All hail the Massive Weekend Update

NYTBR: My god, someone’s actually listening to me, really–for Marilyn Stasio continues the “new” trend of reviewing four books in her crime column. She marvels at Ed McBain’s ability to show just how everything goes wrong in his new standalone thriller, and gives mostly approving nods to the latest works by Jean-Christophe Grange, Adrian McKinty and Luis Alfredo Garcia-Roza.

Otherwise in the Book Review, Marilynne Robinson writes about slavery, freedom and everything in between; Darin Strauss is gobsmacked by the fiction debut of a Thailand-born writer,  Rattawut Lapcharoensap; and Alan Dershowitz takes on John Grisham and finds the megaauthor’s new book is a…political thriller??

WaPo Book World: Meg Wolitzer, briefly interviewed in Book World, extols the virtue of writing in a fast and furious fashion;  Michael Dirda waxes eloquent about Christopher Marlowe and a new biography of the playwright; Ann Hood looks at a new “suburban comedy of manners,”  and Carole Burns considers Gregory Roberts’ mammoth novel SHANTARAM to be “an amiable abduction.”

Globe and Mail: Margaret Cannon’s first column of the year looks at new mystery releases by Graham Hurley, Dan Fesperman, Michael Chabon (boy does she love this novella), Anthony Bidulka, Peter Cavelti, Margie Naylor, and Guy Walters. Otherwise,  Sandra Martin catches up with Canadian legend Farley Mowat, who doesn’t have to shock readers like he once did; Allan Levine looks at a new book by Alan Dershowitz (keeping some symmetry going in this roundup) and Martin Levin does the whole book-anticipation thing with upcoming releases.

Guardian Review: Maxim Jakubowski’s crime fiction roundup looks at new releases by HRF Keating, Qiu Xiaolong, Vera Cork and Jonathan Gash; Mark Lawson finds quite a lot good to say about SPOOKS creator David Wolstencroft’s new spy thriller (which was first released in the US last fall); Aida Edemariam reports on the literary year that was in Canada; and Mary Wollstonecraft’s great travel adventure has finally been uncovered.

Observer: Hepzibah Anderson is rather disturbed by yet another trend towards the ghost story and the paranormal in fiction; Geraldine Bedell wishes Candida Clark’s novels were better known; and Robert McCrum dissects the Whitbread and WHSmith Award lists.

The Times: Neil Philip wonders if Hans Christian Andersen was actually the illegitimate son of a future king; Penelope Lively thrills about Margaret Forster’s exploration of life’s ambiguities in her latest novel; and John Sutherland’s been reading a whole lot of LA-based crime fiction lately.

View of the Scots:  Based on the books he’s been reading of late, Colin Donald is turning Japanese (I really think so); Alan Massie celebrates the centenary of John O’Hara; Robert McGill goes through the Q&A ringer; and Scarlett Thomas is somewhat underwhelmed with Ingrid Hill’s URSULA, UNDER.   

All those other choice links:

Oline Cogdill gives a very nice review to Peter Moore Smith for his long-awaited second novel, LOS ANGELES. So far, January’s been a great month for top-notch crime novels.

Seattle Times crime fiction columnist Adam Woog looks at a new anthology of George V. Higgins’ writings as well as new releases by Jane Isenberg, Janet Evanovich, Mark Weingardner, Lowen Clausen and Michael Gruber.

Dick Adler–does his column run every week, or is it just me?–returns with his roundup for the Chicago Tribune, looking at new books by Neil McMahon, Stella Rimington, Jan Burke, Natsuo Kirino, Mike Stewart, Luis Alfredo Garcia-Roza, as well as Otto Penzler’s DANGEROUS WOMEN anthology.

John Orr of the San Jose Mercury News wasn’t so impressed with Ed McBain’s ALICE IN JEOPARDY. As I said before the holidays, I liked it, but kept wondering how it would have worked with a parallel universe plot as told by a different character’s POV, thus turning it into a more traditional noir novel with a doomed protagonist.

I’m a bit confused–wasn’t Helene Tursten’s DETECTIVE INSPECTOR HUSS released oh, two years ago? So why is the Toronto Star’s Jack Batten only getting around to reviewing it now? Oh, probably because of Canadian distribution issues. Right.

The Weekly Standard juxtaposes Carol O’Connell’s latest Mallory novel and Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s new book, which seems like an odd mix in a roundup….

The Long Beach Press-Standard catches up with insanely prolific writer Meg Cabot, who now divides her time between New York City and Key West, Florida.

Newsday’s book editor, Laurie Muchnick, talks about the elusive and diffuse methods of finding books you love–and cites some of my favorite litblogs as great places to do so. No kidding…

BBC1 will launch a book club of its own to compete with Richard & Judy–and Marian Keyes, Faye Weldon and Robert McCrum will be involved to varying degress.

British travel writer Carole Cadwalladr went to Greece on holiday–and emerged with a 60,000 novel, just published this week. She speaks to the SF Chronicle about her transition from journalism to fiction.

Oh goody, yet another new subtrend–Christian chick lit. The Baton Rouge Advocate takes a look at these books and the authors who write them.

Livi Michael writes novels for both children and adults, but each has a theme of the outsider and the outcast, as she explains to the Independent’s Katy Guest.

Margaret Atwood: author, Canadian icon, poet…and inventor? The Globe and Mail’s Rebecca Caldwell delivers the scoop on the  new toy for writers who aren’t so into the whole touring thing. My dad, interestingly enough, wasn’t thrilled with the concept: “Hollywood Studios had clerks who signed and sent off to fans who asked for autographed pictures. First they dubbed singing voices, then this ploy. Personally, that’s why I never bothered with getting autographs.”

Craig Russell’s new novel BLOOD EAGLE tries a little something different in crime fiction–it’s set in contemporary Berlin and aims to shine a light on the city as it is today instead of its walled, war-torn past.

I hadn’t realized there was a market for 700-page novels on love in the ballet world, but debut author Rebecca Horsfall sure believes there is, as does her publisher.

If you’re looking for top-notch mystery plays, look no further than Mansfield, Ohio, where Eileen Moushey (once a regular poster on rec.arts.mystery) has helmed dozens of them, including a new, audience-participation one currently running in the city.

If you haven’t gotten enough of the 2005 anticipation books lists, NPR’s Karen Grigsby Bates offers up her own.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer talks to Mary Guterson, whose debut novel paints a wry portrait of a woman who veers into infidelity after her husband thinks of doing the same.

Their competitor, the Seattle Times, catches up with Brian Lamb and asks what life is like after Booknotes, the longrunning program on C-SPAN devoted to all things literature.

I’m not really sure why John Grisham is getting so much ink in the Sunday papers this week, but the Boston Globe’s Clea Simon adds her two cents about the new book.

The Everett Navy Base Herald offers a touching tribute to Willo Davis Roberts, who died recently at the age of 76–and after finishing her 100th book.

Regis Behe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review meets Sharan Newman, usually the author of historical mysteries but now peddling her new book about the real story behind THE DA VINCI CODE.

And finally, this article is why I should read British tabloids more. Explaining that it’s a long time to wait to find out which four Spice Girls slept with Robbie Williams? Priceless. And snarky.