2021/2022 Feather River College - Book in Common:
“A powerful read that fills one with, dare I say . . . hope?”—The New York Times
There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it’s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it’s a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.
All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society.
Purpose of Book in Common
Many colleges and universities adopt a common reading for the academic year. The purpose of a common reading is to create campus and community wide intellectual discussion about a significant current topic, social issue, or literary work. By presenting various opportunities to engage with the book, students, staff, faculty, and community can develop an understanding of the book within different contexts and points-of-view. Books, as repositories of knowledge, records of experience, and explorations of personal and cultural themes, foster deep and complex understanding and provide the basis for a healthy and vibrant society. The Book in Common is one way that FRC dedicates itself to giving students the tools to engage, comprehend, and shape the world around them.
2020-2021
Ibram X. Kendi's book How to Be an Antiracist takes a close look at what could be called structural and social racism. Instead of wanting to lay blame or accuse individuals of racist views or behavior, Kendi is more interested in showing how our society has incorporated bias and prejudice into many of our ideas and behaviors which shape and support our society. He uses a combination of personal stories from his life as well as journalistic reporting and scholarly analysis to demonstrate his points.
2019-2020
Written by northern California author and graphic artist Brian Fies, A Fire Story tells about Fies’ experience with the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa in 2017. The author lost everything in the fire except his ability to draw and tell stories. A graphic memoir, Fies compellingly relates the events and their aftermath and recovery. Living with wildfire is a reality in California, and this book resonated with our community. Brian Fies visited Feather River College for two days in September 2019 to lecture, teach, and speak about his story, about writing and cartooning, and about the realities of wildfire.
2018-2019
Written by sociologist Matthew Desmond, Evicted explores the circumstances and difficulties of paying rent, owning land, and trying to get by in difficult circumstances. Thought the research was done in Milwaukee, Desmond brings out the common challenges and circumstances that many Americans face.
2017-2018
The Devil’ Highway tells the true story of a group of Latin American immigrants who cross the U.S. Border illegally guided by unscrupulous coyotes. Lost and suffering from thirst and heat stroke, many of the people die. Luis Alberto Urrea, a journalist and a novelist, goes into great detail offering multiple stories, multiple points of view, and many thoughtful themes.
2016-2017
Written by McArthur award winning lawyer Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy is a memoir about his career representing death-row inmates and those wrongfully convicted of crimes in the Deep South. The various stories and fates of people involved in the justice system offers many difficult questions about society, justice, and mercy.
2015-2016
Journalist Elizabeth Kolbert explores the meaning and consequences of the Anthropocene era—the epoch of earth’s history dominated by humankind. There had been five major extinctions of substantial portions of life in earth. The question of human influence of the environment and issues climate change are explored through a combination of science and journalism.
2014-2015
The Book Thief became an international best-seller after publication in 2005. The novel, narrated by Death, tells the story of a young girl, Liesel, who lives in Germany during World War II. The unusual viewpoint allows readers to think about personal values within morally ambiguous situations.
2013-2014
The Yellow Birds is a novel that uses a symbolic and metaphorical structure to tell the story of one U.S. soldier’s experience in the way in Iraq. The story follows Pvt. John Bartle as his life moves from realistic to surrealistic narrative. The book was based loosely on the author’s experience in the war.
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