It’s back to school season, and you know what that means… it’s time to put away those summer books and pick up your required reading list. Luckily, if you’re headed off to college, you likely didn’t have a required reading list, and probably managed to get through quite a bit of the stack that was piling up in your room. If you’re nervous to start school or college just seems daunting, pick up one of these books to give you a little courage!
Viet Ho is calm and collected and a lovable oddball who nurses an obsession with forensic science. He’s relieved to head off to UC Davis and escape from being in the middle of his bickering immigrant parents. Evie Mai is a junior biology major and the eldest daughter who has never trod far off the beaten path. When a clumsy accident brings Viet and Evie together, they bond over their shared hometown and similar history—and their orbits grow smaller as their friends collide. The more time they spend with each other and support each other, mentally and emotionally, the more their friendship shifts into something else.
This book follows a first-year student whose time away from home helps her branch out and find her true self, instead of the self her parents expect her to be. College is the perfect time to find your own path, and this book will inspire you to find yours.
Do the ghosts of college essays past (or essays yet to come) haunt you? Then you'll relate to Dani, whose struggles with her own college essay end up bringing her together with Prince, a romantic DJ and self-professed "Love Expert."
Still have graduation on the brain? Relive that last day before summer break with this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.
Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, her first day is a disaster AND she finds herself stuck in a time loop! This feel-good magical romance will is sure to help you realize that no matter how weird your first day (or few) might be, there's a light at the end of the tunnel!
Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But as the two embark on a five-step plan to get the girls of their respective dreams to fall for them they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.
One of the most common college tropes is the “broke college kid.” Well, in this book, you get that trope to the extreme. College isn’t easy to figure out, and managing the financial aspect can be extremely difficult and stressful. This book gives you a glimpse into the struggles of that side of things, but will also remind you that no matter how bad things get, you’ll always figure them out.
You won’t get to college until the last book in this trilogy, but you have to start at the top! This series lives for the summers and will get you totally ready to take that summer fling spirit to college with you.
If you’re staying in your hometown for college and feeling kind of ~eh~ about that, this is the perfect book to get the frown turned upside down. Following two sisters exploring everything their hometown has to offer before one of them starts college, this is the perfect read to inspire you to find some new pizzazz in your hometown, and to still have a new and exciting college experience, even from a quick drive away.
College is a great time to get away from home. But that also means when you’re back for the summer, old flames can rekindle, old dramas can blow up again, and unexpected things can happen with unexpected people. If you’re looking to get away or looking for a second chance, this is the read for you.
Spring Break: we all know the term. It’s a magical time when college kids especially go on all kinds of new adventures. In this book, two college kids find love on their way to their spring break trips. What could get you more excited for college than the thought of finding love on spring break?
Another Mary H.K. Choi novel and a crowd favorite, this book follows two young college kids who barely outlived high school by focusing on the hope of getting their dreams within grasp in college. It’s not easy to chase your dreams, but this book reminds us that it’s well worth it, if only for the experiences and relationships you’ll find along the way.
Not quite ready to let go of that last summer before college? This romantic road trip story follows Florie as she makes the most of her last chance to have an epic summer with her best friend, Kacey, before everything changes and Kacey heads off to school.
