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.
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.
What on Earth Evolved?, Nonfiction by Christopher Lloyd, 2009. Why have creatures evolved as they are? Which species have had the biggest impact on the world? Read by Dan Kuechenmeister. 25 broadcasts. Begins November 3.
Past is Prologue
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.
The Vikings, Nonfiction by Robert Ferguson, 2009. The Viking age began in 793 with an attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne. It continued until the destruction of the temple to the Norse gods at Uppsala around 1090. Between those dates, the Vikings made their presence known throughout Europe. Read by John Mandeville. 20 broadcasts. Began October 18.
America’s Girl, Nonfiction by Tim Dahlberg, 2009. In 1926, American Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, breaking the men’s record. Read by Janice Anderson. 10 Br. Begins November 15.
As If an Enemy’s Country, Nonfiction by Richard Archer, 2010. When British troops occupied Boston, it gave colonists a sense of identity separate from their mother country. Read by Terri Horsmann. 11 Br. Begins November 29.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday, 11 a.m.
The Irresistible Henry House, Fiction by Lisa Grunwald, 2010. Henry House was used as a practice baby for home economics classes when he was tiny. As a grown man, he needs to transcend that inner tumult of his childhood. Read by Laura Rohlik. 15 broadcasts. Began October 26.
Pearl of China, Fiction by Anchee Min, 2010. In Chin-king at the end of the nineteenth century, two girls become best of friends: Willow, the child of a very poor family; Pearl, the daughter of Christian missionaries. When Pearl eventually moves, the two women’s lives remain entwined. L – Read by Pat Lelich. 9 Br. Begins November 16.
The Tale of Halcyon Crane Fiction by Wendy Webb, 2010. Hallie James’s father always told her that her mother had died long ago. But it turns out her mother was alive until recently. What really happened to her family thirty years ago? Read by Mary Hall. 8 broadcasts. Begins November 29.
Writer’s Voice
Monday – Friday, 2 p.m.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Nonfiction by Rebecca Skloot, 2010. Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer whose cells became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, sixty years after her death. V,L,S – Read by Jeanne Burns. 12 broadcasts. Began October 21.
The Bullpen Gospels, Nonfiction by Dirk Hayhurst, 2010. Dirk Hayhurst believed in baseball enough to join the Minor Leagues while dreaming of the Majors, and willing to put up with stories of scandals and steroids. L – Read by Jim Gregorich. 10 Br. Begins November 8.
You Can’t Do That!, Nonfiction by Carl Masters and Marv Davidov, 2009. For decades, Davidov has worked on peace and justice issues from Mississippi to Minnesota, from protesting racism to organizing against a powerful arms manufacturer. Read by June Prange. 12 broadcasts. Begins November 22.
Choice Reading
Monday – Friday, 4 p.m.
A Gate at the Stairs, Fiction by Lorrie Moore, 2009. Tassie Keltjin is a farm girl who moves to a university town as a college student. She takes a job as a nanny. As she is drawn deeper into the life of this family, her life back home seems more and more alien to her. Read by Sue McDonald. L – 12 broadcasts. Began October 25.
Pictures at an Exhibition, Fiction by Sara Houghteling, 2009. Max Berenzon is born to a Parisian art dealer and his pianist wife. When Paris falls to the Nazis, the family goes into hiding, only to lose their considerable art collection. When the family returns, finding the art becomes Max’s focus. Read by Judith Johannessen. 9 Br. Begins November 10.
Unfinished Desires, Fiction by Gail Godwin, 2010. At Mount St. Gabriel’s girls’ school, Tildy Stratton befriends newcomer and recently orphaned Chloe Starnes. It fills a void for both but also sets in motion a profound change of events. L – Read by Judy Woodward. 16 Br. Begins November 23.
PM Report
Monday – Friday, 8 p.m.
The Nuclear Express, Nonfiction by Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman, 2009. During the Cold War, the struggle was between East and West. In today’s world the collective fear is over terrorist organizations getting hands on a nuclear weapon and using it to effect chaos and societal collapse. Read by Del Adamson. 15 broadcasts. Began October 20.
