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."

You can access the list--complete with a synopsis and the names of the faculty who nominated each book --at the UC Berkeley Summer Reading List site.