Flyby's Spring Break Reading List

As Harvard students, we’re expected to have a very sophisticated taste in literature. Unfortunately, Expos doesn’t give us much in terms of quality reading, unless watching Mean Girls to procrastinate counts as educational. To convince your family and friends that you’re actually learning at this premier academic institution, (or just to impress strangers with your intellect), here are some books that you’ll enjoy reading and can talk about in front of your grandparents—sorry, that means 50 Shades is out.

Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina
Love, sex, and drama—such is life as a college student, although these characters don't spend all of their disposable income on beer and burritos. Combine it with poignant, heart-wrenching portrayals of adultery and, of course, more sex, and you've got yourself a winner. What more could you want in an 800-something page epic?

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise
And you thought I was going to list Gatsby. Having more than one Fitzgerald novel under your belt will be sure to impress those esteemed people you network with. Better yet, This Side of Paradise is about the sad life of a Princeton student. Clearly, Harvard has more fun. Of course, everything is relative.

Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms
Anything by Hemingway is quick to read, thanks to his no-frills style. Add some cynicism rivaling that even even the most sleep-deprived thesising senior, some war-stricken characters, and a doomed love, and you’ve got a novel that’s sure to spark intense conversation at any cocktail party.

Greg Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 9th ed.
A classic for the ages, not to mention all of the information a Harvard student needs to apply for a job on Wall Street. It isn’t love, sex, or drama, but it’s supply and demand graphs (and more), which are pretty hot in their own right.

So there you have it. Read these five books (or just display them prominently while out in public) and no one will question your intelligence ever again.