On the Weekend Update Front

First up, the new column, which features reviews of the latest by Walter Mosley, Theresa Schwegel, Martin Limon, Morag Joss & Christopher Lehmann-Haupt.

Next, the Sunday Pages:

NYTBR: James Agee gets his due in two new, and wholly separate, biographies of him; Diana Evans’ 26A gets a healthy rave here as it did across the Atlantic last year; the “Dark Dr. Doolittle” of fiction returns with a new collection of animal-themed short stories; Susann Cokal adores the way Clare Clark invokes smell in her debut novel, THE GREAT STINK; and Nora Krug wades into the murky world of fact-checking — or rather, the lack of it in printed books.

WaPo Book World: Paul Skenazy wishes that more mystery writers would emulate what James Sallis has done with DRIVE (while also reviewing latest offerings by Steven Sidor, Michael Simon, Martin Limon and A.C. Baantjer); Andrew Ervin thoroughly enjoys Lisa Glatt’s short story collection; Michael Dirda anoints Andrew Delbanco’s biography of Melville as the definitive one; and Neil Gaiman puts his own unusual spin on the trickster myth with ANANSI BOYS.

G&M: Lisa Moore’s debut novel is finally here, and according to T.R. Rigelhof, it’s “unlike anything published in English Canada to date”; a new work documents how one woman tried to change the course of Arctic history; and why do Canadians love to read critical accounts of their leaders? Allan Levine attempts to find out.

Guardian Review: Maxim Jakubowski’s choices for his crime fiction roundup skew to the senior set, with new releases by Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, Tony Hillerman and Christopher Fowler; Robert MacFarlane argues that writers are a crucial element in predicting climate changes; and Mark Haddon follows up the phenomenal success of CURIOUS INCIDENT with…a volume of poetry.

Observer: Curtis Sittenfeld — remember her? — talks about PREP and why the book’s more vivid in her imagination than her actual boarding school days; Robert McCrum gets positively enthusiastic about a new volume of letters from the editor of the Nation; and Miranda Sawyer implores, nay begs, people to ban Shakespeare from their playgoing activities.

The Times: Geordie Greig ruminates on the popularity of literary festivals, especially if you’re looking to hook up; Carol Midgeley wonders why more people can’t create journalist protagonists who are a little less cliche-ridden; Marcel Berlins falls all over himself over Cathi Unsworth’s debut novel, and also looks at new stuff by Christopher Fowler and Henning Mankell; and Selina Walker’s second Bouchercon report appears in the paper. And to answer her (and it seems, every UK editor attending’s) question, these folks are the agent you are seeking…

The Scotsman: Allan Massie wonders why Frederic Lindsay hasn’t achieved the popularity in the crime fiction world as some of his Edinburgh bretheren; and Gerald Kaufman looks at the latest in mystery by David Wishart, Kate Ellis, Ann Granger, Elizabeth George, Gerald Hammond, Mark Billingham, Michael Robotham, Gianrico Carofiglio, Robert B. Parker, Janet Evanovich, and James Patterson.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill looks at the latest in the world of crime fiction by Karin Slaughter, Christine Kling & Marcia Talley.

Les Roberts has nothing but good things to say about new books by Karen Olson, Deon Meyer and Martin Limon.

Hallie Ephron’s column in the Boston Globe focuses on current releases by David Wolstencroft, William Tapply and Diana O’Hehir.

Neil Gaiman chats with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Regis Behe about how his newest novel, ANANSI BOYS, came to be.

Over at the Chicago Sun-Times, Mary Houlihan gets a glimpse of Audrey Niffenegger’s world, which now includes an “illustrated novel for adults” just out now.

The Baltimore Book Festival continues today, and the Sun’s Doug Donovan reports on what’s transpired and who you can expect to see.

Also in the paper is Clare McHugh’s take on GOODNIGHT NOBODY, which emphasizes the strengths — Jennifer Weiner’s voice and humor — but does mention that the mystery plot doesn’t exactly work.

Now that FIDDLERS is out, many folks, like the NY Daily News’ Bill Bell, are using their reviews of the final 87th Precinct novel to serve as a quasi-memorial of the great crime fiction writer.

Not that there has to be another reason to read Kitty Fitzgerald’s PIGTOPIA (which should appear in stores here in a week or so) but the Independent’s review offers a few more.

Blair Underwood talks to the Vibe about his new career direction — erotic murder mystery novelist.

And finally, I only ask for one thing this weekend: bring back Skeleton Bob!!!