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Random Review Archives

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  • September 14: 1984 by George Orwell
    Reviewer: John Larison | Watch | Related Books
  • October 12: Putin’s People by Catherine Belton
    Reviewer: Sarah Henderson | Watch | Related Books
  • November 9:  Remember by Lisa Genova
    Reviewer: Helen Kao | Watch | Related Books
  • December 14: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
    Reviewer: Kate Hope Day | Watch | Related Books
  • January 11: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
    Reviewer: Russell Yamada | Watch | Related Books
  • February 8: Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia
    Reviewer: Dolly Chao | Watch | Related Books
  • March 8: The Premonition by Michael Lewis
    Reviewer: Bruce Thomson and Charlie Fautin | Watch | Related Books
  • April 12: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
    Reviewer: J. Renee Brooks | Watch | Related Books
  • MAY EVENT CANCELED: The Sum of Us by Heather C. McGhee
    Reviewer: Dwaine Plaza
  • June 14: Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
    Reviewer: David Grube and Gary DeLander | Watch | Related Books
  • September 8: Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
    Reviewer: Allison Davis-White Eyes | Watch | Related Books
  • October 13: Eager by Ben Goldfarb
    Reviewer: Robert Beschta | Watch | Related Books
  • November 10:  Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
    Reviewer: Marjorie Sandor | Watch | Related Books
  • December 8: The Address Book by Deirdre Mask
    Reviewer: Abby Metzger | Watch Related Items
  • January 12: After the Last Border by Jessica Goudeau
    Reviewer: Dee Curwen | WatchRelated Books
  • February 9: The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
    Reviewer: Barbara Taylor | Watch Related Books
  • March 9: The Second Founding by Eric Foner
    Reviewer: Marisa Chappell | Watch | Related Items
  • April 13: The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager
    Reviewer: Randy Milstein | Watch | Related Books
  • May 11: Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
    Reviewer: Keith Scribner | WatchRelated Books
  • June 8: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
    Reviewer: Michael Nelson | Watch | Related Book
  • September 9: Breaking News by Alan Rusbridger
    Reviewer: Mike McInally| Watch | Related Books
  • October 21: The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
    Reviewer: Fay Stetz-Waters| Watch | Related Books
  • November 18: Apeirogon by Colum McCann
    Reviewer: Rabbi Ariel Stone| Watch | Related Books
  • December 9: One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle
    Reviewer panel: David James Duncan, David Grube, Kathleen Dean Moore | Watch | Related Books
  • January 13: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
    Reviewer: Audrey Perkins | Watch | Related Books
  • February 10: Horizon by Barry Lopez
    Reviewer: Gregg Kleiner | Watch | Related Books
  • March 10: Louise Penny, author overview
    Reviewer: Corrine Gobeli | Watch | Related Books
  • April 14: The Tangled Tree by David Quammen
    Reviewer: Joey Spatafora | Watch | Related Books
  • May 12: And Then We Danced by Henry Alford
    Reviewer: Mishele Mennett | Watch | Related Books
  • June 9: Coyote America by Dan Flores
    Reviewer: William Robbins | Watch | Related Books
  • September 11: The Library Book by Susan Orlean
    Reviewer: Ashlee Chavez | Access recording
  • October 23: What the Eyes Don’t See by Mona Hanna-Attisha
    Reviewer: Molly Kile | Access recording
  • November 13: Buzz by Thor Hanson
    Reviewer: Andy Moldenke | Access recording
  • December 11: Something Wonderful by Todd Purdum
    Reviewer: Elizabeth Wyatt | Access recording
  • January 8: How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
    Reviewer: Jim Phelps | Access recording
  • February 12: Becoming by Michelle Obama
    Reviewer: Fay Stetz-Waters | Access recording
  • September 12: Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
    Reviewer: Bill Robbins | Access recording
  • October 10: The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl
    Reviewer: Victoria Fridley | Access recording
  • November 14: Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
    Reviewer: Bob Mason | Access recording
  • December 12: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
    Reviewer: Margaret Manoogian | Access recording
  • January 9: The Overstory by Richard Powers
    Reviewer: Kathleen Dean Moore | Access recording
  • February 13: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
    Reviewer: Ramycia McGhee | Access recording
  • March 13: What She Ate by Laura Shapiro
    Reviewer: Jan Roberts-Dominguez | Access recording
  • April 10: The Newcomers by Helen Thorpe
    Reviewer: Dee Curwen | Access recording
  • May 8: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
    Reviewer: Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet | Access recording
  • June 12: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
    Reviewer: Tammy Bray | Access recording
  • September 13: 25th Anniversary Celebration and Readers’ Theater
    All the Light We Cannot See – Reader: Emma Nichols
    Being Mortal – Reader: Mary Austin-Seymour
    Beloved – Reader: Fay Stetz-Waters
    Boys in the Boat – Reader: Rick Wallace
    The Grapes of Wrath – Reader: Tracy Daughtery
    Riverwalking – Reader: Ashlee Chavez
    Seabiscuit – Reader: Gary Whitehouse
