Top 10 Books College Students Must Read Before Graduating

When was the last time you read a book that you weren’t actually required to? How about if that book was good for you or was going to teach you something important? It’s probably been a while, right?

Well, there are some books that you absolutely should be reading, and especially before you finish school. So, we’re going to take a look at some of the top books college students must read before graduating and just what they can teach you. That way, you’re going to go into your career with a little more information than you might think.

Why is Reading a Book Important for College Students?

Reading books is important for everyone, but when you take a look at some of the books to read before you graduate college, these are books that will help you learn new skills or get to know yourself better.

There are reasons that pleasure reading books for college students can actually be so helpful and why so many people recommend them. The key is making sure that you find the right ones to get started with.

Reading books will allow you to sit back and enjoy your life as well. After all, sometimes there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine). And maybe a few snacks to go along with it.

What are the Recommended Books to Read Before College?

When it comes to preparing for college, you’ve probably been told all about different books that will help you get there. You may have been given lists by your teachers, friends, parents, or others in your life of novels for college students.

Books like Tuesdays with Morrie, The Alchemist, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Catcher In The Rye are all books that might have been recommended to you before heading off to college.

These books all introduce you to entirely different stories, and while not all of them are true, even some of the fiction will introduce you to different points of view. They’ll also make you think, and that’s a skill that you absolutely need to have when you’re heading off to college.

What are the Best Books to Read During College?

However once you get to college, you might find there are even more books that people recommend to you. After all, there are plenty of lists of the best inspirational books for college students or must-read books for college students.

Some of the books you might be told about include One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Great Gatsby, Crime and Punishment, The Grapes of Wrath, and Freedom.

Again, each of these books will introduce you to different points of view, different worlds, different people, and different ways of thinking. And all of that is important as you’re going through your college years. You want to make sure that you expand your horizons as much as you possibly can.

Top 10 Books Every College Student Should Read Before They Graduate

Of course, when it comes to reading before college and reading during college, you still have an extremely important list of books to read before graduating college. These are some of the top books around, which will really give you a new understanding of what’s out there waiting for you.

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

The 4-Hour Workweek is all about Ferriss’s firsthand experience. Ferriss talks about the ways to change your life for the better by actually reducing the amount of work that you do but increasing the number of benefits and the overall quality of your life. The key to The 4-Hour Workweek is training yourself and training your employer to let you be more productive in more unique ways.

There are a number of ways that the typical workweek and the typical worldview about work just aren’t working. Ferriss challenges this view and proposes something entirely different in The 4-Hour Workweek. Not only that, but he explores secrets to create the life that you want outside of work as well.

Why Choose this Book for College Students:

• Learn about tips and tricks that can make you more successful in less time
• Understand how your life could improve by being more efficient

What Makes this Book for College Students Unique:

• Focuses on ways to create the life you want rather than falling into the ‘rat race’.
• Offers a firsthand look at the experience of Tim Ferriss in building his own life

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Life is not always going to be easy for anyone, and while many college students have already experienced this kind of difficulty before getting into college, Man’s Search for Meaning helps them explore it even more. Frankl’s book is rewritten continuously to really evaluate the way despair can change your life.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, students can see just how difficult of a life Frankl himself experienced and how he managed to overcome. In the process of overcoming, Frankl manages to find meaning in a world that, to many, may seem to have lost all level of meaning.

Why Choose this Book for College Students:

• Focus on what the true drive in life is, meaning, and just how to find it as students are approaching their future
• Encourages a search for inspiration even despite the challenges that come about in our lives

What Makes this Book for College Students Unique:

• Focuses on finding significance in life without focusing too much on obstacles
• Shows the process of overcoming even the worst of tragedies in an effort to find a purpose and a better life

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Recession Proof Graduate by Charlie Hoehn

Even though the recession is over, there is still a great deal to learn from Recession Proof Graduate. Hoehn focuses on some of the most important tips and skills that everyone should know in order to make themselves indispensable to a company or boss. In fact, Recession Proof Graduate is a step-by-step process that can be implemented by anyone.

Finding meaning in your work can be difficult, and not getting a job can make it even more difficult to do so. With Recession Proof Graduate and Hoehn, you can learn about what companies are looking for and how to find a job that you actually want to have rather than working day in and day out for someone or something that you don’t even like.

Why Choose this Book for College Students:

• Learn about the skills and techniques that can make you the type of applicant that businesses want to hire
• Stop living a life that you don’t want and start getting the jobs and offers that you want most.

What Makes this Book for College Students Unique:

• Focuses on finding a job that you enjoy and living a life you want rather than just getting something when you leave college
• Offers a detailed, step-by-step process to get you from where you are now to where you want to be

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz

The key to getting where you want in life starts with networking. Never Eat Alone is all about how to network properly so you can find the right people. By networking with the right people, rather than just engaging in blind networking, you can advance yourself faster and easier, creating relationships that are essential for you and for others at the same time.

Never Eat Alone gives you specific steps that will help you connect with the type of people that you need in order to do just that. You will learn all about using social media, collaborative management, and other skills to create a strong foundation that puts you on the right path for the future, no matter what your future holds.

