The “I’m not reading Harry Potter” Weekend Update
Though I suppose, in a few months’ time, I will probably stop resisting and read the book in a couple of gulps, but this was a scene in a nearby bookstore:
I walk in and see piles of Harry VI books on a table.
Pick one up. Start reading first paragraph.
Feel my internal passive voice meter go off the charts after reading said paragraph.
Put book down. Try to control internal screaming that dammit, why couldn’t someone edit this book.
Hear someone behind me quip, “That book will never sell.”
Anyway, onto the links:
NYTBR: And the only HP review I’ll be linking to is Michiko’s, mostly because I am still quite surprised at her effusive reaction. Like, whoa, if John Irving wrote this book (UNTIL I FIND VOLDEMORT? THE WORLD ACCORDING TO POTTER? A MUGGLE FOR ONE YEAR?), she’d have a haterade for it…
Anyway, otherwise, Lesley Downer can’t find enough good things to say about THE ICARUS GIRL; David Leavitt wonders if video killed the gay bookstores, or something like that; and William Buckley’s spy alter ego gets his last hurrah, so many years after the Cold War did.
WaPo Book World: Jeffrey Lent is “profoundly disturbed” by Cormac McCarthy’s first novel in nearly a decade; Ron Charles is struck dumb by the emotional power of Kim Edwards’ haunting debut; and Jabari Asim recognizes the one thing people forget about Terry McMillan: the woman is still a talented writer.
G&M: Martin Levin plays catch-up with some books Canadian readers might have overlooked this year; Goran Simic looks at what to read when the bombs go off; and Doris Heffron is pleasantly surprised by Anne Hines’ “novel of ideas.”
Guardian Review: Lucy Ellmann and Todd McEwen double-date on this review of a new celebration of Russ Meyer’s life and works; Alfred Hickling finds much that is prescient and literary in Chris Cleave’s now infamous debut novel; and Chris Petit is less congenial about Patrick Neate’s affected newest effort.
Observer: Sean O’Hagan compares and contrasts the Troubles to the recent bombings in London; Lynn Barber meets the woman who may have written the most bizarre memoir in years; and Robert McCrum wonders how important book reviews really are, after all.
The Times: Damn, the books section is overstuffed this week: Ian Rankin ponders the enduring mystique of Raymond Chandler; Jeannette Winterson dishes on literary festivals and their worth; Peter Ackroyd gets all navy-like as he talks up Lord Nelson; Guy Fiorita wonders how Arturo Perez-Reverte’s CAPTAIN ALASTRISTE series will be received in English; Michele Roberts has a good time with Kate Mosse’s LABYRINTH, touted as “Da Vinci Code for girls;” and Marcel Berlins rounds up the latest in crime fiction by Jasper Fforde, Karin Fossum, and Reginald Hill.
The Scotsman: Am I the only one vaguely tired of reviews written in the style of the book (as Tom Adair does with THE BIG OVER-EASY?) Looks like Morag Joss has pretty well established herself as a major player in the psychological thriller game with her latest effort; and Jasper Fforde is living proof that old manuscripts truly can find a home after all.
The Rest:
OK, I lied — this is another Potter-related piece, but at least the US News & World Report tries to put some socioeconomic spin on the books’ phenomenal success. Even though I will continue to beat the “it’s a freak of nature” drum….
James Sallis offers up a very touching tribute to Ed McBain for the Boston Globe. And look for Sallis’s next novel, DRIVE, from Poisoned Pen Press (which can then, hopefully, be sold to a paperback imprint and sell gazillions of copies.)
Oline Cogdill keeps it short this week, looking at new stuff by Rick Mofina and Will Thomas (with something less new from Wallace Stroby.)
As the Chicago Sun-Times revamps its Books section, David Montgomery reviews the latest in mystery by JA Konrath, Kate White, Jennifer Colt, Alafair Burke & Sandra Scoppettone. Montgomery also reviews Bill Kent’s STREET FIGHTER for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Also in the Inquirer is Marietta Dunn’s take on the two most recent efforts by Kirk Russell, whose metier is the California wilderness.
Les Roberts is back with his take on new mysteries for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, featuring books by Robert Daley, Marcia Muller and Milton Burton.
After using the book as a jumping off point for her recent essay here, Clea Simon properly reviews Michelle Wan’s debut DEADLY SLIPPER for the SF Chronicle.
In the same paper, Tess Taylor does her best to explain the appeal of Clare Sambrook’s HIDE AND SEEK, which still affects me now, several weeks after finishing it.
As John Connolly prepares to take his mammoth tour over to Australia, he chats wth the Australian about all things THE BLACK ANGEL.
Many Florida mystery writers, including Christine Kling, Jim Born, Vicki Hendricks & S.V. Date, figure in this great piece from the New Times Palm Beach.
James Lee Burke talks to the Billings Gazette about many things, but most of all his new home on 120 acres of land.
After three literary novels of more inward fare — never mind chairing the Orange Prize — Kate Mosse has gone big and thriller-y with LABYRINTH. She explains to the Belfast Telegraph why she’s done so.
Janet Devlin rounds up new fiction for the Belfast Telegraph, including Reginald Hill’s new standalone and Alex Barclay’s much-touted debut thriller DARKHOUSE.
So fake websites, fictional characters and other tools of the trade are being used to market books. The Wall Street Journal is all over this trend in a new piece that ran earlier this weekend.
Akashic publisher and all around cool dude Johnny Temple is columnizing for the Book Standard. He begins with why he believes it’s great to be in publishing now, especially as a small press.