So… I’m graduating in two weeks. Scary, right?
My college experience has given me so much to hold onto as I enter the next phase of my life. Interesting classes, amazing friends, crazy stories, and, most importantly, life-changing books.
Truly, is there anything better than a book you just know is going to change your life? I’ve had a lot of those through the years, especially in college. As my parting gift to FSU, here are some of my favorites!
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
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“That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.”
Babel follows Robin, an orphaned boy who’s brought to London to study linguistics in preparation for his enrollment in Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel. Babel is the world’s center not only for translation, but magic as well, using it to increase the influence of the British Empire.
As Robin continues his studies, he grapples with the realization that serving Babel means betraying his native land of China as he assists the British in their pursuit of world colonization.
I read this book right at the end of my freshman year, and still, even as a senior, I think about it almost every single day. As an English major, this book was right up my alley. Call me a nerd, but I really enjoyed the in-depth conversations about linguistics, and especially the footnotes.
Kuang’s writing is also incredible, combining a complex and engaging storyline with political commentary and lush prose to create a book that’s almost impossible to put down.
This story completely changed the way I think about translation and language, especially when it comes to who has the power in a translated setting, what they choose to do with it, and how that affects others.
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
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“And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be.”
The House on Mango Street is a coming-of-age story told in a series of vignettes about Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago who dreams of a better life and a beautiful home.
This story is one that leapt off the pages and stuck itself to my heart as no other has before. Do I remember every single thing that happens in it? Not even close, but what I do remember is how it made me feel, which is arguably more important to me.
This is a book I sincerely think every woman should read, because I think every woman can relate to at least a small part of this story in some way, shape, or form. It’s truly such a beautiful depiction of what it means to be a woman, and even if you don’t specifically relate to Esperanza, Cisneros does an amazing job at depicting the messy, beautiful, and difficult things that come with that.
She intrinsically knows what it is to be a woman, at its very core, and she does an amazing job at writing that, allowing women from all walks of life to see themselves and their stories within the pages of this book.
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
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“He wanted to look back to make sure that Alex was still there, but he’d read enough stories to know you never looked back on your way out of hell.”
Ninth House follows a girl named Alex, whose ability to see ghosts, or “grays,” takes her from a life of crime and drugs in Los Angeles to one of comfort and academia in New Haven.
Why? Because she’s been tapped by Lethe, an organization tasked with overseeing the activities of Yale’s mystical secret societies.
As Alex dives deeper into the world of occult dealings, she realizes things aren’t as they seem, and something even darker might be lying in wait for her.
To me, this is the poster child for the perfect collegiate dark academia book. It’s incredibly gripping and compelling, and though it might take a second to really get into it, once you’re there, it’ll grab you and not let go until it spits you out the other end.
Everything about this book is interesting. The writing, the magic systems, the main character, and especially the setting. This is the kind of book that makes you want to go find all of the secret nooks and crannies your university has to offer.
Oh, and the side characters are amazing. Pamela Dawes? Yeah, she’s my academic inspiration forever.
- The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
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“We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here.”
The Anthropocene Reviewed is an essay collection where John Green reviews anything and everything (that is, from our current geologic age) on a five-star scale, including but not limited to velociraptors, sunsets, whispering, Kentucky bluegrass, and even Piggly Wiggly.
This book is special to me for a number of reasons, one of the chief among them being that it made me cry and laugh out loud. A book making me cry is no sweat — actually, all of the books on this list have made me cry — but a book making me laugh? Out loud? Insane.
To be honest, I think that really encapsulates the vibe of this book overall. Green doesn’t shy away from hard topics. He talks about his brother’s cancer diagnosis, his time working at a children’s hospital, and several other difficult subjects that really give you a grasp on how fragile life is.
However, there’s another side to this book as well. Green not only gives you an insight into the fragility of life, but he also helps you understand why that means that life is a gift, and not one worth wasting. His stories are laced with hope, a dream for a better world, and a better future.
This is the kind of book that makes you want to get up and do something with your life. It’s funny yet emotional, complex yet quick to read, and absolutely brilliant. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel lucky to be alive.
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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“To look up at the nighttime sky is to become a part of a long line of people throughout human history who looked above at that same set of stars. It is to witness time unfolding.”
Atmosphere follows Joan, a scientist who, in the summer of 1980, is selected to begin training to become one of the first women to join NASA’s space shuttle program.
As she completes her training, she learns things about herself, forms bonds, and finds a passion she had never thought was possible; until finally, a 1984 mission changes everything.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always been a space girl, or maybe it’s because I love interesting plotlines interspersed with beautiful character relationships, but either way, this book was practically made for me.
Reid’s writing is, as per usual, incredibly engaging, and her cast of characters, though somewhat large, all stand out in their own special ways, which helps make the central conflict of this book even more harrowing.
The relationships in this book are truly one of a kind, from the friendships Joan forms with her crewmates, to the romance with her love interest, and even the connection between her and her niece, Frances; they form the beating heart at the center of this story.
In a cultural moment chock-full of inspiring space events, from the Artemis II mission to Project Hail Mary, Atmosphere makes itself right at home.
College is nothing if not a tumultuous time, full of growth and change. Through it all, the books we read help make us into the people we become, and these are just some of the books that made me who I am.
While I’ve been a reader all my life, and will continue to read for years to come, I had to acknowledge the fact that there are no books quite like the ones you read in college.
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