Program Change
Beginning on December 4, Access Talk is becoming Main Menu and will now air the first three Sundays of every month at 8 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Thursday mornings at 3 a.m.
Holiday Programming
Every year, the Minnesota Radio Talking Book takes a breather at Christmas time. We have stories and special programming appropriate to this time of year and also take the opportunity to hear some of our delightful volunteers’ voices from the past. As we usually do, we will begin the Christmas programming on December 24 at 6 p.m. and it will continue through Christmas and into December 26, ending at 6 a.m. Happy Holidays.
Weekend Program Books
Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Surviving Your Serengeti, by Stefan Swanepoel; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing Red Clay Weather, by Reginald Shepherd, and On Days Like This, by Patricia Conner; The U.S. and Us (Sunday 4 p.m.) is airing In Cod We Trust, by Eric Dregni.
Books Available Through Faribault
Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault, MN. Their phone is 1-800-722-0550 and hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their catalog is also online, and you can access it by going to the main website, http://education.state.mn.us, and then clicking on the link. If you live outside of Minnesota, you may obtain copies of our books by contacting your own state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.
Listen to the Minnesota Radio Talking Book, either live or archived programs from the last week, on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/rtb. Call the staff at the Radio for your password to the site.
See interesting information about current RTB events on the Facebook site for the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network. Register for Facebook at www.facebook.com.
Chautauqua
Tuesday – Saturday, 4 a.m.
The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain,Nonfiction by Kevin Nelson, M.D., 2010. What are near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences? Do they reflect moments of spiritual ecstasy and revelation? Are there physiological explanations for those tunnels of light? Dr. Kevin Nelson offers a biological examination. Read by Ilze Mueller. 10 broadcasts. Began November 29.
The View from Lazy Point, Nonfiction by Carl Safina, 2011. We run our lives and our world with ancient and medieval ideas – our philosophy, ethics, religion, and economics were devised before we realized the world was round. Because of that, we are unable to detect dangers or respond to new realities. Read by Art Nyhus. 16 broadcasts. Begins December 13.
Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.
And the Show Went On, Nonfiction by Alan Riding, 2010. After France accepted defeat by the Nazis, the cultural life of Paris seemed to return to normal. But were artists saving French culture by working? Were they betraying France performing before German soldiers? Read by Judith Johannessen. 18 broadcasts. Begins December 7.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday, 11 a.m.
Once upon a Time, There Was You, Fiction by Elizabeth Berg, 2011. On their wedding day, John and Irene knew they were about to make a mistake. Years after their divorce, the only thing they have in common is their daughter Sadie, the most important person in their lives. When tragedy strikes Sadie, they come together to support her. Read by Bernadette Flynn. 11 broadcasts. Began December 7.
The Quickening, Fiction by Michelle Hoover, 2010. On neighboring farms, Enidina Current and Mary Morrow build a necessary friendship, even though the two women have little in common. As the Great Depression threatens, the balance of their relationship tips, pitting neighbor against neighbor. L – Read by Sherri Afryl. 7 broadcasts. Begins December 22.
Writer’s Voice
Monday – Friday, 2 p.m.
Blood, Bones & Butter, Nonfiction by Gabrielle Hamilton, 2011. Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty fierce, hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Above all, she sought family, like the one from her childhood that, in her adult years, eluded her. L – Read by Anne Obst. 15 broadcasts. Began December 5.
Jackie as Editor, Nonfiction by Greg Lawrence, 2011. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the consummate first lady, the nation’s tragic widow, the millionaire’s wife, and the embodiment of elegance. Her biographers tend to skip over another stage of her life, her twenty years as a book editor. Read by Lannois Neely. 15 broadcasts. Begins December 20.
Choice Reading
Monday – Friday, 4 p.m.
The More I Owe You, Historical Fiction by Michael Sledge, 2010. In 1951, Elizabeth Bishop boarded a ship bound for Rio de Janeiro for a two-week holiday with friends. Once there, she fell in love and two weeks became seventeen years. Read by Jeanne Burns. 15 broadcasts. Began December 5.
