RTB Radio News
Happy New Year! All the best to you in 2026!
We’re excited to start the year off right with 21 new books premiering this month. As always, if you have comments about current books, you’d like us to broadcast or other programming issues, please be in touch: 651-539-2316 or joseph.papke@state.mn.us.
Here are January's book offerings from the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network:
Chautauqua
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m.
Plunder? – Nonfiction by Justin M. Jacobs, 2024. A provocative reassessment of a popular narrative that connects museums, the antiquities trade, and theft. Read by Jan Pettit. 7 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 1. Listen to a promo of Plunder?
Air-Borne – Nonfiction by Carl Zimmer, 2025. The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down. Read by Carol McPherson. 21 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 12. Listen to a promo of Air-Borne.
Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m.
Embers of the Hands – Nonfiction by Eleanor Barraclough, 2025. A history of the Viking Age, from mighty leaders to rebellious teenagers, told through their runes and ruins, games and combs, trash and treasure. Read by Carol McPherson. 13 broadcasts; began Monday, December 22. Listen to a promo of Embers of the Hands.
Remembering Peasants – Nonfiction by Patrick Joyce, 2024. A landmark history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity, but is rapidly vanishing in our time. Read by Paul Ranelli. 14 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 12. – L. Listen to a promo of Remembering Peasants.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m.
Sing To Me – Fiction by Jesse Browner, 2025. After the fall of Troy, an eleven-year-old boy sets off for the razed city when his father and sister vanish into the war zone. Read by Paul Ranelli. 7 broadcasts; began Monday, December 29. Listen to a promo of Sing To Me.
The Boy from the Sea – Fiction by Garrett Carr, 2025. A captivating debut novel about a baby boy who is discovered on the beach beside a small Irish fishing town, as told by the locals who fall under the boy’s transfixing spell. Read by John Potts. 11 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 7. Listen to a promo of The Boy from the Sea.
The Paris Express – Fiction by Emma Donoghue, 2025. A clever, ambitious, and richly researched historical novel about the infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Read by Joanne Turner. 8 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 22. Listen to a promo of The Paris Express.
The Writer's Voice
Monday - Friday 1:00 p.m.
Penman of the Founding – Nonfiction by Jane E. Calvert, 2024. The biography of a lesser-known Founding Father, a contrarian patriot who supported abolitionism and women’s rights. Read by Stevie Ray. 26 broadcasts; began Tuesday, December 2. Listen to a promo of Penman of the Founding.
Medicine River – Nonfiction by Mary Annette Pember, 2025. A sweeping and deeply personal account of Native American boarding schools in the United States, and the legacy of abuse wrought by them in an attempt to destroy Native culture and life. Read by John Gunter. 12 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 8. Listen to a promo of Medicine River.
Booth Girls – Nonfiction by Kim Heikkila, 2021. A thoughtful and emotional multigenerational story of contested motherhood and the stigma of adoption—equal parts biography, oral history, history, and memoir. Read by Carol McPherson. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 26. Listen to a promo of Booth Girls.
Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.
A Forty Year Kiss – Fiction by Nickolas Butler, 2025. A small-town story about one couple's second chance at love, forty years after their divorce. Read by Tom Speich. 9 broadcasts; began Monday, December 29. – L. Listen to a promo of A Forty Year Kiss.
Optional Practical Training – Fiction by Shubha Sunder, 2025. A recent college graduate from India embarks on her first year as a teacher in the U.S. Read by Andrea Bell. 8 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 12. – L, S. Listen to a promo of Optional Practical Training.
In Tongues – Fiction by Thomas Grattan, 2024. A young gay man grows from a life of “reckless impulses” into a reflective adult in this affecting novel. Read by John Schmidt. 7 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 22. – L, S. Listen to a promo of In Tongues.
Afternoon Report
Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m.
Bone of the Bone – Nonfiction by Sarah Smarsh, 2024. A collection of brilliant and provocative essays by one of the most important commentators on America’s class problem. Read by Judy Woodward. 12 broadcasts; began Monday, December 22. – L. Listen to a promo of Bone of the Bone.
Dodge County, Inc. – Nonfiction by Sonja Trom Eayrs, 2024. A righteously wrathful defense of the family farm and fierce denunciation of corporate agriculture by a working farmer and attorney. Read by John Potts. 12 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 8. Listen to a promo of Dodge County, Inc.
On Democracies and Death Cults – Nonfiction by Douglas Murray, 2025. A New York Times bestselling author explains how no less than the future of the Western World is at stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read by John Potts. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 26. Listen to a promo of On Democracies and Death Cults.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday 7:00 p.m.
