RTB Radio News
The September 2025 book offerings from the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network:
Chautauqua
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m.
Golden Years – Nonfiction by James Chappel, 2024. An account of the history of old age in modern America, showing how we created unprecedented security for some and painful uncertainty for others. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 18 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 19. Listen to promo of Golden Years.
Fluke – Nonfiction by Brian Klaas, 2024. A provocative challenge to how we think our world works—and why small, chance events can divert our lives and change everything. Read by Phil Rosenbaum. 12 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 15. – L. Listen to promo of Fluke.
Past is Prologue
Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m.
The World Will Never See the Like – Nonfiction by John L. Hopkins, 2024. An examination of the 1913 Civil War reunion through the lens of the veterans, within the context of society, politics, and the national mood at the time. Read by Mary Beth Redmond. 9 broadcasts; began Wednesday, August 20. – L, R. Listen to promo of The World Will Never See the Like.
A Great Disorder – Nonfiction by Richard Slotkin, 2024. A look at the myths that have shaped American identity that reveals how they have brought us to the brink of an existential crisis today. Read by Jack Rossmann. 24 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 2. Listen to promo of A Great Disorder.
Bookworm
Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m.
The Sweet Blue Distance – Fiction by Sara Donati, 2024. A young midwife travels west to the New Mexico Territory to care for women in need and faces dangers more harrowing than the ones she's fleeing in this epic tale of survival, redemption, and love. Read by Bonnie Swenby. 29 broadcasts; began Tuesday, August 19. Listen to promo of The Sweet Blue Distance.
Three Days in June – Fiction by Anne Tyler, 2025. A socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 7 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 29. Listen to a promo of Three Days in June.
The Writer's Voice
Monday - Friday 1:00 p.m.
Hot Dish Confidential – Nonfiction by George Sorensen, 2024. A Minneapolis man embarks on a year-long gastronomic journey with a group of amateur culinary experts. Read by Stuart Holland. 9 broadcasts; began Monday, August 25. Listen to promo of Hot Dish Confidential.
Dancing on the Edge – Nonfiction by Russ Tamblyn, 2024. An intimate and powerful story about the singular life of one of our most gifted storytellers, artists, and stars of the silver screen. Read by Carl Voss. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 8. Listen to promo of Dancing on the Edge.
The Genius of Judy – Nonfiction by Rachelle Bergstein, 2024. An intimate and expansive look at Judy Blume's life, work, and cultural impact, focusing on her most iconic—and controversial—young adult novels. Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe. 9 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 23. Listen to promo of The Genius of Judy.
Choice Reading
Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.
The Wildes – Fiction by Louis Bayard, 2024. A vivid and poignant historical fiction of the secrets, loss, and love in Oscar Wilde's family. Read by Holly Sylvester. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 1. Listen to promo of The Wildes.
The Spoiled Heart – Fiction by Sunjeev Sahota, 2024. A vivid and multilayered exploration of the mysteries of the heart, how community is forged and broken, and the shattering impact of secrets and assumptions alike. Read by Greg Olson. 9 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 16. – L. Listen to promo of The Spoiled Heart.
Big Time – Fiction by Rus Bradburd, 2025. A hilarious and thought-provoking satire of college sports money mania at American universities. Read by Paul Ranelli. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 29. – L, S. Listen to promo of Big Time.
Afternoon Report
Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m.
Free and Equal – Nonfiction by Daniel Chandler, 2024. A student of the philosopher John Rawls applies his ideas to a brand of politics capable of shaping a good society. Read by William Heisley. 14 broadcasts; began Monday, August 18. Listen to promo of Free and Equal.
The Indispensable Right – Nonfiction by Jonathan Turley, 2024. A timely and brilliant original look at freedom of speech—our most basic right and the one that protects all the others. Read by John Potts. 15 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 8. Listen to promo of The Indispensable Right.
Autocracy, Inc. – Nonfiction by Anne Applebaum, 2024. An alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them. Read by Stevie Ray. 7 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 29. Listen to promo of Autocracy, Inc.
Night Journey
Monday – Friday 7:00 p.m.
Scandal of Vandals – Fiction by Frank F. Weber, 2024. A novel based on a true crime story in Minnesota that was once touted as the crime of the century. Read by Stuart Holland. 11 broadcasts; began Thursday, August 21. Listen to promo of Scandal of Vandals.
