Essential Books To Read Before College
So, you are headed to college; congratulations! As you enter this transformational phase of your life, prepare as much as you can, but don’t forget to leave room for spontaneity. Absorb advice, but be curious to find your own way of doing things. Consider broad perspectives, but be open to developing your own. Embrace diverse experiences, but be brave enough to live your own. Read what you can about building a community, being better with money, and, ultimately, succeeding in higher education. However, instead of using these books as your answers, consider them your conversation starters over the next few years. Your journey starts here!
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Add to BookshelfHow to Be a (Young) Antiracist
by Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone
Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone, How to Be a (Young) Antiracist will be your guide to acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice. Antiracism is a journey, and this book serves as a roadmap to help you carve your own path. Kendi and Stone revised this work to include anecdotes and data that speak directly to experiences and concerns that young people face and will empower you to help create a more just and equitable society. This is a conversation that must be had — and continued.
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$14.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Glimmer of Hope
by The March for Our Lives Founders
Glimmer of Hope is a blueprint for launching social change. Written by the March for Our Lives founders in the aftermath of one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history, this book shows how a group of teenagers channeled their rage and sorrow into action and created one of the largest youth-led movements in global history. You’ll find personal essays from survivors and a close look at how their collective activism turned conversations into action — via rallies, social posts, televised town halls, voter registration drives, and ultimately, a march on Washington. If you want to inspire change, Glimmer of Hope will show you a roadmap to help you lead the way.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Am I There Yet?
by Mari Andrew
Instagram darling Mari Andrew — known for her colorful illustrations and motivational quotes — offers an on-point guide to growing up. From finding a home in a new city to understanding the link between a good hair dryer and good self-esteem to deal with the depths of grief and heartache, Andrew’s tales document a road less traveled — one that sometimes is precisely the way you’re meant to go.
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$19.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Find Your People
by Jennie Allen
Beyond finding your career and finding yourself, another huge part of college is finding your people. In this book, you’ll uncover how to overcome the barriers to making new friends and learn to initiate with easy-to-follow steps. Find Your People will also show you how to identify the type of friend you are, the types of friends you need, and the practical ingredients to have the kind of friendships you always longed for. Allen draws on fascinating insights from science and history, timeless biblical truths, and vulnerable stories from her life to offer practical solutions for creating an authentic community.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Big Magic
by Elizabeth Gilbert
You don’t need to be creative to read Big Magic, but it may inspire you to create the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve always dreamed of. From the bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, this book illustrates the attitudes, approaches, and habits needed to live your most creative life. With a dash of soulful spirituality and a dose of cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages you to uncover the “strange jewels” within you. Just as the PopSugar review says, “I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious,” after reading this one.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Congratulations, by the way
by George Saunders
Congratulations, by the Way is based on the viral graduation address that George Saunders gave at Syracuse University. Three months after he gave that speech, a transcript of the uplifting message was posted on The New York Times and within days it went on to be shared over one million times. Both funny and wise, Congratulations, by the Way taps into our deep desire to lead kinder, more fulfilling lives. This inspiring meditation on kindness will help you bring selflessness and compassion to your college years.
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$15.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition
by Brené Brown
Don’t go to college without reading Brené Brown. Given that college is a vulnerable experience, what better way to prepare than by reading insights from the expert on vulnerability? In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brown provides readers with the ten guideposts to wholehearted living. Each guidepost will help you understand the practices that will allow you to change your life, both at university and beyond. According to Brown, nothing is more important than choosing to live your life authentically.
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$25.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Get Good with Money
by Tiffany the Budgetnista Aliche
College is going to test your finances. So before entering “the real world,” do yourself a favor and get better with money. In Get Good with Money, Tiffany “the Budgetnista” Aliche offers a ten-step plan for finding peace, safety, and harmony with your finances — no matter how big or small your goals. With helpful checklists, worksheets, a tool kit of resources, and advanced advice from money experts, you’ll come to understand the powerful concept of building wealth through financial wholeness — a realistic and energizing alternative to get-rich-quick and over-complicated money management systems. With this read, you’ll be investing in your future success.
