Others pay attention around the world

When books are finished being recorded, there is a note to that effect that gets posted on the RTB’s Facebook page. Recently, volunteer Esmé Evans finished recording Not at All What One Is Used To: the Life and Times of Isabella Gardner, by Marian Jannsen, and it was posted on the site. Stuart Holland, who manages the site, was pleased to see that Ms. Jannsen was commenting on the Facebook page. One thing led to another, and soon the two were exchanging e-mails and Stuart was surprised to learn that Ms. Jannsen lives in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. She explained that she became interested in the story of Isabella Gardner when she was working for a year at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She asked if she could listen to a copy of Esmé’s recording, and was very pleased by what she heard. Yet one more example of the reach of the RTB. Not at All What One Is Used To will be airing in July.

 

Weekend Program Books

Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Healing at the Speed of Sound, by Don Campbell and Alex Doman, and 10 Mindful Minutes, by Goldie Hawn; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing The Book of Ten, by Susan Wood; The U.S. and Us (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing 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 Swerve, Nonfiction by Stephen Greenblatt, 2011. In 1417, Poggio Bracciolini found a manuscript that had been lost for more than a thousand years. It shaped the thoughts of Galileo, Freud, Darwin, and Einstein, and left its trace on the Declaration of Independence. It changed the world. Read by June Prange. 9 broadcasts. Begins June 20.

 

Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday 9 a.m.

Love and Capital, Nonfiction by Mary Gabriel, 2011. Karl Marx was a student without wealth or future when Jenny von Westphalen, daughter of a Prussian baron, fell in love with him. Together they journeyed through Europe, on the run from those alarmed by Marx’s revolutionary ideas. Read by Lannois Neely. 31 broadcasts. Began April 30

The Floor of Heaven, Nonfiction by Howard Blum, 2011. The discovery of gold, in nineteenth century Alaska, set off a stampede of greed and lust for adventure. Fleeing the depths of a worldwide economic depression and driven by starry eyed visions of vast wealth, tens of thousands rushed northward. Read by John Potts. 14 broadcasts. Begins June 12.

 

Bookworm
Monday – Friday 11 a.m.

The Bridge to Never Land, Fiction by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, 2011. Aidan and Sarah Cooper discover a document hidden in a desk their father bought. They begin to decipher the document but the game turns serious when they discover that what was a fictional story of good and evil is real and they are part of it. Read by Colleen Matz. 11 broadcasts. Began June 5.

Mr. Chartwell, Fiction by Rebecca Hunt, 2011. When Esther Hammerhans opens the door to a new renter, it is a huge, talking black dog. She soon learns that when he leaves the house, it is to torture Winston Churchill as the lingering presence of his depression. He has come to Esther to torment her as he did her late husband. Read by Edy Elliott. 8 broadcasts. Begins June 20.

 

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

A Song at Twilight, Nonfiction by Nancy Paddock, 2011. Poet Nancy Paddock’s parents had Alzheimer’s which forced her and her sisters to face challenges and choices while confronting this disease. She searched for meaning in photographs and memories. Read by Carol Lewis. 8 Br. Began May 30.

Man Seeks God, Nonfiction by Eric Weiner, 2011. When a health scare puts him in the hospital, agnostic Weiner gets the unexpected question, “Have you found your God yet?” And so, Weiner begins a worldwide exploration of religions, hoping to come to a personal understanding of the divine. Read by Don Lee. 13 broadcasts. Begins June 11.

Shelter, Nonfiction by Sarah Stonich, 2011. The Stonich family had once owned land. Long after, Sarah Stonich is newly divorced and yearns for some land to call her own. She buys a spot near where her immigrant grandparents settled. When progress threatens to cut her land in half, she must look at family legacy differently. Read by Karen Wertz. 7 broadcasts. Begins June 28.

 

Choice Reading
Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

A Good American, Fiction by Alex George, 2011. Frederick and Jette flee her disapproving mother and sail to America in 1904. They end up in Beatrice, Missouri. Though they speak no English, they are excited about the possibilities. Years later, their grandson tries to put together their story and realizes he doesn’t know his own. James’s family is caught up in the sweep of history, each generation discovering afresh what it means to be an American. Read by Bob Malos. 15 broadcasts. Began June 4.

