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15 Best Summer Books for College Students (2024)

15 Books for College Students to Read This Summer Break. such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Willpower Instinct, Fearless..
Welcome to an insightful journey through the '15 Best Summer Books for College Students,' written by Muhiuddin Alam on the book recommendations and reviews site, ReadingAndThinking.com.

Over the years as a leading authority on literary expertise, I've created numerous articles on the topics of Best Holiday Books, many of which can be found on this site. I'm also a regular contributor to other websites and publications.

I have received many requests to recommend some of the Summer Reading lists for College Students in 2024. In response, I'm pleased to offer my expert recommendations in this article.

I will recommend the College Students Summer Reading List in this post, which is based on my in-depth study and extensive research in this field. Some notable recommendations include here: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Willpower Instinct, and Fearless.

These aren't the only books on this topic. Below, you'll find 15 books with detailed descriptions of each of these outstanding resources, helping you make well-informed decisions in your Summer Read journey.

So, when I suggest these books, it's because I've read a lot and want to share the best ones with you. I'm all about making your reading experience awesome. Trust in a guide deeply immersed in the literary books and stories. I love books just like you do!

15-books-for-college-students-to-read-this-summer

The 15 Best Summer Books for College Students

Pleasure reading books for college students can broaden your horizons. The knowledge in the book can be said to be all-encompassing. Through reading, you can enrich your knowledge and broaden your horizons. 

Do you know what are the best summer book recommendations for college students? 

Reading Note:
  1. Life planning (I think the most important thing in college is to have a life plan. This life plan is the key to finding a job during the university or postgraduate entrance examination, which will form a beacon of your life and guide the direction)
  2. Interpersonal relationships (in our career after graduating from college, interpersonal relationships will always accompany us, and having a good interpersonal relationship will make our career more unimpeded)
  3. Improve emotional intelligence (whether you are a college student or an incumbent, high emotional intelligence is a weapon and magic weapon for life and work)
Reading is always the most direct way to learn. Today, I recommend 15 books to everyone, especially suitable for college students to read during the summer vacation. If you don't believe me, read them!

1. Ludwig Wittgenstein by Ray Monk

My two favorite real characters, one is my idol Buddha and the other is the great philosopher Wittgenstein.

Regarding Wittgenstein, the book list dog can only be described as a legend——

On the one hand, his extremely legendary life.

Wittgenstein's father is the steel king of Austria, and he is very rich. At the same time, their family is all geniuses, and Wittgenstein is said to be the most mediocre child.

But this legendary family has been shrouded in the curse of suicide. All three of Wittgenstein's older brothers committed suicide, and he himself committed suicide several times.

He fought in World War I, was a prisoner, gave up a huge inheritance to become a village teacher, and finally chose to live a hermit-like life by the Norwegian seaside, thinking, thinking, and never married.

It is a pity that the only two works by this genius in his life are a 75-page Treatise on Logic and Philosophy and a children's dictionary.

This biography, the legend of Wittgenstein in these two aspects, tells all clearly.

2. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Sharon Richter

When entering university, everyone leaves their parents and starts a truly independent life, and the most important thing for an independent life is money.

So how can you make your life more meaningful when you have limited funds? I recommend you read the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad".

This is a primer on money management, and it comes from a true story.

Author Robert Kiyosaki has two fathers. "Poor Dad" is his biological father, a highly educated education official; "Rich Dad" is the father of his good friend, an entrepreneur who has not graduated from high school but is good at investing and financial management.

But the "poor dad" who worked hard all his life lost his job, and the "rich dad" became one of the richest people in Hawaii.

This changed the author's life. He resolutely followed the footsteps of "Rich Dad" and eventually became a legendary and successful investor.

From my point of view, the most beneficial thing about this book is that it popularizes many ideas about wealth investment, debt, and financial freedom.

This is a revolution of thought for a person who has never understood money.

3. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal

If you always procrastinate until the last minute to start studying;

Always trying to lose weight, but always failing;

I wanted to go to bed earlier, but unknowingly I went online and played with my mobile phone until late at night...

Then Self-Control is written just for you.

This book, from Stanford's most popular psychology course, is an 'essential record' of the 10-week course.

