Each summer on this blog I’ve looked at the books assigned to incoming college Freshmen. (At these links you can read the lists for the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2020). This year’s top selection is Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, but a news story claims this is the year of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which turns 200 this year.
Here are the books assigned to the in-coming class of 2022:
| Freshman Summer Reading Class of 2022 | ||
| Title | Author | University |
| The Laramie Project | Moisés Kaufman | Appalachian State U |
| Dead Man Walking | Sister Helen Prejean | Arcadia College (Pennsylvania) |
| Between the World and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Augsutana College |
| Real American: A Memoir | Julie Lythcott-Haims | Bates |
| How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs. | Alan Jacobs | Baylor (Honors) |
| Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work by | Dave Isay | Berry College (Georgia) |
| Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | Matthew Desmond | Brown |
| Antigonick | Anne Carson | Bucknell |
| All They Will Call You | Tim Hernandes | Butte College |
| Becoming Nicole: Transformation… | Amy Ellis Nutt | Cal State, Northridge |
| All They Will Call You | Tim Hernandes | California State U Chico |
| Frankenstein | Mary Shelley | Claremont McKenna |
| Frankenstein | Mary Shelley | Colorado College |
| The Power | Naomi Alderman | Concordia College (Minnesota) |
| Sing, Unburied, Sing | Jesmyn Ward | Duke |
| The Last Ballad | Wiley Cash | East Carolina U |
| Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County: A Family, A Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle | Kristen Green | Elon U |
| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | Bryan Stevenson | Goucher College |
| The Good Food Revolution | Will Allen | Gustavus Adolphus College |
| Frankenstein | Mary Shelley | Hiriam College |
| Becoming Nicole: Transformation… | Amy Ellis Nutt | Illinois Wesleyan U |
| The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women … | Jo Ann Robinson | Johns Hopkins |
| Make Your Home Among Strangers | Jennine Capó Crucet | Kalamazoo College |
| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | Bryan Stevenson | Kelley School of Business Indiana U |
| Everyday Ambassador: Make a Difference … | Kate Otto | Kent State |
| No Apparent Distress | Rachel Pearson | Lehigh |
| No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age | Rachel Pearson | Lehigh U |
| Odyssey (new translation by Emily Wilson) | Homer | Luther College (Iowa) |
| Boy, Snow, Bird | Helen Oyeyemi | Medaille College (Buffalo, NY) |
| Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work by | Dave Isay | Meredith College (North Carolina) |
| Tigerland | Wil Haygood | Miami University (Ohio) |
| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | Bryan Stevenson | Middle Tennessee State U |
| $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America | Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer | North Carolina State U |
| Born a Crime | Trevor Noah | Northlake College |
| Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech | Keith Whittington | Princeton |
| Born a Crime | Trevor Noah | Providence College |
| The Leavers | Lisa Ko | Ramapo College (New Jersey) |
| Frankenstein [Graphic Novel] | Mary Shelley | Sienna |
| We Are Completely Beside Ourselves | Karen Joy Fowler | Smith |
| Hamilton: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | St. Michael’s College |
| Spare Parts | Joshua Davis | Stevens Institute of Technology |
| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | Bryan Stevenson | SUNY Oneonta |
| Ready Player One. | Ernest Cline | TCU Texas Christian U |
| The Prince of Los Cocuyos | Richard Blanco | Trinity U (San Antonio, TX) |
| Beartown | Fredrik Backman | Tulane |
| The Handmaid’s Tale | Margaret Atwood | U Houston (Downtown) |
| This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women | Jay Allison (ed) | U Louisiana, Monroe |
| Lab Girl | Hope Jahren | U Mass Amherst |
| Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in … | Mitch Prinstein | U North Carolina |
| Between the World & Me | Ta-Neishi Coates | U Vermont (Honors) |
| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | Bryan Stevenson | U. South Alabama |
| When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanith | Vanderbilt |
| We Should All Be Feminists | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Wagner College |
| Soonish | Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. | Washington State |
| Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress | Dai Sijie. | Washington U (St. Louis) |
| Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel | West Virginia U (Year’s read–not summer) |
| The Death and Life of the Great Lakes | Dan Egan | Wisconsin (Madison) |
Hopewell's Public Library of Life 
Interesting; I haven’t read most of them. I think going into freshman year at IU was the only time I was assigned some summer reading. That was for an honors seminar I took, and we had to read part of the Bible and Plato’s Republic. The girls have had summer reading each year for high school. Here is Sophie’s list for this summer —
http://homestead.sacs.k12.in.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=76307&pageId=424747
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Sadly, the Honors folks weren’t clamoring to get me! I read more James Bond, JohnO’Hara and other stuff. WOW! Some amazing books on her list! Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was amazing! [I’m out of adjectives today). Garden of the Beasts is one of those that makes you say “How did we let this….” I never expected to see James Herriot–that’s a wonderful surprise. I’ve read so many of this list!
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Interesting! A really great mix of genres and authors — it’s nice to see such a wide range of selections.
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I love doing this every year because it IS interesting. I’d have to look back at my goodreads to see if I’ve read any after compiling the lists–I’m honestly not sure. I did read Frankenstein recently when it first started getting buzz about the 200 year anniversary approaching. And I read Hillbilly Elegy
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What a great idea! I have no college freshmen this year, but I always enjoy seeing what books the students are required to read. I know some of these books, but most of them I haven’t read. Maybe I need to go back to college!
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I think I’ll just read the books! I’m a college librarian–that’s close enough to the action!
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