College is a crazy time. We’re experiencing a whole new world and what better way to add to our ever-changing worldviews than by reading? Here are some of the best books for college students (and anyone else, really) to read this year to inform you or make you laugh or some completely other reason:
1. "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler
If you like to laugh, you’ll enjoy this book. Amy is incredibly insightful when it comes to topics like life and love and moving on. Plus, she also has an entire chapter dedicated to college. You have an issue? Amy gets you.
2. "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Written by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Between the World and Me" has been regarded as one of the best books of 2015. This is a hard hitting, no-fluff account of one man’s experience of being black in America. If you’re like me and haven’t had experiences like Coates, this book will definitely expose you to a whole different perspective. Presented as a letter to his son, "Between the World and Me: will almost certainly get to you and make you think about race and history in this nation in a new way.
3. "I am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai
The youngest Nobel Prize recipient in history had an autobiography published when she was 16. Just in case you didn’t feel like you weren’t doing anything with your life. Malala’s story is inspiring and it reminds us of the education we take for granted here. If you care about education at all (and given that you’re in college, I’m guessing you do) you should read this book. Just maybe not during finals week when you’re stressed or feeling unproductive…
4. Any book by a president (or presidential candidate)
Whether you hate Obama or Bush or Clinton or Reagan, they’ve all written books and those books can tell you a lot about them as people. Too often, I think we forget that our leaders are people too, and reading their accounts of events and their lives can really give you some insight into them as people. Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll come away with less contempt for President Obama or President Bush. Or more. It’s still a good idea. Just for the love of all things holy, don’t read Donald Trump’s book. He shouldn’t even count as a presidential candidate anyways.
5. Any poetry anthology
I know, I know, these last two have been categories of books
rather than specific books you should actually read; heck, this isn’t even
technically a novel but whatever. I personally love my collection of Emily
Dickinson poems but I wouldn’t recommend that to everybody. You should read
through at least some poems in a good anthology because even if you hate poetry
you can always get something from a poem. Reading poetry can tell you a lot
about yourself and how you see the world, maybe you see a poem as being about
gender, your friend could see it as being about social classes, but you're both probably right.
6. "Harry Potter" (or any other book you already love)
Sometimes classes can get overwhelming. You can have tests in all your classes within a week or multiple research papers due at once. Sometimes you need to take a step back and clear your mind. What better way to do that than to read a story you know. Plus, when you’re feeling stressed or sad, it will always do you well to remember that Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.
