Radio Talking Book Newsletter
June 2012 Issue
Author of Note Takes Note From Across the Globe
Recently, after volunteer Esmé Evans finished recording Not at All What One Is Used To: the Life and Times of Isabella Gardner, by Marian Jannsen, we posted a note on the RTB Facebook page, something we do with each new recording to let the public know they're available.
Stuart Holland was pleased to see that Ms. Jannsen was commenting on the Facebook page. One thing led to another, and soon the two were exchanging emails. 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 worked 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 another 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. Hours are weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone: 800-722-0550. Access the library's catalog online.
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 Online
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.
Join Us on Facebook
Read about RTB events on our Facebook page. Register for Facebook at www.facebook.com.
Chautauqua
Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m.
Weighing In
Nonfiction by Julie Guthman, 2011.
Julie Guthman challenges many widely held assumptions about obesity, its causes and consequences. She examines fatness and its relationship to health outcomes to ask if our efforts to prevent obesity are sensible, efficacious, or ethical. Read by Connie Jamison. 11 broadcasts. Begins June 5.
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. Begins 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. Begins 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. Begins 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 the summer of 1545, as a French armada is preparing to attack England, Matthew Shardlake takes on a legal case involving the king’s Court of Wards. Sharlake travels to Portsmouth, despite the kings warships gathering in the harbor there. 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. Begins 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 some of the people who have helped him form his own brand of neurotic happiness. Famous, unknown, or criminal, they have helped form 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 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 Br. 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.