Minnesota Connections

A number of this month’s books are written by Minnesota authors. The Long-Shining Waters (began Jan. 30 at 11 a.m.) is by Duluth resident, Danielle Sosin. Carlos Eire, author of Learning to Die in Miami (began Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.), taught at St. John’s University for a couple years. Martin Kihn, author of Bad Dog (begins Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.) lives in Minneapolis. And the author of Northwest Angle (begins Feb. 21 at 9 p.m.), William Kent Kruger, lives in Saint Paul.

 

Bookstore Connections

The Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network has a new relationship with Magers & Quinn, an independent bookstore in Minneapolis. Many of the radio’s books have either been donated or discounted by the bookstore. Thank you, Magers & Quinn.

 

Weekend Program Books 

Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Passages in Caregiving, by Gail Sheehy; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing Across the Great Barrier, by Patricia C. Wrede; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing The Sky Is Great, the Sky Is Blue, by Sharon Chmielarz, and Midnight Lantern, by Tess Gallagher; The U.S. and Us (Sunday 4 p.m.) is airing Lucien Galtier, by Marianne Luban, and North Country, by Mary Lethert Wingerd.

 

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 a.m. to 4 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 via an inter-library loan 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 Information, Nonfiction by James Gleick, 2011. For millennia, information was painstakingly set down, whether in cuneiform or some other form of writing. Today, information has come to define the modern era though every utterance can vanish instantly. Read by Leila Poullada. 18 broadcasts. Began January 19.         

The Steal, Nonfiction by Rachel Shteir, 2011. Experts can’t agree on why people shoplift or how to stop it. With all methods tried, a few have abandoned the habit, but shoplifting shows no signs of slowing. L – Read by Marylyn Burridge. 10 Br. Begins February 14.

What Language Is, Nonfiction by John McWhorter, 2011. Most assumptions about language are wrong: it is not pure, not only words, not divided into languages and “dialects,” nor is it what we write on the page. It is a world of human communication. L – Read by Esmé Evans. 7 broadcasts. Begins February 28.

  

Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday 9 a.m.

The Greater Journey, Nonfiction by David McCullough, 2011. From 1830 to 1900, American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others went to Paris for education and fulfillment. They altered American history. Read by Charlie Boone. 18 Br. Began January 23.

Alexander the Great, Nonfiction by Philip Freeman, 2011. Only a handful of people have influenced history as much. For two thousand years, people have studied his strategy. Read by Arlan Dohrenburg. 17 Br. Begins Feb. 16.

 

Bookworm
Monday – Friday 11 a.m.

Miles to Go, Fiction by Richard Paul Evans, 2011. Alan, a once-successful executive, is injured, alone, and confined to his hospital bed. Sixteen days earlier, after losing wife, home, and business, he left everything for a cross-country walk. But a roadside stabbing has   interrupted his plan. Read by John Marsicano. 7 broadcasts. Began February 9.

The Charming Quirks of Others, Fiction by Alexander McCall Smith, 2010. Isabel Dalhousie has been asked to look into the background of one of the candidates for the headmaster position at a boys’ school. What she finds about each of the candidates is surprising. Read by Eileen Barratt. 8 broadcasts. Begins February 20.



The Writer’s Voice
Monday – Friday 2 p.m.

Learning to Die in Miami, Nonfiction by Carlos Eire, 2010. When Carlos came to Miami at age 11, he realized his Cuban self had to die so that his new American self could emerge. He confronted the age-old immigrant’s plight, being surrounded by American bounty but unable to partake of it immediately. Read by Denny Laufenburger. 13 broadcasts. Began January 30.

Bad Dog, Nonfiction by Martin Kihn, 2011. Marty, is a high-functioning alcoholic, in debt, out of shape, and about to lose his job and his wife. Desperate to save his marriage, Marty throws himself into the world of dog training, but he knows less than Hola. Read by John Beal. 7 Br. Begins February 16.

A Widow’s Story, Nonfiction by Joyce Carol Oates, 2011. In 2008, Joyce’s husband entered a hospital with pneumonia. As Joyce was preparing for his discharge, he died of a hospital acquired infection and she was suddenly faced with widowhood. Read by Laura Rohlik. 16 broadcasts. Begins February 27.

