We love to read. We are voracious and committed to reading all sorts of books all of the time so that a) you don’t need to, and b) we can guide you on your literary journey(s). It’s our favorite work to do with students. The books that we recommend they read aim to challenge their perceptions about certain topics. And then we talk about it. That’s really our favorite part.

You can approach your reading in a few ways, and we’ve written about a couple in the past: you can do a deep dive into a particular author or an area of interest. Ultimately, colleges want to see that you spend your free time actively expanding your realm of knowledge and understanding about the world around you. Yes, it makes sense for some of the books you read to relate to your area(s) of interest, but it also makes sense that your interests will expand over time to include many things.

Here are some of our favorite books that we broadly recommend time and time again to students. When we work one-on-one with students, their book lists are much more focused and tailored to specific niches. But the following are books that, when added to your application, will still “look good.” While some of them are indeed well-known, none of these books are clichés, nor are they (to our knowledge) assigned in schools. Those are the two main qualifications for books that “look good” on college applications, but these are some of our favorites:

• Evicted by Matthew Desmond

• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

• Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg

• The Vanishing Neighborhood by Marc J. Dunkelman 

• Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

• Quiet by Susan Cain

• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

• Sex Object by Jessica Valenti

• Hungry by Roxane Gay

• Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

• The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro

• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

• Killing Rage by bell hooks 

• Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit 

• Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

• Principles by Ray Dalio

• The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson

• The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato

• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

• Zero to One by Peter Thiel

The best advice we can give you is to keep reading. Once you find a book you love, see what else that author has written. And read it. Or find a book on a topic that came up in the book that fascinated you. Just keep reading.

If you want us to give you some suggestions based on your area(s) of interest, just . We’d be happy to put one together for you.