Three Esplanade book clubs meet regularly, and many other neighbors are avid readers. These reviews were all written by neighbors.

2024 REVIEWS

Architects of an American Landscape by Hugh Howard (reviewed by Ken Winston)

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (reviewed by Jessie von Hippel)

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (reviewed by Susan Baron)

The Vaster Wild by Lauren Groff (reviewed by Bob Kagan)

The Final Revival of Opal and Ned by Dawn Walton (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

Daughters of the Samurai by Janice Nimura (reviewed by Eileen Glovskey)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman (reviewed by Bob Kagan)

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

Sarah’s Long Walk by Stephen Kendrick and Paul Kendrick (article by Ken Winston)

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehan (reviewed by Susan Corcoran)

The Last Hurrah by Edwin O’Connor (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)

In Love by Amy Bloom (reviewed by Jane Hilbert-Davis)

Trust by Hernan Diaz (reviewed by Jane Gould)

2023 Reviews

All the Frequent Troubles of our Days by Rebecca Donner (reviewed by Ron Ebert)

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)

Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder (reviewed by Bernie Aserkoff)

The Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz (reviewed by Janet Aserkoff)

Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule (reviewed by Fred Davis)

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre (reviewed by Ash Rao)

Horse by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed by Nancy Crowley)

Finding Me by Viola Davis (reviewed by Judi Hampton)

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (reviewed by Jane Gould)

The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick (reviewed by Don Putnoi)

If Walls Could Speak by Moshe Safdie (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (reviewed by Barbara Ogur)

Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg (reviewed by Jessie von Hippel)

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner (reviewed by Mitch Glassman)

2022 Reviews

The Promise by Damon Galgut (reviewed by Jane Weingarten)

Tyrant by Stephen Greenblatt (reviewed by Dan Dayken)

Agent Josephine by Damian Lewis (reviewed by Ron Ebert)

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Mecca by Susan Straight (reviewed by Susan Corcoran)

Matrix by Lauren Groff (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh (reviewed by Anne Lawrence)

The Tyranny of Merit by Michael Sandel (reviewed by Fred Davis)

I Live a Life Like Yours by Jan Grue (reviewed by Janet Aserkoff)

The Codebreaker by Walter Isaacson (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt (reviewed by Eileen Glovsky)

The Every by Dave Eggers (reviewed by Jane Gould)

The Doctors Blackwell by Janice Nimura (reviewed by Don Putnoi and Fred Davis)

State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penney (reviewed by Susan Barron)

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (reviewed by Susan Barron)

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

February House by Sherrill Tippens

2021 Reviews

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (reviewed by Jane Weingarten)

Borges and Me by Jay Perini (reviewed by Mitch Glassman)

Extra Life by Steven Johnson (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)

We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper (reviewed by Anne Lawrence)

Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry by Robert Kanigal (reviewed by Ron Ebert)

Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh (reviewed by Sissela Bok)

Extraterrestrial by Avi Loeb (reviewed by Fred C. Davis)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (reviewed by Jane Gould)

Plunder by Menachem Kaiser (reviewed by Bernie Aserkoff)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (reviewed by Ash Rao)

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund deWaal (reviewed by Nancy Crowley)

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (reviewed by Fran Putnoi)

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (reviewed by Jessie von Hippel)

First Principles by Thomas Ricks (reviewed by Don Putnoi)

2020 Reviews

American Nations by Colin Woodard (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

The Searcher by Tana French (reviewed by Eileen Glovsky)

Exploring Happiness by Sissela Bok (reviewed by Jessie von Hippel)

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)

Prisoners of Geography byTim Marshall (reviewed by Charles Glovsky)

American Dialogue by Joseph Ellis (reviewed by Fred Davis)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (reviewed by Carol Baggeroer)

The Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss (reviewed by Ash Rao)

Why Time Flies by Alan Burdick (reviewed by Lisa Frusztajer)

The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larsen (reviewed by Bernie Aserkoff)

The Hundred Year Marathon by Michael Pillsbury (reviewed by Ash Rao)

The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore (reviewed by Jane Gould)

The Wolf Hall Trilogy: An Appreciation (reviewed by Bob Kagan)

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken (reviewed by Nancy Crowley)

Higher Expectations by Derek Bok: A conversation

Demagogue by Larry Tye: A conversation

High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins (reviewed by Linda Felter)

The Broken Heart of America by Walter Johnson (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

The Children Act by Ian McEwan (reviewed by Susan Barron)

Becoming by Michelle Obama (reviewed by Judi Hampton)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexi (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

There There by Tommy George (reviewed by Nancy Crowley)

The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett Davis (reviewed by Jane Hilburt Davis)

Educated by Tara Westover (reviewed by Charles Glovsky)

Olive Again by Elizabeth Stout (reviewed by Jane Hilburt Davis)

Scorpions by Noah Feldman (reviewed by Fred Davis)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (reviewed by Susan Barron)

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (reviewed by Janis Gogan)

Behave by Andromeda Romano-Lax (reviewed by Jane Gould)

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (reviewed by Charles Glovsky)

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (reviewed by Fran Putnoi)

2018-19 Reviews

A Change of Time by Ida Jessen (reviewed by Lisa Frusztajer)

Old New York by Edith Wharton (reviewed by Lisa Frusztajer)

Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann (reviewed by Jane Hilburt Davis)

The End of October by Lawrence Wright (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)

Leadership in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Presidents, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (reviewed by Sissela Bok)

Fighting Words by Nancy F. Cott (reviewed by Janet Aserkoff)

The Immortal Game by David Shenk (reviewed by Larry Lieberman)

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld (reviewed by Mary Jo Bane)