The Telescopic Weekend Update

And before getting started, I’ll point to my review of David Peace’s TOKYO YEAR ZERO in the LA Times. Normally I don’t get too hyped up about reviews I’ve written but this book affected me a great deal when I first read it, and still does – which likely explains the take I had on the book…

NYTBR: It’s a fairly crowded books section this week, starting with Marilyn Stasio’s take on new mysteries by James R. Benn, Robert Goddard, Kathy Reichs and Richard Lange. Otherwise, Jess Row is caught up in Edwidge Danticat’s memoir BROTHER, I’m DYING; David Oshinsky trawls through Knopf rejection letters of famous writers; and okay, why does Alex Kuczynski continue to get book reviewing work? I mean, why?

WaPo Book World: Michael Collins ponders the molecular nature of Sebastian Faulks’ ENGELBY; Tim Flannery is intrigued by an environmentalist’s skeptical take on global warming; and Maureen Corrigan reviews recent far-flung mystery offerings from Ian Sansom and Fred Vargas.

LA Times: Susan Straight enjoys the uncategorizable debut by Junot Diaz; Nicholas Delbanco analyzes a collection of Malcolm Lowry’s works; and Ed Park’s new Astral Weeks column explores the nature and power of repetition.

G&M: Robert Charles Wilson sits down with the latest SF novel from Kenneth Oppel; Sarah Ellis goes with Ursula K. LeGuin’s latest display of speculative power; and Todd Gitlin approves of Naomi Klein’s take on “disaster capitalism.”

Guardian Review: Ali Smith argues that Lee Miller’s writing should be as well known as her art; David Peace looks at a final creative outpouring from Ryunosuke Akutagawa; Mark Lawson pays tribute to Inspector Rebus in his – for now – final adventure; and Laura Wilson rounds up new crime books by Chelsea Cain, Chris Simms, Mark Billingham and Ruth Dudley Edwards.

Observer: Rachel Cooke sifts through Agatha Christie’s life as portrayed by Laura Thompson; Stephanie Merritt meets Alaa al Aswany, bestselling author and dentist; and Lee Rourke is equally impressed with Tom McCarthy’s new novel as with his last one.

The Times: Stephen and Lucy Hawking reveal what it’s like for father and daughter to work on a book together; David Baddiel is stymied by the acknowledgment pages of writers (FYI: Miranda July thanks, in order, two writers, her editor, her agent and her boyfriend. Not so hard to find out if you don’t rely on Wikipedia.) and Marcel Berlins reviews the latest in thrillers by Mark Billingham and Christopher Brookmyre.

The Scotsman: Stuart Kelly implores people to remember the greats of Scottish literature; Allan Massie has his say about Rebus, part final; and Joan Lingard answers ten questions from the broadsheet.

The Rest:

The Rebus series has come to a close, and Ian Rankin and Barry Forshaw hash everything out in a wide-ranging interview for the Independent. He also gets the Q&A treatment from Metro UK, and at the Glasgow Herald, Stuart MacBride, Alexander McCall Smith, Allan Guthrie and Paul Johnston explain what Rebus means to them – and the crime fiction world as a whole.

The Boston Globe’s Janice O’Leary shines a light on Kate Mattes and the upcoming sale of Kate’s Mystery Books.

Oline Cogdill wants very much to like Steve Hamilton’s NIGHT WORK as much as the McKnight series but finds she can’t quite get there.

At the Seattle Times, Adam Woog has his say on new crime novels by Chelsea Cain, Rick Mofina, Lisa Jackson, Dick Francis, Malcolm MacPerson and Harley Jane Kozak.

Speaking of Cain, she’s interviewed briefly by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Lisa Alberts about HEARTSICK.

The Telegraph’s Jake Kerridge reviews new crime fiction by Simon Brett, Christopher Brookmyre, Elmore Leonard and Val McDermid.

Aileen Jacobson spends some time with Jesse Ball, the author of the hard-to-classify but quite wonderful SAMEDI THE DEAFNESS.

And finally, RIP Madeleine L’Engle. What can you say? She was amazing. The WRINKLE IN TIME novels; the Austin family books; and one of my favorites, the underrated boarding school adventure AND BOTH WERE YOUNG. She will be missed and mourned by millions.