College Required Reading Lists

The National Association of Scholars released a report on the books that colleges are requiring their incoming freshmen to read.  Leaving aside the usual liberal bias debate, their incontrovertible conclusion is that the list is pitched at an intellectual level well below what should be expected of college freshmen and it is hard to find anything on the list that poses even a modest intellectual challenge to the average reader.

Here's the list ... see for yourself ...

1. A Good Fall Jin, Ha
2. A Home on the Field: How One Championship Soccer Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America Cuadros, Paul
3. A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League Suskind, Ron
4. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Beah, Ishmael
5. A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean McClure, Tori Murden
6. A Thousand Splendid Suns Hosseini, Khaled
7. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age Pink, Daniel
8. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Neufeld, Josh
9. Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation Patel, Eboo
10. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic De Graaf, John and David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor
11. An Ordinary Man Rusesabagina, Paul
12. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Kingsolver, Barbara
13. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Sijie, Dai
14. Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking Gladwell, Malcolm
15. Blonde Roots Evaristo, Bernardine
16. Blue Hole Back Home Lake, Joy Jordan
17. Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It Royte, Elizabeth
18. Brooklyn: A Novel Tóibín, Colm
19. Brother, I'm Dying Danticat, Edwige
20. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam Pham, Andrew X.
21. China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power Gifford, Rob
22. China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution Chen, Da
23. Cion Mda, Zakes
24. Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose--Doing Business by Respecting the Earth Anderson, Ray C.
25. Copenhagen Frayn, Michael
26. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers Appiah, Kwame Anthony
27. Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism Yunus, Muhammad
28. Crossing into America: the New Literature of Immigration Mendoza, Louis and Subramanian Shankar, eds.
29. Cry, the Beloved Country Paton, Alan
30. Day of the Locust West, Nathanael
31. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States Prejean, Helen
32. Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future McKibben, Bill
33. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dick, Philip K.
34. Dreams from My Father Obama, Barack
35. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Ray, Janisse
36. Einstein's Dreams Lightman, Alan
37. Enrique's Journey Nazario, Sonia
38. Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America Bok, Francis
39. Everything Matters Currie, Ron Jr.
40. Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living Fine, Doug
41. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Schlosser, Eric
42. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change Kolbert, Elizabeth
43. Flight Alexie, Sherman
44. Frankenstein Shelley, Mary
45. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner
46. Freedom Writers Diary Gruwell, Erin
47. Friday Night Lights Bissinger, H.G.
48. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America Dumas, Firoozeh
49. Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage Rogers, Heather
50. Half of a Yellow Sun Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
51. Half the Sky Kristof, Nicholas D. and Sheryl WuDunn
52. Here, Bullet Turner, Brian
53. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Ford, Jamie
54. Hunger Chang, Lan Samantha
55. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Pollan, Michael
56. Into the Wild Krakauer, John
57. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit Quinn, Daniel
58. It's Kind of a Funny Story Vizzini, Ned
59. Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny Harper, Hill
60. Light and Darkness Anthology Anthology
61. Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project Isay, Dave
62. Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary Strickland, Bill
63. Man, Controller of the Universe Rivera, Diego
64. Maus Spiegelman, Art
65. Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris, David
66. Miracle in the Andes Parrado, Nando
67. Mountains Beyond Mountains Kidder, Tracy
68. Mudbound Jordan, Hillary
69. Muskingum College (History Series) Giffen, Heather, William Kerrigan and R. Worbs
70. My Own Country: A Doctor's Story Verghese, Abraham
71. Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America Ehrenreich, Barbara
72. No Impact Man Beavan, Colin
73. Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It Batstone, David
74. Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town St. John, Warren
75. Outliers: The Story of Success Gladwell, Malcolm
76. Peace Like a River Enger, Leif
77. Persepolis Satrapi, Marjane
78. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer and Ronald Cotton and Erin Torneo
79. Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around Wagner, Cheryl
80. Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet Mackinnon, James & Alisa Smith
81. Regeneration Barker, Pat
82. Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet McNeely, Ian F. with Lisa Wolverton
83. Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America’s Forgotten Heroes Helvarg, David
84. RFK In the Land of Apartheid Shore, Larry
85. Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life Fisher, Len
86. Rooftops of Tehran Seraji, Mahbod
87. Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, And The Search For The American Dream Shephard, Adam
88. Searching for God Knows What Miller, Donald
89. Secret Daughter, a Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away Cross, June
90. Song Yet Sung McBride, James
91. Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time Loeb, Paul Rogat
92. Sounds of the River Chen, Da
93. Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan Mortenson, Greg
94. Strange as This Weather Has Been Pancake, Ann
95. Strength in What Remains Kidder, Tracy
96. Telex from Cuba Kushner, Rachel
97. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie, Sherman
98. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain, Mark
99. The Alchemist Coelho, Paulo
100. The Bean Trees Kingsolver, Barbara
101. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 Eggers, Dave
102. The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao Li, Charles
103. The Blue Sweater Novogratz, Jacqueline
104. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World Pollan, Michael
105. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Kamkwamba, William and Bryan Mealer
106. The Brief History of the Dead Brockmeier, Kevin
107. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Diaz, Junot
108. The Cathedral Within Shore, Bill
109. The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts Farley, Tom Jr. and Tanner Colby
110. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother McBride, James
111. The Colors of the Mountain Chen, Da
112. The Communist Manifesto Marx, Karl
113. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Haddon, Mark
114. The Devil's Highway Urrea, Luis Alberto
115. The Dew Breaker Danticat, Edwige
116. The DNA Age Harmon, Amy
117. The End of the Spear Saint, Steve
118. The Family Bible Delbridge, Melissa
119. The Geography of Bliss Weiner, Eric
120. The Glass Castle Walls, Jeannette
121. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Shaffer, Mary Ann and Annie Barrows
122. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter McCullers, Carson
123. The House on Mango Street Cisneros, Sandra
124. The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel Ogawa, Yoko
125. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Skloot, Rebecca
126. The Kite Runner Hosseini, Khaled
127. The Last Lecture Pausch, Randy & Jeffrey Zaslow
128. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir Yang, Kao Kalia
129. The Learners Kidd, Chip
130. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil Zimbardo, Phillip
131. The Maltese Falcon Hammett, Dashiell
132. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Pollan, Michael
133. The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Iyer, Pico
134. The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream Davis, Sampson and George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt
135. The Perks of Being a Wallflower Chbosky, Stephen
136. The Poe Shadow Pearl, Matthew
137. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Hamid, Mohsin
138. The Road of Lost Innocence Mam, Somaly
139. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal Mooney, Jonathan
140. The Soloist Lopez, Steve
141. The Sparrow Russell, Mary Doria
142. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: a Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures Fadiman, Anne
143. The Things They Carried O'Brien, Tim
144. The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur Hari, Daoud
145. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works – and How It’s Transforming the American Economy Fishman, Charles
146. The White Tiger Adiga, Aravind
147. The World Without Us Weisman, Alan
148. The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future Watkins, S. Craig
149. These Shining Lives Marnich, Melanie
150. This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women Allison, Jay and Dan Gediman
151. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women Allison, Jay and Dan Gediman
152. Three Cups of Tea Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin
153. Tracking Desire: A Journey After Swallow-Tailed Kites Cerulean, Susan
154. True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society Manjoo, Farhad
155. Under a Papery Roof: A Memoir About Life in Post-Revolutionary Iran and Exile Sanati, Panteha
156. Walden Thoreau, Henry David
157. What is the What Eggers, Dave
158. When the Emperor Was Divine Otsuka, Julie
159. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman Krakauer, John
160. Where We Stand: Class Matters hooks, bell
161. Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World Goldsmith, Jack and Tim Wu
162. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Tatum, Beverly Daniel
163. Will This Be on the Test? Anthology
164. Wish You Well Baldacci, David
165. Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America Mathews, Jay
166. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto Lanier, Jaron
167. Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body Shubin, Neil
168. Zeitoun Eggers, Dave
169. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
170. 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina Rose, Chris