Volunteer Readers Sought
Radio Talking Book seeks volunteers to broadcast from our sites in Rochester and St. Paul. If you know someone who may be interested in volunteering, we’d like to hear from them. Please contact Roberta Kitlinski at 651-539-1423 to learn more.
Radio Talking Book App for Smartphones
Listeners can now enjoy Radio Talking Book on their handheld mobile devices. The SERO app is available on both Apple iOS and Android platforms.
- On iOS: go to the App Store and search for Sero. Select the “Serotek Corporation” button and download the app.
- On Android: go to the Play Store, pick the “Navigation Drawer,” and search for Sero. Select “Sero (formerly iBlink Radio)” and download the app.
- Once there: run the app and select the “Reading Services” category. Then search for Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network and select it. You’ll need a password to access the stream: call 651-539-2363 or toll-free 1-800-722-0550 to receive one.
Weekend Books
All listings are US Central Daylight Time
- Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1 p.m.) presents “Living in a Mindful Universe” by Eben Alexander and Karen Newell, read by Beverly Burchett.
- For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11 a.m.) presents “Love Songs and Other Lies” by Jessica Pennington, read by Brenda Powell.
- Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents “Poems of the Laughing Buddha” by Jane Marla Robbins; followed by “Funny Men Cannot Be Trusted” by Tolu’ Akinyemi, both read by Scott McKinney.
- The Great North (Sundays at 4 p.m.) presents “Gunflint Burning” by Cary J. Griffith, read by Tom Speich; followed by “Minnesota 1918” by Curt Brown, read by Don Lee.
Podcasts
We’re updating our podcasts at Radio Talking Book. “Podcasts” are programs available in a digital format, which can be listened to or downloaded over the Internet. RTB’s podcasts feature information on dealing with blindness and vision loss, job search strategies, career management, teens’ issues, and topics of general interest. Check them out at https://mn.gov/deed/ssb/braille/podcasts
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, www.mnbtbl.org, and then clicking on the link Search the Library Catalog. 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, 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.
Audio information about the daily book listings is also on NFB Newsline. Register for NFB Newsline by calling 651-539-2363.
Donate to the State Services for the Blind at mn.gov/deed/ssbdonate.
Chautauqua Tuesday, Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m
It’s Better Than It Looks – Nonfiction by Gregg Easterbrook, 2018. Despite dispiriting reports, these days are actually an improvement over the past for most people. Read by Robb Empson. 14 broadcasts; began Thursday, September 6.
The Undoing Project – Nonfiction by Michael Lewis, 2017. Two psychologists become lifelong friends as they create groundbreaking research to explain judgment and decision-making. Read by Lannois Neely. 14 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 26.
Past is Prologue, Monday – Friday 9 a.m
Got To Be Something Here – Nonfiction by Andrea Swensson, 2017. In the 1980s the “Minneapolis Sound” burst onto the music scene after generations of political upheaval, rebellion, and artistic passion. Read by John Potts. 7 broadcasts; began Monday, September 3.
The Accidental President – Nonfiction by A.J. Baime, 2017. The death of Franklin Roosevelt thrust Harry Truman into the Presidency, to take on Germany, Stalin, Japan, and the atomic bomb. Read by Judy Woodward. 17 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 12.
Bookworm, Monday – Friday 11 a.m.
Varina – Fiction by Charles Frazier, 2018. Young Varina Howell marries the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, and becomes a fugitive in the post-Civil War South. Read by Bonita Sindelir. 12 broadcasts; began Thursday, September 6.
Meet Me At the Museum – Fiction by Anne Youngson, 2018. A Danish museum curator and a Scottish woman begin a letter correspondence that flourishes over the years. Read by Judith Johannessen. 8 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 24.
The Writer’s Voice, Monday, Monday – Friday 2 p.m.
