Being an English and Literary Arts concentrator makes up about 40 percent of my personality. But as soon as classes start, I suddenly forget how to read. Very rarely do I find the time or motivation to pick up a book for leisure.

This is the year of change (and not just because Kamala Harris says so). I strive to remain literate, and I hope you do too. Whether you’re a first-year asking yourself, “What is post- magazine? I thought this was the Herald?” or you’re a senior who’s having a post-grad crisis, you deserve a high-quality reading experience. Here’s a list of five-star books from my Goodreads shelf, made specially for your class year.

Freshmen

The Details by Ia Genberg

My first year at Brown felt like a fever dream, so a book about a woman with a fever seems fitting. Originally written in Swedish and translated by Kira Josefsson, this novel follows a woman that is bedridden with illness, as she reminisces on four lost relationships in her life. The prose is quick, honest, and deeply vulnerable, so much so that you feel like a voyeur. The author invites you to look at her most passionate and ugly moments, and embrace them as part of the human experience.

To any anxious freshmen reading this—I know starting life in a new place can be daunting. You probably miss home and the people you left behind. This book reminded me that none of those past relationships ever truly disappear.

Sophomores

Couplets by Maggie Milner

I discovered Brown alumna Maggie Milner last spring when she visited campus for a poetry reading. Couplets is a semi-autobiographical novel written in verse about a young woman who breaks up with her boyfriend and explores her queerness. I started this book as a poetry skeptic, and I left as the newest member of the Lit Arts poetry track.

When I entered sophomore year, I was full of confidence, solely by virtue of the fact that I was no longer a freshman. But I still had so much to learn. Couplets is for everyone—those who feel like they have it all figured out, and those who are still on the journey of self-discovery. (Also according to my roommate, “Sophomore year is canonically when you realize you’re gay.”)

Juniors

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Junior year is the year most people lose their minds just a little. Suddenly everyone is taking the MCAT, or they’re studying for the LSAT, or they want to apply for a Fulbright, and they’re telling you all about it. I know it was enough to make me a bit insane.

And I love stories about women who go insane. The Vegetarian is no exception. After a series of violent images overtake her mind, the protagonist attempts to cleanse herself by refusing to eat meat, much to the dismay of her husband and family. Translated from Korean by Deborah Smith, it’s a novel about patriarchy and rebellion.

Seniors

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman 

A classic (and a bit heavy-handed as a recommendation, according to my roommate). I first read Einstein’s Dreams for a class my first year, and it made me cry in the SciLi. So of course, I need you to read it too.

As I enter my final year at Brown, I’ve been feeling sentimental. This book is a series of vignettes meditating on the passage of time. A fictionalized Einstein dreams each story as he develops the theory of relativity. The result is a collage of different universes—one in which time repeats on a loop, another where time speeds up as you approach the core of the Earth, and so on.

When I got teary-eyed upon my first read, it was over a passage about time being frozen. A mother hugs her child, but this child will never grow up, never move away, and never leave her arms. When I was 18, I read this and cried for the childhood I had just left behind. Now, in my final year of college, I feel grief and gratitude at the same time. They’re two sides of the same coin after all.

I’ll always cherish my time at Brown, and I’ve been reminding myself not to grieve it before it’s over. I hope Einstein’s Dreams helps you remember how rare and precious it is that we all exist in this moment together.