Brain Candy For English Majors

For when you're fighting the urge to re-read Harry Potter...again

So being an English major is AWESOME. You get to earn a degree while reading a sample of the greatest written stories humanity has to offer. It's amazing.

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But it's a lot of hard work. After a long, soul-challenging, wrist-cramping semester, your brain CANNOT, WILL NOT handle anything close to the caliber of what you were reading during the school year.

Which sucks, because there are so many delightfully deep, dangerously difficult items on your reading list that you FINALLY have time to start digging into but your brain is just

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So what do you do?

Well, you can do what I do every few summers and re-read Harry Potter again (hardly a crime, but kinda a shame since there are so many wonderful stories waiting for you find and love them)

OR

you can tap into your cache of what my friend likes to call literary brain-candy: books that are easy to read yet have enough depth to satisfy an English major's craving for character development and diverse themes.

So, here are some of my brain-candy recommendations to tide you over until you have enough mental energy to start on your hardcore reading list (or just until the end of the summer...no shame)

Fangirl--Rainbow Rowell

Noelle Stevenson / Via rainbowrowell.com

Odds are, if you're a geek like me, someone has recommended this to you before. Well, here I am to recommend it again. Cath struggles with her love for a fantasy series, her dedication to her fan-fiction, her first year of college, her relationship with her family, and I could go on. It resonates on so many levels to someone who's had to balance fantasy worlds with the real one, almost as if it was written for us.

Also, Rowell's spinoff, Carry On, came out not too long ago, so what better time to read the original?

Percy Jackson and the Olympians--Rick Riordan

Disney Hyperion / Via percyjacksonfandom.blogspot.com

Okay, it's not a book per say, rather a series with multiple spin-off series. It's also targeted to middle-school boys. But Riordan writes brain candy in its finest. Once you get past the writing style, the characters and the plot (and the Greek mythology references) are enough to keep you going all summer long. If you're looking for something to binge and something that'll keep you up reading until 2AM, Percy Jackson is the series for you.

Just please don't watch the movies. They're bad. Just trust me.

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The Lacuna--Barbara Kingsolver

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One of Kingsolver's less-known masterpieces, The Lacuna is the story of a boy who grows up between Mexico and America, between Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky, and the Red Scare. It's one of those books that drags on in the best way possible, creating a world you won't want to leave.

The Cuckoo's Calling--Robert Galbraith

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If you're fighting the urge to re-read Harry Potter, this might be a good compromise. Galbraith's who-dunnit novel is ripe with interesting characters, plot twists, and enough suspense to almost make you forget you're reading and not watching a new episode of Sherlock. Almost.

Treasure Island--Robert Louis Stevenson

Penguin Books / Via penguin.com.au

This is perfect for an English major who loves old British literature. It's technically a children's book, so it's easier on your brain than something like Robinson Crusoe, but it's a classic, so it's got noteworthy characters and delicious themes for you to eat up. Plus pirates. Pirates are always fun.

The House on Mango Street--Sandra Cisneros

Vintage Contemporaries / Via blogs.iwu.edu

I was forced to read this book in 10th grade English class but a few years later, I bought my own copy and I re-read it whenever I find myself burnt out from "high literature." Cisneros' carefully crafted vingnettes are easy to swallow yet beautifully deep and reflective on childhood, family, growing up, and identity. It renews my passion for language like nothing else I've read.

I Am the Messenger--Markus Zusak

Pan Macmillan / Via deliciousreads.com

Zusak is more famous for The Book Thief, which was made into a movie a few years ago, but I Am the Messenger is as good as it is different. A morally complicated narrator, a mysterious mission, a journey of self-growth, Australia, all make this book a compelling summer read.

The Paris Wife--Paula McLain

Random House / Via randomhouse.com

Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and the rest of Paris' literary/artistic scene. I'd recommend this to anyone who's read Hemingway's A Movable Feast or Fitzgerald's personal essays about living in Paris, since this book goes alongside those perfectly. McLain gives Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, a voice as she basically retells A Movable Feast from her perspective. It becomes a story of ambition, love, betrayal, and life for the Lost Generation. Also, Paris. Need I say more?

OR, when all else fails, reread a childhood favorite

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You know which one I'm talking about. That one book you read that got you really excited about reading. That one you haven't read in forever but is still on your bookshelf because sentiment is a thing. Pick it back up, let it remind you why you love reading so much.

So what if it's technically a kids book.

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Whatever you choose to read, whether one of these or something on your official reading list, just keep reading!!!

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Happy reading!