 

Choice Reading
Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

Pirate King, Fiction by Laurie R. King, 2011. Randolph Fflytte’s film studio has rumors of criminal activity. So when he sends a crew to Portugal to begin filming a movie, Scotland Yard sends Mary Russell as a chaperone for the actresses. Read by Connie Jamison. 12 broadcasts. Began February 6.

The Tiger’s Wife, Fiction by Téa Obreht, 2011. In a Balkan country, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives to work at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her friend begin to inoculate children, she feels surrounded by superstitions and secrets. Read by Natasha DeVoe. 11 broadcasts. Begins February 22.

 

PM Report
Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

The Company We Keep, Nonfiction by Robert Baer and Dayna Baer, 2011. Robert Baer met Dayna Williamson when they were both on a mission for the CIA in Sarajevo. Both of their marriages had crumbled and they knew it was now time for them to leave “the Company.” Read by John Mandeville and Kristi Sullivan. 10 broadcasts. Began February 7.

I Shall Not Hate, Nonfiction by Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2011. Abuelaish is a Palestinian doctor with a degree from Harvard. He has been crossing the divide between Israelis and Palestinians most of his life, treating patients on both sides. When three of his daughters were killed by Israeli soldiers, his response was to call for peace. Read by Bob Malos. 10 broadcasts. Begins February 21.

 

Night Journey
Monday – Friday 9 p.m.    

Rock Bottom, Fiction by Erin Brockovich and C.J. Lyons, 2011. Ten years before, Angela Joy left West Virginia. Now called AJ, she is an envi-ronmental activist and has been hired by a lawyer fighting mountaintop removal mining. Read by Alletta Jervey. 11 Br. Began Feb. 6.

Northwest Angle, Fiction by William Kent Krueger, 2011. Cork and his daughter are pursued to the isolated Northwest Angle, where it’s impossible to tell who among the residents is in league with the devil. L – Read by Neil Bright. 14 broadcasts. Begins February 21.

 

Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 10 p.m.

The Passage, Fiction by Justin Cronin, 2010. A security breach unleashed the product of a chilling military experiment. A night of chaos and carnage gave way to sunrise on a nation and world forever altered. L – Read by Don Lee. 37 broadcasts. Began January 12.

      

Potpourri
Monday – Friday 11 p.m.   

The Fiddler in the Subway, Nonfiction by Gene Weingarten, 2010. Weingarten is the only two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. His story of Joshua Bell playing violin in D.C.’s subway brought him nationwide attention. L – Read by Audray Rees. 14 Br. Began January 25.

The New Cool, Nonfiction by Neal Bascomb, 2011. In Goleta, California, a high school physics teacher had a dream. Amir Abo-Shaeer had a vision for education based more on creation than on rote learning. Read by Tony Lopez. 12 broadcasts. Begins February 14. 

    

Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday midnight

The Murderer’s Daughters, Fiction by Randy Susan Meyers, 2010. Lulu and Merry’s mother is killed by their father, and the two girls are placed in a group home. For the next thirty years, they try to make sense of what happened while dreading the day their father is paroled. L – Read by Judith Johannessen. 12 broadcasts. Began February 2.

The Lonely Polygamist, Fiction by Brady Udall, 2010. Golden Richards, husband to four wives, father to twenty-eight children, is having a major midlife crisis. Crippled by grief and the demands of work and family, he becomes entangled in an affair that may destroy his family’s future. L – Read by John Schmidt. 21 broadcasts. Begins February 20.

 

 

After Midnight
Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.

Second Nature, Fiction by Jacquelyn Mitchard, 2011. When Sicily is given the choice to have her burned face restored, she initially rejects it. But when the marriage is called off, she agrees to the procedure. L – Read by Michele Potts. 8 Br. Began February 3.

Good to a Fault. Fiction by Marina Endicott, 2010. Clara Purdy is forty-three, divorced, and leading a non-interesting life when she crashes into another car. The bruises on the mother prove to be cancer and Clara’s life suddenly becomes interesting. L,S – Read by Natasha DeVoe. 12 Br. Begins February 22.


Abbreviations: V – violence, L – offensive language, S – sexual situations.