Summer Reading

For July, 26 new books will premiere.

Radio Talking Book is not just for listeners with visual disabilities. Anyone with difficulty reading or turning pages can enjoy the service.  Radio Talking Book schedules can be emailed. Sign up using our online form. If email is preferred over other formats, sign up and also contact Ronnie Washington at 651-539-1424 or [email protected] to let him know what version is desired.

The sampling published monthly in Access Press doesn’t represent the full array of programming. Listen to RTB’s live or archived programs online, and learn more about programs.

Hear programming on a hand-held mobile device, for either iOS or Android. Visit the Apple App Store for iOS, or Google Play for Android, and download the Minnesota Radio Talking Book app.

Missed a book broadcast? Access it for one week following its original broadcast in the online weekly program archive.

For help accessing the archive, contact Ronnie Washington at 651-539-1424 or [email protected].

If the book’s broadcast is no longer available in the archive, contact staff librarian Molly McGilp at 651.539.1422 or [email protected]. Looking for way to get the complete update? Want to change how updates are received? Sign up for schedules by email using this form. To change the format through which Radio Talking Book is received, sign up online and also contact Ronnie Washington at 651-539-1424 or [email protected] to let him know what version is no longer needed.

Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available for loan through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault. Visit the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library Catalog. Call 800-722-0550, Mon-Fri, 9 am – 4 pm CST.  Updates are on the State Services for the Blind’s Radio Talking Book website.

Audio information about the daily book listings is on the National Federation for the Blind Newsline. Register for NFB Newsline by calling 651-539-1424. The service provides access to more than 500 magazines and newspapers. Visit the website or call 612-562-7803.

Staff welcomes any feedback or suggestions. Contact Joseph Papke at 651-539-2316 or [email protected]. Contact Tom Conry at 651-642-0880 or [email protected] with comments about periodicals and newspapers programming.

Chautauqua*
Monday – Friday 6 a.m.
The Extinction of Experience, nonfiction by Christine Rosen, 2024. A reflective, original invitation to recover and cultivate the human experiences that have atrophied in the virtual world. Read by Jim Gregorich. Nine broadcasts; begins Wed, July 2. The Cult of Creativity, nonfiction by Samuel W. Franklin, 2023. A history of how, in the mid-twentieth century, we came to believe in the concept of creativity. Read by Don Lee. 10 broadcasts; begins Tue, July 15. Reading the Constitution, nonfiction by Stephen Breyer, 2024. A retired U.S. Supreme Court justice deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current court’s supermajority and makes the case for a more pragmatic approach of the Constitution. Read by John Holden. 15 broadcasts; begins Tue, July 29

Past is Prologue*
Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
Age of Revolutions, nonfiction by Fareed Zakaria, 2024. An exploration of the revolutions―past and present―that define the polarized and unstable age in this time. Read by Stevie Ray. 15 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 14.

Bookworm*
Monday – Friday 12 p.m.
Office Politics, fiction by Wilfrid Sheed, 2024. A satire of 1960s intellectual New York and a celebration of that endangered species, the office, at its pettiest and most idealistic, as the proving ground where so much of grownup life takes place. Read by Jan Anderson. 12 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 7. Aesop’s Fables – Fiction by Robin Waterfield, 2024. A new translation of classic, succinct fictional stories that illustrate moral lessons. Read by Stuart Holland. Eight broadcasts; begins Wed, July 23.

The Writer’s Voice*
Monday – Friday 1 p.m.
The Rulebreaker, nonfiction by Susan Page, 2024. A biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time, Barbara Walters. Read by Carol McPherson. 17 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 14.

