March 2023

Chris: The Eight by Katherine Neville "A quest in which the heroine tries to recover a legendary chess set once owned by Charlemagne."

Julie: Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto "Shorto investigates Enlightenment history by focusing on Rene Descartes, whose twin enemies were "authority...and fuzzy thinking."

Katie: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell 

Philip: Papyrus: the Invention of Books in the Ancient World by Irene Vallejo "[This book] reveals how writing came about, and how the papyrus plant was harvested, and prepared for use to write on. And I learned that, today, in our present world, a new book is published every half-minute!"

 

February 2023

Chris: Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen - "Entertaining contemporary story of a woman who gets caught up in a knockoff scam."

Parker: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Becca: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - "A terrifying window into one family's experience with their mother's favorite puppet, Pupkin; nightmare fuel."

Katie: Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett - "A fun & chaotic novel about a London writer & the eccentric characters she creates."

Julie: The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark - " In her lovely prose, Spark details the intrigues and adventures of Barbara Vaughan, an English schoolteacher, and a cast of archaeologists, diplomats, spies, and scallywags."

Ery: Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown - "Helpful research-based exploration of emotions and how our awareness of them can lead to healthier conversations, relationships & lives."

Philip: The World Broke in Two by Bill Goldstein. - "This takes off from a remark that the American novelist Willa Cather made about the year 1922 when both Joyce's "Ulysses," and Eliot's, "The Wasteland," were published."

 

January 2023

Chris & Katie: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Becca: Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - "A dark fantasy driven by alchemy and emotional bonds."

Katie: Happy Hour by Marlowe Grandados - "This book is like if Lucia and Mia from White Lotus lived in New York City in 2013."

 

December 2022

Leslie: The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth

Chris: Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

Julie: Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

Becca: A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff

Katie: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

 

November 2022

Chris: Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman

Julie: To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek

Philip: Whereabouts:  Notes on Being a Foreigner, by Alastair Reid, and, Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solint

 

October 2022

Katie: The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy

Katherine: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Rebecca: Little Eve by Catriona Ward

Roberta: The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander

Julie: The Invited by Jennifer McMahon

 

September 2022

Becca:  Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Katie: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Roberta: Remembering Poets by Donald Hall

Julie: A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton

Philip: Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes

 

August 2022

Roberta: The Longest Silence by Tom McGuane

Katie: Either/Or by Elif Batuman

Olivia: Circe by Madeline Miller

Becca: Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

Julie: The Human Factor by Graham Greene

 

July 2022

Chris B.: The Old Man by Thomas Perry 

Roberta: This Old Man: All in Pieces by Roger Angell

Katie: The Witch's Hand by Nathan Page

Parker: 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

Olivia: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Julie: The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark

Ery: The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe

 

June 2022

Chris B.: City on Fire by Don Winslow and

Both/And A Life in Many Worlds by Huma Abedin.

Katie: The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

Julie:  To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Rebecca: The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

Parker: The Craft of Cocktail by Dale DeGroff 

Olivia: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Ery: Body Work by Melissa Febos

Roberta: Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire

 

May 2022

Chris B.: The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks

Katie: Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman

Olivia: Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer

Julie:  To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

 

April 2022

Chris B.: There is Nothing for You Here by Fiona Hill

Katie: Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Philip: Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Olivia: Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir

Julie:  The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Parker: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

March 2022

Chris B.: Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder. 

Katie: I Must Say by Martin Short

Parker: Not All Diamonds and Rosé by Dave Quinn

Olivia: Pastoral Song: A Farmer's Journey by James Rebanks

Roberta:  Watercress by Andrea Wang Illustrated by Jason Chin