At Michigan State University, the list also includes the One Book, One Community program. Now in its ninth year, this program is a staple for MSU students and a launching pad for their college careers.

"First year students interact around the book so they connect," said Ginny Haas, director of community relations. "[The program] is based on a common experience and it's a positive interaction."

Before the pressures and stress of school and social life set in, the program hopes to encourage conversations and promote discussion among peers and the larger community in a range of settings.

The One Book, One Community program is not a purely original concept.

"The initial idea was to develop a program like the ones that started out in Seattle and Chicago," Haas said. "We wanted to have something that would bring communities together."

Both the City of East Lansing and Michigan State University found their answer in the One Book, One Community (OBOC) program.

"We have been told that this is the first program to bring together a university and a community," says Haas. "And the author always thinks it's a great program."

The OBOC program begins before the academic year even starts: incoming freshman are asked to read the chocsen book before arriving on campus where they are then encouraged to join in community-wide discussions. The first book of the program was Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 followed the next year by Frankenstein. The Color of Water, The Kite Runner, The Glass Castle and The Soloist have all been featured books with author appearances.

Though assigned readings make most students groan, Haas is proud to say that this program has become "part of the culture" of the university.

"It's not only for freshman but is used by the faculty in other classes," she says.

The OBOC program boasts consistently high participation by the students.

"The lowest polled percentage [of participating students] was 55 and the high was 95," Haas said. "The average is 76%. It's amazing."

Participation may hit another high this year as the book for the 2010 program is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. The popular author of six books, including What is the What, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and The Wild Things, tells the true story of a man's struggle for survival in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The book was chosen by a committee who seeks works that offer a strong plot with well-developed characters, a moral or humanistic vision and cultural resonance with American students.

After "An Evening with Dave Eggers" on Sunday night, the author will appear during the MSU academic welcome program that kicks off the students' official year. The public is welcome to both events. Students can enjoy OBOC-related events for weeks to follow including a special New Orleans dinner in the residence halls, a documentary film, a study away program in the Big Easy and multiple discussions addressing issues related to Zeitoun and the post-Hurricane Katrina situation.

"One thing that I take from all those stories is that people, no matter what, are going to
do what they have to do to get what they want, to survive," Vernon said. "There's a part of me that really admires that [and] makes me take notice and I just fell in love with these characters."

Though this summation is an almost universal theme, the novel has a specific setting, time frame and history. It is set in Arkansas as a blizzard moves in, and author Thom Vernon has loaded the book with personal and local history.

Vernon, who is originally from Michigan, has family in Arkansas. It was there in the south that he reached his own conclusions about the stereotypes he had so often encountered.

"For me, it was important to show a side of Arkansas that I had experienced versus the caricature that's always given of the south. I've always been very welcomed and embraced there."

The Drifts was inspired by the stories he was told from his Arkansas family.

"My aunt would tell me stories; my grandmother would take me down [to Arkansas] and then I went back as an adult," he said.

The stories he heard do not directly translate into The Drifts, however.

"My book is not a retelling of those stories, but [it is] inspired by the weirdness of those stories."

Vernon did not know that his time spend listening to his family tell stories would result in a novel.

"For years I didn't know these stories were attaching themselves to my imagination," he says.

Apparently they have, though, and to a fun end. The four main characters in The Drifts are making serious life choices and, with an incoming blizzard, must face the reality of their situations with immediacy.

"It's coming to a head on that night. The momentum picks up ... and is avalanching."

His love for writing was inspired through an acting career. Vernon appeared in such shows as "Seinfeld", "Grace Under Fire" and "General Hospital". He has written a number of short stories, screenplays and academic articles; The Drifts is his first novel.

Since finishing The Drifts, Vernon has been working on a piece about Walter Benjamin, a German Jewish literary critic and philosopher who was forced into exile during World War II because Hitler stripped German Jews of their citizenship.

Vernon moved to Toronto in 2006 in order to live with his partner, who is from Zimbabwe. In the United States, citizens who are in same-sex relationships are not able to sponsor their partners for immigration. Because of this, Vernon became what he calls a "queer exile from the States."

"My book would be an attempt to put statelessness and the exile experience into literature ... interwoven with queer exile," Vernon said.

Described as "a dark, gritty magical realist novel," Who Fears Death is set in a post-nuclear holocaust future as genocide sweeps through a region of Africa. The story revolves around the protagonist Onyesonwu whose ancient name asks the question "Who fears death?"

If it sounds a little intense, it's because it is.

"I know it's difficult to read," Okorafor said. "It was a difficult story to write."

Writing the story was an especially hard time for her because her father, with whom she was very close, had passed away.

"The only way I could get through that time was through writing ... it just allowed me to pour all my rage, all my distress, all my sadness into it: writing got me through all that."

Though this is not Okorafor's only novel, it is her first venture into adult writing. Her debut novel was Zahrah the Windseeker in 2005 which won numerous awards. The Shadow Speaker came in 2007 and in 2009 she published Long Juju Man, a children's book that won the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa.

Though these stories are not works in a series, Okorafor maintains that all four books are related.

"Their worlds are connected," she says. "Everything I write is connected."

The most obvious associations are the setting and style. Her parents, both Nigerian, began taking her family on trips back to Nigeria from the United States when she was young. Now, Okorafor says Nigeria is her muse. Not only does she often place her stories there literally or figuratively, she also draws heavily from African folklore.

"There are also elements of traditional African literature," she says.

On the other hand, Okorafor also involves her personal worldview.

"I see the world as a magical place ... magical things are popping up [in my writing] because that's how I see the world. Magical realism has fantastical elements."

Add to that a deep respect for the imagination of Stephen King, whom she calls "one of Anansi's sons."

Her influences collide in Who Fears Death, and the result is a post-apocalyptic tale written for mature readers.

"I'm attracted to post-apocalyptic literature ... and I'm still trying to figure out why," she said.

She has her theories, however, for why the genre has seen an increase in popularity in recent years.

"The whole idea of everything ending, the threat of running out of oil ... global warming: these things are always looming in the back of our minds. What would happen if it would all end? What happens after?"

Lest that sound too ominous, Okorafor assures that Who Fears Death "has dark and light. It's not all doom and gloom. I like to think it has an optimistic feel."

She is currently working on another young adult fantasy and has also finished a novella about aliens in Nigeria. At the intersection of her influences are stories written in a way that is uniquely hers.

"I tend to take from all these things and make my own," Okorafor says. "Categories have never been good for me."