But I feel that this book is more like a specific operation manual, which allows you to get training in the interval of daily life. After all, practical operations such as meditation, healthy eating, deep breathing, and exercise are all free of cost. Too much energy and time to prepare can be done.

At the same time, the book points out a misunderstanding that most people have been having - that everyone is too hard on themselves and neglects proper relaxation.

I believe that the real purpose of self-control is not to let you control yourself, but to let you know yourself, accept your contradictory self, and integrate these selves into one, so as to achieve true reconciliation with your inner self.

4. Intimate Relationships by Roland Miller 

If the book lists the dog remembers correctly, this book is the one that the dog takes the most notes and underlines.

There are many sentences in it, and there is a sense of enlightenment.

This book is to be chewed and read carefully. It took 2 weeks for me to read it off and on. Now I can finally talk about it calmly, the shock and shock, comfort and baptism this book has brought me.

This is a book about "intimacy" and an extremely reliable psychological work.

Discusses some of the most important intimate relationships in our lives: love, marriage, friendship, family, and the relationship with the self - loneliness.

On the surface, intimacy is very simple, the process from the beginning to the end of the relationship.

But in fact, what dominates this intimate relationship is a person's "psychology" that has been shaped since childhood, and this psychology is influenced by many factors such as genes and acquired environment.

This book helps us understand our own psychology through a large number of cases and actual research data and gives specific and actionable guidance one by one.

But the whole process, without any sense of "academic", is very interesting and easy to read.

There are so many books about love, family, and friendship on the market, but "Intimacy" is a different book. I sincerely hope that everyone can meet it sooner.

5. Designing Your Life by Bill Bonnet, Dave Evans

This book is not to let us have unrealistic fantasies about the future, but to let us jump out of the inertia of thinking, quickly make trial and error in life, and find the correct life goal. 

Let us find a career that is more suitable for us and start our new life.

6. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Every successful person has many advantages. They are accurate and decisive. The most obvious difference between them and the general public is their unique way of thinking. Because of different ways of thinking, the conclusions of each thing will be completely different.

A good way of thinking is half the battle. Only with the unique way of thinking of successful people can we achieve success. If we learn the way of thinking of successful people, we will benefit for a lifetime.

7. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The world's best-selling, most classic, and most practical reference book on life. 

"Father of Adult Education" Dale Carnegie's best minds and most exciting content to help you solve your biggest problems: how to deal with and effectively influence people in your daily life, business activities, and social interactions with others; how to defeat the enemy of human existence, worry, in order to create a happy and beautiful life.

8. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

"Emotional Intelligence" and "Emotional Intelligence 2" have been selling well and have become must-reads for learning and improving emotional intelligence, and countless ordinary readers and business organizations have benefited from them. 

"Emotional Intelligence 3" continues the writing style of the previous two books, and focuses on the emotional intelligence of work that is closely related to each of us. The examples are appropriate, vivid, and interesting, and are more practical and readable.

Why are emotional intelligence abilities so different? Why do high-IQ tech talents often lack social skills? Why do thinking skills and productivity suffer when impulse, anger, and emotions dominate? How to be a great employee? Why is emotional intelligence at work more important than professional skills? Where is the real value of outstanding employees?

In this book, Daniel Gorman argues that as the job title goes up, the importance of technical and cognitive abilities decreases, while the importance of emotional intelligence increases. Emotional intelligence accounts for two-thirds of the job performance of top performers.

9. The Defining Decade by Meg Jay

Really, if I told you that what you do in your twenties can affect your entire life, would you believe it?

Meg Jay discussed the aspects that young people in their twenties need to be aware of from three aspects: work, emotion, and mind and body. 

I think many of them are actually what we know deep down in our hearts, but in the context of this big era, Too many material advertising media are advocating that youth has no limits. 

Sometimes we really like this trick. You will feel that there is always a chance to focus on it again. Like many American inspirational films, more than 30 Meg will try

to tell you a completely different story, using some client cases he has taken over, and explaining it over and over again, from now on, as long as you are still young, as long as you are still in your twenties, shaping You shouldn't miss your golden age. 

