10 Must Read Books To Read Before You Go Back to School

Christmas is over and there are still weeks before you go back to school. With all the blockbusters watched, shopping finished, and all binge-worthy content on Netflix completed, there’s one way to make your rest of the holidays worth the while. Kick back and relax with a good book in hand.

Welcome to our weekly series, HitsBerry: Literature. Today, we are taking a look at ten influential and interesting books every student must read. 


The New Jim Crow

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

This work of nonfiction tackles the prevalent racial issues and mass incarceration faced by black men in the United States. Jim Crow laws segregated black people, mostly in public places like restaurants, bars and parks in the Southern United States during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

The New York Review of Books says, “Now and then a book comes along that might in time touch the public and educate social commentators, policymakers, and politicians about a glaring wrong that we have been living with that we also somehow don't know how to face. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander is such a work”

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

A review in Amazon reads, “As someone who has given far too many f***s about far too many things their entire life, this book was exactly the wake-up call I needed.”

Superstar blogger Mark Manson’s second book is 224 pages long and provides a counter intuitive approach to living a good life as the title suggests. It carries a theme surrounding stoicism and Buddhism, but in words millennials can understand.

In this gut-punching, self-reflecting, buzzkilling book, the author is telling you how being positive all the time can account to a lot of pains. Manson goes against traditional out of touch self-help books explaining how you can be positive without being positive. Confusing right? Well to dispel this mist of confusion, get yourself a copy.

The Crown

The Crown by Robert Lacey

This is the book on which the hit Netflix series The Crown is based. While the third season is still on the horizon, what better way to bide the time than reading through the book itself.

The book was written by British historian Robert Lacey. Similar to the series, the book chronicles around the life and time of Queen Elizabeth II, starting from the death of her father and her coronation at the age of 25.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley

Written by Malcolm X himself in collaboration with journalist Alex Haley, this autobiography depicts his life from when he was the “angriest black man in America” to his time in prison and his conversion to Sunni Islam. He was assassinated in 1965 while the book was still incomplete and Haley had to finish the rest of it.

New York Times hailed the book as “Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book.” The book was also adapted into a movie called Malcolm X in 1992 starring Denzel Washington in the titular role.

Bullies

Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans by Ben Shapiro

You might have seen compilations of Ben Shapiro’s college lectures on YouTube, where he silences the left’s puppets, humiliating them with the facts in what are popularly titled, Ben Shapiro “thug-life” moments. The editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire has penned down a book called Bullies, where he exposes the bullying tactics used by the left in America to silence whoever that questions them. The book was published in 2013.

With this book, Shapiro shows how the left plays the race card, the class card, the sexism card to demonize their opponents and quash them through fear, the threat of force and violence. This is an indispensable read for young school and college students.

Stamped from the Beginning

Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram X Kendi

Published in April of 2016, Stamped from the Beginning is the nonfiction penned by Ibram X Kendi, the historian at American University. In this award-winning book, he argues how racist thoughts and ideas are still looming large in the age of postrace and postslavery. Deeply researched materials and captivating narrative would entice any reader to turn the page.

Unbroken

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was published in 2010. In this testament to human spirit, body and soul, the author chronicles the real-life story of Louis Zamperini, who was stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, surviving on a life raft after his Army Air Force bomber crashed into the ocean during the World War II in 1943. Filled with a compelling narrative, one of Hillenbrand’s strongest artistic traits, you will definitely be on the edge of your seat while reading this.

Bad Feminist

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay.

Bad Feminist, published in 2014 is a collection of essays by cultural critic, novelist and professor Roxane Gay. It’s about her personal thoughts about being a feminist while loving things that might seem contrary to feminist beliefs. In these funny and insightful essays, she explores herself, the modern society and the culture itself. She is continually challenging her faiths and beliefs throughout the book and offers the readers a chance to embrace an open-minded attitude through her writings.

Wild

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Wild is a memoir written by American author Cheryl Strayed about her 1100 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995. At the age of 26, after a series of tragedies and terrible loss of hope, Cheryl embarked upon a quest of self-discovery driven by sheer blind will. She hiked alone, starting from Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. In her memoir, she explains all the trials and tribulations of a young woman on a journey that changed her life for the better.

Welcome to the Universe

Welcome to The Universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss and J. Richard Gott

This 472 pages long book is based around the popular introductory astrophysics course written by three of the most prevalent astrophysicists namely Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss and J. Richard Gott. The Princeton University professors guide you through the cosmos, covering everything from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes and time travel. They will answer your queries about the universe and open your eyes with compelling prose. This book is for anyone who seeks expert answers on all things celestial.


What do you think about our picks? Have you settled on reading any of these books we just mentioned? If you have, we have provided the links to the books.