The Turtle-Jack Killings – Fiction by Glenn Ickler, 2025. Journalists are targeted by a killer in this Minnesota-set thriller. Read by Pat Ocken. 9 broadcasts; began Monday, December 22. – L. Listen to a promo of The Turtle-Jack Killings.
The Grey Wolf – Fiction by Louise Penny, 2024. A routine break-in at the home of Sûreté homicide chief Armand Gamache leads slowly but surely to the revelation of a potentially calamitous threat to all Québec. Read by Brenda Powell. 16 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 6. – L. Listen to a promo of The Grey Wolf.
Lethal Prey – Fiction by John Sandford, 2025. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to track down a ruthless killer who will do whatever it takes to keep the past buried. Read by Phil Rosenbaum. 12 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 28. – L, S, R. Listen to a promo of Lethal Prey.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
Intermezzo – Fiction by Sally Rooney, 2024. Two brothers—one a lawyer, one a chess prodigy—work through the death of their father, their romantic lives, and their even more tangled relationship with each other. Read by Carl Voss. 15 broadcasts; began Monday, December 22. – L, S. Listen to a promo of Intermezzo.
The Pilgrimage – Fiction by John Broderick, 2025. An erotic nightmare of Catholic longing, guilt, and desire and a banned classic of modern Irish literature. Read by Paul Ranelli. 6 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 14. – S. Listen to a promo of The Pilgrimage.
Liars – Fiction by Sarah Manguso, 2024. An eviscerating novel about being a wife, a mother, and an artist, and how marriage makes liars of us all. Read by Lannois Neely. 7 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 22. – L. Listen to a promo of Liars.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.
The Long Run – Nonfiction by Stacey D’Erasmo, 2024. A rich meditation on the artist’s life and work over time. Read by Pat Ocken. 7 broadcasts; began Wednesday, December 31. – L, S. Listen to a promo of The Long Run.
Enchanted Creatures – Nonfiction by Natalie Lawrence, 2025. A fascinating journey through 15,000 years of human imagination and mythology, exploring the incredible variety of monstrous creatures we have created and what they can tell us about ourselves. Read by Parichay Rudina. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 12. Listen to a promo of Enchanted Creatures.
Miracles and Wonder – Nonfiction by Elaine Pagels, 2025. An extraordinary new account of the life of Jesus that explores the mystery of how a poor young man inspired a religion that reshaped the world. Read by Jim Gregorich. 9 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 26. Listen to a promo of Miracles and Wonder.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday 10:00 p.m.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls – Fiction by Grady Hendrix, 2025. Hung out to dry by the elders who betrayed them, a squad of pregnant teens fights back with old magic. Read by Pat Muir. 16 broadcasts; began Thursday, December 11. – G. Listen to a promo of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.
Something in the Walls – Fiction by Daisy Pearce, 2025. A fledgling psychologist tries to unravel a teen’s mysterious affliction in a community gripped by the occult. Read by Pat Muir. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 6. – L, V, G. Listen to a promo of Something in the Walls.
The Lady of the Mine – Fiction by Sergei Lebedev, 2025. A haunting novel set in eastern Ukraine where the present-day Russian invasion in 2014 unearths unreckoned historical atrocities that continue to plague the region. Read by Dan Sadoff. 8 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 20. – L, S, V, G, R. Listen to a promo of The Lady of the Mine.
RTB After Hours
Monday – Friday 11:00 p.m.
rekt – Fiction by Alex Gonzalez, 2025. A disturbing examination of toxic masculinity and the darkest pits of the Internet, about a young man’s algorithmic descent into depravity in a future that’s nearly here. Read by Paul Ranelli. 11 broadcasts; began Monday, December 29. – L, S, V, G, R. Listen to a promo of rekt.
The Pairing – Fiction by Casey McQuiston, 2024. An evocative romantic comedy where two exes reunite on a food tour of Europe and attempt to prove to each other—and themselves—that they’ve moved on. Read by Holland Richner. 13 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 13. – L, S. Listen to a promo of The Pairing.
Weekend Books
Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1 p.m.) presents How Sondheim Can Change Your Life by Richard Schoch, read by Stuart Holland.
For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11 a.m.) presents Humphrey and Me by Stuart H. Brady, read by Jack Rossman.
Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco by K. Iver, read by Laura Young – L; followed by Natural History by Brandon Kilbourne, read by Philip Lowry.
The Great North (Sundays at 4 p.m.) presents Perpich: A Minnesota Original by Ben Schierer, read by Michelle Juntunen.
Abbreviations
V – Violent content
R – Racial epithets
L – Strong language
G – Gory descriptions
S – Sexual situations
All listings are US Central Time (CT)