The holidays are over and real life is back. What better way to romanticise everyday school or university life than by reading a story about a magic college somewhere else, a romantic (but complicated) high school romance or the mysterious murder that happened at a university?
Dive into these 12 must-read stories that are perfect for your September reading-list.
Fantasy
Babel – R.F. Kuang
Goodreads rating: 4.16
Robin Swift works at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford in an alternate 19th century England. Their work creates the magic that sustains the British Empire’s global dominance. Robin slowly starts to realise that he plays a crucial role in violent colonialism, and he questions his doings at Oxford as the first Opium War shows the brutal ways of British oppression.
Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo
Goodreads rating: 4.01
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Mystery, dark academia
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Published: 2019
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Pages: 461
Set at Yale in an alternate North America, this book follows Alex Stern, a high school dropout with a troubled past who gets offered a full scholarship to the elite university. She can see ghosts, which makes her the perfect member of the ninth house, which is responsible for monitoring Yale’s secret societies. Their members practice powerful and dangerous magic, and Alex’s job is to clean up their messes – that includes investigating a recent murder on campus.
The Will of the Many – James Islington
Goodreads rating: 4.60
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Mystery, dark academia
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Published: 2023
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Pages: 639
Set in a fantasy world inspired by the Roman Republic, this novel follows Vis Telimus, an orphaned prince hiding from the regime. Suddenly, he finds himself thrown into a prestigious school and must try to survive while investigating a mysterious death and challenging the given hierarchy.
Coming-of-age
Looking for Alaska – John Green
Goodreads rating: 3.96
“Before” and “After”, that’s how Miles Halter sees his life as he tells the story of his time at boarding school. Looking for “the Great Perhaps”, he searches for something more meaningful and quickly makes friends with Chip, Takumi and Alaska. They experience adventures together but soon a tragedy strikes, and the teenagers must deal with the complexities of life and death.
Normal People – Sally Rooney
Goodreads rating: 3.81
Marianne and Connell come from very different social backgrounds but are both high scoring pupils in their Irish secondary school. They start meeting up but keep their relationship private. Although their miscommunication leads to many conflicts, they stay in contact for many years – Rooney explores this complicated relationship in detail through perspective shifts and perfectly describes how difficult young love can be.
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
Goodreads rating: 4.24
Charlie is shy and introverted, struggling to make friends as a freshman in high school. He writes letters to an unknown person through which the reader learns about his experiences in the present and in the past. Chbosky tells a story of trauma and loss, but also of friendship and love – intimate, important and relevant.
Suspense and mystery
One of Us Is Lying – Karen M. McManus
Goodreads rating: 3.91
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Mystery, young adult
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Published: 2017
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Pages: 416
Five high school students go into detention, only four make it out alive. All of them had a motive for killing Simon, since he was about to reveal their deepest and darkest secrets on a gossip app. Told from the changing perspectives of the four main characters this murder mystery creates suspense and leaves you wondering until the end – who is lying?
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Goodreads rating: 4.16
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Mystery, dark academia
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Published: 1992
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Pages: 559
A group of classics students at a prestigious college and their professor become entangled in a murder as their search for beauty and value quickly descents into moral corruption. Their lives are forever changed as relationships change, mental states deteriorate, and their future becomes uncertain.
Truly, Devious – Maureen Johnson
Goodreads rating: 3.89
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Mystery, young adult
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Published: 2018
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Pages: 416
Alternating between flashbacks to what happened in 1936 and the present day, true-crime enthusiast Stevie Bell is on the hunt for a kidnapper and a murderer during her time at the Ellingham Academy.
Memoir
Educated – Tara Westover
Goodreads rating: 4.47
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Nonfiction, biography
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Published: 2018
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Pages: 352
Tara Westover’s journey from her childhood in rural Idaho, where she had little access to real education, to earning her PhD from Cambridge University is inspiring and powerful. The education process included separating from her family, overcoming painful physical and emotional abuse and continuously striving for something that seems out of reach.
The Freedom Writers Diary – Erin Gruwell
Goodreads rating: 4.15
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Nonfiction, biography
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Published: 1999
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Pages: 316
Erin Gruwell is a young English teacher in 1990s California and tells the story of a group of young students who were seen as “unteachable”. By using unconventional methods, she transforms the teenagers into the “Freedom Writers” whose diary entries make up the book.
The Water Is Wide – Pat Conroy
Goodreads rating: 4.17
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Nonfiction, biography
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Published: 1972
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Pages: 310
Pat Conroy talks about his experiences as a teacher in a small school on a South Carolina island in the 1960s. With unusual teaching methods he challenges the norm and recounts the personal growth he went through. The segregated society and the neglected education of the African Americans make him understand the complexities of racism and the value of teaching.
