New Book Lineup Begins This Month
Last month, we announced that there is a slight change in the book lineup beginning this month. In content, only one of the hours will change, though the names of two programs will look different. The 2 p.m. nonfiction hour is now renamed The Writer’s Voice but the content stays the same: memoir and biography. The name that used to belong to that hour is now going to appear at the 11 p.m. hour. Potpourri will feature nonfiction books of a wide variety. We hope you appreciate the change.
Books with Minnesota Connections
There are five books this month with Minnesota connections. The author of If the Rains Don’t Cleanse (Choice Reading) was raised in St. Paul and his protagonist is based on his mother who still lives here; Andrew Zimmern, author of The Bizarre Truth (Potpourri) is a columnist for Minneapolis-St.Paul Magazine; J.P. White who wrote Every Boat Turns South (Good Night Owl) writes from his home in Deephaven, Minnesota; and both authors of the After Midnight books, Kate Ledger (Remedies) and Cynthia Kraack (Minnesota Cold), live in the Twin Cities.
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 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 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 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.
Chautauqua
Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m.
Inside of a Dog, Nonfiction by Alexandra Horowitz, 2009. Our relationship with dogs is a fascinating animal-human bond. Dogs evolved from wild creatures to become our companions, changing their bodies, brains, and behavior. Read by Sherri Afryl. 10 broadcasts. Begins June 1.
Our Lot, Nonfiction by Alyssa Katz, 2009. The real estate bubble was the product of a government project trying to make home ownership possible. When it became a reality, people were making too much money to notice the flaws. Read by William Stout. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 15.
Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday 9 a.m.
Fatal Journey, Nonfiction by Peter C. Mancall, 2009. Henry Hudson was the first European to navigate the Hudson River. But his 1610 voyage to find a water route across North America didn’t end as well. It proved to be his last. Read by Bonnie Smith-Yackel. 9 broadcasts. Begins May 26.
Satchel, Nonfiction by Larry Tye, 2009. Satchel Paige was the superstar pitcher of the Negro Leagues who set records so eye-popping they seemed like misprints. He pitched until he was fifty-nine. L – Read by Don Lee. 14 broadcasts. Begins June 8.
The Great Gamble, Nonfiction by Gregory Feifer, 2009. During the Cold War, the Soviets sent elite troops to fight an enemy who defeated their superior numbers with unconventional tactics, a demoralizing defeat. L – Read by Wally Vavrosky. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 28.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
A Friend of the Family, Fiction by Lauren Grodstein, 2009. Dr. Pete Dizinoff has made a success of his life and he wants success for his son, Alec, too. Then his best friend’s daughter, Laura, sets her sights on Alec. But she’s older and has a shocking history. L – Read by Jim Gregorich. 9 broadcasts. Begins June 1.
Alis, Fiction by Naomi Rich, 2009. At fourteen, Alis has never been outside her religious community. But when her parents arrange for her to marry their forty-year-old preacher, she runs away. Eventually, she decides to come back and face the consequences, but the return is disastrous. Read by Karen Wertz. 8 broadcasts. Begins June 14.
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, Fiction by Alexander McCall Smith, 2009. Mma Ramotswe and her agency are enlisted to help determine why the local football team is losing games. Mma Ramotswe knows nothing about football, and her assistant is distracted with concerns about her fiancé. Read by Licia Swanson. 8 broadcasts. Begins June 24.
Writer’s Voice
Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
Under the Table, Nonfiction by Katherine Darling, 2009. Katherine Darling decided to go to chef school, but she soon discovered herself the object of scorn and ridicule. The teachers waged psychological warfare over steaming pots of bisque. L – Read by Sue McDonald. 13 broadcasts. Began May 26.
Anne Frank, Fiction by Francise Prose, 2009. In June 1942, Anne Frank received a new diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding. She wrote in that diary for the next two years, creating a first-hand historical record, but also a work of art. Read by Judy Woodward. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 14.
Strength in What Remains, Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder, 2009. Deo came from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived civil war and genocide, he starts his life in the U.S. with $200, no English, and no contacts. But he ends up at medical school with a life devoted to healing. Read by Malcolm McLean. 13 broadcasts. Begins June 28.
