The January 2025 book offerings from the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network:
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m.
Starkweather – Nonfiction by Harry N. MacLean, 2023. The definitive story of Charles Starkweather, often considered to be the first mass killer in the modern age of America, and his crime spree's lasting impact. Read by Stevie Ray. 17 broadcasts; began Monday, December 23. Listen to Starkweather description.
A City on Mars – Nonfiction by Kelly & Zach Weinersmith, 2023. A brilliant and hilarious off-world investigation into space settlement. Read by Jill Wolf. 13 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 16. Listen to A City on Mars description.
Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m.
The Middle Kingdoms – Nonfiction by Martyn Rady, 2023. An essential new history of Central Europe, the contested lands so often at the heart of world history. Read by Silvester Vicic. 22 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 1. Listen to The Middle Kingdoms description.
Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m.
Brotherless Night – Fiction by V. V. Ganeshananthan, 2023. A courageous young Sri Lankan woman tries to protect her dream of becoming a doctor in this heartbreaking exploration of a family fractured by civil war. Read by Pat Muir. 14 broadcasts; began Thursday, December 26. Listen to Brotherless Night description.
The Prospectors– Fiction by Ariel Djanikian, 2023. A sweeping rags-to-riches story about claiming the American Dream, following a family transformed by the Klondike Gold Rush. Read by Lisa Bromer. 16 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 15. Listen to The Prospectors description.
Monday - Friday 1:00 p.m.
The Last Supper Club – Nonfiction by Matthew Batt, 2023. A witty and humble tribute to the sometimes profane, sometimes profound world of waiting tables. Read by John Schmidt. 11 broadcasts; began Wednesday, December 18. – L. Listen to The Last Supper Club description.
Differ We Must – Nonfiction by Steve Inskeep, 2023. A compelling and nuanced exploration of Abraham Lincoln's political acumen, illuminating a great politician's strategy in a country divided—and lessons for our own disorderly present. Read by Rick Seime. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 6. Listen to Differ We Must description.
Vision – Nonfiction by David S. Tatel, 2024. A moving, thoughtful memoir by one of America's most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers—who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 16 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 20. Listen to Vision description.
Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Texas – Fiction by Lawrence Wright, 2023. A hilarious, sharply drawn send-up of local politics about a dark-horse candidate who risks his personal happiness for a career in the Texas House of Representatives. Read by Michele Potts. 12 broadcasts; began Thursday, December 26. – L, S. Listen to Mr. Texas description.
The Vaster Wilds– Fiction by Lauren Groff, 2023. A taut and electrifying novel about one spirited girl alone in the colonial American wilderness, trying to survive. Read by Nancy Johnson. 8 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 13. – V, G. Listen to The Vaster Wilds description.
The Heart in Winter– Fiction by Kevin Barry, 2023. A savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana. Read by Stuart Holland. 6 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 23. – L. Listen to The Heart in Winter description.
Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m.
American Gun – Nonfiction by Cameron McWhirter & Zusha Elinson, 2023. The epic history of America's most controversial weapon. Read by Charles Gould. 16 broadcasts; began Tuesday, December 17. – L. Listen to American Gun description.
Myth America – Nonfiction edited by Kevin M. Kruse & Julian E. Zelizer, 2023. America's top historians set the record straight on the most pernicious myths about our nation's past. Read by Tamara Pratt. 14 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 9. Listen to Myth America description.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory – Nonfiction by Tim Alberta, 2023. An exploration of the changing face of American evangelicalism through the past several decades. Read by John Potts. 21 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 29. Listen to The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory description.
Monday – Friday 7:00 p.m.
The Devil's Daughter – Fiction by Gordon Greisman, 2024. A noir thriller full of the best—and worst—of New York City in the 1950s. Read by Jim Tarbox. 10 broadcasts; began Thursday, December 26. – L. Listen to The Devil's Daughter description.
Ashes, Ashes– Fiction by Fredrick Soukup, 2024. A heart-breaking Minnesota small town murder mystery. Read by Carol McPherson. 8 broadcasts; begins Thursday, January 9. Listen to Ashes, Ashes description.
