Common Read at Lane

This first Common Read pilot is funded by the Lane Forward Fund and will take place over two terms: Fall 2024 and Winter 2025. 

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers is the chosen book for the 2024-2025 Common Read. Common Read is an opportunity for the campus community to come together around a single book, share ideas, and learn together. There will be multiple events during fall and winter terms for Lane students and staff to connect around A Psalm for the Wild-Built and the book's themes.

About the book

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is the first book in a two-part sci-fi series called Monk & Robot. It is a short, imaginative tale about taking risks, following one's intuition, and finding purpose (or questioning the need for one). Dedicated to "anybody who could use a break," the story reminds us that even the most difficult questions in life can be approached with gentleness and care.

"In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, the first book in this philosophically adventurous series, the robots of Panga have long ago achieved self-awareness and retreated into the forests, where they’ve become the stuff of legends and myth. However, when a robot checks in on a tea monk one day, honoring its ancient duty, it cannot leave until the monk answers the simple question: “What do you need?” — From back cover

“Fans of gentle, smart, and hopeful science fiction will delight in this promising series starter.” — Publishers Weekly

Winner of the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novella

Nominated for the 2022 Locus Award for Best Novella

Nominated for the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novella

A Stonewall Book Award - Barbara Gittings Literature Award Honor Book, 2022

If you have questions about Common Read or related events, please contact LCC librarian Claire Dannenbaum.

From her website: "Becky Chambers is the bestselling author of the Wayfarers series, the Monk and Robot novellas, and other works of science fiction. She is a two-time Hugo Award winner, a Locus Award winner, and has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. She is currently working on a new novel in a new setting.

Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. She spends her free time playing video and tabletop games, watching bugs, and looking through her telescope. Having hopped around the world a bit, she has settled down (for the moment) in Humboldt County, California, where she lives with her wife. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day."

Read more about Becky's work on her website: https://www.otherscribbles.com/