Holiday closings

The library will be closed on Friday, January 1 and Saturday, January 2 for the New Year's holiday. The library will be open its regular hours on Thursday, December 31 (10am - 6pm).

Best books of 2009

Courtesy of the Reader's Advisor Online blog, here's a list of some of the very best "best books of the year" lists:

Best Books: Fiction

Amazon.com Editors’ Picks of 2009: Fiction and Literature (10 titles)
Booklist Best First Novels (10 titles)
Christian Science Monitor Best Fiction of 2009 (12 titles)
Genreville Blog/Publishers’ Weekly Top SF, Fantasy, and Horror (10 titles)

Best Books: Nonfiction
Boston Globe Best Nonfiction (7 titles)
Christian Science Monitor Best Nonfiction (24 titles)

Best Books: Fiction and Nonfiction
EarlyWord Best of the Best Spreadsheet (titles appearing on three or more “best” lists)
Economist Best Books (43 titles; particularly strong on business and economics)
Library Journal Best Books (31 titles)
New York Times Notable List (100 titles)

Best Books: For Kids
School Library Journal Best Books (54 titles)

New from Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella, best selling author of the Shopaholic books, has penned another delightful winner of a tale. In Twenties Girl, Kinsella tells the story of "vexing and endearing shade Sadie, a wild-at-heart flapper with unfinished earthly business who badgers 27-year-old great-niece Lara into doing her bidding. Predictable mayhem and the most delicious and delightful romp a ghost and girl-at-loose-ends could ever have in 21st century London ensue." Check it out!

Holiday closings

The library will be closed this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (December 24-26). Happy holidays!

Great historical fiction

One of the best historical fiction novels of the year is Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, winner of the 2009 Booker Prize. It tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, courtier to Henry VIII, and his efforts on behalf of Henry on the latter's attempt to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price. Library Journal wrote "There will be few novels this year as good as this one." Check it out!

Nanny Returns

Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, authors of the wickedly funny bestseller The Nanny Diaries, have just written an equally enjoyable sequel. In Nanny Returns, Nan returns to New York City after 10 years away, but is drawn back into the lives of her former charges. Check it out!

Want your children to be more successful?

Most people know, and study after study has shown, that children who read well do better in all subjects. What most people may not know, but studies have shown, is that "Regular reading not only boosts the likelihood of an individual’s academic and economic success—facts that are not especially surprising—but it also seems to awaken a person’s social and civic sense. Reading
correlates with almost every measurement of positive personal and social behavior surveyed. It is reassuring, though hardly amazing, that readers attendmore concerts and theater than non-readers, but it is surprising that they exercise more and play more sports—no matter what their educational level." The difficult part is getting children to enjoy reading and to want to read. If you're looking for a book with lots and lots of great tips and ideas, then check out Raising Bookworms: Getting Kids to Read for Pleasure and Empowerment. It may be the most important book you've ever borrowed from the library!

What is a meme?

According to Richard Dawkins, who introduced the topic in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, a meme is "the cultural equivalent of genes; ideas--such as fashion, religion, or other cultural phenomena--took on a life of their own within society and, along with genes, affected the progress of human evolution." The science of memetics is fascinating - but controversial. For an engaging introduction designed for the layman, try Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme by Richard Brodie. Well worth a look!

Sweeping Up Glass

An award winning first novel by Carolyn Wall has garnered rave reviews. Sweeping Up Glass is set in 1938 Kentucky and tells the story of Olivia Harker and her grandson, Will'm. Someone is hunting wolves out back of the grocery where Olivia ekes out a living; soon she and the boy become prey as well. As the action moves inexorably to its explosive conclusion, Olivia must come to grips with past betrayals, thereby earning a second chance at love, redemption and long overdue justice. Reviewers call it "powerful and moving" and "haunting." Check it out!