City in Ruins– Fiction by Don Winslow, 2024. An epic, genre-defining crime masterpiece . . . and the final novel of Winslow's extraordinary career. Read by Jim Gregorich. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 21. – L. Listen to City in Ruins description.
Monday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
Victim – Fiction by Andrew Boryga, 2024. A fearless satire about a hustler from the Bronx who sees through the veneer of diversity initiatives and decides to cash in on the odd currency of identity. Read by Tom Speich. 10 broadcasts; began Monday, December 23. – L. Listen to Victim description.
Glorious Exploits– Fiction by Ferdia Lennon, 2024. An unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages. Read by William Heisley. 9 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 8. Listen to Glorious Exploits description.– L
Help Wanted– Fiction by Adelle Waldman, 2024. A humane and darkly comic workplace caper that shines a light on the odds low-wage workers are up against in today's economy. Read by Holly Sylvester. 11 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 21. – L. Listen to Help Wanted description.
Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.
Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making? – Nonfiction by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler, 2024. A collection of love letters by American presidents to their wives—and lovers—revealing an intimate and deeply personal side of our leaders. Read by Carl Voss. 10 broadcasts; began Thursday, December 19. Listen to Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making? description.
Yesterday – Nonfiction by Tobias Becker, 2023. A sweeping reassessment of our longing for the past, from the rise of "retro" to the rhetoric of Brexit and Trump. Read by Jan Pettit. 12 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 6. – L. Listen to Yesterday description.
Magic – Nonfiction by Roland Lazenby, 2023. The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Read by John Gunter. 33 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 22. – L. Listen to Magic description.
Monday – Friday 10:00 p.m.
An Inheritance of Magic – Fiction by Benedict Jacka, 2023. The ultra-rich control magic—the same way they control everything else—but Stephen Oakwood may just beat them at their own game in this exhilarating contemporary fantasy. Read by Carol McPherson. 13 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, January 1. Listen to An Inheritance of Magic description.
Research Randy & The Mystery of Grandma's Half-Eaten Pie of Despair – Fiction by Tom Lucas, 2023. A weird mash-up of cosmic horror, eldritch terrors, nostalgia trip, and a meta love letter to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Read by Karen Ray. 5 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 20. – L. Listen to Research Randy & The Mystery of Grandma's Half-Eaten Pie or Despair description.
Liberty's Daughter – Fiction by Naomi Kritzer, 2023. An endearing teenage protagonist earns money tracking down hard-to-find goods for clients in a dystopian future and becomes a detective along the way. Read by Brenda Powell. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, January 27. – L. Listen to Liberty's Daughter description.
Monday – Friday 11:00 p.m.
The Tearsmith – Fiction by Erin Doom, 2024. A dark, sexy, haunting novel of two aching young adults who are taken in by the same family and forced to reckon with a destructive love that could be the undoing of them both. Read by Michelle Juntunen. 24 broadcasts; began Monday, December 16. – L, S, V. Listen to The Tearsmith description.
Henry, Henry – Fiction by Allen Bratton, 2024. A novel retelling of Shakespeare's Henriad in which Hal Lancaster is a queer protagonist for a new era. Read by Stuart Holland. 14 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, January 21. – L, S. Listen to Henry, Henry description.
Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.) presents Reasons Not to Worry by Brigid Delaney, read by Bev Burchett. – L.
For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11:00 a.m.) presents Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow, read by Pat Muir; followed by Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow, read by Peter Danbury. – L.
Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents Run from Your Now by Ben Westlie, read by Stuart Holland – L; followed by The Carrying by Ada Limón, read by Jan Pettit. –L.
The Great North (Sundays at 4:00 p.m.) presents Winter's Song by T. D. Mischke, read by Jim Gregorich; followed by Gunflint Falling by Cary J. Griffith, read by Jodi Lindskog.
V – Violent content
R – Racial epithets
L – Strong language
G – Gory descriptions
S – Sexual situations
All listings are US Central Standard Time (CST)
