One Book, One College

One Book, One College : Common Reading Programs

A number of colleges and universities having reading in common or summer reading programs. In many cases, libraries participate in choosing and discussing the book. In some cases, the library initiated the program and in others it appears to be either tied to a curriculum initiative (e.g. first year seminars) or to orientation (coming more from Student Affairs than from the academic side). In some cases, books are sent to incoming students; in others students are urged to purchase the book before coming to campus. For a literature review and analysis, see Andrew Twiton's report, "Common Reading Programs in Higher Education" (2007).

Several schools tie the program to a first year experience program or a new student orientation. (A list of summer reading programs like these is also maintained by the National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina.) Some also are used in courses, but this is by no means standard and tends to be something teaching faculty choose to do on their own. Some programs offer public events, most often an author appearance, but most aren't formally tied to a wider community reads program (through, for example, public library and high school cross-programming).

For a state-by-state listing of what communities are reading, as well as programs in the UK, Australia, and Canada, see the "One Book" page at the Library of Congress's Center for the Book. The Beyond the Book project Website, a UK/Canadian research collaboration, has a lot of useful information related to community reading programs. For an excellent guide for first-year orientation discussion facilitators, see this handout prepared by Rebecca Taylor Fremo, prepared with The Kite Runner in mind. Feel free to adapt it to your needs, but please give Becky credit.

This list (and the previous year's list) is based on information gained from Web searches and from annual queries to the Summer Reading, ILI-L and COLLIB-L discussion lists. The year indicates when the book was adopted as a common book. If you'd like your institution added or information updated, please drop me a line. You may also be interesting in joining a Summer Reading Listserv group maintained at Appalachian State University.

In the news: articles in The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report and E-Source for College Transistions. See also an interesting 2006 article by Michael Ferguson in AAC&U's Peer Review.

What were we reading in 2007?
What were we reading in 2008?

Adams State College (CO) - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Agnes Scott Collge - Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman (2009)

Albion College - Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (2009)

American University - True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society by Farhad Manjoo (2009)

Appalachian State University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2009)

Atlantic Cape Community College (NJ) - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2008)

Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) - Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama (2009)

Augustana College (Sioux Falls, SD) - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Ball State University - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2009)

Barton College (NC) - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2008)

Bellevue Community College - Listening is an Act of Love by Dave Isay (2009)

Belmont University (TN) - Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen (2008)

Bernard M. Baruch College, CUNY - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)

Berry College - An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina (2009)

Bluffton University (OH) - Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America by Ronald J. Sider (2008)

Bowling Green State University - This I Believe edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gerdiman (2009)

Butler University (IN) - Listening is an Act of Love by Dave Isay (2008)

Cabrini College (PA) - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)

California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo - Flight by Sherman Alexie (2009)

California State University, Channel Islands - Southlands by Nina Revoyr (2008)

California State University, Chico - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

California State University, Northridge - The Solosit by Steve Lopez (2009)

California State University, Sacramento - When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (2009)

Carleton College (MN) - The Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli (2008)

Case Western Reserve University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2009)

Catawba College - Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer

Chaffey College (CA) - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (2008)

Champlain College - The Torilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle (2008)

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ) - Oil on the Brain by Lis Margonelli (2009)

Clemson University - The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2009)

Cleveland State University - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)

Coastal Carolina University (SC) - Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard (2009)

Coker College (SC) - Where We Stand: Class Matters by bell hooks (2009)

College of Charleston - more - Longitude by Dava Sobel (2008)

The College of New Jersey - Black Dog of Fate by Peter Balakian (2009)

College of the Redwoods - Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (2008)

Collin College (TX) - All Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald (2008)

Community College of Baltimore County - Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2008)

Concordia College (MN) - Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert (2008)

Cornell University - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (2009)

Dartmouth College - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (2009)

DeSales - Character is Destiny by John McCain (2008)

Duke University - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2009)

Eastern Illinois University - This I Believe edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman (2009)

Eastern Kentucky University - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2009)

Eastern Michigan University - Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy (2008)

Elon University (NC) - The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol (2008)

Emerson College - The Declaration of Independence (common reading and veiwing expience with the theme "Civility - Incivility") (2008)

Fairfield University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Florida Southern College - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2009)

Florida State University - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (2009)

Foothill College (CA) - The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle (2008)

Fort Lemoyne College (NY) - Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul by Kenneth Miller (2009)

Fort Lewis College - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Georgetown University - reportedly has an agreement with the Man Booker Prize to read Booker prize winners

Goucher College - The Devil in White City by Erik Larson (2009)

Grace College (IN) - The End of the Spear by Steve Saint (2009)

Gustavus Adolphus College (MN) - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2009)

Gwynedd-Mercy College - The Soloist by Steve Lopez (2009)

Hamline University - an anthology of articles that speak to the university's mission (2008)

Huntingdon College (AL) - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (2008)

Idaho State University - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2008)

Illinois Wesleyan University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2009)

Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis - A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2008)

Indiana University, South Bend - more - There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz (2009)

Indiana University Southeast - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood; Whose Water is it? The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World (2009)

Ithaca College - Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama (2009)

James Madison University - The DNA Age a series of New York Times articles by Amy Harmon (2009)

John Brown University (AR) - The Chosen by Chaim Potok (2009)

Juniata College (PA) - Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande (2008)

Kalamazoo College - Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner (2009)

Kent State University - The Kiterunner by Khaled Homeini (2008)

Lafayette College (PA) - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Micheal Pollan (2008)

Lees-McRae College (NC) - The Death of Innocents by Helen Prejean (2008)

Lehigh University - Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)

Loyola Marymount University - The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs (2008)

Louisianna State University - The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)

Marion University (WI) - Planetwalker by John Francis (2008)

