country music was homogenized and controlled from top to bottom by record company execs. Into this scene came Jennings, Nelson and Kristofferson, who turned Music City on its head, writing their own songs — with a different lyrical flavor — choosing their own musicians and producers. This remarkable trio brought a rock ’n’ roll sensibility to the country tradition. And today’s burgeoning roots scene can thank them.

Lincoln Unbound

How an Ambitious Young Railsplitter Saved the American Dream — and How We Can Do It Again

by Rich Lowry (Broadside)

Lincoln rescued the slaves. Now it might be time to rescue Lincoln. While the 16th president is often cited by liberal politicians in creating policy for the Democrats, National Review editor Lowry argues that Lincoln was a leader who favored a small government and free markets. And that Republicans need to take Lincoln back, reclaiming his “populist voice,” and “spirit of uplift,” to again make the American Dream a reality.