The Post-BEA Weekend Update

Even after a decent night’s sleep, the verdict is still the same: exhaustion, best overcome by slow dips back into the real world. Though one BEA anecdote I forgot to mention on GalleyCat was about my favorite cover, which was on display at the St. Martin’s Press booth: HOW I WRITE: SECRETS OF A SERIAL FICTION WRITER by Janet Evanovich (with Ina Yalof.) If that’s not irony, I don’t know what is…

And while I was away, my latest review at the Sun (of Alex Berenson’s debut thriller THE FAITHFUL SPY) went live.

Onward:

NYTBR: In this all-fiction issue, aside from the much dissected “Best of the last 25 years” book, Marilyn Stasio’s new column looks at the latest by Lee Child, Cornelia Read, Vincent O’Neil, Nancy Pickard and Earlene Fowler; Lorraine Adams wishes Yasmina Khadra would have put more of himself in his fiction; and Rachel Donadio’s back-page essay looks at the publishing state of literary fiction.

WaPo Book World: Michael Dirda examines a new biography of the famed Jewish philosopher Spinoza; Elinor Lipman expounds on the virtues of picking the perfect name; Curt Flood gets his due in a new book about the history of free agency; and Phillipa Stockley reviews new mysteries by Donna Leon, Kathryn Fox, Ariana Franklin and Ruth Birmingham.

G&M: Marti Leimbach’s new novel plumbs the depths of autism with sensitivity, according to Sara O’Leary; Martin Levin ponders the state of happiness; and Wole Soyinka’s new novel impresses the hell out of columnist Ken Wiwa.

Guardian Review: David Lodge describes the gut-churning experience of writing a book on the same subject four other novelists chose; James Flint is suitably impressed with Craig Clevenger’s genre-bending DERMAPHORIA; Lionel Shriver explains why she’ll be leaving her money to her favorite library; and Matthew Lewin reviews the newest in crime fiction by Mark Billingham, Theresa Monsour, Harlan Coben & Mary Higgins Clark.

Observer: With Courtney Love’s memoir due out soon, Gaby Wood talks to her mother Linda Carroll, whose own memoir was well-received in the US; Rachel Cooke looks at Picador Shots, short stories available for a single pound; and Kathy Reichs talks to Liz Hoggard about infusing her thrillers with doses of fact.

The Times: Gazza’s new memoir is the quite the confessional tale, as he tells Catherine O’Brien; a new collection establishes Dickens as one of the founding fathers of the detective story; and Marcel Berlins rounds up the latest in crime by Mark Billingham, Robert Goddard & Hakan Nesser.

The Scotsman: James Robertson puts a very Scottish spin on the Faustian bargain in his newest novel; Julie Myerson spares no one the knife in her work, as Jackie McGlone finds out; and can Tom Adair possibly be more condescending to Ray Banks & Al Guthrie, who collectively write circles around um, a hell of a lot of people? Ah well, can’t preach to the unconverted, I guess…

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill looks at Joseph Finder’s latest thriller set in the corporate world, KILLER INSTINCT. In the same paper, Christina Wood profiles Jonathon King, who’s ventured into standalone territory with EYE OF VENGEANCE.

Dick Adler’s Chicago Tribune column examines the latest in crime by Lisa Unger, Peter Abrahams, Robert Goddard, John Brady and Robert Levinson.

There’s a double dose of David Montgomery this weekend, as his review of Lee Child’s THE HARD WAY appears at the Philly Inquirer and his new column for the Sun-Times features a shorter review of the book, as well as the latest by Naomi Hirahara, Ken Bruen & Jason Starr, Shane Gericke and BALTIMORE NOIR.

THE HARD WAY also gets props from the Denver Post’s Dorman Shindler, while Child’s touring partner, Cornelia Read, is interviewed by Regis Behe about the impetus for her fabulous debut, A FIELD OF DARKNESS.

Michele Ross’s column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer looks at Lee Child’s latest as well as new stuff from Donna Leon, C.J. Box, P.L Gaus and Ken Bruen.

Evidently Sunday’s LATBR featured James Sallis on the cover as part of its big feature on the celebrated writer, which is really worth checking out (and long overdue.)

Laurie King gets her due in this nice writeup by the Santa Cruz Sentinel’s Wallace Baine.

The Miami Herald is very keen on Elaine Viets’ new Dead-End Job mystery, MURDER UNLEASHED.

With the Sydney Writers Festival just beginning, the city’s local paper, the Morning Herald, looks at the grind of author tours.

What happens when a writer is outed after putting a pseudonym on his or her latest work? The Melbourne Age finds out about the consequences of such actions.

And finally, vote for the worst TV theme song of all time! I definitely have to put mine in for SMALL WONDER…