TOP 10

Here is a list of 10 recommended books for students

01

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi.

Although this is a graphic novel, it is worth reading as a series for your own time.
-Andre Wooning, Grade 4, Coolidge School

02

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”

This book should be read to feel the disillusionment many Americans felt during the Jazz Age. This is a good lesson to young people that teaches them to assess their capabilities and understand that our past can’t be returned; so, it is always better to let it go.

03

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

“Yes, man is mortal, but that would be only half the trouble. The worst of it is that he’s sometimes unexpectedly mortal -there’s the trick!”

The devil comes to Moscow. Merry mischief and melancholy sadness, romantic love and magical obsession, mystery and reckless game with the evil spirit – they all can be found in this novel. Perfect reading to find out how the evil can be more honest than a society and political regimes.

04

The GIVER by LOIS LOWRY

Lois Lowry tells us in this book what we college students want to hear most: “Let your freak flag fly.” She paints readers a utopian society through the eyes of a boy named Jonas. However, Jonas learns that this society is actually far from ideal when he meets the Giver, aka the town’s “Receiver of Memory.” The Giver shares the town people’s emotions and memories with Jonas. Jonas soon realizes that his neighbors sacrificed their individuality to live in this illusion of perfection and be controlled by others. “I remember it making me feel like even though you’re told what to do in your life, that sometimes the utopia isn’t so perfect,” University of Central Florida junior Giorgy Molano said. “That the real way to find happiness is doing what feels right to you. Because at the end of the day, it is your life and no one else’s.”

05

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 by Teena Seelig

The executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Teena Seelig, provides personal stories of people going beyond expectations and challenging the status quo, adding her own advice about how to reach your potential when you transition to a new stage in life.

Recommended by Melisa Junata, a biomedical engineering student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, originally from Indonesia.

06

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

“I wish I would have read this before embarking on the exciting journey that is studying.”

This collection of personal essays by a recent Yale graduate, published after she died in a car crash, became a best-seller, provoking young people to reflect on what they really want from life.

Recommended by Felix Simon, who is studying for his BA in film and media studies and English studies at Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany.

07

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

“It covers so many issues but isn’t an ‘issues’ book; sexuality, dementia, learning difficulties and family issues are all covered sensitively while woven into three beautiful stories from three women in three generations of one family. It gives the holistic view that so many healthcare professionals lose when they’re bogged down in patient statistics and science – that actually, the scientific answer might not actually be the best depending on the personality and history of the person in question.”

Recommended by Katie Hodgkinson, a medical student at University College London.

08

How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

“This book is a very straightforward guide to university life. It is brief and gives different, clear strategies for studying, preparing for exams, organising your appointments and how to avoid procrastinating. It does so in an easily readable and funny style. In short, the book offers a few simple but effective strategies to get your studying organised, so that you can also enjoy your social life, sleep and personal hobbies to the fullest extent possible in a full academic schedule.”

Recommended by Melisande Riefler, studying at United World College in Germany. She has applied through Ucas for university in the UK.

09

Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael Sandel

“As a social science student, a book I would really recommend is Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?by Michael Sandel. It gives a really well-structured, easy-to-read introduction to critical thinking and moral issues, and there’s a lot of content in my lectures that reminds me of this book!”

Recommended by Lu Allan, studying philosophy, politics and sociology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.