California State University, Bakersfield International Book Club

Welcome to CSUB's 2024 session of International Book Club! We are excited to read with you! We will be reading Nicole Chung's All You Can Ever Know, and it's always great knowing a bit about our fellow book lovers ahead of getting started! Please introduce yourself on our Padlet page , telling us your name, which country and school you are from, and anything else you'd like to share: what are you studying? Do you have any pets? Do you like a specific book/book genre? etc! Please include a picture in your post, whether it's a selfie, a picture of a pet you mention, some scenery from your hometown or country, your choice! You can double click anywhere on the Padlet page, or click the "+" button in the bottom right hand corner to begin crafting your post! Please email us at studyabroad@csub.edu if you are having any issues.

  This year's One Book Project that CSU Bakersfield's International Book Club will be reading is Nicole Chung's memoir All You Can Ever Know. Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hope of giving her a better life, that forever feeling slightly out of place was her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as Nicole grew up—facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and as a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from—she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth. With warmth, candor, and startling insight, Nicole Chung tells of her search for the people who gave her up, which coincided with the birth of her own child.  All You Can Ev

 After reading Sitting Pretty , which scene from the book will you remember the most?

1. Are women discriminated in any way where you live? If so, what are some examples of discrimination faced by women in your local community or your country?  2. Does kindness have any limits? If so, when should we stop being kind? If not, why?

 Discussion Questions: 1. Taussig asserts that "inclusion isn't better just because it's kinder." Just words? Or, what do we do to make it happen in our local communities? 2. We can talk about different kinds of independence: professional, financial, mental, emotional, and physical, which, as shown by Rebekah Taussig, has a certain price to pay. What price do you need to pay to become independent in the country where you live?

  1. How important is the concept of the body in your culture?    2. In what ways does your country/community in which you live tackle the problems disabled people face every day? Please make a reply to this post and you can comment on other's posts as well! Please include your name and country on your post. 

California State University, Bakersfield is excited to host new members of International Book Club (IBC) this Fall 2023! Since we have members from all over the world, we would like members to introduce themselves! Please use this link to Padlet to make a introduction post! You can click the + button in the bottom right corner to make your post. https://padlet.com/ali466/international-book-club-introductions-td96fdpr697gqdml Please write your name on your post, and include a selfie/picture if you feel comfortable! Please tell us: What city and country you are from? What school/institution/university do you study at or work at? What are some of your hobbies? (if you enjoy reading a lot, tell us your favorite book!) What are looking forward to most about this book club? This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about other book club members who live in different time zones and might not be in the same weekly meeting as you! Feel free to comment on each other's posts!

This year's One Book Project that International Book Club will be reading is Rebekah Taussig's memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body Rebekah Taussig, PhD, is a Kansas City Writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts "mini-memoirs" about her daily life. She lives in a tiny, old house with her fussy family of tender-hearted snugglers. (book cover) Check out her Instagram here and consider following her! https://www.instagram.com/sitting_pretty/related_profiles/?hl=en Read this short excerpt from Rebekah's book about how she decided on the phrase "sitting pretty": "Almost five years ago, I started an Instagram account where I could share mini-memoirs narrating life in a body that's rarely represented, let alone represented with nuance. I'd been writing essays, sending them out whenever I could bear the vu

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) is located in Bakersfield, Kern County of southern California. As of 2021, Bakersfield has a population of about 407,000 people, ranking 1st in Kern County, 9th in California, and 52nd in the United States.  The most popular industries in Bakersfield are agriculture and oil. Grapes, citrus fruits, almonds, carrots, cotton, and roses are most commonly produced in Bakersfield, and about 10% of domestic oil is harvested here. CSUB is located in the San Joaquin Valley and is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in which about 70% of students have a Hispanic background. The San Joaquin Valley provides CSUB with a unique and exciting ecosystem, acting as a Kit Fox habitat and hosts a community of ground squirrels all throughout campus! Every fall semester, CSUB participates in the Kern One Book Project (One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern) in which freshman composition courses read the text together, share ideas and comprehension, and collabora