Arthur C. Brooks, co-author of 'Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier,' the University of Mississippi's 2024-25 Common Reading Experience selection, signs books for students during Fall Convocation. Nominations are open for the 2025-26 book selection. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
Submit suggestions for next year’s reading before November 1
By Clara Turnage
A University of Mississippi committee is soliciting nominations for the 2025 Common Reading Experience selection, the book that will be delivered to each incoming freshman and transfer student before the fall 2025 semester.
The Common Reading Experience Steering Committee has opened submissions for next year’s book on the program’s website. Nominations will close on November 1.
“The Common Reading Experience is designed to stimulate intellectual engagement and critical thinking amongst incoming students,” said Natasha Jeter, assistant vice chancellor for wellness and student success. “The entire campus community, students, faculty, and staff read the same book to promote wide-ranging conversations about topics or important community issues.”
Each year since 2011, students, faculty, and staff have suggested the book that the following year’s incoming class will read ahead of their first year at Ole Miss. The selection becomes a key part of fall classes and is discussed in EDHE classes throughout the year.
The author of the chosen book is also invited to speak at Freshman Convocation.
The 2024 selection is Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier (Penguin, 2023) by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey. In August, Brooks spoke to the incoming Class of 2028 about ways to find and increase happiness in life.
Book recommendations must be written by a living author in the last five years, fewer than 400 pages, and accessible in paperback to readers of all reading levels. The book’s author must also be available to visit campus and interact with students.
Previous authors on the university’s reading list include: UM professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments; John Green, of The Anthropocene Reviewed; Dave Isay, of Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work; and Chancellor Emeritus Robert Khayat, of The Education of a Lifetime.
Nominate books here for the steering committee to consider.
