Best Books To Read Before Heading Off To College
It's that time in the summer: you're about to send your kids off to college. Regardless of whether your child is a freshman or a rising senior, these books can help with all stages of a college career. From inspirational works to short stories to advice, our sister company, Simon & Schuster have hand selected a list that will be the perfect gift just as you leave your kids at their dorm.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On
By Jonah Berger
Contagious is a must read for any millennial who has ever asked why some rumors spread like crazy, or why people are more interested in certain products or ideas over others. Through scientific research, Jonah Berger, distinguished professor at UPenn's Wharton School, explains just how ideas go viral. The perfect book for any aspiring business or marketing major.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
By Stephen R. Covey
A perennial bestseller, this book presents a principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step guide for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. A great reference for anyone finding his or her way into adulthood.
No One Belongs Here More Than You
By Miranda July
Between coursework, social engagements, extracurricular activities, and sleeping, there isn't much time left for pleasure reading while in college. And for those who need a book to help them go to sleep, textbooks aren't exactly cuddly material. We think short stories – especially those from Miranda July – are perfect send-off gift. In No One Belongs Here More Than You, the varied cast of characters – desperate for human connection and not sure what to do when it happens – will speak to college age readers as they try to navigate burgeoning adulthood and the desire to cultivate long-lasting relationships.
Who Owns the Future?
By Jaron Lanier
It's no secret that kids spend hours tweeting, sending Instagrams, pinning photos, or liking status updates. In our digital age, the "prophet of Silicon Valley" proposes an alternative future in which each one of us is paid for what we do and share on the web. Perhaps your students will be the people to make this happen.
To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Non-Fiction
By Phillip Lopate
Liberal arts students know that most of their studies require extensive writing. From term papers to expository samples to thesis statements, students will write for numerous courses – all with professors of varied taste. Phillip Lopate, Director of Non-Fiction at Columba University, shares writing tips in this refreshing and insightful book.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
By Stephen King
Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this book is a must for any aspiring writers or Creative Writing majors. King shares a practical view of the writer's craft while also sharing useful basic tools every writer should have. Inspiring, empowering, and entertaining.
Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World
By Tony Wagner
This book is as perfect for an undergrad student as it is for a parent. Founder of Harvard's Change Leadership Group Tony Wagner writes a timely examination of how to foster innovation by profiling key young innovators like the product manager for Apple's first iPhone and a founder of a company that builds bicycle powered maize shelters in Tanzania. Wager reveals
And One More Thing Before You Go…
By Maria Shriver
In this inspirational guide, acclaimed journalist and former First Lady of California, Maria Shriver talks to young women about how to put your greatest gifts and shortcomings to work for you through her "The 10 Things You Need to Know as You Leave Childhood and Begin the Rest of Your Life." Thoughtful and compassionate, Shriver encourages girls not to ignore the wisdom of their parents and teaches them how not to overlook life's most special gifts. And One More Thing Before You Go...is a book that will make every mother cry and every daughter stop and think about her mother's words.
One Question: Life-Changing Answers from Today's Leading Voices
By Ken Coleman
If you could sit down with the people you most admire and ask just one question, what would you ask? In this collection of interviews, Ken Coleman talks to Daniel Pink, Michelle Bachmann, Michelle Rhee, and many others about topics ranging from success to casting a vision to dealing with difficult relationships. Profound and inspiring, One Question invites you to peer over the shoulder of a master interviewer with access to today's best and brightest as he delivers carefully crafted questions and collects answers guaranteed to surprise, challenge, and inspire.
