CommonReads

24/01/2025

Just Mercy is a powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. In honor of the book’s 10th anniversary, watch this video featuring author Bryan Stevenson.

Just Mercy is a powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice.

22/01/2025

What makes a good life? The question is inherent to the human condition, asked by people across generations, professions, and social classes, and addressed by all schools of philosophy and religions.

This search for meaning, as Yale faculty Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz argue, is at the crux of a crisis that is facing Western culture, a crisis that, they propose, can be ameliorated by searching, in one’s own life, for the underlying truth.

Read an excerpt from Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most.

Based on the Yale class, a guide to defining and then creating a flourishing life, and answering one of life’s questions: how are we to live?

15/01/2025

Will you be attending the First-Year Experience® Conference taking place February 16-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana?

Register for the 2025 Penguin Random House First-Year Experience® Conference Author Events! A complimentary meal and a limited number of books will be available to attendees. Each event will also be followed by an author signing.

The following authors will join us during two events taking place on Monday, February 17th:

Author Breakfast, 7:15 am - 8:45 am

Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty by America

Jasmin Graham, author of Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist

Kurt Gray, author of Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground

Jaclyn Moyer, author of On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family, from Punjab to California

Author Lunch, 12:15pm - 1:45pm

Dr. Uché Blackstock, MD author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, author of What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures

Justin Lee, author of Talking Across the Divide: How to Communicate with People You Disagree with and Maybe Even Change the World

Sharon McMahon, author of The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement

Penguin Random House Author Events at the 44th Annual First-Year Experience® Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

15/01/2025

Celebrate the spirit of MLK and social justice by watching the new Award-Winning feature film BANNED TOGETHER.

07/01/2025

unCommon Authors is a monthly video series highlighting exceptional and unique authors talking about their books.

Watch Charles Duhigg discuss his book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

“A winning combination of stories, studies, and guidance that might well transform the worst communicators you know into some of the best.”—Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Hidden Potential

A fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.

06/01/2025

Experts weigh in on what to know about ultra-processed foods and ways to eat less of them in the new year.

17/12/2024

How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any relationship, requires effort!).

In an age plagued by isolation, Dr. Franco reveals the latest scientific research on friendship. Platonic provides a clear and actionable blueprint for forging strong, lasting connections with others.



Read an excerpt from Marisa G. Franco, PhD’s Platonic:

How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example,...

13/12/2024

Will you be attending the First-Year Experience® Conference taking place February 16-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana? Register for the 2025 Penguin Random House First-Year Experience® Conference Author Events! A complimentary meal and a limited number of books will be available to attendees. Each event will also be followed by an author signing.

The following authors will join us during two events taking place on Monday, February 17th:

Author Breakfast, 7:15 am - 8:45 am

Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty by America

Jasmin Graham, author of Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist

Kurt Gray, author of Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground

Jaclyn Moyer, author of On Gold Hill: A Personal History of Wheat, Farming, and Family, from Punjab to California

Author Lunch, 12:15pm - 1:45pm

Dr. Uché Blackstock, MD author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, author of What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures

Justin Lee, author of Talking Across the Divide: How to Communicate with People You Disagree with and Maybe Even Change the World

Sharon McMahon, author of The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement



Register here:

Penguin Random House Author Events at the 44th Annual First-Year Experience® Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

12/12/2024

On Freedom is a brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder.

A brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival.

03/12/2024

From Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AI.

In Co-Intelligence, Mollick urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher, and coach. He assesses its profound impact on business and education, using dozens of real-time examples of AI in action. Co-Intelligence shows what it means to think and work together with smart machines, and why it’s imperative that we master that skill.

Watch Ethan Mollick discuss Co-Intelligence as a part of the series:

From Wharton professor Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living in the new age of AI.

25/11/2024

Read an excerpt from Heather Cox Richardson’s Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.

Democracy Awakening is a call to action about the state of American democracy, charting its historical challenges and current threats.

20/11/2024

The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don’t—shape our realities.



Read an excerpt from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Message:

The author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell shape our realities.

15/11/2024

Read an excerpt from Donald A. Norman’s Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered (The MIT Press).

Design for a Better World presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we've gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better.

14/11/2024

Watch Andrew M. Boryga discuss his novel, VICTIM, as a part of the UnCommon Authors series.

There’s a fine line between bending the truth and telling bold-faced lies, and Javier Perez is willing to cross it. Victim is a fearless satire about a hustler from the Bronx who sees through the veneer of diversity initiatives and decides to cash in on the odd currency of identity.

A satire about a hustler from the Bronx who sees through the veneer of diversity initiatives and cashes in on the currency of identity.

25/10/2024

We are pleased to present the First-Year and Common Reading guide for What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.

Find the guide written by Je Banach here:https://assetbucketpublic.7169.prh.com/9780/593/229/361/sales-assets/9780593229361_What%20If%20We%20Get%20It%20Right%20FYR%20Guide.pdf

24/10/2024

We are pleased to present the First-Year and Common Reading guide for Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines by Dr. Joy Buolamwini.

Find the guide written by Rachael Zafer here:
https://assetbucketpublic.7169.prh.com/9780/593/241/844/sales-assets/9780593241844_Unmasking%20AI%20FYR%20Guide_TR.pdf

23/10/2024

With the fall semester in full swing, colleges and universities around the country have announced their Common Reading books for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year. We’ve compiled a list of over 326 programs and their title selections, which you can download here:

Colleges and universities around the country have announced their Common Reading books for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.

22/10/2024

The War for Kindness by psychologist Jamil Zaki is at the center of UCLA’s community-building tradition for incoming students.

The book by researcher Jamil Zaki is at the center of UCLA’s annual community-building tradition for incoming students.