Happy New Year! It’s the weekend update

If my New Year’s party was any indication, 2006 will include a bit of the past, a lot of reconnections with cool people, and a very bright future. Conjecture, but then I’m only sticking to one resolution this year: write more and submit more. OK, that’s two, but you get my drift.

So this weekend’s update is, not surprisingly, on the sparse side, but by the time Monday rolls around I’ll be back in semi-shape and posting on a more regular basis. Of course, having good crime fiction-related news and gossip never hurts so if I don’t know something and I should, please hit the email link on the right hand side.

And once again, thanks to all for reading and continuing to do so.

Anyway:

NYTBR: A new biography of Katherine Anne Porter spends more time on her tumultuous life instead of her work; Sidney Sheldon keeps on trucking with his new biography, making the reviewer wonder what else the 88-year-old has up his sleeve; and John Horgan explains why physics is all about small rather than large.

Guardian Review: John Dugdale dishes on bookscan, discounts and the celeb author; Robert Conquest finds that life and SF aren’t too far off from each other; and I think Kathryn Hughes’ resolutions are kind of lost on me. Hell, a little trashy reading goes a looooong way….

Observer: this biography of Regency dandy Beau Brummell sounds absolutely awesome, and a long time coming; and the paper gives its list of possible essential reads, and Robert McCrum wagers on what might be talked about in 2006.

The Times: The paper brings out an old chestnut — submitting prizewinning work anonymously to agents — and professes to be “shocked” at the results; Shere Hite’s treatise on Oedipus gets the super smackdown from Bryan Appleyard; and Clare Morrall’s follow-up to her surprise Booker-shortlisted first novel is a bit too self-conscious for Lucy Atkins’ liking.

The Scotsman: Jackie McGlone chats with Rick Moody about life, writing, and a certain critic who doesn’t like him too much; a short fiction piece by Ismael Kadare explains why he won the inaugural International Booker Prize; and Sam Leith explains what’s on his bedside table, among other things.

The Rest:

January Magazine brings forth their annual “Best of” list, and the one for crime fiction features some of the usual suspects and many fine books. My own contribution is Arnaldur Indridason’s Gold Dagger winning SILENCE OF THE GRAVE.

Oline Cogdill rings in 2006 with her first column of the new year, featuring recent releases by Michael Kronenwetter, Mel Taylor and Lee Goldberg.

Regis Behe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review offers up 10 books people might have missed, making special note of Don Winslow’s THE POWER OF THE DOG, ‘arguably the year’s best fiction.’

The Sun-Times’ Tom McNamee looks at one of Wilkie Collins’ other novels — DEAD ALIVE — and the case that inspired the famed Victorian novelist to turn it into fiction.

Newsday’s Dan Cryer is bowled over (and rightfully so) by James Meek’s THE PEOPLE’S ACT OF LOVE. But Heller McAlpin cracks open Kaye Gibbons’ eagerly awaited sequel to ELLEN FOSTER..and finds it pretty much sucks the big one.

Another day, another paper asks local authors for their reading lists — this time it’s the Melbourne Age asking Aussie types what they took off their bookshelves.

And lots on the “What’s upcoming in 2006” from the Independent (Boyd Tonkin and Suzi Feay) the St. Paul Pioneer Press,the Melbourne Age and the Weekend Australian (which has an awesome array of future crime novels to watch for.)

And finally, RIP, Rona Jaffe. And here I was just thinking I wanted to reread THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, too…