    Wait Till Next Year – Reader: Elena Passarello
    Access recording
  • October 11: American Nations by Colin Woodard
    Reviewer: Bill Lunch | Access recording
  • November 8: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
    Reviewer: Alice Sperling | Access recording
  • December 13: I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
    Reviewer: Tom Sharpton | Access recording
  • January 10: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
    Reviewer: Bob Loewen | Access recording
  • February 14: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
    Reviewer: Bonnie Brzozowski | Access recording
  • March 7: The Book of Joy by The Dali Lama and Desmond Tutu
    Reviewer: David Grube | Access recording
  • April 11: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
    Reviewer: Joyce Loper | Access recording
  • May 9: Moonglow by Michael Chabon
    Reviewer: Jonathan Katz | Access recording
  • June 13: When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
    Reviewer: Karyle Butcher | Access recording
  • September 14: Dead Wake by Erik Larson
    Reviewer: Paul Kopperman
  • October 12: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
    Reviewer: Carol Mason
  • November 9: Dreamland by Sam Quinones
    Reviewer: Steve Gallon
  • December 14: Sisters in Law by Linda Hirshman
    Reviewer: Jeanne Smith and Gretchen Morris
  • January 11: The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner
    Reviewer: David Noakes
  • February 8: Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett
    Reviewer: Charles Goodrich
  • March 8: The Born Frees by Kimberly Burge
    Reviewer: Ann Staley
  • April 12: Beyond Words by Carl Safina
    Reviewer: Frank Moore
  • May 10: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
    Reviewer: Marjorie Sandor
  • June 14: The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck
    Reviewer: Bill Goslow
  • September 9: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
    Reviewer: David Grube
  • October 14: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
    Reviewer: Penny Brassfield
  • November 18: Missoula by Jon Krakauer
    Reviewer: Patricia Lacy
  • December 9: Between You and Me by Mary Norris
    Reviewer: Jo Alexander
  • January 13: In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
    Reviewer: John Byrne
  • February 10: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
    Reviewer: Kevin Hashizume
  • March 9: Damsels in Distress: Women in Classic Dystopian Novels
    Reviewer: Alicia Bublitz
  • April 13: Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
    Reviewer: Margaret Manoogian
  • May 11: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
    Reviewer: Rebecca Terry
  • June 8: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
    Reviewers: Susan and Bob Poole
  • September 10: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
    Reviewer: Alison Clement
  • October 8: Mary Oliver’s Poetry
    Reviewer: Robin Havenick
  • November 12: Maverick Genius by Phillip Schewe
    Reviewer: Greg Mulder
  • December 10: Shocked by Patricia Volk
    Reviewer: Leslie Burns
  • January 14: Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem
    Reviewer: Elena Passarello | No recording available
  • February 11: Five Came Back by Mark Harris
    Reviewer: Jon Lewis
  • March 11: Book of Ages by Jill Lepore
    Reviewer: Ben Mutschler
  • April 8: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
    Reviewer: Bill Robbins
  • May 13: The Family by David Laskin
    Reviewer: Jonathan Katz
  • June 10: Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Katy Butler
    Reviewer: Cliff Hall
  • September 11: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
    Reviewer: Craig Leman
  • October 9: The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone
    Reviewer: Hasso Hering
  • November 13: Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan
    Reviewer: Larry Landis
  • December 11: The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
    Reviewer: Paul Farber
  • January 8: Aubrey-Maturin Napoleonic War novels by Patrick O’Brian
    Reviewer: Gerald Krantz
  • February 12: My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
    Reviewer: Maria Chavez-Haroldson
  • March 12: The Round House by Louise Erdrich
    Reviewer: Beth Rietveld
  • April 9: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
    Reviewer: Courtney Campbell
  • May 14: Antarctica by Gabrielle Walker
    Reviewer: Andrew Thurber
  • June 11: The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
    Reviewer: Mary Nevin
  • September 12: The Greater Journey by David McCullough
    Reviewer: Chris Rochester and Kathleen
  • October 10: The Last Great Senate by Ira Shapiro
    Reviewer: John Dentler
  • November 14: Packing the Court by James MacGregor Burns
    Reviewer: Robert Gardner
  • December 12: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
    Reviewer: Leslie Richards
  • January 9: The Works of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
    Reviewer: Adam Michaud
  • February 13: The Submission by Amy Waldman
    Reviewer: Aria Minu-Sepehr
  • March 13: The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
    Reviewer: Stephen Neville
  • April 10: Quiet by Susan Cain
    Reviewer: Felicia Uhden
  • May 8: Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
    Reviewer: Gerry Olson
  • June 12: Born to Run by Christopher MacDougall
    Reviewer: Kate MacTavis
  • September 14: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
    Reviewer: Rebecca Olson.
