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What Book Should You Read This Finals Week To De-Stress?

When I'm not studying, you can find me...

Where do you want to take your well-deserved vacay?

Survival of the fittest with no idea what you’re doing surrounded only by women? No, it’s not a description of the past week. It’s Libba Bray’s hilariously competitive, _Lord of the Flies_-esque take on beauty, female empowerment, and most importantly: dance practice. When 13 Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant contestants crash land on a deserted island, they must band together to survive--all while maintaining their poise and pedis in case they are rescued in time for the pageant. If you need a little reminder that there are bigger problems in the world than acing that history exam (and also, much, much smaller ones), then this satirical take on survival and modern gender roles is for you. Breaking molds, kicking terrorist a\*\*, and taking names (and crowning titles!) is what this funny, feminist, and feel-good romp is all about--that, and the message that you are #flawless whether you woke up like this (on a desert island) or not.

_Beauty Queens_ by Libba Bray

Are you sleeping? Not this week, and certainly not after you start reading Kathleen Barber’s gripping psychological thriller. When a popular podcast reopens the cold case of her father’s murder, Josie Burnham must come clean to her husband--who knows nothing of her past, not even her real name--and make peace with her demons--including her estranged twin sister and her cult-member mother. This eerie page turner will keep you guessing (and unable to close your eyes) until the very last page. Guaranteed to help you pull that all-nighter.

_Are you Sleeping_ by Kathleen Barber

“Sometimes you just have to laugh, even when life is a dumpster fire.” If this quote from the backcover of comedian and bitches gotta eat blogger Samantha Irby’s essay collection doesn’t sum up your finals week, nothing will. Raucous, raunchy, and riotously funny, Irby’s essays make everything in her life fair game, from budgeting to _The Bachelorette_, childhood trauma to #adulting, sexual mishaps to Costco trips. You’ll laugh, sigh, shake your head, hide your face in embarrassment-by-proxy, and think, even just for a moment, “huh, maybe my life isn’t so bad.”

_We are never meeting in real life_ by Samantha Irby

Girl, you got this! And if you don’t, then _Rising Strong_ will help you get back on your feet. Social scientist Brene Brown will wreck you with her research on vulnerability, shame, resilience, and the power of story. Blending the best parts of self-help and memoir, Brown’s book shares years of psychological research, as well as her own humorous (and very human) stories of falling down and rising strong. This book will change your life, and remind you that in good times and bad, you own your story and you are not alone.

_Rising Strong_ by Brené Brown

Looking to make your heart pound for a reason other than your chem final? _Roomies_ is a modern romance that will have you falling into the covers (book covers! #dirtymind!) After Holland’s crush Calvin saves her from a mugging, she returns the favor by getting the struggling musician an audition with her Broadway-musical-directing uncle. When Holland finds out Calvin is in the country illegally, she offers to marry him so he can stay and pursue his dream career. Their love is all an act--or is it? Drop that study guide and lose yourself in theatrics of this slow-burning romance.

_Roomies_ by Christina Lauren

If you’re looking for a book series to binge, one that will make you lie to your study buddy when they ask you what you did all weekend, then _To all the boys I’ve loved before_ is for you. Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song is a hopeless romantic….in her imagination. She writes a letter to herself whenever she has a crush, confessing her deepest feelings of love and longing to the boys who will never read them. Or so that’s what Lara Jean thinks. When her letters are accidentally mailed, her imaginary love life suddenly becomes real teenage drama. It’s fun, fluffy, and soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture, so you’re gonna wanna hop on this guilty-pleasure bandwagon! But be warned: you’ll wanna have book two in your hand when you land on that last page.

_To all the boys I've loved before_ by Jenny Han

You know what will take your mind off that 20-page research paper? A good old-fashioned heist. Er, well mostly old-fashioned, if _Ocean’s 11_ had magic. Six characters--a convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway, a spy, a magician, a thief. What happens when these criminals, all with their own sordid pasts and deadly secrets, must work together to pull off an impossible heist, one that just might be the only chance at saving the world? Only one way to find out (and it’s not by making a citations list)....

_Six of Crows_ by Leigh Bardugo

Do you ever wish you could be someone else? (Maybe someone who didn’t have a looming math final?) In _Change Agent_ , the year is 2045, and you can be--too bad Kenneth Durand didn’t want to be. Kenneth leads a team of Interpol agents against genetic crime--until he becomes the victim, and, after waking up from a coma, finds himself transformed into his most-wanted suspect. This fast-paced thriller follows him through a criminal underworld, dodging the authorities he once worked with and seeking out the criminals he once hunted down. It’s a wild ride, sure to take your mind away from this planet and time into a far off one (maybe we won’t even have math then, right?)

_Change Agent_ by Daniel Suarez

Time to study for your history exam. Oh, you’re not in a history class? You’ll wish you were when you read Alyssa Cole’s Civil War-set novel, _An Extraordinary Union._ Elle Burns is a former slave with a photographic memory, who returns to the South as an undercover slave to spy for the Union. There, she meets detective Malcolm McCall, a white Union spy to whom Elle finds herself undeniably attracted. This steamy romance and #woke historical fiction means you can study history and biology at the same time, if you know what I mean….

_An Extraordinary Union_ by Alyssa Cole

A supportive family and a good cry? At the end of the week, isn’t that what we all want? This beautiful literary novel follows the lives of the Walsh-Adams family and their children. Claude is the youngest of five boys, the baby boy. That is, until it becomes clear that Claude identifies as a girl. The family accepts Claude--now Poppy--at the same time that they hide her secret from the outside world. It’s an emotional fulfilling journey full of secrets, family, love, acceptance, and, most of all, transformation. It tackles tough topics, but this upbeat story has a happy ending, so you can sob all you want while knowing that, at the end of this journey at least, everything will be okay.

_This is how it always is_ by Laurie Frankel

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What Book Should You Read This Finals Week To De-Stress?

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