Waste, Nonfiction by Tristram Stuart, 2009. With nearly 1 billion people hungry, the world thinks it has a food problem. But the West discards up to half of its food, which could feed the world’s hungry three times over. Read by Alvin Apple. 14 broadcasts. Begins November 10.
Freefall, Nonfiction by Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2010. The Great Recession has had more impact than any crisis since the Great Depression. Government policy and personal and corporate behavior created the current financial meltdown. Read by William Stout. 15 broadcasts. Begins November 30.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday, 9 p.m.
U Is for Undertow, Fiction by Sue Grafton, 2009. Kinsey Millhone is approached by a man who claims he has remembered facts about the killing of a girl twenty years before. Reluctantly, Kinsey agrees to give him one day of her time. L – Read by Amy Morris. 15 broadcasts. Began October 18.
A Whisper to the Living, Fiction by Stuart M. Kaminsky, 2010. Inspector Rostnikov is a one-legged policeman who is also one of the last honest civil servants in dishonest post-Soviet Russia. Read by Constance Crane. 10 broadcasts. Begins November 8.
Deadly Stillwater, Fiction by Roger Stelljes, 2009. When Shannon Hisle is kidnapped, it is just the beginning in a case of betrayal and revenge sixteen years in the making that will strike at the heart and soul of the St. Paul Police Department. L – Read by Joe Sadowski. 11 Br. Begins November 22.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday, 10 p.m.
Blooms of Darkness, Fiction by Aharon Appelfeld, 2009. The Nazis have liquidated the ghetto, and Hugo’s mother has brought him to the local brothel where a prostitute has agreed to hide him. While she is entertaining Nazi soldiers, Hugo sits in her closet. L,S – Read by Alvin Apple. 8 broadcasts. Began October 25.
Devil’s Dream, Fiction by Dan Simmons, 2010. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the most reviled, celebrated, and legendary of Civil War generals. Considered a rogue by the upper ranks of the Confederate Army, he was often relegated to small operations. V,L,S – Read by John Marsicano. 12 broadcasts. Begins November 4.
Black Hills, Fiction by Dan Simmons, 2010. When Paha Sapa lays his hands on a dying General Custer, he believes Custer’s ghost enters his body. From then on, he sees into the memories and futures of others. L,S – Read by Don Lee.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday, 11 p.m.
The Great Oom, Nonfiction by Robert Love, 2010. Banned in Victorian India, yoga was brought to the United States by an Iowan known by the name Dr. Pierre Bernard. – Read by June Prange. 12 Br. Begins November 2.
Country Driving, Nonfiction by Peter Hessler, 2010. China once built walls against foreigners but is now building roads and factory towns that look to the outside world. Read by John Schmidt. 17 broadcasts. Begins November 18.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday, Midnight
The Privileges, Fiction by Jonathan Dee, 2010. Adam and Cynthia believe in a future of boundless privilege. When that future doesn’t come fast enough, Adam is confronted with a choice. L – Read by Denny Laufenburger. 10 broadcasts. Begins October 26.
Whiskey Heart, Fiction by Rachel L. Coyne, 2009. Returning to Comfort Lake, the town she fled when she was young, Kat Lovely finds that nothing has changed. L,S – Read by Jeanette Schuh. 9 Br. Begins November 9.
Sometimes we’re always real same-same, Fiction by Mattox Roesch, 2009. Cesar is in Alaska because his Eskimo mother has moved home but he’s convinced he’ll go back to L.A. L – Read by Peter Danbury. 10 Br. Begins November 22.
After Midnight
Tuesday– Saturday, 1 a.m.
Wanting, Fiction by Richard Flanagan, 2009. In 1839, Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and his wife adopt a young Aboriginal girl to conduct a social experiment on Christianity v. savagery. Read by John Schmidt. 7 broadcasts. Begins October 29.
Southern Lights, Fiction by Danielle Steel, 2009. Alexa faces a tough decision and sends her teen daughter back to the South Alexa once fled. Read by Alletta Jervey. 11 broadcasts. Begins November 9.
The Girl with Glass Feet, Fiction by Ali Shaw, 2010. Ida Maclaird is turning to glass. She has returned to where this started to happen to search for a cure. Read by Jenny O’Brien. 9 broadcasts. Begins November 24.
