10 Books Busy College Students Should Read
by Caitlin Grosso
y Caitlin Grosso
Let’s face it: Reading is an integral part of how we learn. Although technology is now at the core of the modern student’s academic career, reading continues to be a key player in information-processing. In fact, we are constantly intaking written communication without consciously realizing it – on the way to campus, we pass by traffic signs, company logos and billboards. On the way to classes, we walk by posters and flyers around the college’s buildings. Now, imagine the impact that conscious pleasure reading can have on learning.
Literature presents timeless themes and motifs. Across all genres, it showcases the human experience. It offers readers fresh perspectives and an inside look at life from a different lens. By the same token, literature highlights a myriad of different morals, values, and ethics.
The problem is that conscious reading takes time – something that college students don’t have much of with factors such as classes, work, and extracurricular activities filling up our schedules. With this in mind, here are 10 short novels you can read in 15-minute increments that don’t sacrifice thought-provoking content.
- “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck
- “Before We Were Free” by Sandra Cisneros
This 90-page read is jam-packed with tension, greed, and the possibilities of love. Based on a Mexican folktale, “The Pearl” tells the story of a poor family that lives in a remote, seaside village. The protagonist, Kino, is a pearl diver who gathers pearls from the gulf’s beds to provide for his family. Everything changes for them when he finds a giant pearl, and unfortunately, not for the good.
Anita de la Torre, the book’s 12-year-old protagonist, begins to question her freedom as her relatives begin to emigrate from life in the Dominican Republic to the United States. The story takes place in the 1960s, when Rafael Trujillo’s brutal dictatorship began to grow increasingly tense. Anita and her family then move to New York City to escape the terror of the government’s secret police. In short, it is a story about a Dominican family persevering through their country’s struggle with freedom.
- “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
- “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
One of the seven autobiographical works that Angelou wrote during her lifetime, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” showcases her experiences with racism, rape, and childhood trauma from ages 3 to 16. Her mother sent her and her brother to live with their grandmother in a small Southern town, which created abandonment issues as they navigated through life together.
This short novella tells the story of an old Cuban man (Santiago) who hasn’t caught any fish in over 84 days. His apprentice, Manolin, takes care of him and enjoys being under the old man’s wing, despite his family’s disapproval. One day, Santiago takes his boat out alone into the Gulf Stream, where he battles with a marlin for three days straight.
- “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe
- “The Silence of the Girls” by Pat Barker
Taking place in Umuofia, a cluster of nine villages in lower Niger, Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” comments on Africa’s encounter with Europe’s colonial presence. Okonkwo, a strong and wealthy warrior of Umuofia, resists Britain’s religious and political forces by orchestrating military order in his village.
Unlike your typical Greek mythology, Barker’s “The Silence of the Girls” recollects the story of “The Illiad”through women’s eyes. Briseis, the Trojan queen who later becomes Achilles’ captive, was a salient figure in the Trojan War. In the story, she forms connections with fellow female prisoners while being caught between the mixture of Greek and Trojan armies.
- “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini
- “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong
This emotionally charged novel is set during the violent events that have taken place in the last 30 years of Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion, the reign of the Taliban, and the country’s attempt to rebuild itself post-Taliban influence all impact the characters in this generational story, highlighting themes of women’s issues, war, and faith.
This epistolary novel is a letter from son to a mother who is illiterate. It explores a Vietnamese American family’s history, the unconditional love between mother and son, race, class, and masculinity under a contemporary American scope.
- “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
- “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
Lenny and George, two laborers in California’s fields, discuss their dream of owning an acre of land and a home together. When they land a stable job on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, it becomes within their grasp – or so they think. In 107 pages, Steinbeck’s American classic explores themes of the American dream, scapegoating, companionship, and fear.
Told in short vignettes, Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” is a coming-of-age story from the perspective of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago.
Books in order of the list, from left to right (Caitlin Grosso)
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