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10 summer reads to remind you of college

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(Photo Emma Hinchliffe)

(Photo Emma Hinchliffe)

It’s about halfway through the summer and that means two things: peak beach time and — as relaxing as the beach is — that a lot of college students are starting to miss school.

Whether you miss your friends and apartment, you’re anxious to get back to class, or you just need something to read poolside, here is a list of some of the best summer reads for college students.

1. Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz

This book about a Princeton admissions officer might hit too close to home for high-school students in the midst of the college application process . College students, however,  will be able to enjoy the inside look at the application process and complex characters.

The novel follows Portia Nathan, an admissions officer in the throes of application season, deciding the fate of thousands of Princeton applicants while dealing with long-buried personal crises. Tina Fey played Portia in the 2013 movie version, but the book takes a much more cerebral approach. Each chapter begins with excerpts of college admissions essays — with the entertaining trend of the misuse of the word “myriad.”

2. The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

This collection of fiction and essays was published posthumously this year — Keegan died in a car accident just days after her graduation from Yale University in 2012. A talented and funny writer, she had a job lined up at The New Yorker and critics have agreed that her writing showed incredible promise.

It is difficult to hold back tears, but it’s also fascinating to read work written by a 22-year-old, about decidedly 22-year-old things: the awkwardness of coming home for winter break, why so many college students go into banking and consulting, what would happen if the guy you were hanging out with (but definitely not dating) died and the feeling of connection on a college campus.

3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Everyone’s reading Tartt’s new novel The Goldfinch this summer, so if you’ve already read it or want something rooted in college life, rather than the underground art world, try her first book.

Published in 1992, The Secret History follows a group of misfits at an elite New England college who study Classical Greek and — influenced by a professor — fall into a new, shocking way of life.

4. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

A list like this wouldn’t be complete without a few classics.

Much of this 1945 novel takes place at Oxford, depicting the relationship between the narrator, Charles Ryder, and Lord Sebastian Flyte. There is  much to highlight in Brideshead Revisited, but some of the book’s best scenes, —shaping the rest of the story — show Charles and Sebastian’s early relationship, drinking and philosophizing on Oxford’s grounds.

5. Looking for Alaska by John Green

Everyone saw The Fault in Our Stars, the adaptation of John Green’s best-selling book about two teenagers with cancer.  If this left you wanting more Green, try his first novel, Looking for Alaska. 

The book takes place at a boarding school (almost college!) in Alabama, with a host of eccentric characters, teenage pranks and a tragic twist. Break out the tissues for this one, too.

6. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Another classic, and another novel set at Princeton. Fitzgerald’s first novel follows Amory Blaine through university, courtship and high society. The Great Gatsby fans will definitely enjoy this more autobiographical Fitzgerald work.

7. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

This novel by the acclaimed Middlesex author follows three seniors at Brown University in the 1980s, navigating semiotics and, after graduation, an intense love triangle. The scenes at Brown will make English majors glad semiotics fell out of fashion, but the story will make sure you keep reading.

8. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Harbach’s novel takes place at the fictional Westish College on the shore of Lake Michigan. As the title implies, the book follows a baseball star, but it also focuses on four other main characters and how their lives change and intertwine.

An enthralling read, whether or not you’re a baseball fan.

9. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

This one is the perfect beach read. Kaling’s memoir covers her time as a writer for The Office, a struggling comedian in New York and, yes, a student at Dartmouth College.

Her advice for how to get to where she is also hits home for USA TODAY College readers: “Stay in school and be a respectful and hardworking wallflower, and go to an accredited non-online university.” Kaling is working on a second book now, so make sure to read this one before it comes out.

10. Joe College by Tom Perrotta

If you like the new HBO series The Leftovers  — based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name about a town dealing with the aftermath of the Rapture — but need a break from the drama with something more uplifting, try Joe College.

This one of Perrotta’s books follows Danny, a junior at Yale, on his spring break driving his dad’s lunch truck around office parking lots. In addition to making you laugh, the novel might make you feel better about your own spring break and summer vacation.

Emma Hinchliffe is a rising senior at Georgetown University
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