Being a college student doesn’t always allow for much time to yourself. Any moment that we spend not doing homework is usually used for trying to catch up on a full eight hours of sleep. But, if you happen to catch a couple minutes for yourself, you should definitely pick up one of the five books from below.
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
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This book starts out seemingly in the middle of a mystery. We’re introduced to the Richardson family who, from the outside, looks to be perfect and have it all. With a mom and dad who have high end jobs and siblings that excel at pretty much everything they do, Izzy, the youngest Richardson, finds herself feeling a little bit like the black sheep of the family. She doesn’t exactly fit into her family’s picturesque style and finds the perfection of Shaker Heights to be suffocating. Then, we’re introduced to a mother and daughter duo: Mia and Pearl. Mia is a travelling artist who can only stay in one place for a short period of time, needing to move often to gather new ideas for her work. Pearl, her daughter, has adjusted to her mom’s lifestyle, but as a freshman in high school, she’s hoping that Shaker Heights might be a good place for her to bloom into the person she wants to be. As the story progresses, we dive further and further into the main characters’ lives and we see how intricately Ng is able to weave together all of their story lines and deliver a great plot.
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
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Lara Jean has a system. When she has a crush on a boy and wants to get rid of it, she pours her feelings into a love letter for him. Except, it’s not really to the boy because she doesn’t actually mail the letter. The letters go into a little box that she keeps in her room and she doesn’t really think of them again, until this perfect plan is ruined. Somehow the letters end up being mailed out to each boy that she had written one for, and she’s pretty much convinced her life is over. I mean, one of the letters gets sent to the most popular boy in school that doesn’t even look twice at her and another one is sent to her sister’s ex-boyfriend that Lara Jean had been in love with for so long and also happens to be her neighbor. She’s left to figure out the aftermath of this whole mess and try to move forward from it without causing too much drama, which, to be honest, was an impossible mission from the start. As she figures out how to not die of embarrassment she also finds out more about herself and realizes that maybe this isn’t the worst thing that could have possibly happened to her.
- Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies by Laura Stampler
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If you’re looking for a cute and heartwarming girly read, then this book is the one for you. Harper Anderson has been craving a switch up from her sleepy little hometown for as long as she can remember. She wants glamour and more sophisticated fun, which is why she is beyond excited when she ends up landing an internship at her favorite teen magazine, Shift, for the summer. Everything falls into place for her seemingly quickly and all she needs to do is get to New York to start writing as the magazine’s teen dating blogger. Simple enough, right? Well the one thing that seems to get in the way is the fact that Harper doesn’t exactly have much experience when it comes to dating. In fact, on her application for the internship she kind of used one of her best friend’s dating horror stories and called it her own. But, she figures this is just a one time thing and now that her foot is in the door she can learn as she goes… hopefully. Needless to say, her summer in the Big Apple is going to be far from the boring one she was expecting to have at home. Keeping up her charade will definitely keep her busy, not to mention the cute boy that she meets also takes up a good majority of her time.
- You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
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Although this is different than the regular style of quick reads, this how-to manual is an amazing guide to becoming your best self. Whether you want more confidence, figure out your purpose or just become a straight up badass, then you need to pick this book up ASAP. Sincero is a world-travelling success coach, now author, that designed this book to be light and refreshing, not to mention give you a few good laughs. The advice that she offers will help you to make some positive changes in your life to get rid of doubts in yourself and instead help you learn to live your best life.
- A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
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Jamie Watson, the great-great-great-grandson of Sherlock Holmes’s partner John Watson, is being shipped off to Sherringford, a preparatory school in Connecticut that is an hour away from the father he hardly talks to. Needless to say, he is less than thrilled to be going. Not to mention the fact that Sherringford is also where Charlotte Holmes (yes, the great-great-great-granddaughter of the Sherlock Holmes) goes to school. The two families hardly ever interact with one another and try hard to stay out of each other’s way, but now that’s all about to change. As soon as the two meet there is clear tension between them — tension that doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to fade. That is, until a fellow student of theirs is murdered in the same exact way that someone is murdered in one of Sherlock Holmes’s books. Jamie and Charlotte are framed for this murder. With everyone and everything against them, the two are forced to go on the hunt to clear their name. There’s no longer room for any type of tensions as they need to work together or else they won’t be able to ever get out of the mess that someone made for them.
So whether you’re cramming for midterms and looking for an escape or have some down time and you’re trying to relax, I recommend picking up one of the above books. Be careful though, once you start reading them you might have a hard time returning to your studying!