General

In the next few weeks, I'm going to try to program some of George Saunders' short stories for the Midday Short Story program, because he's an eerie, disturbingly beautiful writer, and his book THE TENTH OF DECEMBER was one of the best books I've read all year.  Since I'm new to his work (although a zealous convert) I was glad to read something other than his fiction in the New […]

Last month I went out for Chinese food and my fortune said "The sign you have been waiting for will soon appear."  I've gotten some pretty puzzling fortunes before (such as, "You will soon meet the woman of your dreams" while celebrating my 35th wedding anniversary, or the cryptic "There is a nice cake waiting for you at home" when I don't eat sugar--maybe they were referring to a cake […]

I always found it oddly appropriate that WRBH, The Reading Radio station,  is located on Magazine Street.  I guess we would be equally well placed on Story Street, or on any of the Muse streets like Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), or Melpomene (tragedy), or even Basin or Canal when we have those unexpected intense downpours on summer afternoons and the cars parked in front of the station need to […]

Our newest nonfiction book, beginning on Wednesday, July 10th, is one of the most interesting, informative, and fascinating books you'll ever hear.  It's also one of the most graphic.  Be warned: it's not for the squeamish.    There are vivid descriptions of things our bodies do that may embarrass some of you, no matter how old you are and how much you've lived.  No, it's not filled with sex and […]

I was organizing a closet over the weekend, and came across a well used, somewhat battered Risk game with most of the pieces missing.  I considered throwing it away, but after unfolding the board and looking at the contents (and continents), I was overcome with nostalgia--for 16 years we brought this same Risk game with us on our shared beach vacations with another family, and our combined children would immediately […]

On June 17th, a new fiction book begins on WRBH.  The title is THE OBJECTS OF MY AFFECTION, Jill Smolinski wrote it, the wonderful Allison Freeman reads it, and Amazon describes it this way:In the humorous, heartfelt new novel by the author of The Next Thing on My List, a personal organizer must somehow convince a reclusive artist to give up her hoarding ways and let go of the stuff […]

Love Story, by Shawn'drea PierreThe feeling's mutualyou know I feel the sameas I smile when I hear your namewhen you touch my skin my toes crawljust remember me, like I remember you.Just remember we start as friends,just me and you.   I have a friend who used to say she had the perfect title for a country song : "I'm Savin' My Tears for the Teenage Years."  At the time, we both […]

How many of you remember reading those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books when you were a kid?  Or, if you're a little older, like I am, you remember reading them to your children, or buying them at Maple Street Children's Bookshop as easy gifts for birthdays or holidays.  The premise was simple, but brilliant: two scenarios were set up at the beginning, and depending on which one you chose to […]

     Wednesday mornings, for me, are usually pretty hectic.  I'm not an early morning person, and knowing I have to be at WRBH for 6:45 to be half of the live newspaper reading team on that day means I usually have to set the alarm for 5:45, and sometimes, depending on traffic, snooze buttons, and how tired I am, an hour isn't quite enough time to get there before the […]