5 Books Every College Student Must Read

When all other phases of life are considered, the college phase is one of the most exciting and crucial ones. Therefore, it is essential to understand and take the right steps to keep a check on the resources that will take you to the next level. Out of these resources, finding the best books for students, especially motivational books for students, plays a vital role. In this blog post, you will discuss the top motivational books that every college student must read. Most students aspire to be successful and famous in their lives, and we draw our inspiration from the people around us about whom we read in newspapers and magazines. This includes Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, APJ Abdul Kalam, and many other eminent leaders who have made a deep impact on society with their dedicated work and precious knowledge. We put in our best effort to know about them, follow their footsteps, and achieve big in life. Along with this, we also discover the specific points that make them different from others.

You must have come across people, including college students, who read a lot despite their tight schedules and avoid getting stuck in them. We do not mean only newspapers but quality books and novels from their areas of interest, e.g., inspirational books, biographies, historical books, etc. Bill Gates is an ardent reader and reads almost 50 books in a year. He shares his appreciating appetite for words with books that have largely influenced his life and mind. After the death of our late President APJ Abdul Kalam, all he left behind were six trousers (2 DRDO uniforms), four shirts (2 DRDO uniforms), three suits (1 Western, 2 Indian), and around 2,500 books. The last numbers demarcate the choice these eminent leaders make to read books with good-quality content.

While some of you may possess the habit of reading like the above-mentioned great leaders, most people these days believe that spending time playing games, chatting and scrolling on social media, or watching television is better than sitting with a book in your hands. Well, these activities seem to take up time without any worry. Therefore, it is important to understand that the activity of reading helps to expand the respective individual’s horizons in the best possible manner. In addition, this has a decent impact on the overall quality of life, especially in the case of students. The best motivational books for students provide the essential guidance and wisdom that no one can impart to you.

Readers are never bored or scared of solitude as they always have a friend alongside them, i.e., the best books for students. This friend keeps them engaged on their path toward growth and development in their world. Now, some of the students might say that we do not have enough time to read in college. Well, here you must take note and understand that college is a great time to expand your knowledge in the best possible ways, including the best books for college students. Think beyond your classrooms, and you will find plenty of promising opportunities around you for a life-long learning experience.

For decades now, reading has become an important activity as it sparks creativity among students. Moreover, when you read a profound book, it has a deep impact on your behavior towards certain situations, mindset, and overall health. There are several motivational books for college students that inspire people to dream big and never settle for something they do not deserve in the long term. These motivational books help readers develop self-confidence and the will to achieve their goals. With this, we would like to share with you some must-read books for college students to make their future bright and aim for the stars. We will provide crucial insights regarding the respective book that will motivate you to read it. Here are some of the best motivational books for college students that one must read:

1. The Alchemist: 

It is one of the best books for students and was originally published in the year 1988. Renowned writer Paulo Coelho is the author of this book. Alchemist is a book whose lessons resonate with each one of us through the protagonist Santiago’s story, who was an Andalusian shepherd boy. It tells you about basic human desires; we all have passion for something. Some of us follow it, whereas others hide within due to fear of society and the world. This book teaches us the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunities, and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path. Most importantly, such motivational books for students teach us to follow our dreams. We are all aware of the principles that govern the world, and students must follow them in their study routines and lives. This book reminds us and encourages us to implement those valuable principles of life:

1. One is definitely capable of achieving their dreams if they stay determined and patient with them.
2. When you desire something from the core of your heart, the entire universe guides and supports you to help you achieve that particular thing.
3. Love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny.
4. The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up the eighth time.
5. The fear that revolves around potential suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
6. Everyone seems to have a clear idea about how others around them should lead their lives, but not about their own lives.
7. One must never stop dreaming and believing in their dreams.

Therefore, The Alchemist is one of the best motivational books for students and is largely beneficial for college folks.

2. The Last Lecture:

We all go to our elders for advice, words of wisdom, and suggestions. Well, this book is written on similar grounds. At 47, Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University finds out that he has pancreatic cancer. It is the last lecture that he writes for college students and readers, inspiring them to live each day with purpose and joy. The book is both inspiring and powerful, and you never want it to end, thus making it one of the best books for students. Pausch tells his life stories that revolve around dreaming big, hard work, perseverance, sacrifice, self-confidence, modesty, courage, a positive outlook, and dealing with adversity. Some of the beautiful lines that one comes across while reading this book include the following:

1. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
2. The brick walls are not there to keep us out, but instead to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. They are there to stop other people.
3. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.
4. The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.
5. Never underestimate the importance of having fun.

Therefore, one must choose one of these best books to read for students and have an excellent impact on their mindset and lives.

3. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 

Stephen R. Covey, in the wake of the 1990s, wrote this book when Americans needed higher productivity in business. This book concentrates on how habits are developed and what types of habits are needed to be highly productive. The author believes that habits are the results of repeated actions and a certain level of commitment. The author of one of the best motivational books for students introduces and explains the seven habits that turn an individual into a highly effective person. The seven habits include the following:

1. Proactive: Happiness is a proactive choice, just like unhappiness.
2. Begin with the end in mind: Most situations and things are created twice: once they are created in the mind, the next time they become physically visible.
3. First things first: The key is that one must schedule his or her priorities and not depend on others’ schedules.
4. Think win-win: You must make it a point to sow a thought to reap an action. Similarly, sowing an action, habit, and character sows a habit, character, and destiny, respectively.
5. Seek first to understand than to be understood: Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply at the earliest.
6. Synergize: The success of human life can be achieved through the habit of synergy in different walks of life.
7. Sharpen the saw: We become what we repeatedly pursue in our lives. This indicates that excellence is not an act but a habit.

4. The Fountainhead: 

Right from our childhood, our elders advise us to focus on our passion. You achieve your dreams when you follow this real-life fact. Well, in this book, Ayn Rand beautifully crafts a story around different characters, with Howard Roark as her protagonist. The story describes the art of survival in a society that refuses to accept your principles and thoughts. The book may not grab your attention in the initial stages, but as it moves forward, the life of Roark makes you brainstorm your ethics. Ayn describes how some people settle for everything they receive, while only the dreamers with talent shape their lives in the best possible manner.

Roark is passionate and dedicated to his dream of being an architect, but he refuses to design buildings regularly. He is also very humble and confident about his talent. Due to this, he does not mind helping his friend, Keating, design buildings, although he does not gain anything from it. All the characters in the book describe different types of people one encounters in their journey through life. Without focusing on any single person, the author of one of the most motivational books for students gives you the choice of choosing your path and your own story. The main theme of “The Fountainhead” is the struggle for the free mind, the struggle for creativity and individualism (All Symbolized in Roark), and the struggle against the common opinion, the “Second-Handers“. These people only think about what other people think (Mostly Symbolized by Keating).

Some great lines from the book include the following:

1. “Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”
2. Dean: “My dear fellow, who will let you?”
   Roark: “That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
3. The hardest thing to explain is glaringly evident, which everybody has decided not to see.
4. Selling your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of their lives. If I asked you to keep your soul, would you understand why that is much harder?
5. Listen to what is being preached today. Look at everyone around us. You have wondered why they suffer and why they seek happiness but never find it. If any man stopped and asked himself whether he’d ever held a truly personal desire, he’d find the answer. He’d see that all his wishes, his efforts, his dreams; his ambitions are motivated by other men. He’s not really struggling even for material wealth but for the second-hander’s delusion – prestige. A stamp of approval, not his own. He can find no joy in the struggle and no joy when he has succeeded. He can’t say a single thing: ‘This is what I wanted because I wanted it, not because it made my neighbors gape at me. Then he wonders why he’s unhappy.

5. Ignited Minds:

A book dedicated to the youth and college students of the country, Ignited Minds, is a blessing in the form of a book that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has bestowed on us before leaving this world. Being one of the best books to read for students, it is easy to understand and a must-read for the youth of India. The book begins with an inspirational message to the youth of India to dream big, believing that their dream will turn into a beautiful reality one day. In his book, Dr. Kalam discusses the attitude of Indians toward settling down.

With limited achievement and without utilizing their full potential—available resources, talent, and skills—the eminent leader talks to the Indian youth, who have stopped dreaming and are following the rat race of copying others. The author of the best books to read for students talks about the fusion of science and spirituality, where he emphasizes how important spiritual development is along with the development in several different areas such as education, agriculture, information technology, etc. Through his experiences and interactions with people from different spheres of society, including school and college students, eminent scientists, visionaries, saints, and industrialists, he urges the people of India to unite and work towards a mission.

Some beautiful lines from the book include the following:

1. Thinking is the capital, enterprise is the way, and hard work is the solution.
2. I realized then that if something is at stake, the human mind gets ignited, and working capacity gets enhanced manifold.
3. Change is crucial. It brings new thought, and new thought leads to innovative actions.
4. Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, I acquire the ability to do it, even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.
5. Dream, Dream, Dream. Dreams transform into thoughts, and thoughts result in action.

Thus, you must refer to the best motivational books for students in college that we believe every college student must read during this phase of their college life. College is a very crucial time for young students. Therefore, you need to decide and choose the best books for students. This way, you will shape your future with the teachings and lessons from these best books to read for students. Therefore, reading these good books will help you make the right decision before making one. Reading makes you aware of the struggle one goes through to achieve excellence and makes you understand that nothing in this world comes easy. Apart from this, quality literature from the best books for students expands our cultural awareness with thinking paradigms and sharpens our mental abilities.

We understand that this is a new age digital era, and keeping yourself away from the digital world is quite difficult. But taking out some time and making a habit of reading non-academic books will only benefit. Reading is not only about acquiring knowledge but also expanding your horizons, changing your perspective, and nurturing your personal growth. Reading these books will help you build critical thinking ability, emotional intelligence, and a broader understanding of the world around you. It hardly matters that you are a fresher in college or a senior preparing for a professional career; pick one of these books to nurture your own self. These 5 books are just the start of your lifelong habit of reading, which will broaden your mindset.

Now, let us find out some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding this topic.

FAQs:

1. What are the best motivational books for students?

Ans.  The best motivational books for students include The Alchemist, The Fountainhead, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Ignited Minds, and The Last Lecture.

2. Why should I read ‘The Alchemist’ book?

Ans.  You must read ‘The Alchemist, as it inspires the reader to believe in their dreams, take action accordingly, and create an amazing life. You will learn the concept of ‘living the dream’ and have the confidence to implement it in the best possible manner.

3. Are fiction books beneficial for college students?

Ans. If you can find the best fiction books, you can develop certain life-changing habits and qualities that will prove beneficial in your personal and professional lives in the upcoming years.

4. How to find time to read the best motivational books for students?

Ans.  You need to write down the time available in your routine and divide it according to the activities that you need to complete during that particular period. This will help you complete your to-do list and improve your mindset in different spheres of life.

Therefore, you do not have to read 50 books a year but start with little steps. Aim for a particular number of books every month and then increase it over time. This is because noble folks believed and guided everyone that a big journey starts with small steps. The must-read books mentioned above are a good start, as they will catch your attention and get you in the groove to make reading the best books for students a habit useful in the later years of life.

 

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