The After Hours Weekend Update

First up is my newest LA Times column, pretty much devoted to all things Jo Walton. Her work is classified as SF (being published by Tor and all) but mystery readers would do well to pick up FARTHING and HA’PENNY.

Also, my review of Caryl Phillips’ FOREIGNERS ran in Time Out New York a few days ago.

NYTBR: Geoff Dyer feels the music of Alex Ross’s THE REST IS NOISE; Stephen King is a rather inspired choice to review Eric Clapton’s autobiography; Kevin Bazzana’s tale of a failed musical prodigy wins the approval of Michael Kimmelmann; and Joseph Kanon looks at two similar but different takes on “Agent Zigzag”.

WaPo Book World: Elizabeth Hand is enthralled with Joe Hill’s short story collection; Louis Bayard finds Susan Tyler Hitchcock’s cultural history makes Frankenstein more universal than necessary; and David Montgomery is sucked into Joyce Carol Oates’ suspenseful world depicted in THE MUSEUM OF DR. MOSES.

LA Times: James Marcus is impressed with the breadth of John Updike’s curiosity; R.J. Smith finds Gram Parsons remains out of focus even after a lovingly rendered 650-page biography; and Jon Meacham takes great pleasure in Studs Terkel’s unique version of autobiography.

G&M: Michelle Berry admires the emotional detail of Gail Tsukiyama’s sixth novel; Jack Whyte’s new installment of his historical trilogy is more cliche than nuance, John Burns finds; and Andrew Cohen hosts a virtual symposium of presidential and prime ministerial memoirs.

Guardian Review: Matthew Sweet pays tribute to Christopher Lee’s version of Dracula; Paul Laity finds out why Ronan Bennett still maintains his political edge; Kate Mosse details her love affair with a neglected horror master; and Ursula LeGuin finds favor with Lian Hearn’s TALES OF THE OTORI and its newest prequel installment.

Observer: Jason Burke doesn’t find much truth in Fidel Castro’s memoir; Morwenna Ferrier wishes Ken Follett’s new novel would just end already; and Kirsty Gunn approves of the newest additions to Canongate’s Myths series;

The Times: William Nicholson explains why writers shouldn’t shy away from any storytelling format; Erica Wagner wishes book culture had a more female-centric view than it currently does; Susan Hill successfully channels M.R. James in her new ghost story; and Marcel Berlins reviews new crime offerings from French writers.

The Scotsman: Stuart Kelly tallies the results of a poll on what future Scotland may look like; Kelly also talks with Adam Thirlwell about his newest novel; and Michael Pye approves of a book detailing how New York lost its soul.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill thinks John Hart’s second novel is even better than his first – an opinion I happen to agree with.

Hallie Ephron reviews new crime novels by John Hart, Sophie Hannah and Gordon Campbell for her latest crime fiction column in the Boston Globe.

David Montgomery is also in the Philly Inquirer this week with his take on Walter Mosley’s BLONDE FAITH. A shorter review of the book appears in Montogmery’s Sun-TImes column along with verdicts on books by Jennifer Lee Carrell, John Hart, Gordon Campbell and I.J. Parker.

The Inquirer also profiles the Abbey Grangers, a group of local Sherlockians.

Tom & Enid Schantz dedicate their Denver Post crime column to new mysteries by Simon Beckett, Colin Cotterill and Barbara Cleverly.

Craig Johnson answers questions about his Walt Longmire series for Oregonian readers.

Susan Page Davis describes her writing life to the Kennebec Journal.

Jim Bawden has the scoop on filming of the TV version of Maureen Jennings’ series set in Victorian Toronto.

Noted French literary agent Boris Hoffman has died at the age of 61. (thanks to CB for the link.)