“A child who reads will be an adult who thinks”. – Unknown
We couldn’t agree more with this quote, reading plays an essential role in everyone’s lives as it is the sole foundation of education and fundamental skill to academic success. For many children reading fairy tales and stories, books are a pleasurable activity when they’re young but later turns into a battleground when they get old or get exposed to television, video games, and other hi-tech gadgets.
Reading is essential for students as it enhances their vocabulary widens perspectives, gives them an option to form their own opinions, stimulates imagination, may also improve their writing, and communication skills. The books have also gone digital as instead of hard copies, they’re now available in digital formats. You can just go to amazon kindle and buy a digital copy of any book, some are even available for free.
Did you know? In earlier times, books were treated as treasures. Even when there was no paper, sentences were carved on stone or metal sheets.
If reading a book is always on your bucket list, but you’re always short on time or confused about which one to read, then we have the perfect tips for you. First, don’t think of finishing a book within a dedicated time, rather just read a few pages whenever you get time. Secondly, don’t limit yourself to certain books or authors, be open to everything. As you will be able to learn things best from books that aren’t related to your studies or professional goals. The books you read should be according to your personal preferences, something which adds value to your personality and makes your mind a better place. This is why we have curated a list of 3 books that every student should read:
You might have already seen this book in newspapers, magazines, and on the timeline of many Instagram influencers. Paolo is one of the most influential writers of all time who gained prominence for his book The Alchemist. The Brazilian lyricist and novelist sold 60 million copies in 74 countries for his work The Alchemist, and the numbers keep increasing every day.
The book talks about a shepherd boy named Santiago who sees a recurring dream, where a child continuously tells him that there’s a hidden treasure waiting for him in the Egyptian pyramids. Then he tells about this dream to an old woman, who suggests that his dream is prophetic and he should do what’s necessary. Then he leaves for his journey along with his sheep, during his journey, he travels to different countries and meets different people, who bring different challenges for him. Santiago loved his sheep but had to let them go and sell them because of sudden unavoidable circumstances. He encounters multiple hardships during his journey and also made the mistake of befriending someone who stole all his money, but his will kept him going. He also worked at a glass factory for many years merely to survive but the toughest challenges he faced were after reaching the never-ending deserts of Egypt. Because of war, he was trapped in a small village, which was full of myths. There he met one of the most important people in his life “The Alchemist”, he also fell in love with a girl in the village and made a promise to get settled with her after the war.
Santiago and the alchemist left for their journey in the desert, where the alchemist shares his wisdom with Santiago. There they get captured by Arab soldiers, the alchemist gives all of Santiago’s money in order to save him and tells them that Santiago is an extraordinary man and will turn into sand within 3 days. After hours of practice and failures, Santiago was able to communicate with wind and sun, he also asks them to help him in creating a sandstorm. Then he successfully controls the wind and sun, creating a giant Sandstorm, the tribesmen get awestruck by his power and set both of them free. The alchemist shows Santiago his ability to turn lead into gold by just using the Philosopher’s stone, then he gives some gold to Santiago and asks him to continue his journey. Santiago then reaches the pyramids and starts digging in search of treasure where two men stop him. Then Santiago continues to explain his dream to them, after listening to his story the men think that he is a poor man and let him go. But before he leaves, one of the men confesses his dream about a buried treasure, which is buried under a sycamore tree in an abandoned church located in Spain.
This is the moment when Santiago realizes that this church is the same in which he got his dream, then understands where the real treasure is. In the end, Santiago returns to the abandoned church and finds a chest of gold and jewels buried under the sycamore tree. He then reunites with his love Fatima.
Things The Alchemist Teaches Us:
- Everyone has a Personal Legend that they must follow if they want to live a happy and fulfilling life.
- Our fear is our biggest enemy, which holds us back more than anything.
- Life is all about failure. Fall seven times and get up eight times.
- If you’re not doing what you love, then you are just surviving not living.
