Our Bookworms

School: University of Tulsa Alumni
Major: Biopsychology, Pre-Med
Favorite Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Whether I’m reading, writing or acting, stories are everything to me! I would not be who I am today if I had not picked up The Boxcar Children in second grade, and discovered an exciting way to learn and explore.

School: University of Virginia
Major: English and Government
Favorite Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Reading has always been an escape for me. The new world might be seemingly better or worse, but regardless it serves as a reminder of perspective. I find no better lesson on perspective and empathy than reading a book because it forces you to imagine for yourself what characters are going through. With a really good book, the emotional mental space of a character becomes your own.

School: DePaul University
Major: Philosophy & English
Favorite Book: Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

School: DePaul University
Majors: Film & Television/Screenwriting
Favorite Book: Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Misery by Stephen King

School: University of Missouri
Major: Bachelor of Journalism- Strategic Communication
Favorite Book: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Reading is an important part of my life. It always has been. I found myself daydreaming a lot in my classes. I made stories in my head that involved love, mystery, and fantasy. Then, when I found books, whatever was constantly in my head went onto pages. It was like magic. My mom owned a physical library card when I was younger (I know, ancient). So, I got to sit in the children’s section for hours reading Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody, and the Half Upon a Time series. That world in my head never went away as I grew up. It used to be a place to escape, and now it is a place to live. From gasping to crying to laughing, books have so much power.

School: West Virginia University
Major: Bachelor of Arts – Mental Heath and Addiction Studies
Favorite Book: It’s Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Reading was what really brought me out of the dark times of my childhood. There were many instances that I learned how to handle the world around me through the books that I was reading. That is why, if I were to a pick one of the most impactful books I have read, I would pick It’s Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. This is a book with highly sensitive topics, but the ones that I was dealing with in real time during adolescence. It helped bring me hope when I felt that I had none. This has always been recurring theme throughout my life. I used to dive my head into every fiction book I could find because I wanted so desperately to escape to another world. Inside these worlds I was able to learn to cope and process my emotions in relation to my world outside. I often feel that I would not be where I am today if it were not for the books I was given.

School: Augusta University
Major: English
Favorite Book: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Reading has profoundly changed my life. The majority of my early childhood memories are my parents reading stories aloud to my brother and me, one of our favorites being the Magic Tree House series. Those are perhaps the memories I cherish the most; the ones I think of when I am sad or lonely that instantly make my day better. I struggled with perfectionism from a young age, and one of the things that helped me to cope and to feel better was reading. The stories I love most are the ones with endings, characters, or plot elements that stray from predictability. I realized that if the characters and the books that I loved so much benefited from a change of plans or plot, then maybe I could as well.

School:University of Minnesota –Twin Cities
Major: English
Favorite Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

School: Covenant College
Majors: English
Favorite Book: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr