The end of summer Weekend Update

Well OK, technically summer doesn’t end till September 20 but I mean, people are back at school, back at work, the traffic on Sunday evenings isn’t quite as insane as it once was, it’s after Bouchercon — how much more evidence do you need that summer’s ending?

But anyway:

NYTBR: OK, so I kind of punted on thinking that people would care so much about La Stasio’s chick lit mystery thing last week. But she does kinda — sorta — make up for it with her column this week, looking at new releases by Martha Grimes, Jacqueline Winspear, Ayelet Waldman and Margaret Maron. Or maybe she’s making a particular point, now that I think about it…

Otherwise in the TBR, Elizabeth Becker writes in from Cambodia, Susannah Meadows is exhausted by Lydia Millet’s apocalyptic vision, and Camille Paglia talks about…ancient Greek poets? That does seem kind of different, at least to me…

WaPo Book World: Jonathan Yardley thinks the Library of America’s fawning over Philip Roth’s entire canon is “a bit nuts”; Marlon Brando’s collaborative effort of a pirate novel is pretty much a gigantic mess; Ron Charles wanted to love Lily King’s new novel but found there were too many unanswered questions; and Dennis Drabelle travels the mystery globetrotting world, looking at new books by Colin Cotterill, Mia Couto, Barbara Cleverly, Carmen Posadas and Christopher Wakling.

G&M: Elizabeth Ruth delivers an impressive debut set in 1950s rural country, according to T.R. Rigelhof; Gene Lees gives Dizzy Gillespie — and a brand new biography of the legendary jazz trumpeter — his due; and Martin Levin weighs in on the whole reviewer/conflict of interest thing in the wake of the now infamous John Irving review fracas at the Washington Post.

Guardian Review: Chris Petit is enthralled by the novelistic magic of Harry Matthews’ recent work; Maxim Jakubowski rounds up new crime fiction by Michael Marshall, Barbara Nadel, Simon Kernick and James Crumley; and Jon Courtenay Grimwood probes the unconscious mind of authors who never, ever throw anything away.

Observer: John McGahern, one of Ireland’s most prominent writers, has finally written his memoirs; Caroline Boucher wonders why Graham Lord’s biography of John Mortimer is so damn mean-spirited; and Stephanie Merritt wonders if a short story revival is really on the horizon.

The Times: Ben MacIntyre wishes he weren’t such a pack rat about keeping books, good or not; Giles Whittell meets Henry Lincoln, the likely inspiration behind the the phenomenon that is THE DA VINCI CODE; Natasha Cooper is charmed by the latest in Alexander McCall Smith’s prolific career; and Marcel Berlins looks at the latest in mystery by Caleb Carr, Mike Ripley and Janet Neel.

The Scotsman: The first review (that I can find) of Zadie Smith’s new novel ON BEAUTY has arrived; Quintin Jardine explains how a BBC television novelization spurred him to make his own way as a writer; Paul Johnston hangs out at Kay’s Bar and talks about his new direction in crime writing; and Julian Rathbone chats about what is on his bedside table.

The Rest:

Michael Robotham spent so many years ghostwriting that he’s still a bit unnerved seeing his own name on his recent books — but the latest, LOST, just won him the Ned Kelly Award for best Australian Crime Novel.

Oline Cogdill finds that Elizabeth Becka’s forensic-drenched debut has lots of promise, but still needs some work.

Hallie Ephron looks at new crime fiction by Elizabeth Benedict, Reed Arvin & Jacqueline Winspear for the Boston Globe.

The Flint Journal’s David Forsmark looks at several (not exactly new) mysteries by female authors, including Margaret Murphy, Laura Joh Rowland and Jodi Compton.

The Independent’s Boyd Tonkin goes to Finland and brings back reports of the burgeoning literary scene over there.

Anyone who tries to predict “Classics of the Future” is probably shooting themselves in the foot, but lists like these are fun, anyway.

At 93, Studs Terkel has packed more into several lifetimes than most do in one. The Chicago Sun-Times profiles him as his latest book, a compendium of radio interviews done over the last 40 years, is just out.

In the Chicago Tribune, Adam Langer explains that he didn’t set out to write a sequel to his debut novel CROSSING CALIFORNIA — but he couldn’t stop thinking of the characters, and wanted to know more.

The Nashville Scene meets mystery writer, gadfly and gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, who is certainly one of the most individual people in the writing world, that’s for sure.

Caroline Leavitt doesn’t always like to read mystery fiction and true crime for several reasons, but she’s found one of each that satisfies her book cravings, as she relates in the Boston Globe.

The Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio brings in some serious star wattage for its annual Neihoff lecture. The series sponsor, Buck Neihoff, dishes on who they liked, who they didn’t and their wishlist.

And finally, a different kind of cat mystery might be solved — or proved to be an urban legend after all.