Famous Quotes From The Alchemist:
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
The Pursuit of Happiness was written by Chris Gardener. You can call the book his autobiography since everything mentioned in the book is based on the events and experiences of his own life. The author goes homeless while raising a toddler son and the book precisely captures every moment of struggle, joy, and sorrow. In 2008, the movie starring Will Smith was produced with the same title “The Pursuit of Happyness” the movie became a worldwide hit, won many awards, and is considered a classic that everyone should watch once in their life.
The Pursuit of Happyness is about love, family, on their quest to live an American life. Christopher Gardener is a loving, caring, and hard-working father who struggles to provide financial stability to his wife and son. His job as a sales representative and selling medical devices that are useless does not provide him with enough money to fulfill his family’s financial needs. His life takes a turn for the worse when his wife leaves him. He is left homeless with a son and an unpaid internship at a brokerage firm. Christopher faces hardships in order to get contracts for the firm as he also tries to make ends meet for his son. He has to keep looking for places in local homeless shelters, drop and pick up his son from the daycare center. His life is portrayed in a way, which could be too daunting for a 21st-century person. But the father and child bond showcased in this movie is one of its kind. Later in the movie, his charisma, personality along with skills, and talents influence a few people to sign the contract with the brokerage firm. In the end, he is finally offered a permanent position at the brokerage firm, and then his life changes dramatically for the better.
Things The Pursuit of Happyness Teaches Us:
- Sometimes life will be tough, but without darkness, you won’t know the value of sunlight.
- When life gets tough, take a break and relax.
- If you really want to achieve something, put your heart and soul into it. Otherwise, you will be haunted by regrets throughout your life.
- Don’t let criticism stop you from achieving your dreams because most of the criticism always comes from unsuccessful people.
Famous Quotes From The Pursuit of Happyness:
“Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”
— Chris Gardner, The Pursuit Of Happyness
“Strong people stand up for themselves. Stronger people stand up for others.”
— Chris Gardner, The Pursuit Of Happyness
“The world is your oyster. It’s up to you to find the pearls.”
— Chris Gardner, The Pursuit Of Happyness
How to Kill a Mocking Bird was written by Harper Lee who got prominence for the same, the book also won Pulitzer Prize. The book was translated into 40+ languages and 40 million copies were sold worldwide. This is one of the most recommended novels to high school students in America.
Harper Lee’s novel was inspired by the life of her father Amasa Coleman Lee. The novel revolves around her father’s unsuccessful attempt to save an African American man who was wrongly accused of murder. The story unfolds in a small-town Alabama during the early ’90s and is written from the perspective of a six to 10-year-old child (Jean Louise Finch) also known as Scout, the daughter of Atticus Finch. The little girl grows up with her brother Jem by their hardworking widowed father. A lawyer who teaches his children to be kind, fair-minded, and empathetic. Atticus Finch was a lawyer who was hired to fight for Tom Robinson, a black resident, and a victim of false accusations for raping a white woman Mayella Ewell. Even though defending a black man had its set of consequences as he even received threats from the community to abandon his client, but Atticus still agrees to fight for him. Atticuss puts his heart and soul, presenting a defense as per the evidence that Mayella was attacked by her own father Bob Ewell. Even putting such a strong and valid defense, tom is sentenced and killed while he was trying to escape custody.
Tom Robinson’s death is labeled as “the senseless slaughter of songbirds”, which goes parallel to Atticus’s words about the mockingbird that states “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” as they’re innocent.
Things That To Kill a Mockingbird Teaches Us:
- You should treat everyone equally with respect. As we all are same, looking forward to the same things life. Irrespective of someone’s gender, religion, race, or financial status, we should treat everyone equally.
- You should always be true to yourself, no matter what’s the situation. If you believe in something, you should stand up for it. In the book itself, Atticus respected the opinion of everyone but only made decisions based on his own morals and beliefs.
- Violence will not get you anywhere in life. Atticus always acknowledged his beliefs out of which one was that you should fight with your head and not fists.
Famous Quotes From To Kill A Mockingbird:
“People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“There is just some kind of men who-who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
We hope you enjoyed reading this article, if you have read any of the books please let us know about your learnings as an individual in the comment section. If you have any book recommendations for other students, you can drop their names in the comments section. Happy reading!