All aboard the Weekend Update

Today would be an excellent day for being cranky: it’s hot out, I’m fasting (well, for the morning, anyway, we’ll see how long this lasts) and did I mention it’s hot out? But I want to take a cue from one of the mystery world’s great heroines, Robin Hudson: it’s time for a readjustment, and a Positive Mental Attitude. Yeah. I can do this!

And so on that PMA note, I realized I forgot to thank the most recent guest hosts, David Bowker and Clea Simon, for so excellently holding the fort last Wednesday and Thursday. Who will the next round of guests be? Stay tuned, as usual…and on that note, here’s the update:

NYTBR: Gosh, who’d have thought that Marilyn Stasio would devote the bulk of her column to crime in translation? Or pakerback originals? Not sure what’s in the water but I sure do like this. Her targets include Carmen Posadas, Colin Cotterill, Leonardo Padura, Tonino Benacquista, Garry Disher and Jonathan Trigell.

Otherwise in the Book Review, Joseph Kanon reviews a harrowing diary of one woman’s survival in Berlin at the end of WWII; a new biography of Eudora Welty gets a thumbs-up from Francine Prose;and putting A.O. Scott & Bret Easton Ellis together seems like a good idea, I guess….

WaPo Book World: Maureen Corrigan takes on the chick lit mystery trend with reviews of new stuff by Kyra Davis, Sheryl Anderson, Linda Curnyn, Susan Kandel, Tori Carrington & Denise Swanson; Elie Wiesel reminsces about the very first book he ever wrote, just as a new one sees publication; and Elizabeth Gilbert wishes Christopher John Farley’s historical novel had been more high spirited adventure instead of stilted history lesson.

G&M: Martin Levin bids a tearful goodbye to a sizeable chunk of his book collection; Wendy McElroy takes issue with Edward Shorter’s careful examination of the history of desire; and I am only linking to Giles Blunt’s review of LUNAR PARK for this line: “Reading Lunar Park is a bit like being caught up in an extended Andy Kaufman gag.” Classic.

Guardian Review: William Dalrymple considers where the next wave of Indian writers are emerging from — the West; Kathryn Hughes has a jolly good time with Kate Mosse’s LABYRINTH; and Booker longlisted Dan Jacobson writes about his book-deprived childhood and the influence it has on his writing.

Observer: Emily Maguire (whose phenomenal debut TAMING THE BEAST is finally available in the UK) offers a searing take on sex education’s failings; Peter Beaumont catches up with James Meek, the journalist and surprise Booker longlisted author; and no man may be an island, but it’s proved to be a perfect setting for many a novel.

The Times: Peter Ackroyd ponders the forgotten connection in the legend of King Arthur;  Katherine Swift is enthralled by a new account of lost books, written or otherwise;Reggie Nadelson reviews the newest Elmore Leonard novel; Jeannette Winterson confesses to a soft spot for PLAYBOY (you and me both, sister) and Marcel Berlins gets Italian with reviews of two new crime fiction releases from that country by Andrea Camilleri and Giancarlo Configlio.

The Scotsman:Teresa Hunter is boggled by how much first editions can fetch of favorite authors; the people of Key West still hoist a glass — and keep their shrine — to one of their favorite adopted sons, Ernest Hemingway; Allan Massie wishes Boris Akunin’s mysteries were a little less on the trifle side of the scale; Michel Faber praises the short story form as a welcome respite from novel-writing; and Julie Wheelwright meets Joseph Boyden, whose debut THREE DAY ROAD has received welcome attention on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill looks at current genre efforts by Jeff Abbott, Michelle Wan and Reed Farrel Coleman, though the part where she says THE JAMES DEANS launches a series is kind of, well, erroneous.

David Montgomery’s column for the Chicago Sun-Times features new releases by Tess Gerritsen, Zoe Sharp, Lee Goldberg, Terrill Lankford, and Clea Simon.

Adam Woog is back at the Scene of the Crime for the Seattle Times, looking at the good stuff by the family Burke (James Lee & Alafair) Stuart MacBride, Gregg Keizer, Jasper Fforde, Christopher Fowler and Allen Wyler.

The Kansas City Star meets Michael Baden and Linda Kenney, the married authors of the debut forensic thriller REMAINS SILENT that’s more about platform and less about content.

Randy Hicks has been a leading adoption attorney in Calfornia for almost twenty years, and as he tells the North County Times, his experience — and a gentle nudge from weekly tennis partner T Jefferson Parker — got him to write his first novel, THE BABY GAME.

Maybe it’s my current addled state but Daniel Handler’s review of LUNAR PARK for Newsday makes my head hurt. A lot. Then again, consider the source material…

Twenty years ago, Keri Hulme’s debut novel THE BONE PEOPLE won the Booker Prize. But where is the followup? She reveals some of the mystery to the LA Times’ Neil Hanson.

Regis Behe talks to Chris Cleave, whose debut novel INCENDIARY not only racked up a ton of unfortunate promotion but had its roots in a personal incident.

Gary Dretzka gives a great write-up to CHICAGO NOIR, the Neal Pollack-edited anthology that kicks off Akashic’s multi-city project, for the Chicago Sun-Times.

What’s a man to do when he’s stuck in Rio de Janiero without books to read? Go online, as Alan Peter Ryan reveals for the Chicago Tribune.

Janice Galloway provides an inside look into the imetus for her career as a writer for the Sunday Herald, stretching back to her early school days.