College is stressful enough without adding a 900-page novel to the mix. The good news for you is that I’m not your torturous professor assigning weekly readings. This one is all up to you! These books are all under 300 pages, so you can actually finish them before graduation. Each one explores themes you’re almost guaranteed to bump into during the start of this fall semester: figuring out who you are, navigating change, and dealing with all the messy middle parts of getting old.
- Dead Poets Society
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While you may recognize this as an amazing movie, it is also a life-changing read. Set at a Catholic boarding school, a group of boys struggle between who they are and who their parents want them to be, until a teacher pushes them to find meaning in poetry and Shakespeare.
This book explores identity, pressure, and what it means to live as yourself in a world that often tries to label you as only one thing. It’s not a sunshine and rainbows story, but it will make you think about who you want to become. College is a perfect time for us to test out all of our possibilities and go from there.
- Catcher in THe Rye
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You might recognize this as a book your parents had to read in high school, or maybe you’ve never heard of it. Either way, it’s worth diving into (and maybe sending your dad a “you won’t believe what I just read” text).
This classic coming-of-age novel follows a teen fighting with rebellion, loneliness, and the confusion of leaving his childhood in the past. He doesn’t have it all figured out (spoiler: none of us do), but that’s what makes him relatable. College is a transition period. You’re leaving childhood behind, but adulthood doesn’t always feel like it fits. This story captures that messy middle ground better than almost any other book out there.
- Looking for Alaska
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This should also spark a lightbulb for the movie-goers out there, but the book stands on its own. It’s one of my personal favorites (and I read over 60 books a year). The characters are witty, reckless, and painfully relatable in the way only John Green characters can be. Instead of chapters, the story is divided into “X days before” and “X days after.” But before what?
The suspense builds until the truth hits, and it’s absolutely gut-wrenching. It’s a story about love, loss, friendship, and the kinds of mistakes we make knowing they are wrong before we even do them. This is a book I will recommend until my vocal cords stop working, and I think that says something in and of itself.
Going into a new semester of school can feel like being one of those babies thrown into a pool and trying to figure out how to not drown. Finally flipping back over to breathe is what it feels like to finish a book like this, during a time in our lives when it can actually make a difference. Don’t be mad you got thrown in the water- we all are- just decide to do something with it and flip back over.