Hundreds of American colleges and universities continue to assign a summer reading to entering freshmen--typically one book, which the students are asked to read outside their courses. Many institutions embed the common reading in a larger program of campus activities: typically, they invite the common reading author to help open the academic year by speaking on campus at convocation. The book usually is chosen by a committee or by student vote, although occasionally by presidential or decanal fiat. The book sometimes is associated with a larger school theme for the academic year, such as Hesston College's (Kansas) "Be the Change: Caring that Matters." On other occasions it is associated with an administrative sponsor within the university, such as its Office of Diversity, and thus is selected to promote that sponsor's institutional mandate. Colleges devote substantial administrative resources to supporting the common reading programs: librarians write reading guides and publish them on the library web site, the common reading programs themselves usually devote several pages of their websites to their latest selection and promote the reading through social media, and the school sponsors lectures and other related events throughout the academic year. Most colleges see the key purpose of a common reading program as fostering community on campus and student activism in the outside world. Many also declare that common reading is important because it sets academic expectations, begins conversations, and encourages critical thinking, but these goals are meant to be achieved within the matrix of community and activism. Although there are several databases of common reading assignments, the annual Beach Books reports by the National Association of Scholars are the most comprehensive. Beach Books is the only series that categorizes the books according to their main subjects and track trends in genres, publication dates, and additional themes. This study covers more than 350 colleges and universities for the academic years 2014-2015 and 2015-16. Presented are the results of research in terms of findings, facts, characteristics, and recommendations. [For the previous edition, "Beach Books: 2013-2014. What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class?," see ED558530.]