The Weird Sisters, Fiction by Eleanor Brown, 2011. The Andreas family is an eccentric one. Books are their passion. The father, a professor of Shakespeare, named his girls for great Shakespearean women. Now the three women have returned home, each with her secrets, and find that a book can’t solve what ails them. Read by Isla Hejny. 12 broadcasts. Begins December 26.
PM Report
Monday – Friday, 8 p.m.
The Violence of Peace, Nonfiction by Stephen L. Carter, 2011. Using the Western tradition of just and unjust war, Stephen L. Carter evaluates Obama’s actions and words about military conflict. He also reveals surprising ways in which some of Obama’s tactics are more extreme than those of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Read by John Demma. 8 broadcasts. Began December 7.
The Lies of Sarah Palin, Nonfiction by Geoffrey Dunn, 2011. Based on more than two hundred interviews and more than forty thousand pages of uncovered documents, Geoffrey Dunn chronicles Sarah Palin’s penchant for duplicity, from her dysfunctional childhood through her failed governorship of Alaska. L – Read by Kristi Sullivan. 20 broadcasts. Begins December 19.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday, 9 p.m.
The Wilding, Fiction by Benjamin Percy, 2010. Justin has a complicated relationship with his father. When his father, Paul, suggests a hunting trip, Justin accepts hoping to put things right, and he brings his son along. But as the weekend progresses, Justin is pushed to his limit by his father and the terrain. L – Read by Scott Ford. 12 broadcasts. Began October 31.
A Lonely Death, Fiction by Charles Todd, 2011. Three men who have been murdered were soldiers who survived the horrors of World War I only to meet a ghastly end in the quiet English countryside two years later. Read by Nancy Felknor. 13 Br. Begins November 16.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday, 10 p.m.
Blind Sight, Fiction by Meg Howrey, 2011. Luke has been raised by a New Age mother, a religious grandmother, and two half-sisters. He is writing college applications when his father, a famous television star whom he never knew, invites him to L.A. L – Read by Stevie Ray. 10 broadcasts. Begins December 5.
The Tragedy of Arthur, Fiction by Arthur Phillips, 2011. Arthur Phillips’ father is a con artist who loves Shakespeare. Near the end of his life, his father shares with Arthur a treasure he’s kept hidden for 50 years, an unknown play of Shakespeare’s. But is it? Read by Arlan Dohrenburg. 18 broadcasts. Begins December 19.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday, 11 p.m.
Finders Keepers, Nonfiction by Craig Childs, 2010. Childs, a desert ecologist, mourns the loss of context when items are removed from their natural environment, whether for museums or for sale to collectors. L – Read by Marylyn Burridge. 9 broadcasts. Begins December 15.
Aerotropolis, Nonfiction by John D. Kasarda and Greg Lindsay, 2011. Today’s jet travel and global business have changed the old pattern. Soon, the airport will be at the center and the city built around it. Read by Leila Poullada. 20 broadcasts. Begins December 28.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday, Midnight
Blind Your Ponies, Fiction by Stanley Gordon West, 2011. Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this small town on the edge of the world. He came to hide from the violence and madness that shattered his life, but he finds a spirit that allows him to begin to see a future worth living. L – Read by John Beal. 22 broadcasts. Began December 5.
After Midnight
Tuesday– Saturday, 1 a.m.
The Radleys, Fiction by Matt Haig, 2010. The Radleys are just like any other family next door. But they have a secret. They are vampires but have chosen to abstain from a life of chasing blood in hopes that their children could live normal lives. Read by Peter Danbury. 10 broadcasts. Began December 9.
Original Sin, Fiction by Beth McMullen, 2011. Sally Sin falls in love and becomes an ex-spy, struggling to become stay-at-home mom Lucy Hamilton. But when Ian Blackford starts causing trouble for her old agency, they are desperate to get her back. L – Read by Holly Sylvester. 10 broadcasts. Begins December 23.
Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations
