This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at City London chapter.
Time flies, my dear ladies. Could you believe that uni is almost over and that this is our last HC blog post before Summer 2014? Sounds unbelievable, I know. Anyway, right as summer is coming, the best way I’ve found to say goodbye to each and everyone of you, is by concluding with the ultimate must-have reading list for the summer. Whether you are lying on the beach or sipping an iced lemonade in the city, forget about those boring economics or biology books and get ready to dive into great books and stories.
- “Fight Club” by Chuck Palahniuk: “Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.” Probably the most famous book by Palahniuk. His debut novel is dark, honest and right, and it’s one of those readings that will open your mind. If you are expecting to read only about big fights, you’ll be amazingly disappointed. And don’t miss the movie with an AWESOME Brad Pitt (and Jared Leto, and Edward Norton, and…)
- “One day” by David Nicholls: “’I suppose the important thing is to make sort of difference,’ she said. ‘You know, actually change something.’ – ‘What, like “change the world”, you mean?’ – ‘Not the whole entire world. Just the little bit around you.'” Twenty years, two people, one particular day. This is not a classic love story. First of all this is a story about friendship, life and then love. These two people are sometimes selfish, amazed by life and lost just as we are. If you’ve seen the movie, forget about it and give this book a try, you won’t regret it!
- “How to be good” by Nick Hornby: “You don’t ask people with knives in their stomachs what would make them happy; happiness is no longer the point. It’s all about survival; it’s all about whether you pull the knife out and bleed to death or keep it in…”. Once again you will get along with the author of “About a Boy” and “High Fidelity”, as he shows lives that are not unlike ours and speaks the truth. If you are looking for authenticity, go for it!
- “Scar Tissue” by Anthony Kiedis with Lerry Sloman: “This is my account of those times, as well as the story of how a kid who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, migrated to Hollywood and found more than he could handle at the end of the rainbow. This is my story, scar tissue and all.” If, like me, you are big fans of the RHCP (how can you not be?) this autobiography will fascinate you and make you stick with Anthony until the last page. Surely a non-banal and boring life!
- “Runaway” by Alice Munro: “This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else and you remember, and you think, soon. Then it becomes something that is just there, in the closet, and other things get crowded in front of it and on top of it and finally you don’t think about it at all. The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember. This is what happens.” According to The Times “millions of words have been spilt in attempts to tell us exactly what it means to be human. In runaway Munro performs that very miracle.” Enough to persuade you to read the winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2009?
- “The picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde: “You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” It’s always good to have a classic in your backpack and this is one of those books that everyone should read at least once in their life. Considered to be the Manifesto of Aestheticism, this book is dark, perfectly written and provocative. You will fall in love with it, if not with Dorian first!
This list is my little gift for you all, lovely collegiettes. Enjoy the summer and the sun, have amazing experiences and see you very soon!