Hello everyone!

How are you doing? I took an amazing five week break off of school this January! That month afforded me the chance to catch up with relatives from out of state and with my friends who go to schools far away. Since my college resides in a fairly rural area, I got my fill of the crowded city and my lively suburban hometown in Northern Virginia.

Amid assuming the role of the chauffeur of my family—I drove my brother and grandmother all over the place— I also got the chance to read a ton of amazing books. I headed to my local public library and read for fun, something my time at college had not allowed me to do.

I present to you all a list of the best books that I read, hoping that you will give one of them a try for the month of April, or if you are ambitious, start now! Mark my words when I say that these books are short reads. In fact, I’m actually very intimated by big books. When I got to the fourth book of the Harry Potter series, I stopped because the fourth one looked too huge for me to read. I foresee the Harry Potter fans crying as they read this; my apologies.

Let’s dive in!

Pride and Prejudice

BY JANE AUSTEN

Perhaps you dislike me for mentioning this legendary book. As I bought this book for my high school freshman English class, I figured this book would cause me a ton of trouble. For one, the author wrote this in the 19th century, and what did the word prejudice even mean? I have since then learned the definition of that word, by the way!

This book confronts the gender norms at the time, not all of them, of course, but some pertaining to the expectations of how women should try to marry wealthy and how to find a suitor for them. Although I knew the ending in advance, I loved the story line and craved reading it again. I love the movie, as well! You can view it on Amazon Prime.

Educated

BY TARA WESTOVER

This memoir might change your life. My eyes were open to the experience Tara Westover experienced growing up in her family that held radical beliefs pertaining to the Mormon religion. I would elaborate much more about the storyline, but I could not do it justice and I don’t want to spoil the story!

Educated is a New York Times Bestseller. Somehow, my library had a copy available of the book for me to check out. Read this book! If the book isn’t available in your local library, get yourself on the wait list to check it out now.

Scarlet A: The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Ordinary Abortion

BY KATIE WATSON

Regardless of your stance on this issue, Professor Katie Watson from Northwestern University discusses all sides of abortion. Not only does she identify her bias but she consults various people, professionals, and other professors with various stances.

The coolest thing about this book is that it does not arrive at any conclusion for the reader to believe; while the author makes clear what her stance is at the very end, the book carries no intention of persuading any readers towards believing one view over the other. Watson presents facts about abortion, consulting research and women’s experiences with this issue. Even if you have a solid stance on this issue, you will want to see the recent facts attributed to this issue, such as the frequency of abortion, etc.

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable

BY MICHAEL BENNETT

The football star Michael Bennett goes unfiltered in this book about his experience as an African American player in the NCAA and the NFL. As a person who can’t even comprehend the game of football, even after repeatedly consulting various people about how to play this game (this book encouraged me to learn the plays of this sport, but I still can’t get it at. all.), I was intrigued about Bennett’s mixed experiences about his football career. While I was reading this book, all I could talk about were Bennett’s stories and his presentation of facts about these leagues. Each chapter captivated me entirely; every spare time I had was dedicated to finishing this book.

Bennett does an incredible job of telling his feelings about racism and controversies within the league, touching upon his and his teammates’ own encounters with these issues. Read this book not only because you definitely won’t want to put it down but to also get to know what goes undercover in the football world.

There are a few more books that I read and enjoyed this past break; I might release another post about them soon!

Have an incredible week and I hope that you all make some time in your schedules to read, write, or do what you love.

Talk to you all soon!

Victoria

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