Choice Reading*
Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
Ahnwee Days, fiction by William E. Burleson, 2024. The story of a small town on the edge of extinction and the young mayor who rallies the residents to keep it going. Read by Pat Muir. Nine broadcasts; begins Tue, July 1. – L, S
The Burrow, fiction by Melanie Cheng, 2024. A wise and moving story about a family navigating grief, hope, and healing through a bond with a new pet rabbit. Read by Karen Ray. Five broadcasts; begins Mon, July 14. – L
True Failure, fiction by Alex Higley, 2024. A twisting examination of life under late capitalism and the deceptions used to invent success stories. Read by John Potts. 10 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 21. – L

Afternoon Report*
Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
Beyond the Big Lie, nonfiction by Bill Adair, 2024. An informed, urgent, and alarming history of political deception and how to stop it once and for all. Read by John Potts. Nine broadcasts; begins Tue, July 1.
Morning After the Revolution, nonfiction by Nellie Bowles, 2024. A former New York Times reporter takes a look at how some of the most educated people in America lost their minds—and how she almost did, too. Read by Jan Anderson. Eight broadcasts; begins Mon, July 14. – L
Where Tyranny Begins, nonfiction by David Rohde, 2024. How Donald Trump used threats, co-option and conspiracy theories to bend DOJ and FBI officials to his will to a greater extent than publicly known. Read by Pat Muir. 10 broadcasts; begins Thu, July 24. – L.

Night Journey*
Monday –Friday 7 p.m.
Lemons Never Lie, fiction by Donald E. Westlake, 2024. Actor/thief Alan Grofield focuses on the perilous consequences of refusing an offer you can’t refuse. Read by Paul Ranelli. 6 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 7.
Ilium, fiction by Lea Carpenter, 2024. A lonely young London woman is unknowingly drawn into a high-stakes intelligence campaign by the man she marries. Read by Eileen Barratt. Seven broadcasts; begins Tue, July 15.
The Last Devil to Die, fiction by Richard Osman, 2023. A delightful mystery featuring four British old-age pensioners who solve crimes. Read by Philip Lowry. 10 broadcasts; begins Thu, July 24

Potpurri
Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
3 Shades of Blue, nonfiction by James Kaplan, 2024. The story of how jazz arrived at the pinnacle of American culture in 1959 with the iconic album, Kind of Blue. Read by Peter Danbury. 16 broadcasts; begins Tue, July 7. – L
Shopkeeping, nonfiction by Peter Miller, 2024. A love letter to the small shop, and shop owners everywhere. Read by Roger Sheldon. Three broadcasts; begins Tuesday, July 29.

Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
Fever House, fiction by Keith Rosson, 2023. All hell breaks loose in Portland, Oregon, when a pair of thugs stumble into a world-breaking government conspiracy. Read by Jim Tarbox. 17 broadcasts; begins Tue, July 8. – L, V, G, R

Middle of the Night, fiction by Riley Sager 2024. A man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood. Read by Tom Speich. 12 broadcasts; begins Thu, July 31. – L

RTB After Hours*
Monday – Friday 11 p.m.
The Safekeep, fiction by Yael van der Wouden, 2024. A tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 12 broadcasts; begins Tue, July 1. – S

The City in Glass, fiction by Nghi Vo, 2024. A beguiling fantasy and epic love story of redemption and desire strong enough to reduce a world to ashes and remake it anew. Read by Andrea Bell. Seven broadcasts; begins Thu, July 17. – L, S
The Finest Print, fiction by Erin Langston, 2024. A steamy, historical romance about love in a printer’s shop. Read by Mary Beth Redmond. 12 broadcasts; begins Mon, July 28. – L, S

Weekend Program Books
Your Personal World, 1 p.m. Sat, presents How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and The Quest for Fulfillment by Skye C. Cleary, read by Bev Burchett.
For the Younger Set, 11 a.m. Sun, presents Krabat and the Sorcerer’s Mill by Otfried Preussler, read by Julia Brown; followed by Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer, read by Stuart Holland.
Poetic Reflections, noon Sun, presents Hold Everything by Dobby Gibson, read by Mary Beth Redmond; followed by Lying In by Elizabeth Metzger, read by Jan Petit.
The Great North, 4 p.m. Sun, presents They Would Not Be Moved by Bruce White, read by Yelva Lynfield.

All times listed are Central Standard Time.

Abbreviations 

V – violent content    

R – racial epithets   

L – strong language  

S – sexual situation     

G – gory descriptions