Why Choose this Book for College Students:

• Focus on how to reach out to the right people to get what you need and move your future forward
• Learn about what networking is and why it is crucial to expand your current network in order to get where you want to be

What Makes this Book for College Students Unique:

• Get step-by-step instructions on what you need to do to get from where you are to where you want to be
• Utilize relationships of all types, including friendships, coworkers, employers, and more, to keep moving onward and upward

Last update: 2024-05-01

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One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude is an older book, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a high-quality one that you should definitely read. Marquez has written a fictional story that creates a truly unique view of the world and the universal themes that occur within it. Each of these themes echoes a truth that occurs within real life and showcases the importance of overcoming much of what is before you.

In One Hundred Years of Solitude, you’ll come to better understand humanity, including life and death, love and loss, rich and poor, and a great deal more. The idea of Marquez’s book is to explore the world in an entirely new way.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• The exploration of the world and the themes that exist in it are very realistic and can help you understand your place in the world
• The story is well-woven to attract and intrigue readers of all backgrounds

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• Presents themes of life and death in a fictional way that’s interesting but still preparatory
• Classic book that showcases a level of relevance today that existed when it was originally published over 50 years ago

Last update: 2024-05-02

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This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The idea that life will be perfect once you achieve certain things is one that many people have, and yet it’s not realistic. This Side of Paradise is a story of a ‘perfect’ life and what it could really mean or look like. Fitzgerald explores the truth behind some of the glamor that exists even for those who seem to be at the top of the ivory tower.

This Side of Paradise is a type of autobiography that was written by Fitzgerald before many of his other famous works. Not only that, but Fitzgerald explores the true depths of consciousness and soul that everyone experiences, especially along the way to achieving what’s truly important.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• The first novel written by Fitzgerald explores the world of privilege and what it truly means
• Dives into the idea of privilege and the appearance of greatness rather than the truth of greatness

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• A book that ages with the times and allows students to recognize their own experiences in its pages
• A story of prestige and how little it truly matters in the grand scheme of things and even in the life of the individual

Last update: 2024-05-01

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The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama

Learning to be happy is not easy for anyone, yet it is something that we all wish we could achieve. That’s where The Art of Happiness comes in. The Dalai Lama also showcases the ideal person to explore what happiness is and how it can be seen as the true purpose of life.

The Art of Happiness explores ways to destroy and overcome the many negative emotions and situations that you may find yourself in throughout your life. It also discusses many of the ways that obstacles can get in the way and what to do about them.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• Explore the best ways to bypass and overcome obstacles and negative experiences throughout life
• Discuss the positives and negatives that can occur and what they may mean for your future

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• Creates a program that you can follow along with to create the life that is best for you and your future
• Presents being happy as a goal that can be achieved rather than an ideal that does not exist

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding

You may have read this book at a younger age, but there is a great deal more to learn from Lord of the Flies as you get older. Golding dives into a story of leadership and power that is entirely different from anything else. Lord of the Flies is all about creating a society of your own and what happens when power becomes too much.

Golding weaves a fictional story that is all too realistic when it comes to the world around us. Lord of the Flies is all about human nature and the battles that occur between the good and the evil within each and every one of us.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• Explores the truth of good and evil and what human duality truly is
• Presents the ways in which human nature can and does change and what it means to be true to yourself

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• Creative adventure story that is fun to read even while providing an informative foundation
• A warning story for what could come in the future for those who do not prepare themselves and watch out for the signs

Last update: 2024-05-02

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Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud

It is always a good idea to read about Sigmund Freud and his ideals and theories. Civilization and Its Discontents is only one of those, and at nearly 100 years old, it is still relevant today. In fact, Freud’s book evaluates the tension that occurs within society as a whole.

Civilization and Its Discontents discusses psychoanalytic theories in a way that is easier to understand and yet also explores consequences, conflicts, and more. Freud looks at the instinctive desires of humanity and the way that these desires create law and order within society.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• Showcases the endless cycle of humans desires leading to law and structure, which create discontent
• High-quality psychological evaluation in a way that is easier to understand and build upon

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• Written by the father of modern psychology himself to explain more of human nature
• Explores primitive drives within each person to better understand the self in entirely new ways

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

When it comes to the fragility of the human condition, there are a number of things that we may miss out on. Antifragile is all about exploring the things that frighten us and stepping outside of our comfort zones and into the rest of the world, which college students are forced to do.

Taleb looks at how to take risks, how to evaluate them, and even how to make sure that you are protected as needed from different types of problems and dilemmas. Antifragile is a book about taking control and becoming the person you are meant to be.

Why Choose This Book for College Students:

• Practical tips for how to look at the world around you in an entirely new way without the same level of fear
• Evaluates the way that each of us thinks about the world and our place in it

What Makes This Book for College Students Unique:

• Shows how to build confidence and take control of the life that you are living before it controls you
• Offers ways to protect yourself from the things in your life that can seem scary or difficult

Last update: 2024-05-01

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Wrapping Things Up: Top 10 Books College Student Must Read Before Graduating

Before graduating, there are a number of different books that any college student should read, but starting with these ten will definitely make a difference in how you see the world and your own place in it.

Books like Never Eat Alone, which teaches the importance of networking, and Antifragile, which teaches the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone, will help any student to achieve what they want for the rest of their lives.

Did you find this interesting? Check out our other reading lists here!

> The Best Perseverance Books for Kids

> The Best Self-Motivational Books for Students

> The Best Books for Teaching Kids About Money