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$26.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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How to Win at College
by Cal Newport
For those high achievers keen to succeed in the business of college, How to Win at College has your name on it. Written by bestselling author and Georgetown professor Cal Newport, this book is an essential guide to getting ahead, once you’ve gotten in. Based on interviews with star students at universities nationwide, from Harvard to the University of Arizona, Newport presents seventy-five simple rules that will rocket you to the top of your class — while proving that you can be successful and still have time for fun. Make the most of your college years with the help of this read.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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How I Paid for College
by Marc Acito
How I Paid for College is the perfect dose of fiction to break up these nonfiction reads on personal development. This deliciously funny romp will entertain and inspire you. The novel follows Edward Zanni as he “Peter Pans” his way through a carefree summer of magic and mischief. But the fun comes to a screeching halt when Edward’s father remarries and refuses to pay for Edward to study acting at Juilliard. The farcical coming-of-age story takes you through Edward’s journey as an overly theatrical and sexually confused New Jersey teenager on his quest to pay for acting school tuition. Witty and satisfying, you’re bound to love Edward — and this book.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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We Should All Be Feminists
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a renewed definition of feminism for the twenty-first century in this personal and persuasive essay — adapted from her much-admired TEDx Talk that has accumulated more than five million views. As one Medium review put it, We Should All Be Feminists is “a call to action, for all people in the world, to undo the gender hierarchy.” In its pages, Adichie draws on her personal experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics as she explores what it means to be a woman today. This is a crucial conversation starter as you prepare for college, no matter your gender or gender identity.
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$10.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Dear Martin
by Nic Stone
Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone boldly tackles American race relations in her stunning #1 New York Times bestselling debut. Dear Martin follows Justyce McAllister, a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend — but that doesn’t matter to the police officer who puts him in handcuffs without grounds during a routine traffic stop. Listed as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time, Dear Martin is a powerful novel about the reality of persistent violence and social injustice.
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$12.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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She Said
by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
There’s no denying sex is a hot topic in college, but sexual harassment is a topic that should also be a part of the conversation. She Said is the untold story of the investigation into Harvey Weinstein and its consequences for the #MeToo movement, from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. The New York Times bestseller (and major motion picture) tells a thrilling story about the power of truth and reveals the inspiring and affecting journeys of the women who bravely spoke up — for the sake of other women, for future generations, and for themselves.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The 1619 Project
Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series and podcast changed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. Now, the book version, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction illuminating key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. With over twenty states trying to ban this book, you should consider this an urgent and essential read, now more than ever.
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$25.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Good Arguments
by Bo Seo
Ensure your voice is heard in college — and beyond. Two-time world champion debater and former coach of the Harvard debate team, Bo Seo, reveals the timeless secrets of effective communication and persuasion by tracing his fascinating journey from immigrant kid to world champion. Good Arguments will show you how to improve your communication with friends, family, classmates, and bosses by taking you through a thrilling intellectual adventure into the quirky and brilliant subculture of competitive debate. Discover how good-faith debate can make you smarter in this read.
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$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes
Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callen
Your mental health may be challenged in college, if so, it can be helpful to read stories that show that you are enough, you are seen, and, most importantly, you are not alone. From a teen activist who wrestles with protest-related anxiety to a socially anxious vampire who learns he has to save his town by … working with people, Ab(solutely) Normal includes short stories from sixteen exceptional authors who, together, subvert mental health stereotypes in this powerful and uplifting collection of fiction. Through powerful prose, verse, and graphics, the characters in this anthology remind us that living with a mental health condition doesn’t mean you’re defined by it. Plus the book includes a list of mental health resources that provide context and support if you need it.
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$16.99Buy from Other Retailers:
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a positively delightful novel that follows two college friends, Sam and Sadie — who are often in love, but never quite lovers — as they become creative partners in an offbeat and intricately imagined world of video game design. Gabrielle Zevin’s bestselling book examines the diversified nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and, above all, the need to be loved. It’s a love story … kind of. But know that you absolutely do not need to like video games (or know anything about them) to fall in love with this novel.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
