U.C. Berkeley Reading List

Each spring for the past fifteen years or so, UC Berkeley faculty members compile an unofficial reading list for incoming freshmen. Steve Tollefson, co-director of the group that sorts through the faculty recommendations and comes up with the final list, recently said that the "impact of the list is 'somewhat less' than the Oprah Winfrey show, but he said it is popular not only with students but also with high school teachers, professors and librarians."

This year's list includes something unusual: A. A. Milne's classic children's story, Winnie the Pooh: Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh. Marian Diamond, professor of biology, nominated the book about "the honey-loving little bear." She describes it as a tale about "a simple little bear, not brainy at all, who is loved by all the animals in the forest who are most considerate of each other." Diamond went on to praise it, saying that it is "'elegant and simple,' offering 'peace of mind' for a modern world assailed by technology and information overload."

The list is reprinted here, but you can access the full version--complete with a synopsis and the names of the faculty who nominated each book --at the UC Berkeley Summer 1999 Reading List site.