[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Waiting to be Heard, by Amanda Knox. Reviewed by Michicko Kakutani in the New York Times.

I’ve never been all that interested in the Amanda Knox case, but I was intrigued by this review, mostly because Kakutani strikes me as being quite naive here, in that she even reviewed the book at all. In the second paragraph, Kakutani mentions that “the Knox family, which hired a public relation company … soon after her arrest, … have promoted an image of [Knox] as an American innocent abroad who got caught up in the gears of a dysfunctional Italian justice system.” The book, you might be shocked to learn, presents Knox as an American innocent abroad who got caught up in a series of terrible mistakes. It might as well be a press release from Knox PR, but Kakutani treats it as a real account of Knox’s growth as a person. She still ends with a shrug, I’m just not sure why she didn’t start there.

Who is Ozymandias? And Other Puzzles in Poetry, by John Fuller. Reviewed by Nicholas Lezard at the Guardian.

This probably only appeals to a subsection of the reading public, but if you’re one of those select few, a measure of caution: Lezard says the “puzzles” are “infuriatingly complex,” though he later deems it a worthwhile read. If you’re of the school that believes that misreading a poem can reveal its beauty, you stand a better chance of liking it. If that statement made you roll your eyes, give it a miss.

The Democracy Project, by David Graeber. Reviewed by Ben Ehrenreich in the L.A. Times.

This study of the Occupy Wall Street movement was written by an anthropology professor with “anarchist politics, scholarly virtuosity and [a] long history of activism.” That sounds like about the best person to write a study of Occupy.

In brief: Not entirely sure that James Wood and Claire Messud are the “first couple of fiction,” but this is an interesting profile of them. … 30 things to tell a book snob. … The major winners of the LA Times Book Prize are all books we’ve discussed extensively on the Page Count Podcast. … Dwight Garner likes John le Carre’s latest, and recommends a le Carre “starter kit.” …

[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

The Magic Circle, by Jenny Davidson. Reviewed by Michael Dirda in the L.A. Times.

I’m kind of a sucker for a book that uses games as its central mechanic. They can be really great, or really terrible, like any other kind of book. This one could likewise go either way; Dirda compares Davidson unfavorably to Muriel Spark, but his description of the premise makes it sound darkly fascinating. The Magic Circle follows three bored grad students who make up games that “blur the boundary between reality and ritual — and perhaps sanity and madness as well.” Dirda closes by saying “the spirited plot is allowed to eclipse its fascinating players,” but I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

The City of Devi, by Manil Suri. Reviewed by Adam Mars-Jones at the Guardian.

The City of Devi is a strange-sounding book about a Muslim love triangle between a man, his wife, and his homosexual lover. Mars-Jones says, “Indian homosexuality is enough of a taboo subject that it’s bracing to read about Jaz’s happy days of cruising in Hyderabad.” But, then there’s also a thriller plot involving cyber-attacks and widespread massacres. These elements, as you might suspect, don’t mix very well.

The Flamethrowers, by Rachel Kushner. Reviewed by Ron Charles in the Washington Post.

Similarly to City of Devi, Flamethrowers blends styles and tones, but the latter seems to work better. Charles absolutely raves over this book, calling Kushner “a superb recent-historical novelist.” That recent history is the art scene of 1970s New York, which Kushner blazes across in near-surreal prose.

In brief: Sorry, Joyce Carol Oates, but even this fluffy rave doesn’t convince that your latest rushed-out novel (a ghost story, of all things) will be worth picking up. … The premise of a new book about the CIA seems to be a catalogue of more ways in which the American government breaks its own laws to kill people. … A new nonfiction book, about a time when people didn’t believe that gorillas existed, might be a read-the-review-and-be-done-with-it situation. … Your official overhyped debut literary novel of the month. I just can’t stand another coming-of-age debut. … Another nonfiction book, this one about the science of winning, that you won’t need to actually read after the review.

[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Middle C, by William H. Gass. Reviewed by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post.

Dirda says, “In Middle C, you will look in vain for heroes, detectives or friendly elves. You will, however, find a wizard.” Dirda then gets so complimentary that it borders on the absurd, comparing Gass favorably to Nabokov, and nonsensically saying that he’s realized Flaubert’s dream of “writing a novel about nothing,” even as he admits: “Not that he has totally eschewed a story line.” Still, getting a precise, experienced critic like Dirda to stumble over his words like this is no easy feat, and if you’re even mildly intrigued, Dirda will be happy to give you a thousand-word sales pitch.

The Secretary: A Journey With Hillary Clinton From Beirut to the Heart of American Power, by Kim Ghattas. Reviewed by Malcolm Forbes at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Maybe it’s because Hillary Clinton is the most ambitious ex-First Lady in modern American history, maybe it’s because—if she was five years younger—she’d have a hell of a chance of becoming the first female President, or maybe it’s because of the one-topic Tumblr dedicated to her, but Hillary seems like a fascinating biography subject. Ghattas, the BBC’s State Department correspondent, uses notes and interviews collected from four years of traveling with Clinton and assembles this account of her tenure as Secretary of State.

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner, by Richard Marson. Reviewed by Matthew Sweet in the Guardian.

Doctor Who might be “the most documented programme in the history of television,” but it’s also a distinctly British phenomenon. For casual stateside observers, this book might almost as interesting for its insight into the nationalized British television system as for its tales of sex scandals.

In brief: Fairly amusing mystery roundup in the NYT, including a wince-worthy tossed off opening line about setting a book in Buffalo. … A prominent “techno-utopianist” has a new book out. … Jane Goodall’s book has been postponed because it had the academic honesty of a lazy 8th-grader. She plagiarized from Wikipedia, for goodness sake. She’s lucky it wasn’t canceled outright. … Ron Charles reviews Pulitzer Prize-winner Elizabeth Strout’s new book. … Here’s a book that could’ve fit into a mid-size article: Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You.  … A co-founder of the Tournament of Books interviews a couple of his judges in the B&N Review.

[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson. Reviewed by Alex Clark in the Guardian.

This is not a great book review in the traditional sense, as Clark fumbles to explain even the premise of Kate Atkinson’s new novel. But perhaps that was a taller order than usual. Clark says that, just when you’re settling into the story, “it simply stops. If this sounds like the quick route to a short book, don’t worry: the narrative starts again – and again and again – but each time it takes a different course, its details sometimes radically, sometimes marginally altered, its outcome utterly unpredictable.” I honestly have no idea what the hell that would look like, but I’m intrigued enough that I’ll definitely be checking out the first few chapters. This one comes out April 2.

He Died with His Eyes Open, by Derek Raymond. Reviewed by A.L. Kennedy at NPR.com.

This is a write-up of an old favorite rather than a proper review. But it’s an eye-opener. Kennedy says that Raymond “has been described as the father of British noir. But he’s far beyond noir. There probably isn’t even a word for his kind of darkness.”

The Blue Book, by A.L. Kennedy. Reviewed by Wendy Lesser in the New York Times.

Now, it’s Kennedy’s turn. What kind of a book does a person who enthusiastically digs up a super-dark noir novel write? Apparently one with a “funny, dark, vituperative voice that serves equally well for tragic and comic moments.” And a whole lot of weirdness. A fitting end to this trio (and it’s only five bucks for the Kindle version).

In brief: Review of the odd-sounding but “ambitious” debut novel Ghana Must Go. … A book about sci-fi-sounding organisms that live in extreme conditions. … EL James is publishing a how-to guide to writing, because obviously that wasn’t a fluke. … I feel like I’ve seen a lot of books centered around perfume. They still fail to grab me.