If you’re a Collegiette, there’s a very real chance that you understand the post-finals, end-of-the-school year struggle. You survived the semester, true, but now you have to wait a full summer before being able to hit the town with your college besties. Coming home from school generally consists of Netflix binges and comatose amounts of sleep, and it’s easy to waste away your summer while you sit around and suffer from social withdrawal symptoms. To break up four months of monotony and unhealthy amounts of Grey’s Anatomy, here are three incredible books, written by three incredible women, to feed your soul and inspire you to crawl out of your blanket nest on the couch.
1. Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
If you’re looking for a book about self-acceptance and discovery, Eat Pray Love is the book for you. After suffering through a mid-life crisis and a divorce, author Elizabeth Gilbert takes a hiatus from her life as a writer in order to embark upon an introspective journey through Italy, India, and Bali. Full of mouth-watering food, mind-opening prayer, and heart-stopping romance, Gilbert takes her readers along for the ride as she heals herself emotionally through travel, faith, and a re-discovering of love. Eat Pray Love is not only a perfect beach read – it’s a quintessential piece of advice for anyone struggling with life decisions (career choices, relationships, etc.) and completely applicable to Collegiettes who are paralyzed by fear of post-grad life and the future.
2. I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzi
If you haven’t heard of Malala Yousafzi, she’s one hell of a fighter; at 14 years old, the Pakistani school girl was riding a school bus home when she was shot in the head by the Taliban as punishment for advocating girl’s education. Miraculously, however, she survived. Even more miraculous are her accomplishments post-assassination attempt: She’s been the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, opened a school in Lebanon for young refugee girls, and published a memoir. For any Collegiettes lacking motivation or feeing unaccomplished, Malala’s story is the perfect read for inspiration, incentive, and courage.
3. Tiny Beautiful Things, by Cheryl Strayed
Originally an anonymous advice column written for the online publication The Rumpus, Cheryl Strayed’s novel combines the heart-wrenchingly honest advice of a best friend with the feel-good nature of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Strayed’s stories combine hilarious commentary, tear-jerking anecdotes, and tough-love in order to provide you with some of the best guidance that you’ll ever receive; it will be by your side throughout the summer, and maybe even for life.
Start reading!