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5 Books To Read Over Christmas Break

Get cozy with a good book on chilly winter days!

Reese Addison

Dec 28, 2018

College of Charleston

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The semester is over, and you can finally breathe. You can sleep, relax, watch TV, do all the things you wanted to do while school was in. You can also read books you actually like instead of textbooks.

If you're looking for books you could start and finish throughout winter break, you've come to the right place. You can pick from this list of five books short enough and good enough that you will be able to devour it over your break from school.

1. "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson

This book keeps you on your toes the entire time you read it. Like a classic scary story, it has the haunted house, creepy noises, inexplicable occurrences, and more. This novel gets in your head with amazingly mingled psychological elements and the paranormal happenings that will leave you with chills. And once you finish the book, you can binge the Netflix series based on it.

2. "Gwendy's Button Box" by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Based in Stephen King’s iconic fictional town of Castle Rock, this story follows Gwendy Peterson after she’s given a mysterious and powerful box. The book details her life from childhood to her college graduation and shows what can happen when the wrong person has too much power.

3. "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

In a dystopian future where books are outlawed, firemen don’t put fires out, they burn any house books are found in. But when fireman Guy Montag is introduced to the ideas of books and a past in which they were legal and people didn’t live in fear, he begins to question everything.

4. "That Was Then, This Is Now" by S.E. Hinton

This book is just as heart-wrenching as Hinton's more famous novel “The Outsiders." It follows two best friends who have to endure their growing differences as they grow up. It shows some raw realities of life breaks your heart in the process.

5. "Then She Was Gone" by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell's mystery/suspense novel is about a mother whose daughter vanished at the age of 15. 10 years later, Laurel still has the hope of finding out what happened to her daughter, Ellie. When she meets a man with a young daughter of his own, she's shocked by how much she reminds her of her missing child. This uncanny lookalike of Ellie brings all the questions of what happened to her back to the surface.

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Recommended for you

5 Books To Read Over Christmas Break

Get cozy with a good book on chilly winter days!

1. "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson

2. "Gwendy's Button Box" by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

3. "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

4. "That Was Then, This Is Now" by S.E. Hinton

5. "Then She Was Gone" by Lisa Jewell

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Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

Don't freak out

Email the professor

Attend the first class

Keep attending class

Have a backup plan

Remember that everything works out at the end

It's mandatory to have these conversations.

1. What do you do for a living?

2. What's your favorite color?

3. Do you have any siblings?

4. What's your favorite television show?

5. When is your birthday?

6. What's your biggest goal in life?

7. If you had three wishes granted to you by a genie, what would they be?

8. What's your favorite childhood memory?

9. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

10. Are you a cat or a dog person?

11. Do you believe in a religion or any sort of spiritual power?

12. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

13. What is your ideal date night?

14. Who was/is your celebrity crush?

15. What's a good way to cheer you up if you're having a bad day?

16. Do you have any tattoos?

17. Can you describe yourself in three words?

18. What makes you the most nervous in life?

19. What's the best gift you have ever received?

20. What do you do to relax/have fun?

21. What are your priorities at this phase of your life?

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

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A bad day at the lake is still better than a good day not at the lake.

You know the best beaches and coves to go to.

You have no patience for the guy who can't back his trailer into the water right.

Doing the friendly wave to every boat you pass.

The cooler is always packed, mostly with beer.

Giving the idiot who goes 30 in a "No Wake Zone" a piece of your mind.

You have no problem with peeing in the water.

You know the frustration of getting your anchor stuck.

Watching in awe at the bigger, better boats that pass by.

Knowing any swimsuit that you own with white in it is best left for the pool or the ocean.

The momentary fear for your life as you get launched from the tube.

You're able to go to the restaurants by the water wearing minimal clothing.

Having unexpected problems with your boat.

Having a name for your boat unique to you and your life.

There's no better place you'd rather be in the summer.

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

1. My school is incredibly unique.

2. I am not just a number at my school.

3. I feel like I am contributing something to the community.

5. My professors know me and I feel that I can easily communicate with them.

6. The incredible people I've met

7. Opportunities

8. Students want to learn

9. Ability to join a sorority and have a house full of people I know I can talk to anytime I need to

10. I have figured out how I learn best because my school offers so many different ways of learning.

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