Search for:
Related Media
books cp
Related Venues
Borders Books Movies & Cafe »Address: 802 W. Town Center Boulevard Champaign, IL 61822
Phone: (217) 351-9011
Show on map
Urbana Free Library »
Address: 210 W. Green St. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 367-4057
Show on map
Barnes & Noble Booksellers »
Address: 65 E. Marketview Drive Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 355-2045
Show on map
Champaign Public Library »
Address: 200 W. Green St Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 403-2000
Show on map
Related Articles
They say that most people rarely graduate college with the degree they first set out to gain. Most change majors at least once or, in my case, twice. I began in Architecture and hated it, then switched to Animal Sciences and found that I couldn’t muster the same degree of passion that my best friend had. So there I was, sitting in my room, staring at my bookshelf and wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life. Then I thought, “What is the one thing that I can’t get enough of?” Then it hit me …
Books.
One summer later, I was an English major, and I am happy to say that I have found my niche … though I am still avoiding the inevitable question of “What am I going to do after graduation?” For now, I am enjoying discovering a wealth of new books and am suffering through the occasionally mind-numbing course requirement. Unfortunately, not all books are destined to be page-turners and not all books will appeal to every reader.
I myself am a sucker for a good romance but also love to read a thriller—as long as the lights stay on! The thing that really matters to me; however, is whether or not the book can pull me in. If I can’t manage to care after 50 pages, the book is normally banished to the top shelf or the nearest used book bin. Only my favorites have made the journey with me from home to dorm to apartment. In this column, I hope to discuss the kinds of things that make the book one you want to keep with you, and the things that make you wish you hadn’t ever been ensnared by the cover art.
The following books are from my own list of favorites, and ones that I would highly recommend. Some I loved during my childhood, and others are recent additions thanks to the wealth of English courses I have taken in the last year, but all of them have managed to survive my past moves and will most likely survive future ones.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
- “Fantomina” by Eliza Haywood
- Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts
- All in the Timing by David Ives
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Host by Stephenie Meyer
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
- A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin
- “The Sign of Four” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
- “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
- What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Sound Off
Last post: Jul. 22, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Lauren Hise (Lauren Hise) said on Jul. 22, 2010 at 8:35 pm:
I haven't, but I have heard of it. I'll have to put it on my list of books to read. Thanks for the suggestion!
Andrew (unregistered user) said on Jul. 21, 2010 at 10:30 pm:
Have you read "The Brother Kramazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky? It's a really good book about the relationship of sibilings mainly brothers with different personalities.