The UCSB Reads selection committee has announced its shortlist of titles under consideration for UCSB Reads 2022.
The selections span the genres of science fiction short stories, fiction, nonfiction, and biographical essays. They explore subjects of free will, bioethics, grief, privilege, poverty, social mobility, immigration, addiction, race, and more.
UCSB Reads is an award-winning campus-wide and community-wide “one book” program. The selection committee includes UCSB faculty, staff, students, and community partners who convene to select an intellectually stimulating, interdisciplinary book by a living author that appeals to a wide range of readers and can be incorporated into UCSB curriculum. Their final pick will be announced in the fall.
The selections are (in alphabetical order):
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
The Friend: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez
The Inequality Machine: How College Divides Us by Paul Tough
Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
To share your input with the committee, vote for your top pick here. One winner chosen at random will receive a free copy of the final selection.
For the first time, UCSB Library is organizing student-led summer book clubs that will focus on the five books nominated for the shortlist. Both student-only book clubs, as well as campus and community book clubs, will be offered. The Library will provide a limited number of free books on a first-come-first-served basis, with priority given to UCSB students. All summer book clubs are currently full, but if you are interested in joining one in the winter quarter, sign up here to indicate your interest.
Now in its 16th year, the UCSB Reads program kicks off at the beginning of the winter quarter with a book giveaway and culminates in a public lecture with the author in the spring. A variety of free events will be held along the way to engage UCSB and the community at large around the book’s themes.
If you are a UCSB faculty member who is interested in teaching one of these titles in winter or spring quarters 2022, please contact Alex Regan at aregan@ucsb.edu. Your feedback will be taken into consideration for the final selection.
If you would like to support the UCSB Reads program, please contact Heather Silva at heathersilva@ucsb.edu.
