by Lucius Trae

Created on: March 23, 2010

College is an interesting experience where students have plenty of reading material. If you want to prepare yourself, there are plenty of books you can read. Ultimately, the relevance of such books will depend on your particular subject. I will focus on the subjects I know best, which are English, Philosophy, and Political Science. However, I am aware of a few relevant suggestions for other subjects.

Economics:

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is probably the most canonical text in the field. While you might not read it specifically, you're bound to encounter references throughout your economics experience.

Biology:

The Origin of Species. In college, professors are trying to provide you with the information necessary to succeed in your careers. Unsurprisingly, Darwin provides interesting insights into modern evolutionary theory. However, there is no guarantee you'll read the original text. Many of the ideas have evolved and become more developed, but there are certainly benefits from to be had from reading the book.

English:

Shakespeare is a cliche, but it's true. Many writers have some relationship to Shakespeare through the usage of character types, allusion, and various other techniques. Sadly, I've yet to find a complete Shakespeare with annotations on every page. If you can find one, or read individually annotated texts, you'll often get a better understanding of the whole story as it unfolds. Once you get used to reading Shakespeare, he is an amazing writer and storyteller. He's not the boring old English guy that frustrated students characterize him as.

The Bible relates to other texts, if I had to guess, more often than any other book. I was never particularly religious, and I didn't get the full experience from reading many books simply because I was unaware of the biblical references that were occurring. To avoid repeating it later, I'd recommend The Bible for Philosophy and Political Science as well. To my disappointment, I couldn't escape my biblical ignorance as the holy book came up in Kierkegaard and Augustine.

The Odyssey and the Iliad are common in English classes. You'll be in a small group if you manage to avoid reading one of these texts. Well, given that many students don't do their readings, you won't be that alone. But if you should expect to see one or both of them at some point. I read The Odyssey. It's enjoyable, but you will know a lot of the plot already given how popular it is with television programs.

Philosophy:

Plato's Republic

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