The July 2024 book offerings from the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network:
Monday – Friday 6:00 a.m.
Womb – Nonfiction by Leah Hazard, 2023. A groundbreaking, triumphant investigation of the uterus—from birth to death, in sickness and in health, throughout history and into our possible future. Read by Carol McPherson. 14 broadcasts; began Monday, June 17. Listen to Womb description.
On Class – Nonfiction by Deborah Dundas, 2023. An examination of what happens when we don't talk about poverty or class—and what will happen when we do. Read by Pat Kovel-Jarboe. 5 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 8. Listen to On Class description.
The Cat's Meow – Nonfiction by Jonathan B. Losos, 2023. The past, present, and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover. Read by Yelva Lynfield. 17 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 15. Listen to The Cat's Meow description.
Monday - Friday 11:00 a.m.
Armada – Nonfiction by Colin Martin & Geoffrey Parker, 2023. The definitive history of the Spanish Armada's attempted 1588 conquest of England. Read by Charles Gould. 25 broadcasts; began Wednesday, June 12. Listen to Armada description.
Empire, Incorporated – Nonfiction by Philip J. Stern, 2023. A history that places the corporation―more than the Crown―at the heart of British colonialism, arguing that companies built and governed global empire. Read by John Potts. 16 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, July 17. Listen to Empire, Incorporated description.
Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m.
Olav Audunssøn 4 Winter – Fiction by Sigrid Undset, translated by Tiina Nunnally, 2023. The fourth and final volume in the Nobel Prize–winning author's tumultuous, epic story of medieval Norway—the first new English translation in nearly a century. Read by Don Lee. 14 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 1. Listen to Olav Audunsson 4 Winter description.
Barbara Isn't Dying – Fiction by Alina Bronsky, 2023. A bittersweet and hilarious novel about a marriage whose decades-old routine is suddenly upended. Read by Bonnie Swenby. 7 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 22. Listen to Barbara Isn't Dying description.
Sentimental Education – Fiction by Gustave Flaubert, 2023. A new translation of the classic novel about the romantic life of a young man at the time of the French Revolution of 1848. Read by Silvester Vicic. 19 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, July 31. Listen to Sentimental Education description.
Monday - Friday 1:00 p.m.
The Country of the Blind – Nonfiction by Andrew Leland, 2023. A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author's transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own. Read by Holly Sylvester. 12 broadcasts; began Thursday, June 20 – L. Listen to The Country of the Blind description.
Pocketful of Happiness – Nonfiction by Richard E. Grant, 2023. Academy Award–nominated actor Richard E. Grant's moving and entertaining memoir about finding happiness in even the darkest of days. Read by Stuart Holland. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 8 – L. Listen to Pocketful of Happiness description.
A Wild Path – Nonfiction by Douglas Wood, 2023. A soul-satisfying journey through the wilderness that uncovers hope, healing, and the abiding grace of wild things. Read by Anna Pliner. 9 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 22. Listen to A Wild Parth description.
Monday - Friday 2:00 p.m.
Day - Fiction by Michael Cunningham, 2023. An exquisite exploration of the struggles and limitations of a Brooklyn family over three years—and how we all must learn to live together and apart. Read by Holly Sylvester. 8 broadcasts; began Tuesday, June 25 – L, S. Listen to Day description.
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind - Fiction by Molly McGhee, 2023. A magical-realist workplace satire infused with millennial anomie and a lot of heart. Read by Tom Speich. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 8 – L. Listen to Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind description.
The Librarianist - Fiction by Patrick deWitt, 2023. The story of Bob Comet, a man who has lived his life through and for literature, unaware that his own experience is a poignant and affecting narrative in itself. Read by Philip Lowry. 10 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, July 23 – L. Listen to The Librarianist description.
Monday – Friday 4:00 p.m.
The Conspiracy to End America – Nonfiction by Stuart Stevens, 2023. A former chief Republican strategist offers an ominous warning that the GOP is dragging our country toward autocracy—and if we don't wake up to the crisis in our system, 2024 may well be our last free and fair election. Read by Don Lee. 6 broadcasts; began Monday, June 24 – L. Listen to The Conspiracy to End America description.
Broken Code – Nonfiction by Jeff Horwitz, 2023. A behind-the-scenes look at the manipulative tactics Facebook used to grow its business, how it distorted the way we connect online, and the company insiders who found the courage to speak out. Read by John Potts. 14 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, July 2 – L. Listen to Broken Code description.
