I recently asked ’90s, “What’s the best (or most impactful or memorable) book you’ve read during the last three years?” Here is Part II of your responses: William Boulware: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a phenomenal read.” Ute Bowman Otley: “Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak, which I finished in the Williams College Bookstore while waiting for a basketball game between my daughter’s Tufts Jumbos and the Ephs. I found myself sobbing in public. It’s that good.” Julie Urda: “Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson had an imaginative plot mixed with exciting storytelling. I was really impressed by how she intertwines the ancient with the contemporary. It introduced me to a new world of Middle Eastern mysticism.” Eric Wellons: Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright. Kyle Davis: “In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson is the true story of William E. Dodd, the first American ambassador to Nazi Germany. It’s a great lesson on how ‘good’ Germans and the rest of the world watched while the Nazis became exterminators of ‘undesirables.’ ” Laurie Isbell Donaghu: “My favorite was The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson and my second favorite was The Overstory by Richard Powers.” Jen Gittes: “A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher was dystopian adventure with a satisfying twist. I loved it.” Tony Jones:“Deliverance by James Dickey. A friend recommended it and said it has some of the best hunting scenes ever written, which is true—even if the protagonist is on the hunt for a human. It’s a stunningly well-written book.” Peter Jennings: “Grant by Ron Chernow. I also listened to Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, which was life-changing as well.” Gary Katz: “A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles had prose so good I held myself to 10 pages a day to savor it. It’s a must-read for anyone who took ‘Introduction to the Soviet Union.’ ” David Sherwood: “July 1914 by Sean McMeekin serves as a stark reminder that we should strive to ensure that our government is competent, transparent, and accountable; the failure to do so can lead to incalculable loss.” John Stouffer: “Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann was a really interesting, true murder story about the Osage tribe in Oklahoma and how the case helped develop the FBI.” Rob Harris: “A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles was beautifully written. Also Black is the Body by Emily Bernard, a collection of personal stories and anecdotes from a Black woman from Nashville. It teaches us much and opens our eyes without being preachy or handbook-ish.” David Janssen: “How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt felt like an intervention or one of those old ‘this is your brain on drugs’ commercials in its context for our politics. But the analysis was somehow comforting. The first step to recovery is understanding the problem.” Mark Sternman:“Roger Kahn’s The Boys of Summer—it’s deep dives into baseball, newspapering, and urban living really resonated with me, as did the stories about visits to retired players, which illustrated the opportunities and perils of aging.”

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