Class of 1990

I asked all of you (for the fourth time since 2014) to identify the best (or most impactful/memorable) book you’ve read since 2021. Here is Part II of your responses.

Carol (Huang) Will writes, “Dark Money by Jane Mayer. It explains why the country is where it is!” Diana Berger writes, “I love Kamala Harris’ memoir! I also loved Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese.” She adds, “I have lived in Norwich, Vermont, for the last seven years. My now 20-year-old twin daughters wanted to move to Vermont from N.Y.C., where they were born and both go to UVM. They didn’t want Dartmouth, thank goodness. I’m not a rich doctor; I’m a public health doctor and my partner, Lisa, is a public health nurse.”

Tony Jones, author of The God of Wild Places (https://reverendhunter.com) writes,“The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is an incredible climate-fiction story set in the near future. Virtually every week I see a headline that reminds me of this novel. It’s harrowing but hopeful.” Steve Linde writes, “For me, hands down the best book this year was James by Percival Everett, a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic Huckleberry Finn. A lot of the enjoyment of the experience was re-reading the original and anticipating (wrongly) where Everett was going to take things. By the way, wasn’t there a ’90 who rafted down the Mississippi after graduation with their dog?” Michelle Brownlee writes, “I loved Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, about growing up in South Africa. I listened to the audiobook read by the author. He’s a great storyteller. Does it count if I didn’t read it with my eyes?”

Ross Agre writes, “Walter Isaacson’s Benjamin Franklin: An American Life stands out for me. The breadth of Franklin’s endeavors and impact on our country is a persistent source of fascination. Isaacson does an admirable job of acknowledging Franklin’s shortcomings while lauding his accomplishments in a way that reminds us we don’t need to be perfect to drive meaningful change or benefit those around us.” Ross also writes, “On the personal front, I have had the great fortune of making several trips to Hanover with my family (and with Brian Falbo on the latest trip) to drop off and then visit my daughter, Anabel ’28. My younger daughter is a junior in high school, and I am trying not to be too heavy-handed in encouraging her to follow her sister. We are back in Durango, Colorado, and won’t be leaving anytime soon given that almost everything we love to do is right outside our door.”

Ute (Bowman) Otley writes, “I’m sure I will catch **** for this, but A Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas left quite an impression! Whew!” Ute also reports, “My first five months as a college basketball coach have been pretty intense—lots of recruiting, tons of new learning, and endless hours of driving on Interstate 89! (Secretary’s Note: At the time I submitted this column, Ute’s team had won twice as many conference games as last year!)

—Rob Crawford, 22 Black Oak Road, Weston, MA 02493; crawdaddy37@gmail.com