  • October 1: Readers Theater: As part of their 50th celebration, the Friends of the Library presents:
    Dick Weinman – Master of the Senate
    Sandy Ridlington – Olive Kitteredge
    Gary Whitehouse – Seabiscuit
    David Low – Da Vinci Code
    Gregg Kleiner – This House of Sky
    Curtis Kiefer – Harry Potter
    Rick Borsten – Snow Falling on Cedars
    Charlotte Headrick – To Kill a Mockingbird
    Jane Donovan – Nickel and Dimed
  • November 9:  Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
    Reviewer: Gary Whitehouse
  • December 14:  Cascadia’s Fault by Jerry Thompson
    Reviewer: Chris Goldfinger
  • January 11:  A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold
    Reviewer: Christina Eisenberg
  • Februrary 8:  Aftershock by Robert Reich
    Reviewer: Charles Vars
  • March 14:  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
    Reviewer: Marisa Chappell
  • April 11:  Country Driving by Peter Hessler
    Reviewer: Staci Simonich | No recording available
  • May 9:  Mink River by Brian Doyle
    Reviewer: John Larison
  • June 13:  The Panic Virus by Seth Mnookin
    Reviewer: Michael Wong
  • September 8: Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
    Reviewer: Barbara Taylor | No recording available
  • October 13: Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
    Reviewer: Shirley Byrne
  • November 10: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
    Reviewer: Karyle Butcher
  • December 8: The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
    Reviewer: Larry Roper
  • January 12: Collapse by Jared Diamond
    Reviewer: David Noakes
  • February 9: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer
    Reviewer: Steve Buccola
  • March 9: When Everything Changed by Gail Collins
    Reviewer: Jo Anne Trow
  • April 13: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
    Reviewer: Charlotte Headrick
  • May 11: Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
    Reviewer: Pete Sandrock
  • June 8: Surviving Paradise by Peter Rudiak-Gould
    Reviewer: Sandy Rider and Roy
  • September 9: 109 East Palace by Jennett Conant
    Reviewer: Ken Krane and Paula
  • October 14: Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
    Reviewer: Robert Gardner
  • November 18: Overtreated by Shannon Brownlee
    Reviewer: Cosimo Storniolo
  • December 9: As They See ‘Em by Bruce Weber
    Reviewer: Mike Parker
  • January 13: Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
    Reviewer: Margaret Anderson
  • February 10: My Antonia by Willa Cather
    Reviewer: Penny Brassfield
  • March 10: Factory Girls by Leslie Chang
    Reviewer: Sandie Helmick
  • April 14: Two Wheels North by Evelyn McDaniel Gibb
    Reviewer: Corrine Gobeli
  • May 12: Savages and Scoundrels by Paul VanDevelder
    Reviewer: John Byrne
  • June 9: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
    Reviewer: Nancy Rosenberger
  • September 10: Better by Atul Gawande
    Reviewer: Craig Leman
  • October 8: Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
    Reviewer: Bill Wilkins
  • November 12: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
    Reviewer: John Frohnmayer
  • December 10: Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss
    Reviewer: Erin Kahle
  • January 14: Mediterranean Summer by David Shalleck
    Reviewer: Jacque Schreck
  • February 11: Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich
    Reviewer: Christopher Mathews
  • March 11: Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
    Reviewer: Marion Whitney
  • April 08: Wendell Berry overview
    Reviewer: Charles Goodrich
  • May 13: Eaves of Heaven by Andrew X. Pham
    Reviewer: Christopher Rumbaugh
  • June 10: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
    Reviewer: Wendy Madar
  • September 12: On the Road by Jack Kerouc
    Reviewer: Kerry Ahearn
  • October 10: Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
    Reviewer: Cliff Trow
  • November 14: Road by Cormac McCarthy
    Reviewer: Neil Browne
  • December 12: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Rein
    Reviewer: Sam Stern
  • January 9: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
    Reviewer: Chris Peterson
  • February 13: Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
    Reviewer: Lucia Robelo
  • March 12: Sample of International Crime Fiction by various
    Reviewer: Cheryl Maze
  • April 09: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
    Reviewer: Beth Rietveld
  • May 14: Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
    Reviewer: Mina Carson
  • June 11: Einstein by Walter Isaacson
    Reviewer: Mary Jo Nye