Common Reading Experience

The First Year Experience. One City, One Book. The Big Read.

No matter the name, all common reading experience (CRE) programs aim to connect readers to each other and the world around them through a shared reading experience. CREs have adopted works of fiction and nonfiction. They have focused on books with deep connections to the communities reading them, or they have used books that take readers to deeply unfamiliar times or places. Some CREs focus on current events; others look to the distant past–or even future–as an entrée to new and challenging ideas and perspectives.

Whatever your CRE is looking to achieve, UGA Press can help. We can find the right book for your program, and ensure that it gets into the hands of readers in a timely manner, at the right price. Do you need your CRE title in both a print and ebook format? Is an author visit in your budget? Let us help you with these and other challenges.

Here are some UGA Press books that have been used in CRE programs.

Beyond Katrina

Beyond Katrina

A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Natasha Trethewey, Natasha Trethewey

Born to Rebel

Born to Rebel

An Autobiography

Benjamin E. Mays, Orville Vernon Burton

Charleston Syllabus

Charleston Syllabus

Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence

Chad Williams, Kidada E. Williams, Keisha N. Blain

Fire and Stone

Fire and Stone

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

Priscilla Long

River of Lakes

River of Lakes

A Journey on Florida's St. Johns River

Bill Belleville

Serendib

Serendib

Jim Toner