Endurance – Nonfiction by Scott Kelly, 2017. Astronaut Scott Kelly tells of spending all of 2015 on the International Space Station. Read by Stevie Ray. 16 broadcasts; began Monday, September 3.
Alone At the Top – Nonfiction by Lonnie Dupre and Pam Louwagie, 2018. Arctic explorer Lonnie Dupre climbed Denali alone and in the harshest conditions, and was caught in a storm for five days. Read by John Potts. 5 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 25.
Choice Reading, Monday, Monday – Friday 4 p.m.
The End of Temperance Dare – Fiction by Wendy Webb, 2017. Eleanor Harper is director of Cliffside Manor, an artists’ retreat with a dark past as a sanatorium. Read by Michele Potts. 10 broadcasts; began Wednesday, September 5. – L
We Begin Our Ascent – Fiction by Joe Mungo Reed, 2018. A professional cyclist and his wife are drawn into drug use during the Tour de France, with enduring consequences. Read by Mary Hall. 8 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 19. – L
PM Report, Monday – Friday 8 p.m.
Loaded – Nonfiction by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2018. A timely examination of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, from its origins to the current days. Read by Greg Olson. 6 broadcasts; began Thursday, September 6.
The Crusade for Forgotten Souls – Nonfiction by Susan Bartlett Foote, 2018. In the 1940s Minnesota began a reform movement that resulted in the first steps toward a modern mental health system. Read by Pat Muir. 12 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 17.
Night Journey, Monday – Friday 9 p.m.
London Rules – Fiction by Mick Herron, 2018. A group of soon-to-be-retired British Intelligence operatives come up against terrorists schooled in their out-of-date methods. Read by Tom Speich. 12 broadcasts; began Monday, September 10. – V
Sulfur Springs – Fiction by William Kent Krueger, 2017. Minnesota detective Cork O’Connor and his new wife search for her son Peter, who may have confessed to a killing. Read by Neil Bright. 12 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 26. – V
Off the Shelf, Monday – Friday 10 p.m.
Amateur Hour – Nonfiction by Kimberly Harrington, 2018. A collection of essays, mostly about motherhood, but also about being a woman in 2018. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 11 broadcasts; began Tuesday, September 4. – L
Island Home – Nonfiction by Tim Winton, 2015. Writer and ecologist Tim Winton explores the history of Western Australia in remembrances from his own life. Read by John Marsicano. 6 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 19.
Spy of the First Person – Nonfiction by Sam Shepherd, 2017. The final work from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, actor, and musician Sam Shepherd. Read by Edy Elliott. 2 broadcasts; begins Thursday, September 27.
Potpourri, Monday – Friday 11 p.m.
iGen – Nonfiction by Jean M. Twenge, 2017. The generation born in the mid-1990s and later are unlike their millennial counterparts, or any other generation. Read by Chris Colestock. 12 broadcasts; began Monday, September 3. – L, S
The Nature Fix – Nonfiction by Florence Williams, 2017. Our connection with nature is much more vital to our brainpower than we realize. Read by Carolyn Light Bell. 9 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 19.
Good Night Owl, Monday – Friday midnight
Us Against You – Fiction by Frederik Backman, 2018. A new coach works to rescue a small-town hockey team, while a crafty politician manipulates the citizens. Read by Don Gerlach. 17 broadcasts; began Thursday, September 6. – L, S
After Midnight, Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.
Murder on the Red River – Fiction by Marcie R. Rendon, 2017. When the body of a murdered Native American is found, a young Anishanaabe woman uses her dreams to look for clues. Read by Tom Speich. 6 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 12. – V, L, RE
Summer – Fiction by Karl Ove Knausgaard, 2018. A young man leaves home to focus on writing, and contemplate the meaning of moments as they pass. Read by Don Lee. 11 broadcasts; begins Thursday, September 20. – L, S
Abbreviations:
V – violence
L – offensive language
S – sexual situations
RE – racial epithets
G – graphic descriptions
