Summer books

Looking for a good read this summer? The book critics from USA Today have compiled their summer reading calendar, a list of new and forthcoming titles that just may include what you're looking for. Check it out!

Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Tom Rachman’s wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English language newspaper as they struggle to keep it—and themselves—afloat.. The Barnes & Noble Review says "The Imperfectionists is a novel written by a newspaperman for people who love newspapers. It is forthright and buttressed; written by someone who gets the lede and the nut graph. But despite its, yes, imperfections -- and they are not insubstantial -- there is something unexpectedly moving about this novel. It took me a while to figure out what that is. Rachman cares about his broken-down, dream-busted characters. He actually loves them and grieves for them in an unabashed way that is totally unironic, uncool, uncontemporary. And he loves his profession, too, which is dying. He cherishes the fading, radiating sound waves of impact that a certain kind of journalism once had. The thump-jump-thump of the manual typewriter, scotch neat, nailing an exclusive: these are Rachman's idea of sweet. Tom Rachman has written an obituary disguised as a novel." Check it out!

New at the library is Show Me How, an instructional manual that provides step by step illustrated tutorials for life's essential - and not so essential - skills. Learn how to dice a mango, build a snow globe, fight off a shark, make the perfect bed and 496 other fun and interesting activities. Perfect for the show off or do it your selfer - check it out!

Talking Volumes

Minnesota Public Radio, The Star Tribune and the Loft Literary Center have, for the past 10 years, combined to produce a show called Talking Volumes. It's a book club on the radio, and one that brings the authors to speak about their works. You'll find both current and past episodes on their web site. Well worth your time!

The new Jack Reacher novel is here!

From Library Journal: "Large and deadly, footloose former army major Jack Reacher returns in his 14th outing. This time, the retired military cop gets stranded by a ferocious blizzard in the town of Bolton, SD. Reacher has to deal with a hired assassin, a prison breakout, a mob of biker thugs, a secret government installation, a clutch of senior citizen tourists who thought a frigid vacation in South Dakota would save money, and a witness who needs protection from a murderous drug lord from Mexico. As usual, Child's writing is superb. Not only is this thriller believable, but the descriptions of the blizzard will make readers want to hug their furnaces. Fast paced and exciting, this is highly recommended for thriller fans."

Poets to visit library

A panel of poets - Mary Logue, Barb Betcher, Todd Boss and John Graber - will visit the library Saturday, May, 22 at 10:00 am to discuss the joy of poetry. Their talk will be followed by a question and answer period. Sponsored by the Friends of the Red Wing Public Library, this event is free and open to the public.

From Publishers Weekly: "Markopolos has produced an astonishing true-life whodunit set amidst the personalities, plots, and international intrigue of Wall Street. Having collected damning information on money manager Madoff-the respected co-founder of NASDAQ who ran the largest financial scam in history-since 1999, Markopolos lays bare the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a tragically inept regulating agency that "didn't give a rat's ass about protecting investors," and seemed to consider Madoff "just another guy cutting some corners." Realizing he had not one but two powerful opponents-"Madoff and this nonfunctioning agency"-Markopolos refused to give up, despite fearing for his life and his family. The hows and whys of Madoff's eventual arrest, Markopolos's subsequent appearances before Congress, and the carnival of press coverage makes a satisfying conclusion to this strange epic." Check it out!

From the publisher: "In this companion to the HBO miniseries, Hugh Ambrose reveals the intertwined odysseys of four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy carrier pilot during World War II. Between America's retreat from China in late November 1941 and the moment General MacArthur's airplane touched down on the Japanese mainland in August of 1945, five men connected by happenstance fought the key battles of the war against Japan. From the debacle in Bataan, to the miracle at Midway and the relentless vortex of Guadalcanal, their solemn oaths to their country later led one to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and the others to the coral strongholds of Peleliu, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the killing fields of Okinawa, until at last the survivors enjoyed a triumphant, yet uneasy, return home. In The Pacific, Hugh Ambrose focuses on the real-life stories of the five men who put their lives on the line for our country." Check it out!

