Yes, a real live Weekend Update

I know, it’s been so long…and much to catch up with, too:

NYTBR: Marilyn Stasio’s column this week has a little of everything: heavy hitters (James Lee Burke) neglected gems (Bill James) and Norwegian queens of crime (Karin Fossum & Anne Holt); Ada Calhoun finds much to enjoy about Louis Bayard’s THE PALE BLUE EYE; Tom Barbash pretty much convinces me I must read POPPY SHAKESPEARE; and Rachel Donadio looks at how publishing is jumping aboard eco-trend bandwagons.

WaPo Book World: Graham Joyce is utterly wowed by Keith Donohue’s THE STOLEN CHILD; Anita Shreve has many good things to say about most of Elisabeth Hyde’s THE ABORTIONIST’S DAUGHTER; and Victoria Lustbader’s debut novel takes the reader back to the early 20th century, much to Brigitte Weeks’ liking.

G&M: Val Ross reports on the fight to challenge James Joyce’s grandson about what to do with those famous works; LONDONSTANI finds favor with Tara Lee for its ability to take stylistic risks; Martin Levin ventures deep into the sea for his latest reading; and Margaret Cannon rounds up new crime fiction by Mark Billingham, Jeffery Deaver, Janet Evanovich, Vicki Delany, George Shuman, Howard Blank, and a new anthology from Otto Penzler.

Guardian Review: Shirley Hazzard talks about her long friendship with Graham Greene; Chris Petit rounds up the newest in Holocaust and Nazi literature; Bryan Cheyette is slightly uncomfortable with Howard Jacobson’s skewering of English Jewry in his new novel; and Andrew Franklin comments on a new publishing alliance.

Observer: Stephen Fry makes a passionate appeal about the importance of studying history; Stephanie Merritt is very much entertained by Louise Welsh’s THE BULLET TRICK; and Sam North gets the 10 questions treatment (and his current reading is the same as mine, oddly enough.)

The Times: Another summer reading issue, with some focus on crime and thrillers, too; In a world of self-help books, Bel Mooney still finds some room for misery; Tintin makes a triumphant return thanks to Tom McCarthy’s retrospective; Louise Welsh’s second novel is populated yet again by wonderfully drawn characters, as Paul Dunn discovers; Joan Smith looks at the latest crime fiction by Louis Bayard, Kathy Reichs, Sue Grafton, Frances Fyfield, Peter Robinson, Janet Evanovich and Pierre Magnan while Marcel Berlins looks at new crime novels from Peter Temple, Reichs and Robert Wilson.

The Scotsman: Howard Jacobson’s sharpness and acuity are both on display in his interview with Tom Adair; Denise Mina’s new novel gets its due from Susan Mansfield; and after Dolly, the cloned sheep’s creators ruminate on the future of human cloning.

The Rest:

Last year the Clarion-Ledger interviewed Laura Lippman when she passed through town. She didn’t this year but the paper still raves about her newest book, NO GOOD DEEDS.

Speaking of Lippman, Oline Cogdill pretty much feels the same way, saying she “continues to be at the forefront of the modern private detective novel.” Cogdill’s home paper, the Sun-Sentinel, also features an interview with Lippman, conducted by books editor Chauncey Mabe.

Adam Woog’s Seattle Times column features reviews of the latest work from Lippman, Bill James, Lawrence Block, Christopher Fowler, Phillip Margolin, Aaron Elkins, Elizabeth Lowell, Clyde Ford and Mike Lawson.

William Lashner talks to Regis Behe about his morally ambiguous creation, Victor Carl and the lawyer’s latest adventure, MARKED MAN.

Bob Walch at the Monterey Herald catches up with Jeffery Deaver as he tours through for his new Lincoln Rhyme novel, THE COLD MOON.

Sara Gruen used an unusual method to get her work in progress done – writing in a claustrophobic walk-in closet. It must have worked as the book, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, is a sleeper hit, the Chicago Sun-Times finds out.

Gail Conder went to the bookstore to look for books for her 12 year old daughter. What she got, as she writes in the Chicago Tribune, was a lot more than she bargained for.

So many people turned down Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s new book on cloudspotting. Now it’s a bestseller. How did this happen? The Sydney Morning Herald meets the man responsible for THE CLOUDSPOTTER’S GUIDE.

And finally, the Hoff returns. Be afraid. Very, very afraid. (thank you, HB.) UPDATE: the original video from the Ted Mulry Gang, and Hoff sings “Secret Agent Man.” OMG.