Washington State University common read: every book

Washington State University's Common Reading Program gives incoming students one shared book. The university lists 17 picks from 2007-08 to 2024-25; the most recent is How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America by Priya Fielding-Singh (2024-25). 5 of these books were also picked by other programs we collected.

Every pick, newest first

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1. 2024-25

   How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America

   Priya Fielding-Singh

   Find it on Amazon
2. 2022-23 and 2023-24

   Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

   Robin Wall Kimmerer

   Find it on Amazon

   Also on: University of Kansas
3. 2021-22

   Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

   edited by John Freeman

   Find it on Amazon

   Also on: University of Kansas
4. 2020-21

   Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

   Trevor Noah

   Find it on Amazon
5. 2019-20

   Refuge: Rethinking Refugee Policy in a Changing World

   Alexander Betts and Paul Collier

   Find it on Amazon
6. 2018-19

   Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything

   Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith

   Find it on Amazon
7. 2017-18

   Ready Player One

   Ernest Cline

   Find it on Amazon

   Also on: Arizona State University (West Valley campus)
8. 2016-17

   I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban

   Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

   Find it on Amazon
9. 2015-16

   Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

   Bryan Stevenson

   Find it on Amazon

   Also on: Appalachian State University, University of Mississippi, Binghamton University, Duke University
10. 2014-15

    Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash

    Edward Humes

    Find it on Amazon
11. 2013-14

    Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

    Kathryn Schulz

    Find it on Amazon
12. 2012-13

    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

    Rebecca Skloot

    Books like this →Find it on Amazon

    Also on: University of Mississippi
13. 2011-12

    Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines

    Richard A. Muller

    Find it on Amazon
14. 2010-11

    Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, not Bombs

    Greg Mortenson

    Find it on Amazon
15. 2009-10

    The Omnivore's Dilemma: A History of Four Meals

    Michael Pollan

    Find it on Amazon
16. 2008-09

    Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

    Mary Roach

    Find it on Amazon
17. 2007-08

    Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918

    Gina Kolata

    Find it on Amazon