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Common Reading Book - Library Resources: Overview

Since 1997, incoming freshmen at ASU have been asked to read a book as part of their orientation to Appalachian State University. By participating in the Common Reading Program, students establish a shared experience with other new students.

Common Reading

Since 1997, incoming first-year students at Appalachian State University have been asked to read a book as part of their orientation to the university. By participating in the Common Reading Program, students establish a common experience with other new students that will help develop a sense of community with their new environment and introduce them to a part of the academic life they are beginning at Appalachian. This program is an exciting facet in Appalachian's orientation of new students to life on campus.

Common Reading Program Events

Common Reading Program Events, 2021 - 2022 - COMING SOON

Appalachian will welcome Nora Krug for a series of year-long virtual events beginning in mid- September, 2021. The year-long Common Reading experience will include a variety of activities, speakers, and events. Details will be made available as they become finalized. Check the Common Reading website for updates and other information.

Belonging by Nora Krug

Cover of the book, Belonging, by Nora Krug

The Common Reading Program at Appalachian State proudly announces the 2021-2022 book selection: Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home, by Nora Krug. The book has received a number of awards, most notably the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography.

Krug's exploration of her family history leads her to explore her own cultural and individual identity as well. The Boston Globe calls her search one that "erases the boundaries between comics, scrapbooking, and collage as she endeavors to make sense of 20th-century history, the Holocaust, her German heritage, and family's place in it all."

Krug's poignant, multimodal graphic memoir reminds us that identity cannot be confined to a single time, place, culture or family. Regardless of our backgrounds and present circumstances, all of us are continually exploring who we are, where we are from, and where we are going. More than a record or document, Belonging is for all its readers an invitation to continue
searching and learning.

Belonging - physical copies at Belk Library (link opens in new window)

Belonging - e-version (OverDrive; link opens in new window), limited access, 1 user at a time (link opens in new window)

Belonging - audio version (Overdirve; 3 copies) - Note: This currently links to ebook. However, users can access the audio book here, as well. Just look for the audio version (w/ headphone icon) under "Recommended for You."