Reading is seriously the best way to spend your time - you get to escape into another world for a few hours, and I would argue it makes you smarter. As an avid reader, I'm always looking for the next book I should read (or more like the next 10 I should acquire but not read until my next college break because what is free time?) So here are a few quality books/series to add to your library:
1. "Ender's Game" series by Orson Scott Card
This series changed my reading life, and is my favorite series I have ever read. It's great for many age groups and has everything you could want: sci-fi, fantasy, action, romance - and it's intellectual as fuck. Orson Scott Card is the real MVP. The first book is a little slow to start, but I promise this series won't disappoint you.
2. "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See
This isn't a well known book exactly, but it's a great read. As someone who loves to get a taste of other cultures through reading, this book was an eye-opener. It takes place in 19th century China in a rural area and focuses on the lives of two young girls going through foot-binding and follows them into adulthood. If you are into cultural historical fiction, I'd also recommend "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden.
3. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series by Stieg Larsson
This one is pretty well known, but if you haven't read these books you really should. They're definitely dark, but I'm a little dark and I can't resist a psychological thriller. Giving you a synopsis of this would be difficult, but all you need to know is it has mystery, action, romance and it's got some twisted shit in it. I heard they're trying to finish the series with another author writing the 4th (the original died before he finished it), but I can't recommend that book since I haven't read it and don't plan to - I'd rather stick to reading what the author himself intended.
4. "Mortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare
The first book is called "City of Bones." This series is totally young adult fiction pleasure reading material, but there's no shame in that - all avid readers know that on the less visible area of your bookshelf you have your less intellectual reads (Sarah Dessen? Yea I've got a few of those.) It's a fantasy fiction book, but not about your usual cliche shit. It's a pretty original concept, with the good guys being "Shadowhunters" and the bad guys being demons - but it gets way more complicated than that and features some run of the mill warlocks/faeries/vampires etc. as well. It has action, fantasy, family drama and romance. I was hooked, you will be too. Also it has a gay relationship, which is cool and important to see in young adult books.
5. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
I know you've heard of this one because of the movie, but if you haven't seen the movie, read the book first. I can't give anything away with a synopsis, but it's a mystery about a man's wife who goes missing. It's a psychological thriller and it's dark and fucked up, but it's good. And if you're into this book, totally read her other book "Sharp Objects" (which may be even more fucked up than "Gone Girl" honestly, but also is great).
6. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer
Does that author's name sound familiar to you? It should because she wrote the "Twilight" series. You can judge her all you want, but those books were successful as hell and made her a boat load of money - and you know what, I read all of them starting in 8th grade when they came out and loved them. NO SHAME Y'ALL. The movies were garbage (I refused to watch them), but the books were good for some dramatic pleasure reading when you're a teenager, and I regret nothing. ANYWAYS. This book is much less corny and is a cool sci-fi book about aliens taking over earth (and other planets) by making the bodies hosts. It's got drama and sci-fi and romance and I have to ask you to give it a chance.
So that's the list. I would also like to throw out that Jane Austen books are a really great way to go if you're into the classics (which are really funny if you can follow the humor) - but I didn't include them on the list because I don't know a ton of college kids who read the classics for fun. I could go on, but a list of good books would be endless - feel free to leave your favorites in the comments though! I'm always down to check out a new read.
