A not-so-spooky weekend update

Happy Halloween, everybody. Though honestly, it’s not a holiday I celebrate very much (probably because of the whole being Jewish thing. Or that’s what I tell myself) and more often than not seeing people clothe themselves in costume gets me freaked rather than amused. But then, for me, it’s all about the candy. So this year, I’m going to try not to gorge so much. But I digress, and here are your links:

NYTBR: It’s yet another stellar review for Allan Hollinghurst’s THE LINE OF BEAUTY, freshly written for his Booker Prize win; Terry Teachout compares and contrasts two new books about Anthony Powell; Chip McGrath ponders the importance of the release of Patrick O’Brian’s last (and unfinished) novel; and Charlie Rubin seems to spend more time talking about Joseph Garber’s last thriller rather than his new one (and oh yeah, if anyone says they’ve been at P&C for 10 years, chances are pretty good they are one of the owners. Just so you know.)

WaPo: It’s totally a mystery-themed weekend at the Post, as Laura Lippman reviews Maria Flook’s elegant new novel LUX (thus pushing it further up my TBR pile); Dennis Drabelle rounds up new crime novels by Mick Herron, Jeffrey Cruikshank, Isaac Adamson, Larry Beinhart, and gives a fairly definite pan to T Jefferson Parker; Larry Kolb tells us how to be a spook; and Michael Dirda examines some of the best and greatest ghost stories ever told.

G&M: Margaret Cannon rounds up yet more crime fiction this week, looking at books by Karin Fossum, Meg Gardiner (curiously, an American-born writer who sets her book in America but only has a UK/Canada deal), Anne Perry, Simon Scarrow, Liz Evans, and a new noir anthology from Kerry Schooley and Peter Sellers. Otherwise, it’s all about politics: with the US election only a few days away, Roger Morris examines some worthy novels with an overly political theme; Martin Levin rambles on about more connections between politics and novels; and Sheila Copps, the beleagured former liberal Cabinet minister, tells, well, something in a new book.

Guardian Review: The Brits discover feminist, activist and short story writer Grace Paley, another juicy excerpt from Jennie Erdal’s ghostwriting memoir is included, and Antony Sher comments ironically on the difficulties of writing a first novel. Why ironic? Because of course, he did say recently he wouldn’t be writing any more of them…

Observer: Did everything turn 25 this year? The IFOA, Granta, Dave White, me…and oh yeah, the LRB as well. Otherwise, Robert McCrum gets satirical, Stephanie Merritt looks at Arabian culture and its literature, and the new Margot Fonteyn biography gets more approval.

Scotsman, etc.: Michel Faber writes a very special Halloween story for the Sunday Herald, Umberto Eco pontificates on the nature of beauty, and if you like Simenon, then Fred Vargas is the next French crime writer to try reading.

All the rest of your lovely links:

Looks like Fall 2005 is going to be full of hotly anticipated books. Aside from Thomas Harris, both Bret Easton Ellis and John Berendt will publish new novels after long absences. Meanwhile, Joyce Carol Oates will publish a novel a week during the fall season….

T Jefferson Parker is profiled in The Northeastern Connecticut Day about CALIFORNIA GIRL, why he felt he had to write his attempt at “the Great Orange County novel” and what’s next for him.

Chuck Hogan and Jeffrey Cruikshank, two crime writing newcomers, recently starred at a “Daggers and Desserts” event in Massachussets. The Hingham Journal reports back on the night’s festivities.

The prolific and criminally under-known Jerome Charyn is still writing, and his new book about Stalin-era Moscow gets a rave from the Moscow Times.

So just what kind of impact will the Red Sox World Series win have on related books? The Boston Globe’s David Mehegan rounds up what to expect and what books to look out for that are already in stores.

There’s a double dose of Craig McDonald at his haunt, Columbus This Week as he writes about James Sallis’s new short story collection as well as Richard Aleas’s already-highly-touted debut novel, LITTLE GIRL LOST.

Leslie McGill looks at some new crime related books by Larry Beinhart, Janet Evanovich and Ruth Francisco for the Kansas City Star.

Les Roberts, on the other hand, looks at the latest in the genre by Robert B. Parker, Sam Hill and Christine King for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Jack Batten of the Toronto Star looks at three big-ticket items by Patricia Cornwell, Mr. Parker and Ed McBain.

Then there’s Dick Adler of the Chicago Tribune, reviewing new mysteries by Archer Mayor, Domenic Stansberry, Sue Walker, Jeffrey Cruikshank and Mick Herron.

And still more roundups, as Hallie Ephron of the Boston Globe weighs in with her take on books by S.J. Rozan, Archer Mayor and Sue Walker. (BTW, I read Walker’s book, but elected to pass on reviewing it because I didn’t think I could summarize its problems in only 200 words. And since other reviewers pretty much echo my own opinion, I think my choice was a good one.)

Oh goody, another “Tartan Noir” article, this one by the Boston Herald’s Rosemary Herbert.

Hot damn: the Times (London) is going tabloid starting Monday, after 219 years as a broadsheet. Next thing you know, they’ll start adding special content on Page Three and make Jordan their literary editor. It’s all downhill from there….

In other lit news: Alan Hollinghurst is grilled by the Toronto Star,

Yiddish may be a dying language (alas) but thanks to the efforts of Aaron Lansky and a group he organized, its literature will not. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune details how over 1 million Yiddish books were saved and will be archived digitally.

And finally, poor Vaughn Meader.