The Call of the Tribe – Nonfiction by Mario Vargas Llosa, 2023. The intellectual autobiography of Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. Read by Nancy Johnson. 11 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 22. Listen to The Call of the Tribe description.
Monday – Friday 7:00 p.m.
The Eden Test – Fiction by Adam Sternbergh, 2023. An electrifying domestic suspense novel about a couple who are forced to the ultimate extremes to save their marriage―and themselves. Read by Cintra Godfrey. 11 broadcasts; began Monday, June 17 – L, V. Listen to The Eden Test description.
Killing Monarchs – Fiction by Cary J. Griffith, 2023. Two dead bodies and too many coincidences to ignore—in this outdoors mystery, special agent Sam Rivers must stop a murderous conspiracy. Read by Tom Speich. 10 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 2 – L. Listen to Killing Monarchs description.
The Taken Ones – Fiction by Jess Lourey, 2023. Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel. Read by Jodi Lindskog. 12 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, July 16 – L. Listen to The Taken Ones description.
Monday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
The East Indian - Fiction by Brinda Charry, 2023. An exhilarating debut novel about the first native of the Indian subcontinent to arrive in Colonial America, inspired by a historical figure. Read by Michele Potts. 11 broadcasts; began Tuesday, June 25 – L, S. Listen to The East Indian description.
North Woods - Fiction by Daniel Mason, 2023. A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries. Read by Dan Sadoff. 13 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, July 10 – L, S, V, R. Listen to North Woods description.
The English Experience - Fiction by Julie Schumacher, 2023. Beleaguered Professor Jason Fitger chaperones Payne University's annual "Experience: Abroad" to London and beyond, with eleven undergrads in tow. Read by Therese Murray. 7 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 29 – L. Listen to The English Experience description.
Monday – Friday 9:00 p.m.
Shelter – Nonfiction by Lawrence Jackson, 2022. A stirring consideration of homeownership, fatherhood, race, faith, and the history of Baltimore. Read by Nathan Hunter. 12 broadcasts; began Wednesday, June 19. Listen to Shelter description.
All the Leaves Are Brown – Nonfiction by Scott G. Shea, 2023. A biography of the iconic 1960s folk-pop group, The Mamas and the Papas. Read by Robb Empson. 18 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, July 18 – L. Listen to All the Leaves are Brown description.
Monday – Friday 10:00 p.m.
The Devil's Playground – Fiction by Craig Russell, 2023. A riveting 1920s Hollywood thriller about the making of the most terrifying silent film ever made, and a deadly search for the single copy rumored still to exist. Read by Holland Richner. 16 broadcasts; began Tuesday, June 25 – L, S. Listen to The Devil's Playground description.
The Only One Left – Fiction by Riley Sager, 2023. A Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier. Read by Julia Brown. 13 broadcasts; begins Wednesday, July 17 – L. Listen to The Only One Left description.
Monday – Friday 11:00 p.m.
Do Your Worst – Fiction by Rosie Danan, 2023. Sparks fly when an occult expert and a disgraced archeologist become enemies-with-benefits in this steamy romance. Read by Pat Muir. 11 broadcasts; began Monday, June 17 – L, S. Listen to Do Your Worst description.
After Hours on Milagro Street – (re-broadcast) Fiction by Angelina M. Lopez, 2022. A professor and a bar owner in small town forced-proximity find sparks and more. Read by Jodi Lindskog. 13 broadcasts; begins Tuesday, July 2 – L, S. Listen to After Hours on Milagro Street description.
Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death – Fiction by Maria Vale, 2023. A weird, adorable stunner of a romance where the Grim Reaper falls in love. Read by Lisa Bromer. 9 broadcasts; begins Monday, July 22 – L, S. Listen to Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death description.
Your Personal World (Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.) presents Life in Light by Mary Pipher, read by Bev Burchett.
For the Younger Set (Sundays at 11:00 a.m.) presents First-Year Orientation, edited by Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith, read by MaryBeth Redmond – L.
Poetic Reflections (Sundays at noon) presents Raised by Wolves: Fifty Poets on Fifty Poems, a Graywolf Anthology, read by Jim Ahrens.
The Great North (Sundays at 4:00 p.m.) presents The Lincoln Dell Cookbook by Wendi Zelkin Rosenstein and Kit Naylor, read by Jill Wolf.
V – Violent content
R – Racial epithets
L – Strong language
G – Gory descriptions
S – Sexual situations
All listings are US Central Standard Time (CST)
