It was so heartwarming to hear from so many ’01s for this column. I asked classmates to share their go-to sources for book recommendations. I was inspired by a text chain among Debra (Brodsky) Shigley, Suzanne (DeVries) Decker, and me in which Suze and Debra often volley around recently read books and authors. I sit on the sidelines of these conversations as I have very different taste in books (I’m looking at you, dense nonfiction) but still delight when this happens as I gain insights not only about potential reads but everything else going on in their worlds. I hope there are lots of similar text chains simmering among our classmates.

There were lots of fun responses to this prompt connecting back to some of our most prolific ’01 authors. Katie (Reichardt) Bishop wrote in of her writing experience to say, “It’s been a fun ride hearing about how The Best Seller novel has positively impacted readers in their jobs and relationships. I’m thrilled that the book consistently ranks favorably in ‘Business Mentoring & Coaching’ among the books on Amazon!” Rachel Richardson’s third book, Smother, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton in January 2025. She explained, “The book is about living through the middle years of motherhood under the near-constant smoke of the West’s catastrophic wildfires. But it’s not all bleak—I also have several love poems in the book, addressed to my female friends and to the power of friendship overall as a way to carry on. Two of them are dedicated to Nomi Stone ’03 and Giulia Good Stefani (and you’ll catch a little bit of Dartmouth lore in them too), but they stand more broadly for all of my formative Dartmouth friendships—I feel so grateful for the mutual support they’ve provided through these intense midlife years.” Tara Dairman shared that her latest children’s novel, The Girl from Earth’s End, was recently named to the Vermont Golden Dome Book Awards list and is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. She recommended reading the work of Ann Braden and Minh Le. Allison (Murray) Brennan said she read one of Tara’s other books, Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy, to her pre-K class for Earth Day. Dean Krishna seconded Tara’s recommendation, noting that his kids love Minh’s Let Me Finish! The good news for all of those Minh Le fans is that he has a new book coming out! Built to Last is Minh’s 10th children’s book and his fourth collaboration with National Book Award winner Dan Santat. To round things out, Ale Checka wrote in recommending three of the authors mentioned here: Rachel, Tara, and Minh.

Keep reading, writing, and supporting our ’01 authors!

—Rachel Milstein Sondheimer, 143 Branchville Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877; (203) 645-6938; rachel.sondheimer@gmail.com