The Feather River College Book in Common
The purpose of a common reading is to create a focus for ideas and discussion on campus and in the local community about significant current topics, social issues, or literary works. Students, staff, faculty, and community members can share their understanding of the book within different contexts and points-of-view. Even in our digital age, books still provide necessary records of experience, explore of personal and cultural themes, foster deep and complex understanding that creates 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. The Book in Common is often adopted for use in various Feather River College classes, including English 101 Composition and reading.
The Book in Common project also includes films, lectures, visits by authors and experts on topics related to the themes of the chosen book. Themes from the Bok in Common often supply a thematic foundation for the year’s First Year Experience—a year of common activities and discussion for incoming students.
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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