Bopping to the Weekend Update

NYTBR: I gotta ask — is the Book Review on crack this week? There’s Jeff McGregor’s rant about how much profiles suck, Charles Taylor’s rant about how much bookstores these days suck, and of course, what everyone in the mystery world will be talking about (aside from Dennis Lynds’ passing), Marilyn Stasio’s takedown of the chick lit mystery.

Truth be told, I’m not terribly surprised by her reaction — Stasio’s tastes definitely run more towards, for lack of a better term, mysteries with more gravitas. And it’s sort of cool to see her let rip with more space allowed to her. And since we’re all going to talk about it anyway, why not, right?

WaPo Book World: Jonathan Yardley looks at an untold chapter in New York’s history — squalor and slavery; Paula Hyman has her breath taken away by a comprehensive look at modern Jewish history; and Henry Roth’s biography shines a light on a closed chapter: the Jewish novel.

G&M: Rosemary Aubert applauds the newest Barbara Vine novel, THE MINOTAUR; Margaret Cannon rounds up new crime fiction by Aubert, Laura Lippman, Tess Gerritsen, Danny Leigh, Jon Evans and Garret Wilson; and Jaclyn Moriarty’s new novel made Kristen de Hartog laugh out loud.

Guardian Review: James Hamilton-Paterson warns against writing sequels, because then you end up writing a series and lord knows how perilous that is; Benjamin Markovits’ latest effort is hailed as a triumph by Todd McEwen; Rachel Cusk joined a book club and wondered why the English seemed to shy away from stories of everyday life — hmm, because so many are boring and trite?

The Observer: Robert McCrum finds Shakespearean English in the oddest places; Hepzibah Anderson talks to Aharon Appelfeld, whose fiction was borne of a tumultuous childhood amidst the Holocaust; Patrick McGrath now has his very own New York trilogy with GHOST TOWN; and McCrum offers a reading list for Victoria Beckham. Meow!

The Times: Salman Rushdie’s baaaack, and he talks to Ginny Dugary about his new book, terrorism, and why Joanna Trollope is cool; Peter Ackroyd expounds on the virtues of Shakespeare in this profile by Erica Wagner; and Tim Cox wonders at the trend of literary cover versions.

The Scotsman: The Literary Traveler highlights Edinburgh’s rich history as a book town; Laura Marney comments on the new trend of disturbed male protagonists in her take on Mark Tuohy’s novel TIDE; George Elliot Clarke talks about the murderous secret in his family’s past; and Anthony Horowitz wants to be the Stephen King for kids. You mean RL Stine isn’t that? Oh, wait…

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill gives customary praise to new stuff from Jack Kerley, Jeff Shelby and Louise Ure.

David Montgomery chats with Libby Fischer Hellmann, whose latest mystery A SHOT TO DIE FOR appears to be the best book yet in the series starring photographer sleuth Ellie Forman.

Susanna Yager’s crime fiction column for the Telegraph has finally shown up, and she reviews new releases by Jim Kelly, Stephen Booth, Susan Hill, Simon Kernick, David Lawrence, Joseph Finder, Barbara Nadel, Jasper Fforde, Paul Jaskunas and Sam Baker.

Meanwhile, Dick Adler’s column looks at the latest by Deon Meyer, Jacqueline Winspear, Richard Zimler, James Sheehan, Michael Baden & Linda Kenney, Jay Bonansinga and Anthony Traver.

Also in the Telegraph is Toby Clements’ utter rave for Joseph Kanon’s ALIBI.

The Age’s Jason Steger pours plenty of praise upon John Harvey, whose latest novel ASH AND BONE will be out over here by year’s end.

David Liss has written three historical mysteries, but as he tells Simone Swink over at January Magazine, his next one’s more of a change-up — a politically-tinged novel set in the 1980s.

Neal Bissoondath talks to the Canadian Press about his new novel, which explores the complexities of living next door to a suicide bomber.

Regis Behe talks to Natalie Petesch, who says she’s been “too busy writing” to keep a particularly high profile as her latest short story collection is published.

Roxana Robinson, in an essay for the Chicago Tribune, tries to redefine what “women’s fiction” really means and take some of the stigma out of the term.

Maggie Gee’s new novel explores the thorny topic of ethnic cleansing, and she tells the Independent what inspired her to write about it.