From Kirkus Reviews: "New Scientist senior consultant Anderson debuts with a dazzling account of the rapidly changing Arctic environment. Although the author lands a few punches on the near-sighted noses of those who deny global warming, he mostly ignores them and focuses on key factors in the change, significant consequences that continuing change would deliver and some good-news/bad-news ambiguities. The breadth of Anderson's research is exhaustive, and his conclusions are simultaneously convincing and frightening. A satisfying blend of graceful writing, riveting data, troubling paradoxes, alarming possibilities and chilling scenarios." Check it out!

Newly arrived at the library:



Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Rotten Tomatoes rating 94%)






Mine (Rotten Tomatoes rating 85%)







The Illusionist (Rotten Tomatoes rating 73%)

New from Elizabeth George

From Publishers Weekly: "Bestseller George's richly rewarding 16th novel to feature Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley offers an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense. Aggressively career-minded Isabelle Ardery, the new acting superintendent of London's Metropolitan Police, boldly manages to lure Lynley, who's been grieving over his wife's murder, back from Cornwall to look into a murder case. The body of Jemima Hastings, a young woman recently relocated from Hampshire, has turned up in a London cemetery. With suspects in both locales and numerous leads to follow and interviews to conduct, Ardery succeeds in raising the hackles of Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, Det. Insp. John Stewart, and other members of the investigating team. George tantalizes with glimpses of a horrific earlier murder case; showcases Lynley at his shrewdest, most diplomatic best; and confounds readers with a complex array of evidence, motives, and possible solutions."

New from Rick Riordan

Fresh off his extraordinarily popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan has begun another series, this one dealing with Egyptian mythology. The first book is The Red Pyramid: "Siblings Carter and Sadie have been living apart since their mother's mysterious death. On Christmas Eve, archeologist Julius Kane and son Carter, 14, show up in England for one of their two days a year with Sadie. Julius ushers his children to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone, unleashing five Egyptian gods and causing his own disappearance. The kids' Uncle Amos whisks them to a Brooklyn mansion, where he reveals that the Kanes descend from powerful Egyptian magicians.Riordan delivers another funny yarn with kids in the lead and animal sidekicks that nearly steal the show." Check it out!

From Library Journal: "In 2003, the Library of Congress paid $10 million for a 1507 map of the world that first used the name "America" for lands in the New World. It was touted as America's birth certificate. Toby Lester traces the fascinating background to the creation of this map, as Europeans tried to assimilate the discoveries of Columbus, Vespucci, and other explorers into their worldview. Since the time of the geographer Ptolemy, the world was conceived as containing Asia, Africa, and Europe. Now a fourth part had to be mapped. It's hard to imagine now how sea charts could be considered top-secret documents, but in the early 16th century, the kings of Spain and Portugal attempted to restrict knowledge of access to the new lands. However, copies of these charts made their way into the hands of humanist scholars such as Martin Waldseemuller and Matthias Ringmann in France, who produced this groundbreaking map. Lester provides an engrossing adventure for both general and informed lay readers."

Under construction (part 2)

Please excuse the mess and inconvenience of our closed off 3rd Street entrance and lobby! We are replacing the existing tiles with new ones that are much less slippery when conditions are wet and snowy. The public bathrooms, pay phone and drinking fountain will be unavailable during part of the construction (if all goes according to plan, those items should be accessible by the beginning of next week, but the entrance from 3rd Street will not be usable for some time longer)

Each spring the Mystery Writers of America present the Edgar Awards, considered among the most prestigious awards for mystery writers. This years winners include:

The Last Child by John Hart (Best Novel)







In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Best First Novel by an American Author)





Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (Best Young Adult)





Columbine by Dave Cullen (Best Fact Crime)

The winners of the 2010 Maud Hart Lovelace Award are:

Champ by Marcia Thornton Jones (Division I, grades 3-5)






I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter (Division II, grades 6-8)