How well can you proofread?

Do you think proofreading is easy? That anyone can be an editor? You may have to change your mind after you take the Society for Editors and Proofreaders self-test in proofreading. Go ahead - give it a try and see how you score!

From Library Journal: "This collection of interrelated stories from the talented Hoffman chronicles the 300-year history of Blackwell, MA, a mythical town tucked deep in the Berkshire Mountains. Bears, eels, and vigilant collies are among Blackwell's denizens, as well as a cast of characters both richly diverse and closely connected. From town founder Hallie Brady, a fearless woods-woman with an affinity for the ursine, to James Mott, the modern-day EMT who seems destined to tempt fate, these characters are singular and vivid: a beautiful baker who specializes in deadly sin cakes, a man so monstrously ugly he can't look at himself, a fisherman's wife with hair so long she can step on it, who has a strange connection to the eels that are the town's main natural resource. Linking them all is an extraordinary garden, where the greenest plant grows red and the answers to life's mysteries can be found. A poignant, compelling collection of fairy tales suffused with pathos and brightened by flashes of magic. Her fans, as well as those of magical realism in general, will be enchanted."

From Publishers Weekly: "Pulitzer Prize winner Brooks delivers a splendid historical inspired by Caleb Cheeshahteaumauck, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. Brooks brings the 1660s to life with evocative period detail, intriguing characters, and a compelling story narrated by Bethia Mayfield, the outspoken daughter of a Calvinist preacher. While exploring the island now known as Martha's Vineyard, Bethia meets Caleb, a Wampanoag native to the island, and they become close, clandestine friends. After Caleb loses most of his family to smallpox, he begins to study under the tutelage of Bethia's father. Since Bethia isn't allowed to pursue education herself, she eavesdrops on Caleb's and her own brother's lessons. Caleb is a gifted scholar who eventually travels, along with Bethia's brother, to Cambridge to continue his education. Bethia tags along and her descriptions of 17th-century Cambridge and Harvard are as entertaining as they are enlightening."

From the Barnes & Noble Review: "CIA operatives Bob and Dayna Baer first met in Sarajevo while both were conducting surveillance on Iranian-backed, anti-American group Hezbollah. The Baers offer readers the story of their romance, but more importantly supply an invaluable insider account of how spycraft works in the real world. The Baers bring us inside their covert operations, from Iraq to Kazakhstan, showing us exactly how they maintained their covers, recruited informants, tailed terrorists, protected secret documents, and more. It's dangerous work, of course. During the Sarajevo surveillance of Hezbollah, a CIA colleague gets shot in a drive-by. Yet risk fuels romance, and, while blending into hostile surroundings, Bob and Dayna fall in love. The love story, however, is secondary: it's the fascinating insights into the clandestine service that make this accessible book so revelatory."

Scandinavian Crime Fiction

For those of you who liked Stieg Larsson's books, check out this article on Scandinavian crime fiction. You're sure to find something else you like!

Just in time for summer (which seems now to be at least on the horizon!) comes the list: Summer Fiction - Around the World in 24 Books. Check it out - you're sure to find something good!

Library closed May 24-26

SELCO, the regional library consortium of which Red Wing Public Library is a member, is performing a significant hardware and software upgrade to its computer systems during the period May 24-26. Because of this upgrade, multiple key library functions will not be available, including checking out items and placing requests, and so we are forced to close during those three days. We have decided to make the best of this unfortunate situation by doing some planned re-working of the childrens' area, as well as a number of other tasks that are difficult to accomplish when we are open. Please note that even though the library is closed, you will still be able to search, request, check out and download eBooks and eAudiobooks. You will also be able to search the regular catalog; however, you will not be able to place requests.

From Publishers Weekly; "Thoughtful and moving, Gordon's latest captures the ardor and vulnerability of young love and the cautious circumspection of middle age. Miranda and Adam began a love affair in high school that endured through college only to end in a painful betrayal. When a mutual friend brings them together in present-day Rome, they haven't seen each other in more than three decades. Both have married and raised children, but Rome still holds passionate memories for them. Though wary, they meet for daily walks, and Gordon's vividly detailed descriptions make Rome a palpable presence. Miranda and Adam tentatively reveal to each other the events of their lives, touching on aspirations, disillusionments, ideals, and desires, and these conversations set the pace of Gordon's novel. Gordon's (Pearl) restraint is admirable, gradually exposing the differences in character that spelled the inevitable demise of this relationship. An accumulation of detail breathes life into her characters, and the writer's affection for this beloved, eternal city is endearing. "

From Library Journal; "Norwegian detective Harry Hole is in a quandary-he's an expert on serial killers in a country that prides itself on not having any. Yet women are being murdered on the day of the first snowfall, their bodies enmeshed with or guarded by eerily watchful snowmen. Hole has to convince his peers that the murders are the work of a serial killer, so he tracks The Snowman. But soon questions arise-who is stalking whom? And for what purpose? Nesbo is being hailed as the next Stieg Larsson or Henning Mankell; this work is being compared to Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, among others. Apt comparisons, but they don't go far enough. This is simply the best detective novel this reviewer has read in years. "

Library to be closed May 24-26

SELCO, the regional library consortium of which Red Wing Public Library is a member, is performing a significant hardware and software upgrade to its computer systems during the period May 24-26. Because of this upgrade, multiple key library functions will not be available, including checking out items and placing requests, and so we are forced to close during those three days. We have decided to make the best of this unfortunate situation by doing some planned re-working of the childrens' area, as well as a number of other tasks that are difficult to accomplish when we are open. Please note that even though the library is closed, you will still be able to search, request, check out and download eBooks and eAudiobooks. You will also be able to search the regular catalog; however, you will not be able to place requests.

From Publishers Weekly: "In bestseller Hill’s compulsively readable supernatural thriller, dissolute Ignatius Perrish wakes up one morning to find a pair of satanic horns sprouting from his forehead. To the residents of Gideon, N.H., this grotesque disfigurement only confirms their suspicions that Ig raped and murdered his girlfriend, Merrin Williams, a crime for which he was held but soon released for lack of evidence. Ig is also now privy to the deepest, and often darkest, private thoughts of anyone he touches. Once Ig discovers through this uncanny sensitivity the true killer’s identity, he schemes to reveal the culprit’s guilt through natural means. Toggling between past and present, and incidents that range from the supernaturally surreal to the brutally realistic, Hill spins a story that’s both morbidly amusing and emotionally resonant."

New music at the library

The Band Perry by The Band Perry




Habits by Neon Trees






Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Collection




Now That's What I Call Music! (vol. 35)

The final volume in the Ranger's Apprentice series

From the Barnes & Noble review: "John Flanagan began the Ranger's Apprentice as a series of short stories, designed only to whet his son's appetite for reading. It was only ten years later, in 2004, that he published the first installment as a book. Now, ten episodes later, children in more than a dozen countries are grateful that the Australian author took his adventure fantasy more public. In The Emperor of Nihon-Ja, Will, Alyss, and Evanlyn venture thru pirate-infested seas into the unknown dangers of Nihon-Ja to save their beloved old friend. The concluding installment of a series that has won repeated praise for its arresting suspense and its down-to-earth hero."