Spend your weekend at the carnival with Stephen King's 'Joyland.'

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What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include Stephen King's carny novel Joyland, and a posthumous history of firearms from the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

Joyland by Stephen King; Hard Case Crime, paperback original, 288 pp.; fiction

A small North Carolina beach town and its resident amusement park is the setting for Joyland, Stephen King's newest title.

It's 1973, and New England student Devin Jones has gone south to the town of Heaven's Bay for a summer of "wearing the fur" of an overgrown dog mascot, learning carny-speak and working the "grandma ride" Ferris wheel at Joyland park.

Though he makes friends — and local newspaper headlines — it's a murder mystery involving a haunted ride that captures his attention. And it's a single mom with a few secrets and her wheelchair-ridden little boy with muscular dystrophy who capture his heart.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Engrossing …Joyland (is) a prize worth all your tokens and skeeball tickets."

SUMMER BOOKS PREVIEW: Check out the other hot books of summer

American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms by Chris Kyle with William Doyle; William Morrow, 280 pp.; non-fiction

The late Kyle, the Navy SEAL and author of American Sniper who was shot to death in February, offers a history of 10 guns, from the Kentucky Long Rifle to the M16.

USA TODAY says ***. "A celebration of Kyle's voice and life."

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann; Random House, 304 pp.; fiction

McCann, winner of the National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin, offers a new novel that spans several centuries and Irish-American history.

USA TODAY says *** ½. "Ambitious, poetic."

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes; Mulholland Books, 368 pp.; fiction

A time-traveling serial killer named Harper Curtis has the power to visit each decade of the 20th century and gruesomely murder a girl – one who "shines." But one girl survives.

USA TODAY says ***. "The Shining Girls … marks (Beukes') arrival as a major writer of popular fiction."

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews; Scribner, 431 pp.; fiction

This thriller by an ex-CIA intelligence officer centers around a female Russian intelligence agent schooled in the art of seduction.

USA TODAY says ****. A "red-hot debut spy thriller… smart, intriguing."

Contributing reviewers: Brian Truitt, Stephen Hunter, Bob Minzesheimer, Charles Finch, Carol Memmott

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