It seems to me the best break for finals fever is doing something you love. For most people this involves imbibing barley and hops, but I go the extra step of involving the printed word as well. With pressure of prescribed packets pummeling the average college student's brain to a pulp, perhaps I shouldn't try to convince the student body to read something when they'd rather be partying before their last punishing final. Instead I thought I might throw a lot of thrilling alliteration at my more devoted readers and suggest what I do for a really nerdy study break: build my summer reading list.
While I can't personally vouch for each of these novels as I usually do, I can say that these are on the list of a bonafied reading addict. And no, it's not the creepy guy that seems to be living at Helen C. White. It's me, the favorite English major of the UW campus, or so I'd like to think...
Anyway, for those who have never endeavored to form a reading list, I find the best way to start is by looking at books that I've heard about all semester but have been too cheap to buy or too busy to borrow from the library. Personally my pick for this section is ""The Book Thief"" by Mark Zusak. Set during World War II, it follows a girl stealing books from the Nazi book burnings. While this might not be most people's idea of a beach read, being the Printz Award Honoree of 2007 is more than enough for me to get a copy to fill with sand and sunscreen.
If stomaching a serious read after all those tests makes for stomach churning thoughts, perhaps picking up my second suggestion for a silly but scintillating read, might be better. My pick for this section is the Charlaine Harris books, starting with the ""Dead Until Dark,"" the inspiration for everyone's favorite vampire inspired television series, ""True Blood.""
Now if that's getting a bit too close to the likes of ""Twilight"" for some, I'm pretty confident in the next selection on my list: ""Hangover Square"" by Patrick Hamilton. This pick should be a good read for any student who parties as hard as they study. About a girl chasing a schizophrenic, this book will appeal to everyone who loses their mind after studying a bit too much for their finals.
My last recommendation is to pick up a classic. I know not everyone would enjoy dragging around my chosen Russian classic for the summer, ""The Brother's Karamazov,"" so instead of a novel that handily doubles as a door stop, I'll suggest the short story ""The Dead"" by James Joyce. Sounds depressing, I know, but if you pick short things to read in the sunshine, this should be it.
As many people might soon suspend any extracurricular reading due to excessive inebriation at one infamous block party, I just want to say that there is a book for everyone, even for those of you who haven't picked up a book since ""Put Me in the Zoo.""
Will you miss Alex's nagging suggestions to read? Tell her at kuskowski@wisc.edu
