Thinking about stocking stuffers and I was wondering if anyone has any decent books to recommend for kids going off to college. Not thinking about any specific theme other than being off on your own for the first time - whether it’s how not to kill your roommate, how to plan your own schedule without parents around to nag you, how to budget, how to make your dorm room look cool, how to deal with missing your family, whatever.
Here’s one I gave my son: https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Straight-Student-Unconventional/dp/0767922719
I’m going to give a contrary idea. This is the last time your HS student will be celebrating Christmas before moving off to college. In the Thumper family, we decided that any college related gifts would be given at graduation…or later. We just wanted our kids to know that their senior year of HS was NOT just about college, and the end of high school. Etc.
The only exception…when they chose the college to matriculate to, we ordered them a hoodie from their school.
For Christmas, we gave things for them to enjoy the second half of HS senior year…things like gift cards to our local movie theater, pizza places, and a gas gift card for the cars.
A CC member suggested this book and for some weird reason my kid got mesmerized by this book: Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674729013
It’s a weird reason because I bought the book for myself. He mistakenly thought the book was for him and started reading it and didn’t put it down.
Yes, the Cal Newport book is a great idea.
The other one I would suggest is “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker.
True fear is a gift.
Unwarranted fear is a curse.
Learn how to tell the difference.
A date won’t take “no” for an answer. The new nanny gives a mother an uneasy feeling. A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers unsolicited help. The threat of violence surrounds us every day. But we can protect ourselves, by learning to trust—and act on—our gut instincts.
In this empowering book, Gavin de Becker, the man Oprah Winfrey calls the nation’s leading expert on violent behavior, shows you how to spot even subtle signs of danger—before it’s too late. Shattering the myth that most violent acts are unpredictable, de Becker, whose clients include top Hollywood stars and government agencies, offers specific ways to protect yourself and those you love, including…how to act when approached by a stranger…when you should fear someone close to you…what to do if you are being stalked…how to uncover the source of anonymous threats or phone calls…the biggest mistake you can make with a threatening person…and more. Learn to spot the danger signals others miss. It might just save your life.
@bopper Wow! Thank you for mentioning “The Gift of Fear.” Is it aimed at females or would it be a good choice for my son?
I think more of the examples are about women, but men can have girl stalkers or people at work they don’t feel right about. Men can also be allies to women…notice people who are using the techniques on women they know or just not pooh pooh women’s reactions…“just go on one date with him”…“He is trying to be nice, talk to him”
Or if they are hiring someone or letting them into their fraternity or volunteering with them or going into business with them, they can learn to listen to their gut about people who set off their hinky meter.
Also he would learn that if you say no to someone 5 times and then say yes the 6th, then you teach that person that they have to ask 6 times to get something from you. And that if you don’t want to have a relationship with someone, you should be straightforward and say you don’t want to talk to them anymore…not give hints and maybe laters. You don’t engage and enrage…you just don’t engage at all.
@bopper: I cannot believe I am unfamiliar with that title. It is just the sort of thing I want to gift each of my kids.
@SJ2727 : After listening to an NPR radio program today, On Point, the focus of which was a recent NY Times article on college kids and mental health, self-assessment and…placing one’s finger on one’s own pulse…I will recommend a simple little series I have loved and gifted to adults who are taking some leaps in their professional careers. Perhaps the playful nature would be something a young adult(ish) could readily accept without rolling their eyes:
Peter Reynolds, author of “The Dot,” and “Ish”
I’ll be ordering it. Thanks, @bopper. For anyone interested, there is an Amazon promo of $5 off when you spend $20 on books.
I didn’t get anything related to college – but if I did I think I’d keep it light for the holidays - maybe “The Naked Roommate” or something along those lines.
“The Naked Roomate and 107 Other Issues you Might Run into at College. “
Thanks everyone. “The Naked Roommate” sounds like exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, for now. The more serious ones definitely sound valuable, but will leave those till high school is finished.
While you are book shopping…get a copy of “Letting Go” for the parents. We were given this book, and thought it was very good. Best read before your kid goes off to college.
Not sure I’d want to go “heavy” with books on fear, stalking and death for the holidays. I like the more tongue in cheek approach of one of my favorite authors, Carl Hiaasen.
Life’s Little Instruction Book.
I still think about stuff in that book today.
“Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps”
^ I know a 40 year old who could use that :))
Some of these book suggestions look like really fun reads.
I saw a 20-something earnestly reading that book on the bus a few weeks ago. He was completely and seriously engrossed in it.
Adulting is great. Lighthearted, easy read but it has some good practical tips.