Choice Reading
Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
Woodsburner, Fiction by John Pipkin, 2009. Thoreau was a dreamer who wanted to be more than a pencil designer for his father. One day, he meets with three other dreamers. It’s the day he starts a massive forest fire. Read by Stevie Ray. 14 broadcasts. Begins May 19.
Twisted Tree, Fiction by Kent Meyers, 2009. Hayley Jo Zimmerman is gone. And the people of Twisted Tree must come to terms with this terrible event: their loss, their place in it, and the secrets they all carry. L – Read by Anne Obst. 14 broadcasts. Begins June 8.
If Rains Don’t Cleanse, Fiction by Ben Patrick Johnson, 2009. Eva went to Africa as a missionary. But the world she is now in is entirely unlike her own. Circumstances make her question the faith she came to spread. Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe. 15 broadcasts. Begins June 21.
PM Report
Monday – Friday 8 p.m.
The Family, Nonfiction by Jeff Sharlet, 2009. The Family is an elite network dedicated to a religion of power for the powerful. Their method is backroom diplomacy. Their faith has come to be interwoven with the affairs of nations around the world. Read by Jack Rossman. 18 broadcasts. Begins May 24.
Stones into Schools, Nonfiction by Greg Mortenson, 2009. Over the past 16 years, Mortenson and his nonprofit Central Asia Institute have promoted peace through education, establishing more than 130 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Read by Leila Poullada. 12 broadcasts. Begins June 17.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
L.A. Outlaws, Fiction by Jefferson Parker, 2008. L.A. is taken with a woman known by the alias Allison Murietta. She steals, invites the media, and then donates her loot to charity. Then a job ends with ten dead. Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies and an eyewitness. And he begins an affair with the witness. V,L – Read by Ray Christensen. 11 broadcasts. Begins May 31.
The Lacuna, Fiction by Barbara Kingsolver, 2009. Born in the United States but reared in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd feels no sense of home. But then he connects with the world of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Lev Trotsky. His life will become significant. L – Read by Marylyn Burridge. 19 broadcasts. Begins June 15.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
The Swan Thieves, Fiction by Elizabeth Kostova, 2010. Renowned painter Robert Oliver has attacked a canvas in the National Gallery. In his hospital room, he merely says, “I did it for her.” Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow needs to unlock the secret. L – Read by Dan Sadoff. 21 broadcasts. Begins June 1.
Little Bird of Heaven, Fiction by Joyce Carol Oates, 2009. When Zoe Kruller is murdered, the two suspects are her estranged husband Delray and her lover, Eddy Diehl. The children of each believe the other’s father is the guilty one. L – Read by Maria Rubinstein. 16 broadcasts. Begins June 30.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday midnight
Blood’s a Rover, Fiction by James Elroy, 2009. During the summer of 1968, tensions are high because of the King and Kennedy assassinations and the upcoming Democratic Convention. Three lives collide in pursuit of a woman named Joan Rosen Klein. V,L,S – Read by Neil Bright. 31 broadcasts. Begins May 10.
Every Boat Turns South, Fiction by J.P. White, 2009. Matt Younger is a boat delivery captain who returns to Florida from the Dominican Republic to make a confession to his dying father. He and two companions followed a dream that was paid for in lust, betrayal, and violence. V,L,S – Read by Bob Malos. 11 broadcasts. Begins June 22.
After Midnight
Tuesday– Saturday 1 a.m.
Remedies, Fiction by Kate Ledger, 2009. Simon and Emily look like the perfect couple – he’s a respected doctor; she’s a successful professional. But their marriage is scarred by old wounds. When a lover from Emily’s past resurfaces, she examines her marriage anew. S – Read by Sue McDonald. 14 broadcasts. Began May 27.
Minnesota Cold, Fiction by Cynthia Kraack, 2009. Sallie lives in a post-nuclear world, but it is not a world without hope. A post-nuclear incident has led government and large corporations to rule one region of the former United States. V – Read by Leandra Peak. 11 broadcasts. Begins June 16.
