[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Inside and Signs and Wonders by Alix Ohlin. Reviewed by William Giraldi in the New York Times.

Amid the latest round of debates over the role of positivity or niceness in book reviewing, William Giraldi decided to messily murder Alix Ohlin’s two recent books, Inside and Signs and Wonders, in the NYT. He makes a few good points (especially about the distasteful effects of bland titles), but also comes off as a bit of an asshole. He over-emotes his criticism (her “lack of register” is described as “appalling”), gives backhanded compliments that hint that he wanted to hate this book (“The story succeeds in spite of the daytime-TV motif”), and quotes passages that often fail to confirm his point (in taking Ohlin’s language to task, he says, “In just 13 pages you will be asked to endure eyes “fluttering,” then “shining,” then “fluttering” again.” Uh. Doesn’t sound that bad.). Fittingly, this unbalanced review provoked an unbalanced response at The Nervous Breakdown (as well as many other responses, several of which are linked below, in the “In brief” section). In the response, Sung J. Woo rather histrionically defends Ohlin, both as if solving a math problem, and as if furiously protecting a child from a bully. Woo’s better points (among them, that Giraldi misquoted and then savaged a perfectly acceptable use of the word “honkingly”) are obscured by his more off-kilter arguments (among them, that Ohlin’s short stories can’t be bad because they were accepted by editors at lit mags). All in all, this is a big blustery lesson in how not to get your point across.  Find Inside at Goodreads. Find Signs and Wonders at Goodreads.

Hostage, by Elie Wiesel. Reviewed by David L. Ulin in the L.A. Times.

Now this is how you write a negative book review. Ulin pulls no punches on Wiesel’s latest novel, which he calls “contrived,” but neither does he shout his criticism. Instead, he calmly analyzes the qualities that made Wiesel a famous writer, especially the qualities that made Night a classic, and then he explains the mistakes that Wiesel makes with Hostage. Simple, logical, unemotional, and convincing. Find this book at Google Books.

Umbrella, by Will Self. Reviewed by Mark Lawson in the Guardian.

The Guardian highlights Will Self’s latest novel, which was recently longlisted for the Booker. Lawson calls it a “polyphonic, epoch-hopping torrent” and says it should make the shortlist. Publishing, in its great wisdom, has decided to allow us Americans to buy this book in just five short months. [UPDATE: An error previously attributed this review to Michele Filgate. It was written by Mark Lawson.] Find this book at Goodreads.

In brief: The L.A. Times asked writers to recommend books for the presidential candidates. … J. Robert Lennon writes about bad book reviews for Salon, also mentioning the Giraldi/Ohlin review. … Yet another reaction to the Giraldi thing. … Meanwhile, Laura Miller makes a case for positive book reviews. She seems to have missed the point that nobody’s arguing against positive book reviews, only falsely positive book reviews.

[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Vengeance, by Benjamin Black. Reviewed by Janet Maslin (New York Times).

Unlike David Ulin, Maslin is of the impression that John Banville’s pseudonym might be producing more appealing books than the Man Booker winner’s literary fare. I’ve never read either, though this has my interest piqued. The real question is whether to hop into this series with Vengeance, or wait for when he picks up the torch for Raymond Chandler and writes Philip Marlowe books. Vengeance is “notable for malaise, atmospherics, sexual chemistry and vast amounts of swirling tobacco smoke and mind-muddling alcohol, without which justice could apparently never prevail.” If I can find the time to read this, I’m in.

Find it on Goodreads.

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Some Kind of Fairy Tale, by Graham Joyce. Reviewed by Anna Mundow (Washington Post).

The idea of changelings–even the word itself–has always made my skin crawl a little, so the possibility for thrills from this book about a missing daughter who returns, unaged, after 20 years is especially tempting. She seems to be the same girl, but her parents know something is off. The novel sounds atmospheric and thoroughly creepy. Definitely worth looking into if your kind of horror is moody and Gothic.

Find it on Goodreads.

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Dare Me, by Megan Abbott. Reviewed by Chelsea Cain (New York Times).

I came away from Abbott’s The End of Everything pretty glad I’d read it. She managed to blend the woes of teen angst fairly seamlessly into the dark tale of a kidnapping. So, though Cain’s descriptions of this as “The Great American Cheerleader Novel” and “It’s ‘Heathers’ meets ‘Fight Club’ good” give me pause, I’m inclined to think this is worth a gamble. If you’re looking for some YA on the literary side and you’ve already taken a crack at The Age of Miracles, give it a whirl.

Find it on Goodreads.

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Quickly: The Werewolf of Paris is being reprinted after languishing for 40 years, and it sounds pretty good. Another review of Dog Stars, which Nico mentioned last week. I wanted to check out this review of Molly Ringwald’s book, but The Chicago Tribune has decided to require you to sign up for an account. They were already one of the worst places to look for recent reviews or interesting articles without this annoyance, so now there’s even less reason to read the Trib if you don’t live in the Windy City. Good luck with that, guys.

[In this feature, we highlight a handful of the best book reviews appearing over the weekend in major newspapers. Follow it here.]

Hello, Goodbye, Hello, by Craig Brown. Reviewed by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times.

I’m not a huge fan of Michiko Kakutani, but this review deserves notice mostly because it’s the only place I’ve heard of Craig Brown’s book, which sounds quite interesting. Hello Goodbye Hello is British parodist Brown’s collection of essays about meetings between famous people. There are 101 such meetings, like the one between Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot (who both loved cats and puns), or the one where Marilyn Monroe tries to commission a house from Frank Lloyd Wright. Each of Brown’s accounts of these meetings uses 1001 words, so the book comes out to eactly 101,101 words. This is a fully bizarre concept, but if Brown’s style is as entertaining as Kakutani claims (which it might or might not be, hence the trouble with Kakutani’s reviews), then this could be a winner. Find this book at Goodreads.

The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller. Reviewed by Michele Filgate in the Star Tribune.

This Indie Next pick is yet another novel about the post-apocalypse. This one documents the aftermath of a flu pandemic, and focuses on two survivors living in an airport. I’m about full up on post-apocalypse fiction, but this one has as good a chance (or better) at success as any other during this neverending trend. Find this book at Goodreads.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. Reviewed by Bob Minzesheimer in USA Today.

Joyce’s odd novel follows Harold Fry, obviously, as he impulsively attempts to hand-deliver a letter to a dying friend, walking the length of England in his yacht shoes. Minzesheimer liked it, as did the Booker prize judges: it was longlisted for this year’s award. Find this book at Goodreads.

In brief: Jim Holt, a science writer, tries to answer the question: “Why is there something instead of nothing?” … Carolyn Kellogg recommends a chilling true-crime book. … David L. Ulin usually writes sharp reviews, so this dud mystifies me. In it, he wonders why John Banville writes his mysteries under a pen name (because he writes non-mysteries under his real name), and doesn’t seem to get the simple pleasures of a Benjamin Black book. … Ron Charles tries to save an indie bookstore. … Marc Maron wrote a book of essays “despite himself.”