Sometimes, school involves so much academic reading that you feel like you NEED to be reading about something other than cells, or history, or art, whatever the topic may be. Last semester, I took a microbiology class. Each day when I walked in, there was a girl sitting a few seats away from me who always had a Harry Potter book. It was fun to walk into the class and see which book she was on or how far she’d read since the previous class. The Harry Potter series is one which I started reading when I was ten years old, and have read through it at least (keywords “at least”) four times. Reading a just chapter a day when you feel like you need a break offers some nice mental therapy. (And with a series like HP, you’ll be set for a while!)
The book you want to read might depend on your mood. The best advice I could give if you’re not sure where to begin would be to google “best books.” There, you can get a list of current books that “everyone is reading,” or a list of classics “everyone needs to read.” It really depends on what you’re in the mood for, and what you feel like you can handle! (Because if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ll be able to curl up and read a new book with the course load right now. I think I’ll just stick to my chapters of Harry Potter.)
Here, I just made a short list of a few books I’ve read over the years which could be a good mental break!
Wonder, RJ Palacio- This book came out in 2012, and a movie came out in 2017. It’s not a hard read by any means, but it has such a sweet story. My mom is a fifth-grade reading teacher and has read this book with her students. If you’re looking for a good story that’s easy to follow, this is a great one!
Seriously… I’m Kidding– (that’s Ellen DeGeneres, and if she can’t make you feel good, who can?) I’ve been someone that’s watched the Ellen show most afternoons. She’s written a few books that are great if you need a break from reading a textbook.
I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong – This was a requirement for “Microbiology and Its Applications” last semester. We had a few assignments based on sets of chapters from this book. I wasn’t really looking forward to reading this one, but I ended up really liking it! The author makes great comparisons to what’s going on in microbiology to what’s going on in the real world. I even saw a friend I went to high school with post a picture of this book on her Snapchat story, and she’s going to med school next year!
Written by Katherine C., a Rutgers—Camden Undergraduate Student and Raptor Ambassador.