The Common Read is Northern State University’s largest academic event, promoting intellectual growth and meaningful dialogue within the campus and Aberdeen community. The Common Read culminates with the Larry and Julie Poeppel Family Lecture, funded in part by the Poeppel Family endowment with additional support from the Marlene and Clayton Olson Endowment.

Common Read lectures are free and open to all of campus and the Aberdeen community. 

2026 Common Read Book

The fall 2026 Common Read will be Sharon McMahon’s book "The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History,” which highlights inspiring stories of ordinary people whose courage and action forged meaningful change.

 

2026 Common Read Lecture

 

  • 7:30 p.m. November 18
  • Johnson Fine Arts Center

 

McMahon will present the Larry and Julie Poeppel Family Common Read Lecture. Read more about the book and lecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authors and Speakers

 

  • 2025: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, by Loung Ung
  • 2024: I Must Betray You, by Ruta Sepetys
  • 2023: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
  • 2022: Send, by Patty Blount; Speaker: Patty Blount
  • 2021: Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, by Alice Wong; Speaker: Alice Wong
  • 2020: Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade; Speaker: Chris Arnade
  • 2019: Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self? by Manoush Zomorodi ; Speaker: Manoush Zomorodi
  • 2018: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; Speaker: Angie Thomas
  • 2017: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys; Speaker: Ruta Sepetys
  • 2016: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson; Speaker: Anthony Ray Hinton
  • 2015: Without You, There is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim; Speaker: Suki Kim
  • 2014: Ready Player One by Ernie Cline; Speaker: Ernest Cline
  • 2013: Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls; Speaker: Jeannette Walls
  • 2012: Outcasts United by Warren St. John; Speaker: Warren St. John
  • 2011: 1491 by Charles Mann; Speaker: Charles Mann
  • 2010: The Routes of Man by Ted Conover; Speaker: Ted Conover