The Idiot

Written by: Elif Batuman

First line: I didn't know what email was until I got to college.

Why you should read this book: Selin, the eighteen-year-old Americanized daughter of Turkish immigrants, is academically prepared for the rigors of her first year at Harvard in 1995, but with little romantic experience, she lacks the tools to protect herself from inevitable heartache. Fascinated by an older Hungarian student named Ivan, Selim spends hours pouring her heart out over email, and poring over Ivan's responses, without fully understanding the depth of the water in which she is wading. Her trip to Hungary, ostensibly to be closer to this unattainable boy, helps her begin to understand who she is in relation to herself, others, and the world around her.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're in love with someone you only know on the internet and you're not interested in more experienced people's opinion on the actual viability of the relationship.