The Return of Ellie Black – Fiction by Emiko Jean, 2024. Detective Chelsey Calhoun's life is turned upside down when she gets the call that Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but her reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers. Read by Carol McPherson. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 8. Listen to promo of The Return of Ellie Black.
Tiger Claw – Fiction by Michael Allan Mallory, 2024. A Minnesota-set police procedural thriller with plenty of kung fu to boot. Read by Tom Speich. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 23. – L. Listen to promo of Tiger Claw.
Off the Shelf
Monday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
Cahokia Jazz – Fiction by Francis Spufford, 2024. A smoky, brooding noir set in the 1920s that reimagines how American history would be different if, instead of being decimated, indigenous populations had thrived. Read by Gary Rodgers. 19 broadcasts; began Wednesday, August 6. – L, V, G, R. Listen to promo of Cahokia Jazz.
We Burn Daylight – Fiction by Bret Anthony Johnston, 2024. An epic novel of star-crossed lovers set in a doomsday cult on the Texas prairie that asks: What would you sacrifice for the person you love? Read by John Potts. 11 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 2. Listen to promo of We Burn Daylight.
The Empusium – Fiction by Bret Olga Tokarczuk, 2024. Set in a sanitarium on the eve of World War I, this masterwork probes the horrors that lie beneath our most hallowed ideas. Read by Rick Seime. 12 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 17. Listen to promo of The Empusium.
Potpourri
Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.
Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness – Nonfiction by Inger Brodey, 2024. An enlightening examination of the question: Do Jane Austen novels truly celebrate—or undermine—romance and happy endings? Read by Carol McPherson. 11 broadcasts; began Thursday, August 28. Listen to promo of Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness.
Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions – Nonfiction by Ed Zwick, 2024. An accomplished director, screenwriter, and producer recalls some behind-the-scenes drama in this good-natured memoir of 1990s and 2000s show-running and filmmaking. Read by Silvester Vicic. 12 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 15. Listen to promo of Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions.
Good Night Owl
Monday – Friday 10:00 p.m.
Ink Blood Sister Scribe – Fiction by Emma Törzs, 2023. A tale of two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books who work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection. Read by Parichay Rudina. 18 broadcasts; began Monday, August 18. – L. Listen to promo of Ink Blood Sister Scribe.
The Gathering – Fiction by C. J. Tudor, 2023. A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town. Read by Laura Young. 13 broadcasts; begins Thursday, September 11. – L, V, G. Listen to promo of The Gathering.
Butcher – Fiction by Joyce Carol Oates, 2024. An extraordinary and arresting novel about a women's asylum in the nineteenth century, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world. Read by Pat Muir. 14 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, September 30. – S, V, G. Listen to promo of Butcher.
RTB After Hours
Monday – Friday 11:00 p.m.
Eddie Winston is Looking for Love – Fiction by Marianne Cronin, 2024. A tale of friendship and kindness that reminds us that those we love are never forgotten and it is never too late to try again. Read by Paul Ranelli. 8 broadcasts; begins Monday, September 1. – L. Listen to promo of Eddie Winston is Looking for Love.
Native Love Jams – (re-broadcast) Fiction by Tashia Hart, 2023. A 2024 Minnesota Book Award finalist romance set in a Native American community. Read by Mary Beth Redmond. 4 broadcasts; begins Thursday, September 11. – L, S. Listen to promo of Native Love Jams.
Four Weekends and a Funeral – Fiction by Ellie Palmer, 2024. When Alison finds the right guy at the dead wrong time, a little white lie spirals out of control creating a romantic comedy. Read by Holland Richner. 11 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, September 17. – L. Listen to promo of Four Weekends and a Funeral.
Weekend Books
Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1 p.m.) presents Fight Right by Julie and John Gottman, read by Dan Sadoff.
For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11 a.m.) presents Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer, read by Stuart Holland; followed by Fetching Dreams by Mary Bleckwehl, read by Brenda Powell.
Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents The Rose by Ariana Reines, read by Mary Beth Redmond – L, S; followed by Enter by Jim Moore, read by Stuart Holland – L.
The Great North (Sundays at 4 p.m.) presents They Would Not Be Moved by Bruce White, read by Yelva Lynfield; followed by Too Much Sea For Their Decks by Michael Schumacher, read by Nancy Johnson.
Abbreviations
V – Violent content
R – Racial epithets
L – Strong language
G – Gory descriptions
S – Sexual situations
All listings are US Central Daylight Time (CDT)