7 Essential Books That Every College Student Should Read ...

If you are a college student, if you love books and if you believe that reading should be undertaken constantly and widely, here are a few books that will inspire you. College is a great place to explore interesting literature and some of the most wonderful writing that has shaped the way society thinks and functions now days. Reading will help you widen your vocabulary, it will improve your cognitive skills, it will expand your view of the world and it will keep you entertained. If you are looking for some great quality reading material, here are a few essential books that every college student should read:

1. This Side of Paradise – F. Scott Fitzgerald

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This classic, romantic and witty novel should definitely be one of those books that every college student should read before graduation. It tells the story of a privileged Princeton student who finds out that life is quite different after he graduates and he becomes disillusioned. Just like the author says: “It is not life that’s complicated, it’s the struggle to guide and control life.”.

2. A Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

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This book is a darkly, satirical vision of a utopian future where happiness does play an important part but where individuality is not quite appreciated. Just keep in mind that “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything.”. So what’s more important: to accept things as they are or to try to fight the system in order to stay happy?

3. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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This is one of the world’s most famous novels and definitely a must-read book for every college student. It will help you understand the importance of friends and family and that there are things in life that you should treasure more than money. This is an epic novel, a myth-novel about the evolution of humanity where loneliness is the only thing that dominates the world.

4. A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

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This is one of the best American novels to emerge from World War I. Apparently, Ernest Hemingway said that he rewrote the ending thirty-nine times to get the words right. This is a story about love, pain, loyalty and desertion that every college student should read before graduation since it will help them become a more educated and well-read individual.

5. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

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This wonderful and moving novel tells the story of an Oklahoma farm family who is driven from their homestead and is forced to travel to California to find a better life during the Great Depression. It's a beautiful story about the importance of love, friendship, and about resilience and courage.

6. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

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This story remains as provocative today as it was in 1954 when it was first published. It’s basically a story about a divided society through the example of a group of small boys marooned on a coral island. This book was labeled a parable, a myth, an allegory, a parody or a morality tale and it has established itself as a true classic.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

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This Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece presents the heroism of a young girl in the face of violent and blind hatred. She learns a lot of things about weak people and life’s unfairness to kids or people with a different skin color. You will understand that kindness, sympathy or mutual respect or support doesn’t depend on a man’s social status or skin color, it depends on their soul.

There are a lot of wonderful, inspiring and motivating books that every college student should read before graduating. I just mentioned a few in this little article. Do you know any other books that every college student should read? Please tell us about them in the comments section!

Sources:
lifehack.org
mycollegeadvice.org
onlinecollegecourses.com

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