Spring break is just around the corner and I don’t know about you, but for me it’s the best time to catch up on some reading. Especially for anyone going somewhere warm, that needs a book to sit out in the sun with! I put together a list of some great books that would be perfect to take on your spring break trip, or even just relax at home with.
If you’re looking to be inspired:
Becoming
By: Michelle Obama
This book has had great reviews and I can’t wait to pick it up myself. Many readers have reported that it can be impactful for any readers, despite their political views.
“In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare…”
If you’re looking for romance:
The Sun is Also a Star
By: Nicola Yoon
This book is a quick and different romance novel to read. It’s perfect for a short break because it’s standalone and an easy read.
“Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?”
All Your Perfects
By: Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite romance writers, and this book has seemed to stand out to readers among a lot of her other novels. It’s definitely been added to my to-be-read shelf.
“Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it. Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair…”
Normal People
By: Sally Rooney
If you’re looking for a romance book that pushes passed the romanticized, perfect, ‘insta-love’ relationships that are so often portrayed, then this is the book for you.
“Connell and Marianne both grow up in the same town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. But they both get places to study at university in Dublin, and a connection that has grown between them despite the social tangle of school lasts long into the following years…”
If you’re looking to feel nostalgic:
Meddling Kids
By: Edgar Cantero
I don’t know about you, but I spent a large portion of my childhood watching “Scooby Doo”. That’s while I’ll definitely be picking up this book for break. It brings characters inspired by the crew back together as adults when a brand new mystery arises.
“1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven’t seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she’s got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter’s been dead for years….”
Tiger Lily
By: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Another childhood favorite of mine was definitely “Peter Pan”. When I first read “Tiger Lily” I fell in love with the spin the author brought to this story. It remains one of my favorite books I’ve read to this day.
“…Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.
Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.
With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed….”
If you’re looking for impactful books:
A Thousand Splendid Suns
By: Khaled Hosseini
I brought this book with me on my spring break last year and I consider it one of the best books I’ve read to this day. The content is heavy, but it’s definitely a worthwhile and eye-opening read.
“A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them…”
Red Clocks
By: Leni Zumas
This book definitely sounds like something I’d love to pick up. It explores topics that are very serious to consider, especially with our current political climate.
“In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers alongside age-old questions surrounding motherhood, identity, and freedom.”
If you’re looking for dystopian:
The Dreamers
By: Karen Thompson Walker
I love dystopias in general so this book automatically excites me. What makes me really want to pick this one up however, is the protagonist it follows since it is also a college student.
“In an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a freshman girl stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics who carry her away, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. Then a second girl falls asleep, and then another, and panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. As the number of cases multiplies, classes are canceled, and stores begin to run out of supplies. A quarantine is established. The National Guard is summoned…”
They Both Die at the End
By: Adam Silvera
This book seems like a perfect standalone dystopian read for break. It explores an issue that’s very interesting and not often tackled in other novels.
“On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.
Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.”
Happy reading and have a great break, collegiettes!