Reading? What did you say? When most people hear the words “reading books” they cringe. Why can’t I just go see the movie? (All of these are now movies except number 2). Reading has become one of those things college students have come to despise. But believe it or not, reading actually helps you widen your vocabulary, writing skills, and help you in other areas of study. Whether you are a first time reader, or avid reader like myself, these are some of the top books every collegiette should read.
1. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie Maguire
Beautiful Disaster tells the love story of bad boy Travis Madox (the bad boy of all bad boys) and good girl Abbey Abernanthy. Abby, who is resistant to Travis’s sexy appearance, is tricked into being with him with a simple bet. If Abby loses, she must live with him for a month, if Travis loses he must remain abstinent for a month. Us girls all love a bad boy, and by the end of the book, you’ll be wanting a Travis Maddox in your life.
2. Bossypants by Tina Fey
If you love Tina Fey, or just love reading funny autobiographies, pick up a copy of Bossypants. Her already funny character comes out even more in this book as she tells the stories of her life. She inspires every young woman that if they dream it, they can do it.
3. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
*Cue the tears* “Okay? Okay.” The famous lines we all know and love. This love story of two young cancer patients, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, will have you both hysterically laughing and hysterically crying. Hazel Grace has lived with terminal cancer her whole life, with nothing to look forward to except dying. Her live changes, however, when she meets the stunning, now in remission, cancer patient Augustus Waters. A plot twist like no other, John Green has his readers hooked once again.
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
If you like mystery novels and psycho wives, you have to read Gillian Flynn’s bestseller Gone Girl. On Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. Nick finds Amy’s diary, which reveals to be even more twisted than one would expect. All signs point to Nick as the killer, but is he really? If Nick didn’t kill her then what really happened to Amy? Read this chilling thriller/mystery novel to find out. Flynn has you on your edge of your seat the entire novel and you won’t want to stop until the very end.
5. Paper Towns by John Green
If you don’t know John Green novels then you should probably familiarize yourself with them. Now a major motion picture starring Cara Delevinge, Paper Towns tells the story of two “friends” who go on an adventure. Quentin Jacobsen has spent his entire life in love with his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. One night she crawls into his bedroom window and takes him on the adventure of his life. Then the next day, Margo disappears for no reason. Quentin soon finds clues and is set on a journey to find his dream girl, but the closer he gets to finding her, he realizes she might not be what he had always pictured.
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Set in 1939, this novel tells the story of Liesel at the height of the Nazi rule. The Germans burned books with any reference to the Jews. At the burning ceremony, Liesel steals a book and her journey of reading begins. Meanwhile, her family is hiding a Jewish man in their basement.
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A 20th century classic and now a major motion picture with Leonardo DiCaprio #bae, The Great Gatsby, has everyone fall in love. Nick Carraway, the narrator, moves to the West Egg district of Long Island in 1922, pursuing a career in the bond business. Nick meets his cousin, the wealthy and beautiful Daisy Buchanan, and her husband Tom. Nick is invited to the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby’s party and his adventure begins. Nick is brought into the world of the wealthy and comes to terms with their problems of money, love, and deceit.
8. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
Pat Peoples has just returned home from a mental health facility. While in the facility he formulates a silver lining: he believes his life is a movie produced by God, he will become emotionally stable, physically fit, and will get back together with his wife, Nikki. However, life isn’t as it seems until he meets Tiffany. A funny and amusing story about love and mental illness that make us believe we too can have our own silver lining.