Vanilla Ride

Vanilla Ride is the latest book by Joe Lansdale featuring best friends and freelance troublemakers Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. In it, they assist an old friend in rescuing his daughter from an abusive drug dealer, and wind up enraging the Dixie Mafia. Kirkus Reviews calls it "rowdy, raunchy entertainment—nothing to take seriously but more fun than a barrel of Rambos.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

From a reviewer: "What if everyone could hear your every thought—and you could hear theirs? On the planet of New World, all the agrarian settlers are besieged by this endless "Noise," making it almost impossible to keep a secret. Todd is the only boy in a town of men, and he's about to undergo a mysterious initiation rite. He believes all the women on the planet are dead, but when he comes upon a girl in the woods, everything abruptly changes. Todd, his faithful dog (whose thoughts can also be heard), and the girl, Viola, go on the run, pursued by a grim army of townsmen, and discover there's much more to New World than Todd had ever expected. This riveting SF thriller is action-packed, with edge-of-your-seat chase scenes, a monstrous villain who just won't die, and moments of both anguish and triumph."Come check out The Knife of Never Letting Go!"

Just in time...

... for the holiday season comes the heartwarming story Homer's Odyssey:A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat. From the Library Journal review: "When Cooper agreed to adopt a third cat that was eyeless from a terrible infection because no one else would, words like blind, abandoned, unwanted, and orphan were in her mind before she met this kitten. Instead of feeling pity, she fell in love with the tiny feline, and the epic odyssey of Homer began. Homer grew into a daredevil cat that made friends with everyone he met (including dog people) and never once let his lack of sight impede his joy for life and love for Cooper. Homer's antics such as the ability to catch a fly in midair are delightful, but what is most touching is how his courageous spirit teaches Cooper and readers that there are no limits on love or ability." Check it out!

Canterbury Tales

"Renowned critic, historian, and biographer Peter Ackroyd takes on what is arguably the greatest poem in the English language and presents the work in a prose vernacular that makes it accessible to modern readers while preserving the spirit of the original." Check out this new retelling of The Canterbury Tales!

Snow emergencies

Though there is no snow emergency in effect right now (1:45pm on Tuesday, Dec. 8) a storm of this magnitude may well cause one to be declared by the City of Red Wing. If you have questions about anything to do with Red Wing snow emergencies (including if one has been declared and the location of snow emergency routes), check out the City's snow emergency page.

New and noteworthy

Dan Chaon's new novel, Await Your Reply, contains three separate stories about people driving away from their homes, abandoning their lives and remaking themselves. The critics are giving it rave reviews: "a novel that succeeds as brilliantly as the short stories that have won him a National Book Award nomination, a Pushcart Prize, an O. Henry Award and an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters" (Washington Post); "Mr. Chaon manages to bridge the gap between literary and pulp fiction with a clever, insinuating book equally satisfying to fans of either genre" (New York Times); "In the end, Await Your Reply is a story that unfolds with chilling precision. You'll be spellbound from start to finish. 4 stars" (People Magazine). Check it out!

The season's best books...

...according to several independent booksellers. Take a look at the story NPR just did and you'll see some great books you may not have heard of.

The new Sue Grafton book is here!

U is for Undertow, the latest book in Sue Grafton's extraordinarily popular Kinsey Milhone series, has arrived at the library. Hired by a preppy college dropout to discern the fate of a four-year-old girl who disappeared more than twenty years earlier, Kinsey Millhone investigates the young man's sketchy memories about a burial scene he believes he discovered at the age of six. Reviewers call it "fresh, complex, fast-paced, and immensely enjoyable." Check it out!

Hello Goodbye, Emily Chenoweth's first novel, has been described as "heartbreaking and luminous" by reviewers. The bulk of the novel takes place in a single week, as "a family leaves behind its past and a daughter awakens to the future in [this] intimate and beautifully crafted novel. In the winter of 1990, Helen Hansen–counselor, wife, and mother in the prime of her life–is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The following August, Helen, her husband, Elliott, and their daughter, Abby, a freshman in college, take a trip to northern New Hampshire, where Helen will be able to say goodbye to a lifetime of friends." Smart and poignant - well worth your time.