By Arden Berry | Arts & Life Editor
I grew up loving to read. I spent hours in my room turning page after page of novels like “The World According to Humphrey,” “Ramona and Beezus” and the “Magic Tree House” series. As years of required reading have come and gone, though, it has become more difficult to get myself to sit down and read, especially with college-level course requirements in the way.
But before you start replacing your for-fun reading time with doomscrolling, there are easy reads to take your mind off classwork without completely taking it over. For the student finding themself burnt out on reading, I have a few books that will get you through the semester.
“Begin Again” by Emma Lord
Not only is this book a great read for the tired college student, but it also takes place at a college campus. With her romcom-esque writing, any book of Emma Lord’s is very fun and easy to read and reread. For me, rereading a book I already know I love helps ease me back into my love for reading, and “Begin Again” is a comfort book you will want to read again.
If one book is not enough, Emma Lord also has “Tweet Cute,” which is based on “You’ve Got Mail,” and “When You Get the Chance,” which is based on “Mamma Mia.” Both stories are light reads with surprisingly appetizing descriptions of desserts that will leave you in a good mood.
“Emma” by Jane Austen
Ok, stick with me on this one. I enjoyed reading this one during the school year because it’s easy to treat parts of it as scenes from a life rather than a complicated story. Besides, the story itself happens over the course of more than a year, so, when you’re splitting it up, it’s a lot more immersive.
Beneath the regency language is a witty tale of a 20-going-on-21-year-old protagonist having to awkwardly turn a guy down, apologize for saying the wrong thing and deal with liking the same guy as her friend, among other things. Ultimately, Emma Woodhouse’s willingness to better herself inspires me.
“The Best of Father Brown” by G.K. Chesterton
Selected Father Brown stories were part of my required reading my freshman year, as I was taking an honors first year seminar titled Mystery of Mysteries. Though these stories are not required for most students, I would still recommend giving them a read. Father Brown short story mysteries are perfect for reading in Armstrong Browning Library’s Garden of Contentment under the shade of the trees, and the book being a compilation also lends itself to easy stopping points.
I appreciate Father Brown’s humble nature. Rather than focusing on him, the stories often revolve around the people most closely involved in each mystery, twisting the genre each time, with “The Doom of the Darnaways” being almost gothic and “The Invisible Man” being more science fiction.
“We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a True Story” by Josh Sundquist
I believe humorous memoirs like this one are underrated and underutilized. Sundquist’s story is honest, funny and easy to digest alongside required reading. If you are tired of reading “The Odyssey” or research paper abstracts, read about Sundquist’s journey as he recalls his old crushes and finds them to ask why their relationship did not work out.
If you are looking for more funny memoirs, “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously” by Jessica Pan and “She Memes Well” by Quinta Brunson are also great.
