CBU Reads

"CBU Reads (originally Fresh Reads) is CBU’s first-year summer reading program and is the basis for the Memphis community common reading program, Memphis Reads. The program gives new students a common academic experience and connects them with the campus community, as well as the Memphis community. First year students, upperclassmen, and faculty members read the same book and have numerous opportunities to discuss it throughout the school year at various First Year Experience events."

2023: His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

2022: Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

2021: Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

2020: We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer

2019: Memphis: 200 Years Together. Specially assembled for Fresh Reads, these insightful and provocative writings by Memphians covered the city's history.

2018: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

2017: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2016: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

2015: What is the What by Dave Eggers

2014: The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu 

2013: The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

2012: The Noticer by Andy Andrews

2011: The Soloist by Steve Lopez