College life can be a very daunting experience for students. Being far away from their homes, students may face different challenges and problems. Although student life is the time to make discoveries and meet new people, very often, students do not have the time for all enjoyable things because they suffer from multiple challenging writing tasks, as well as a daily routine. Reading interesting books are the best way to escape from reality for some college students. Well, such an idea is just brilliant because books are referred to as the best friends of humans, who want to relax and forget about their problems.
One hidden perk of reading books is that you get the feeling of how involving texts should be written by noticing the structures and how they are used. In this way, you will be able to enhance even your own writing skills for doing your written assignments. Yet, if you read little, you might use some custom essays, book review, or article review writing service.
Let’s go back to books! Some books make us smile whereas others provide us with important lessons. If you are willing to find a book that will help you spend a couple of pleasant evenings, continue reading to find a list of the best books for college students that will help you learn more about yourself and the surrounding world.
Main Reasons to Read Books
In case you are not sure what are the main benefits of reading, here are some obvious ones:
- Reading interesting books will expand your worldview significantly;
- Reading will improve your writing skills as you will study plenty of efficient tips and patterns of creative writing;
- Books will help you avoid social exclusion;
- Reading will enhance your vocabulary;
- Reading books will improve your cognitive skills.
As you can see, there are many different reasons to read books for college students. If you are not sure which books to start with, consider some brief annotations for the most popular college students books.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
This novel is an allegory of a man fighting against various odds following his fate. This book was originally written in Portuguese and was filmed many times. It tells a story of a young Andalusian shepherd and his journey to Egypt after having a dream promising treasures to him. The Alchemist was one of the best books by Paulo Coelho. When you are exhausted or about to give up, this book will provide you with hope as it reminds us about the basic principles of human co-existence:
- Love should not keep a man from following his destiny;
- The main secret of life is when you fall seven times, you should get up for your eighth time;
- Whenever you want something, the universe will do its best to help you receive it;
- People should never stop dreaming;
- The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself;
- People know everything about the lives of others, but they find it very difficult to arrange their own life.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This book belongs to classic American literature as it discusses the topics that did not lose their relevance until today. The protagonist of the book, a little girl, witnesses the court based on racial prejudice, trying to understand why adults interact with each other in an inappropriate way.
Being written in the time of the Great Depression, this book reflects on moral values, good, and evil. To Kill a Mockingbird helps its readers reconsider the established beliefs and understand that all people are different.
The Divine Comedy by Dante
The Divine Comedy is a famous monument of poetic culture and a real encyclopedia of the medieval worldview. In this poem, Dante travels through the three kingdoms of the underworld and gives a vivid, memorable picture of what is happening there with the amazing clarity of the image.
Undoubtedly, the brightest and the most memorable element of this work is his famous Inferno. It should be noticed that this book fully embodied the poet‘s worldview. Dante appears here as the last great poet of the Middle Ages, a poet who continues the line of development of medieval literature.
We strongly recommend you use Anthony Esolen’s translation as he gives two versions of the work, the Italian and English ones, as well as helpful notes helping understand the metaphors used by Dante.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
If you are looking for a funny, exciting, and intriguing book, then you should pay close attention to John Green`s work named Looking for Alaska. The main character, sixteen-year-old Miles Halter, is interested in the dying statements of famous people.
Following the last words of François Rabelais, he leaves his boring life with his parents and goes to study at the new Culver Creek School. In this school, he finds his first friends and falls in love with a girl named Alaska Young, who turns his life and then disappears from it.
A terrible tragedy makes Miles seriously think about the questions of life and death. John Green has a specific style of writing that makes his works look pretty engaging and intriguing. Besides, since this book is rather new, it discusses all problems of contemporary teenagers.
The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is a novel written about the American dream and its destroying effect on human lives. It tells a story about Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who wanted to impress his beloved woman Daisy with his monetary income and make her love him again.
However, this love was just an illusion as Daisy wasn`t a woman he always dreamed about. Finally, he realizes that the past cannot be returned, and he has to face a new reality.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Màrquez
The novel One Hundred Years of Solitude shows the birth, flowering, decline, and death of the Buendia clan. It is a story of loneliness, one way or another, manifested in the fate of each member of the Buendia family.
Loneliness, disunity of family members, their inability to understand each other acquire a truly mythological character in the novel. The best novel by García Márquez, translated into many languages, is often called the book of human life and the encyclopedia of human love.
All in all, we should say that in some cases, an appropriate book can become a lifesaver for a person as well as a means for self-education. No matter which book you will choose, it will involve you, helping you experience deep emotions and improving your various skills.