Gillespie and I, Fiction by Jane Harris, 2011. Elderly Harriet Baxter relates the story of her friendship with Ned Gillespie, a talented artist who took his own life decades before, never having achieved the fame Harriet thought he deserved. She had arrived in Glasgow in 1888 and befriended the Gillespie family. She became a fixture in their lives; but when tragedy struck in the form of a kidnapping and trial, the promise of her new world spiraled into mystery and deception. Read by Eileen Barratt. 18 broadcasts. Begins June 25.

 

PM Report
Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

Fool Me Twice, Nonfiction by Shawn Lawrence Otto, 2011. Today’s major world problems all revolve around science, but antiscience views have become mainstream. Faced with daunting challenges that could be met with science, our elected leaders are passing resolutions denying climate change. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 17 broadcasts. Began June 4.   

Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse, Nonfiction by Suraya Sadeed, 2011. From her first visit to Afghanistan in 1994, Suraya Sadeed has been delivering relief and hope to Afghan orphans and refugees, to women and girls in situations too dangerous for other aid workers or journalists. Read by Jan Anderson. 10 broadcasts. Begins June 25.

 

Night Journey
Monday – Friday 9 p.m.

Heartstone, Fiction by C.J. Sansom, 2011. In 1545, as a French armada is preparing to attack England, Matthew Shardlake takes on a legal case involving the king’s Court of Wards. He travels to Portsmouth, in spite of pending attacks. Read by Myrna Smith. 21 broadcasts. Began May 14.

The Preacher, Fiction by Camilla Läckberg, 2011. In the fishing community of Fjällbacka, life, though peaceful, for some is tragically short. Foul play was always suspected when two young people disappeared twenty years ago. Now their remains, found with a fresh victim, send the town into shock. L – Read by Bonita Sindelir. 14 broadcasts. Begins June 12.

 

Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 10 p.m.

Girls in White Dresses, Fiction by Jennifer Close, 2011. Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. But amid the celebrations, these women have their own lives to contend with that include grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure, and new love. Read by Judith Johannessen. 9 Br. Began June 5.

The Leftovers, Fiction by Tom Perotta, 2011. What would happen if a number of people in your town just vanished? That’s what happened in Mapleton and nothing has been the same since, not marriages, friendships, or relationships with children. L,S – Read by Judy Woodward. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 18.

 

Potpourri
Monday – Friday 11 p.m.

Role Models, Nonfiction by John Waters, 2011. John Waters talks about the lives of some of the extreme figures who have helped him form his own brand of neurotic happiness. Famous, unknown, or criminal, they have helped form a unique and one of the most perverse and hilarious artistic minds of our time. L, S – Read by Stuart Holland. 10 broadcasts. Began May 31

High on the Hog, Nonfiction by Jessica B. Harris, 2011. High on the Hog, takes the reader through the history of African American foods from the perspective of the African American experience. This story is set in the broader context of U.S. and even world history. Read by Alletta Jervey. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 14.

 

Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday midnight

The Devil’s Light, Fiction by Richard North Patterson, 2011. Amer Al Zaroor, an Al Qaeda operative, has stolen a nuclear bomb from Pakistan and the goal is to trigger it on the anniversary of 9/11. Brooke Chandler, sidelined from the CIA for various reasons, believes he knows how to locate the weapon. L – Read by Don Lee. 13 broadcasts. Began May 28.

Primacy, Fiction by J.E. Fishman, 2011. Researcher Liane Vinson works at a primate lab at the world’s most secretive animal testing facility. Then one of her favorite animals, a bonobo she calls Bea, shocks Liane by demonstrating the ability to speak. L – Read by Dave Schliep. 14 broadcasts. Begins June 14.

 

After Midnight
Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.

By His Majesty’s Grace, Fiction by Jennifer Blake, 2011. Lady Isabel Milton never expected to love her husband, Earl Rand Braesford. But when he is imprisoned in the Tower, she finds herself unconvinced of his guilt and commits to discover the truth about him. S – Read by Jenny O’Brien. 10 broadcasts. Began May 29.

The Revisionists, Fiction by Thomas Mullen, 2011. Zed is an agent from the future when all the world’s problems have been solved – there is no hunger, no war, no despair. His mission is to keep it that way which means ensuring that every cataclysm throughout history runs its course. L – Read by Charles Torrey. 20 broadcasts. Begins June 12.

 

 

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