This year's book is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, which tells the story of two lifelong friends, Sam and Sadie, whose life journeys highlight the struggles and strength of true friendship through adversity within the backdrop of the gaming industry. This book offers meaningful opportunities to explore human resilience and overcoming hardship, the importance of friendship and community, and the lessons learned from both success and failure. Additionally, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow provides great opportunities to showcase creativity in gaming and communities built through gaming across campus. Not only has this book been used as a Common Book at other universities, but it has received numerous national awards, including being recognized by the New York Times as one of the top 100 books of the 21st century, by Amazon as the best book of 2022, and by Goodreads Readers as their Best Fiction Book of 2022.

The Common Book Program sponsors a variety of events during the fall semester that highlight programs on campus that tie into the themes of the book, including celebrating different gaming communities across campus, showcasing Auburn faculty and students’ creative and academic work in gaming, and hosting leaders in the gaming world to share their experiences.

Auburn’s Common Book Program is designed to create a learning experience that is shared among the students, faculty, and staff and foster a sense of community by provoking intellectual discourse and engagement. Each year, a committee of students, faculty, and staff contribute to the selection process by reading potential works and engaging in thoughtful discussions before a final selection is made.

The Auburn Common Book Program is also proud to continue its partnership between the Office of the Provost and the Auburn Public Library. By creating a shared reading experience for students, faculty, staff and the broader Auburn community, the program seeks to provide insight into the human condition while developing lifelong habits of intellectual curiosity and engagement.