By: Meg Cassidy
Being an English major, you would hope that I have a passion for literature. Luckily, I do! But unfortunately, I am human. Thus, I sometimes have trouble motivating myself to read, especially since I’m always so busy with mandatory school reading. Assuming that most of the readers of this article are college students too, I know you understand the dilemma I’m describing. So I’m here to recommend some books that I’m extremely passionate about and encourage you to read them!
I want to start off this list with my favorite writer of all time: Kurt Vonnegut! I’ve read four of his novels so far, and I’m currently halfway through a fifth one. One of my lifelong goals is to read everything Vonnegut has ever published. I started reading his work in February of this year. I still remember the extreme intoxication I felt reading “Slaughterhouse Five” for the first time while on a family vacation. I was too in awe to care about the intolerable Florida sun, which was slowly burning right through the skin of my shoulders. “Slaughterhouse Five” is the iconic fictional story of an American war veteran named Billy Pilgrim and his journey to becoming “unstuck” in time. I don’t want to give too much away since much of my enjoyment came from not knowing what to expect. This novel is unlike anything I have ever read before. I recommend Vonnegut’s novels to almost everyone I meet and desperately hope some people take this advice. I’m actually planning on getting a tattoo of a recurring quote from this novel: “so it goes.” If you want to understand the meaning behind this, please pick up this novel. I promise you will not regret it.
My next recommendation is “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is the fictional story of famous celebrity, Evelyn Hugo, as she finally decides to share her deepest secrets with the world. This book is both an amazing beach read and also an intense case study on the cruelty of fame. Evelyn’s story inspires important thoughts about societal definitions of race, gender and love. This novel held my attention the entire time and rocked my entire world with how it ended. Evelyn’s character makes readers question their own morality and sense of self. My favorite thing about this book is the sense of vulnerability and intrigue that Taylor Jenkins Reid crafts her characters with, especially the character of Evelyn Hugo. By the end of this book, I was convinced that the author was telling a nonfiction story of a real celebrity. I also highly recommend Reid’s other books, “Daisy Jones & The Six” and “Malibu Rising.” She also just recently published another novel that I, unfortunately, haven’t had the chance to read yet, but I’m sure that one will be a hit too!
For all my poetry lovers, I highly recommend “Sweet-dark” by Savannah Brown. I found that my journey with this poetry collection was poetic in itself. At first, the complicated vocabulary and seemingly ambiguous meanings filled me with great frustration. As I continued to read, I learned to embrace that feeling of confusion and accepted the idea that poetry doesn’t have to make sense to be enjoyable. Applying this idea to my own life has helped me embrace whatever life throws my way and let fate run its course.
Another beautiful poetry collection I would recommend is “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” by Ocean Vuong. I mean –c’mon– that title alone must be one of the most poetic things I’ve ever heard. Vuong’s writing is heart-wrenchingly beautiful and unpredictably familiar. It covers important themes of discussion such as the effects of being an immigrant in America or having complicated relationships with your family. I don’t think any words can accurately describe the feelings his poetry invokes in me. Go read it, and find out for yourself! I promise he’ll leave you desperate and begging for more.
I have an endless amount of recommendations, but I’m going to stop myself here! I hope you take a break from schoolwork to read some of these suggestions. I’m going to re-read some of these books myself right now!
Sincerely,
your local English major <3