You should turn out the facts you know in your heart or subconsciously and present them in front of you over and over again so that you have to pull away from those advertisements and start taking action.

I think what Meg wants to tell readers is about life. It is impossible to be arranged, but an unarranged life will make you miserable all your life. 

10. The Power of One More by Ed Mylet

In The Power of One More, renowned keynote speaker and performance expert Ed Mylett draws on 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and coach to top athletes, entertainers, and business executives to reveal powerful strategies to help you live an extraordinary "one more" life.

In The Power of One More, you'll:

Learn why you're closer to your dreams and goals than you think and why using The Power of One More strategy will help you cross the finish line in whatever race you're running

Understand the psychology and science of how to use The Power of One More in every part of your life to help you solve problems and achieve levels of success you never thought possible

Discover time-tested and unique solutions to challenges that will remove the mental roadblocks you've been battling for years

Perfect for anyone who wants more bliss, wealth, or better relationships, The Power of One More is an indispensable roadmap to realizing and exceeding your personal and professional goals by tapping into the superpowers and gifts you already have inside you.

11. The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

An author is a person who does not understand psychology at all and only does marketing! I make up anecdotes everywhere, and the most unbearable thing is to use other people's successful examples to prove my point of view. 

I remember a chapter about a baseball player's son who fell and fell. The doctor said that he was basically disabled, but he did not give up hope. 

In the end, His son was miraculously healed. . . What is your example? Don't you think it's a versatile topic for writing elementary school compositions? 

There is no depth, and the examples have no provenance or evidence. The whole book is forcing success to have a routine. You are unsuccessful because you did not read my book to learn the routine... 

Jobs and Rockefeller succeeded because they followed this routine... Then this routine is, in one sentence: the obstacle is the way, all bad things are good things.

This book reveals that formula for the first time—and shows us how we can turn our own adversity into an advantage.

12. How to Become a Straight A Student by Cal Newport

Karl Newport's name is mentioned in "The Way of Learning" and "How to Study Effectively".

A Google search on the Internet shows that he is a god of learning and has written many books on how to study efficiently.

This book was written by him 12 years ago, but I still get a lot from reading it now. Although the article is about how to learn in my student days, I have benefited a lot from working for many years.

Make a plan every day and combine small plans together; drink plenty of water every day, eat three meals a day, and eat foods with crude fiber to keep blood sugar stable; 

emphasize energy management during the day and try not to study at night; make a detailed review plan before the exam; take notes and so on.

The article mentions a series of examples of how top students use their time efficiently, devote themselves fully to their studies, and have fun when they relax.

I think the top students may have a higher IQ than the average students. However, this is not the most important factor that determines whether their academic performance is good or not. 

There is an article in a TED talk that mentions that one of the factors that determine a student's academic performance is perseverance. 

Many of the methods mentioned by the author of the article can only be done by students with perseverance. For example: make a daily plan; eat crude fiber foods; and take notes skillfully. 

The development of these habits is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and sticking to these habits is even more a matter of perseverance.

Every parent who has a reading child at home should read this book carefully, I believe it will definitely gain something. Wouldn't it be a blessing to gain other people's experiences from books?

13. Fearless by Eric Blehm

 I took it home from the library shelf after seeing the "No. 1 military bestseller in The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, etc." on the cover. 

Having a general understanding of the environment in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, let me know how ordinary American soldiers grow into elites. I really admire the protagonist.

Because the good boy in the eyes of the people around him is just a little naughty. From addicts who shook their heads, soldiers to Navy SEALs, they succeeded even with physical constraints (their eyes were injured, and their right hand was unable to pick up a gun), 

the spirit shown by the protagonist at this time makes us Regular readers admire it. I think if a person has this kind of spirit, then he has nothing to worry about.

The reluctance to part with family members every time we go on expeditions, lets us see the ordinary side of soldiers, and let us realize that even in a good family, it is always a safe haven.

Of course, some style issues of other soldiers are also written in the book, of course, this also allows us to see the life of the military camp.

Friends, comrades, family, wives, and children, everyone in the book makes us see the ordinary.

Although the protagonist died honorably during the mission, I saw the cruelty of war in the middle. If you can, in fact, there is no if, a warrior is born a warrior.

