Books to Read Over Break

Recommendations for winter reading from fellow red foxes

Three women reading a book while sitting at a table. Photo by Alexis Brown via Unsplash

“It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover

This young adult novel begins as a love story following a couple in Boston: Lily Bloom, a flower shop owner, and Ryle Kincaid, a surgeon. While Lily navigates her relationship with Ryle, her first love, Atlas Corrigan, re-enters her life. The book explores themes of jealousy, emotional abuse and domestic violence.

“The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny” by Neil Howe and William Strauss

A personal favorite and a highly recommended read for Political Science and History majors, “The Fourth Turning” illustrates four generational cycles of American history and explains how America’s past tends to predict its future. With convincing predictions, the authors offer ways to prepare individually and collectively for the next big event in American history, which arguably, we may be living through right now.

“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Styled as a children’s book, “The Little Prince” follows a young prince who visits planets throughout space. This read comes at the recommendation of Tenzin Tsundu ’22 who said, “the Little Prince teaches me something new about human life every time I read it and reminds [me] to not be all about matters of consequences.”

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

“Where the Crawdads Sing” was different from any book I’ve read before, but I loved it,” Leah Cohen ’22 said. The story follows Kya Clark, a young girl abandoned by her family and nicknamed by the local townspeople as “The Marsh Girl.” Kya develops relationships with two boys from town and the death of one of them sees Kya entwined with a murder trial. This coming-of-age story doubles as a crime thriller.

“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

“The Alchemist” is the story of a young shepherd who journeys to the Egyptian pyramids after having a recurring dream of discovering treasure. Tenzin Tsundu ’22 found the story inspiring, explaining that “The Alchemist is the story of following your dreams, but it is also [saying] that you might be standing on top of the treasure you’re pursuing, but might need to go on a whole journey to be able to see it.”

“A Ride of a Lifetime” by Robert Iger

“A Ride of a Lifetime” is the memoir of Robert Iger, executive chairman and former CEO of the Walt Disney Company. “It’s an interesting read because he discusses his career, but he shares his own leadership skills that offer really incredible life lessons. It’s not only a great business read but offers a lot of valuable advice,” Stephanie Schwartz ‘21 said.

“The Art of Happiness” - 14th Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

“The Art of Happiness is a guide to how to be genuinely happy and the importance of compassion,” Tenzin Tsundu ’22 said. Co-Author Howard C. Cutler is a psychiatrist who asked the 14th Dalai Lama questions regarding the human experience and the book touches on topics like solving everyday problems and remaining peaceful when faced with adversity.