Weekend Update En Pointe

NYTBR: It’s more than a bit meh this week at the Book Review – or just puzzling –  but one can always read Marilyn Stasio’s column, looking at new crime fiction by Michael Connelly, Zoe Sharp, Sean Chercover and Archer Mayor; David Thomson on Joseph Epstein’s microbiography of Fred Astaire; and in the magazine, the next chapter in “The Girl in the Green Raincoat”.

WaPo Book World: Jonathan Yardley dissects a memoir of working for LBJ and JFK; Art Taylor has some of the same problems with THE FIRE that I did; Ian Kershaw describes his writing life; and Maureen Corrigan looks at why some burn books and others collect them.

LA Times: Charles Taylor sits down with Hanif Kureishi to talk the writing life; Susan Salter Reynolds discourses with Annie Proulx about solitude and the perils of “Brokeback Mountain”; Richard Rayner gets lost in the murderous pleasures of TRUE CRIME; and Scott Timberg talks with one of America’s foremost composers, John Adams.

G&M: Dana Stabenow rounds up required reading on Alaska; Martin Levin reads the new P.D. James novel; and Margaret Cannon reviews the latest in crime by Mo Hayder, Giles Blunt, Jeffery Deaver, Katherine Neville, Tana French and Elena Forbes.

Guardian Review: A nice get to publish Booker winner Aravind Adiga’s short story; Joanna Briscoe is delightfully terrified by Susan Hill’s new novel; and Hirsh Swaney wishes Vikas Swarup would have tightened up his mystery-laden narrative in SIX SUSPECTS.

Observer: Alex Clark opens up about judging the Booker Prize; Fatema Ahmed is less than impressed with Ali Smith’s new collection of short stories; Peter Conrad gets busy reading books about books; and I still cannot wait to read ME CHEETA when it’s published here early next year.

The Times: Jonathan Ross explains his devotion to THE WATCHMEN; Doris Lessing describes a day in her life; Thom Gatti meets historical novelist Robyn Young; Marcel Berlins rounds up crime fiction by Benjamin Black, Michael Connelly and Manuel Vasquez Montalban; and Ian Rankin engages in a rather good interview with Gillian Bowditch.

The Scotsman: Catherine Deveney has a chat with Roger Moore about being James Bond; Stuart Kelly has his say on Neil Gaiman’s new YA novel; and Frank Coughlan looks at the new Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith.

The Rest:

Oline Cogdill goes local in reviewing Fort Lauderdale-based mystery writer Deborah Sharp.

In the Chicago Sun-Times, David Montgomery rounds up mysteries and thrillers by Katherine Neville, Laura Lippman, Zoe Sharp, Mark Billingham and Charlie Huston, while Jeff Johnson reviews Sean Chercover’s new novel and Thomas Frisbie profiles Lori Andrews.

Sean Chercover gets an equally strong writeup in the Chicago Tribune by Dick Adler.

Newsday’s Erica Marcus talks with Alexander McCall Smith about his many, many projects.

The Baltimore Sun’s Read Street gang looks ahead to the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth.

The Age’s Jane Sullivan tackles the impossible – defining the crime novel.

Kathy Reichs confides her secret dream: to dig up the bones of Mary, Queen of Scots.

It looks like there will be a new Michael Connelly novel featuring Jack McEvoy published next May.