Weekend book picks: Two about the Obamas

Weekend book picks: Two about the Obamas

Barack Obama: The Story
By David Maraniss; Simon Schuster, 641 pp., $32.50; non-fiction

You've probably already seen headlines and articles triggered by the juicy details in David Maraniss' biography Barack Obama: The Story, about the president's pot-smoking school days or his college girlfriend's recollections of his "sexual warmth" and emotional "coolness."

But there's far more to Maraniss' coming-of-age story about the young Obama, which is in some ways more like a novel than a traditional biography.

Maraniss, an associate editor at The Washington Post, is a good writer and a great reporter. He marvels at the improbability of Obama's story but stops short of celebrating.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Revealing and deeply reported."

The Red House
By Mark Haddon; Doubleday, 264 pp., $25.95; fiction

Eight relatives, stuck with one another on an eight-day holiday in the English countryside, offer plenty of drama in The Red House, the third novel by Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Haddon delivers a story of remarkable complexity, exploring the rich interior lives of his characters."

American Tapestry: The Story of Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama
By Rachel L. Swarns; Amistad, 400 pp., $27.99; non-fiction

American Tapestry is not only the remarkable story of the first lady's family but also a microcosm of this country's story as well. Rachel Swarns explores a multiracial bloodline that flows throughout the South during Reconstruction and beyond and through Chicago's South Side during the jazz era of the 1920s.

USA TODAY says *** 1/2 out of four. "Thanks to the in-depth research of New York Times reporter Rachel Swarns, missing branches have been restored to the first lady's elusive family tree."

Diamond in the Rough
By Shawn Colvin; William Morrow, 240 pp., $25.99; non-fiction

In this memoir, Shawn Colvin â€" best known for her smash 1997 single Sunny Came Homeâ€" emerges as a gifted conversational writer with a wicked sense of humor. Her story begins with an unsettled small-town youth and includes bouts with depression and alcoholism.

USA TODAY says *** 1/2 out of four. "Colvin's not hosting a pity party…her buoyant spirit fairly leaps off the stage."

The Orphanmaster
By Jean Zimmerman; Viking, 418 pp., $27.95; fiction

It's colonial Manhattan in the tense period of the 1660s before the English annexed the port from the Dutch, and a series of white and black orphans have gone missing. Suspicion falls upon the colony's affable orphan master.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "As Jean Zimmerman proves in her immersive first novel, careful and imaginative research can be exhilarating."