Throughout the book, you will be impressed by Adam, a seemingly ordinary man who is actually extremely powerful. This is the man. 

Taking drugs, quitting drugs, and successfully quitting is such a terrifying process, how much his family and his wife have paid for him? 

In particular, Adam's wife never left, leaving him a pair of children, and Adam also strives to be a good husband and father. It's really a pity that Adam left them.

The name of the book is "Fearless". Indeed, Adam is fearless. He is not afraid of hardships, suffering, and all the rules that do not conform to the conventional rules. 

During training, his performance made everyone applaud. Brave, enthusiastic, kind, humble, loyal to God, and responsible for the family, such a man is a real man!

Some boys should read this book, and they will find in it what it means to be fearless, what it means to realize a dream, and what it means to be a real man!

14. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson

This book compares American racism with the Indian caste system. After reading it, I still feel that the historical origins and causes of the recurring racism trend and the civil rights confrontation movement that came into being are difficult to define very clearly. 

Some examples and arguments in the book are sometimes logically connected. It's not close enough, but the overall inspiration for this topic is still very meaningful. 

The guiding spirit of the United States as a nation of immigrants at the beginning of the nation's founding and the arrival of immigrants does not seem to be a harmonious melting pot of nations. 

The stratum chain of existence has thus consolidated and exacerbated the barriers based on race. Although the history is not long, the years of existence of racism in the United States are extremely high in absolute value and proportion. 

What impresses me and makes me praised is that Germany faces up to the history of the Nazi era. Only by deeply analyzing the historical background and emphasizing heaviness can we inherit the correct path forward from generation to generation.

The book does not at all structurally examine the root causes for the existence of the caste/racial hierarchy systems, and instead takes an anecdotal approach to endlessly demonstrate the manifestation of racism. 

The interpretation of some examples is also Unfortunately politicized. The only valuable takeaway is that racism is ultimately about power and dominance. 

Instead of viewing everything from the lens of race as does the author, the antidote lies in creating a new framework than the crude and illogical categorization of people into a myriad of races, because the categorization reinforces biases and perpetuates injustice.

15. Think Again by Adam Grant

After reading the book "Think Again", which was just published this year, is a very easy-to-understand popular science book on psychology and cognition. 

Many truths are easy to understand, but the key lies in practice, isn't it? Therefore, the practical guidance given by the author at the end is quite useful.

The entire book is mostly pouring ideas rather than giving much scientific explanation. 

I don't feel the ideas are well thought out. It feels like a lot of random ideas, very raw, premature ideas that occurred to you on a random afternoon when you pondering in your bed. There are a lot of paragraphs that are self-contradicting.

He argues smart people are more likely to make arbitrary decisions, and people who are good with math are more likely to make wrong analyses. 

what are you trying to say? that people are punished for being smart or good at math? people should be more stupid and not know much? is this your understanding of keeping an open mind cause you know nothing? 

also based on his thesis one can never make any decision or conclusion cause you have to constantly prove you are wrong. does it sound like some sort of psychosis? 

Funny enough he then says he can give examples of scientific-backed, well-thought analyses/ideas. Do you or do you not support that people are able to come up with conclusions based on their own (as you say limited) analysis?

I tend to stay skeptical towards any book with tons of specific examples. Cause examples are independent events, most likely not replicable. If you can't prove the universal application of an idea, it is not convincing to me.

Since nobody can argue against the idea, basically you can say whatever you want. Just pile up a bunch of examples and tell you "See all those people did this and succeeded, other people didn't do this and failed".

This book sounds to me like a typical popular consumer-oriented self-help book. Not much nutrition, purely relying on the author's reputation to boost sales.

One sentence to summarize the entire content of the book: keep an open mind, it's good for you.

Summer Reading List Recommendation for College Students (2024)

1. Inner Growth books for college students

2. Emotional Intelligence & Communication books for college students

3. About Emotions books for college students

4. Psychological cognition books for college students 

5. Improve the pattern books for college students
We need to draw more wisdom and energy from motivational books for college students, plan our future with a long-term perspective, avoid wrong choices and useless efforts, and avoid unnecessary anxiety and confusion! 

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