Marquette University - Run by Ann Patchett (2008)

Mars Hill College (NC) - The Translator by Daoud Hari (2009)

Marymount College (CA) - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2007)

Massbay Community College - Coyotes by Ted Conover (2008)

Methodist University (NC) - They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak (2008)

Miami University (OH) - What Learning Leaves by Taylor Mali 2009)

Michigan State University - The Soloist by Steve Lopez (2009)

Michigan Tech - Lay that Trupet in our Hands by Susan Carol McCarthy (2009)

Middle Tennessee State University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Midlands Technical College (SC) - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (2009)

Mills College (CA) - A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (2008)

Montana State University - The Soloist by Steve Lopez (2009)

Moravian College - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (2008)

Mount Holyoke - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (2009)

Murray State University - It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (2009)

Muskingum College (OH) - Ectopia by Ernest Callenbach (2008)

Nazareth College (NY) - Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy (2008)

Nebraska Methodist College - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2008)

New College of Florida - - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

New Mexico State University - The Devil's Highway by Luis Urrea (2008)

Niagara University - When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (2009)

Northern Arizona University - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2009)

Northern Kentucky University - Love My Rifle More Than You by Kayla Williams (2008)

Northwestern University - The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen (2008)

Occidental College (CA) - The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)

Ohio State University - The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber and Moutains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (2008)

Okahoma City University - Sounds of the River by Da Chen (2009)

Owensboro Community and Technical College (KY) - House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided by War by Stephen Berry (2009)

Pace University (NY) - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (2008)

Parkland College (IL) - The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2009)

Pennsylvania State University, Berks - Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (2009)

Ramapo College of New Jersey - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (2009)

Roanoke College - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (2008)

Rosemont College (PA) - Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup (2009)

Rutgers School of Arts and Science Honors Program - The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen (2009)

St. Ambrose University (IA) - Light And Darkness Anthology (2008)

St. Bonaventure University (NY) - Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (2008)

St. Francis University (PA) - Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard (2008)

St. Louis Community College - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (2009)

St. Louis University - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

St. Mary's Colleg of California - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2008)

St. Mary's College of Maryland - Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elzabeth Kolbert (2009)

Salisbury University (MD) - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (2008)

Sam Houston State University (TX) - Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John de Graaf, Dave Wann, and Thomas Naylor (2008)

San Diego State University - The Ape and the Sushi Master by Frans de Waal (2009)

San Jose State University - Color of the Sea by John Hanamura (2009)

Sierra Nevada College (NV) - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Smith College - The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones (2009)

Southern Mississippi - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (2008)

Spokane Falls Community College - White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2009)

SUNY Brockport - The Bone Woman by Clea Koff (2008)

SUNY Oswego - The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2009)

Susquehanna University - Art of Memory: An Anthology written by members of the university community (2008)

Sweet Briar College (VA) - Reading Lolita in Teheran by Azar Nafisi (2008)

Texas Tech University - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2009)

Thomas College (ME) - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (2009)

Trinity University (TX) - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

University at Buffalo, SUNY - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2008)

University of Akron - Run by Ann Patchett (2009)

University of Alabama, Birmingham - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (2009)

University of Arizona (Tucson) - blog - White Gloves by John Kotre (2009)

University of California, Santa Barbara - Ethics for the New Millennium by the Dalai Lama (2009)

University of California, Berkeley - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2009)

University of California, Davis - Bliss by Eric Weiner (2009)

University of Dayton - Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky (2008)

University of Florida - more - The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea (2009)

University of Idaho - 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina by Chris Rose (2008)

University of Kentucky - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride (2009)

University of Louisiana at Monroe - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (2008)

University of Louisville - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)

University of Maryland (College Park) - What is the What by Dave Eggers (2009)

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2006)

University of Massachusettes, Amherst (Commonwealth College) - Dean's Book Course - Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie (fall 2009); In Persuasionn Nation by George Saunders (spring 2010)

University of Montana - Missoula - The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (2009)

University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2008)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - A Home on the Field by Paul Cuadros (2009)

University of North Carolina, Wilmington - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2009)

University of North Texas - The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (2008)

University of San Francisco - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

University of South Carolina, Aiken - Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (2009)

University of Southern California - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2008)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2009)

University of Texas at Arlington - Deep Economy by Bill McKibben (2009)

University of Texas at San Antonio - A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind (2008)

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia - Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi (2009)

University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science - America, 1908 by Jim Rasenberger (2008)

University of Washington - The Devil's Highway by Luis Urrea (2008)

University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh - True West by Sam Shepard (performance); A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2008)

University of West Georgia - The Good Life by Erin McGraw; After the Lost War by Andrew Hudgins (2008)

University of Wisconsin, Parkside - Maus II by Art Spiegelman (2009)

Utah State University - Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart (2009)

Virginia Commonweath University - Maus I by Art Spiegelman (2009)

Virginia Tech - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (2008)

Wartburg College - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (2008)

Washburn University (KS) - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Wayne State University (MI) - Y no se lo tragó la tierra / And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera (2008)

West Texas A&M - What is the What by Dave Eggers (2008)

Western Carolina Unviersity - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Western Connecticut State University - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)

Western Kentucky Community and Technical College - Rocket boys by Homer Hickam; One flew over the cuckoo’s nest by Ken Kesey; Icy Sparks by Gwyn Rubio; Life is So Good by George Dawson (2008)

Western New England College - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)

Western Washington University - The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything by Gordy Slack (2008)

Whitman College - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)

Winona State University (MN) - The Blue Death: The Intriguing Past and Present Danger of the Water You Drink by Dr. Robert Morris (2008)

York College (PA) - The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2008)

Barbara Fister 6/09