All the massive weekend update goodness you need

I’m still kind of in a BTK-obsessed place right now (with a long essay to come possibly later this afternoon, or tomorrow) but that doesn’t mean I can’t link to my new column, featuring reviews of the latest by Peter Robinson, Craig Holden, Richard Rayner, Michael Robotham and Megan Abbott.

And as for the update, well, here you go:

NYTBR: Gore Vidal is, shall we say, an interesting character, but he does sometimes write well and this essay about author James Purdy is evidence of such.

Otherwise, Sarah Vowell picks up on what makes Kelly Braffet’s debut JOSIE AND JACK such a gripping novel; The “8th President in da House” gets his due in a slim biography;  and Jacob Heilbrunn wonders if Winston Churchill was actually — gasp! — a neocon.

WaPo Book World: Richard Lipez gets his turn as the rotating mystery reviewer, looking the latest by Robert Crais, Miyuki Miyabe, Reed Farrel Coleman, Henning Mankell and Rebecca Pawel. Otherwise, David Liss explains why Jon Fasman’s debut is more than just an “arcane thriller”; Lydia Millet (interestingly, reviewed just last week in these pages by yours truly) is intrigued by the off-kilter world in Judy Budnitz’s short story collection; and Andrew Ervin rounds up new fiction by the likes of Sam Lipsyte, Kelly Braffet and Dean Bakapoulos;

G&M: In 2001, Canadian mystery writer suffered a stroke that robbed him of the ability to read — but amazingly, he could write, and the result is a new Benny Cooperman novel that Margaret Cannon dubs “the best to date.” Otherwise, in an upset, an obscure 1928 novel wins the Canada Reads contest — and sales, naturally, shoot way up; Cynthia Holz tries to unravel the complexities of Steven Hayward’s charming debut set amidst the ethnic communities of Toronto; and Aritha van Herk wants to take a very long shower after reading through Nelly Arcan’s autobiographical novel WHORE.

Guardian Review: Paul Theroux remembers his wild and adventurous days with HST; James Wood explains why Conrad & Dostoyevsky foresaw much of modern terrorism; Phil Tinline is blown away by the link between hurricanes and fiction; and Steve Davies is extremely impressed with Niall Griffiths’ latest Welsh-set novel, WRECKAGE.

Observer: Six novelists, including Carol Cawalladr, Charles Chadwick and Peter Hobbs, tell the paper about their path to publication and their expectations of the process; Zoe Green is very taken with Lionel Shriver, whose latest book is now officially out in the UK; and Rafael Behr has decidedly mixed feelings about Jonathan Freedland’s memoir of “Jewishness” as it relates to himself and his new son.

The Times: Tobias Hill adds his voice to the chorus of praise for Kazuo Ishiguro’s newest work; and Denise Mina explains how the James Bulger case was the jumping off point for her newest novel, THE FIELD OF BLOOD (which, btw, is incredibly good)

The Scotsman: Andrew Ervin has pretty much convinced me that I must own this new noir parody by Pablo Tusset; yet another Bonoparte biography hits the shelves; and the search is on for the greatest Scottish book of all time.

The rest:

Oline Cogdill delivers a triple-header in her latest column, looking at new books by James Swain, Con Lehane and Nancy Martin.

And as a prelude to next week’s Sleuthfest, Cogdill interviews keynote speaker Lisa Scottoline and offers up a preview of the South Florida writing conference.

The Boston Globe’s Hallie Ephron gives her opinion about THE FORGOTTEN MAN as well as new releases by Randye Lordon and Brad Smith.

In the same paper, James Sallis writes a thoughtful piece on why Albert Camus’s THE STRANGER moved him so much.

Ann Hellmuth at the Orlando Sentinel does the crime roundup thing as well, looking at the new J.D. Robb, Robert Crais, Daniel Silva and Michael Robotham.

Tom Nolan shows up in the SF Chronicle to review THE DEVIL’S WIND, which he wishes had spent more time on flashback to the female protagonist’s early life instead of trying to sound like Mickey Spillane.  For a more favorable take on the novel, see Dolores Tarzan Ament’s positive review at the Seattle Times.

Yxta Maya Murray, author of the newly released THE QUEEN JADE, talks to the Long Beach Press-Telegram about why she switched from writing Mexican-based literary novels to adventure: she wanted to get out of the house more…

Tim Dorsey talks to Rege Behe at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about his latest book, the return of Serge Storms and why protagonists should be governed by “The Fonzie Principle.”  So does that mean they should be played by balding, short, Jewish men at least 10 years older than the part? Oh wait…

The Independent sits down with rising Israeli author Etgar Keret, whose work is being translated into English as we speak.

Newsday’s Tom Beer catches up with short story sensation Rattawut Lapcharoensap, who expounds more on his split background of being Thai and America.

Laura Demanski’s first review since revealing herself to be the lovely Our Girl in Chicago runs in the Chicago Tribune this week, explaining what makes Bart Schneider’s BEAUTIFUL INEZ such a compelling and lyrical tale.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s next novel is, not surprisingly, highly anticipated and a shoo-in to generate much buzz and review coverage. Bookdwarf is first out of the gate with an advance review, and she is charmed by the book and its 9 year old narrator.