1. Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
No book has improved my grades more than Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Assignments are marked on content, but quite often, also on how well you can string a sentence together. Give this book a read for a refresher on the basics before starting your dreaded first assignment.
2. The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook by Silvana Franco
Food is expensive. It is not something you entirely appreciate until you see it steadily eating away at your student loan. A great way to save some money is to cook meals yourself and if possible, in bulk. This is a great book to get your started in your culinary endeavours but there are plenty of others out there if it does not tickle your taste buds.
3. Wreck this Journal: To Create is to Destroy by Keri Smith
Wreck this journal is a fun book that can save your sanity at certain times of the year. Ever thought that writing a journal would be fun but when you start you realise you have nothing to say? Wreck this Journal solves that problem for you. Every day it prompts you to have fun in strange ways. Painting with coffee? Sure. Rip up page 13 for the fun of it? Why not? A great way to relieve stress during the busier times of the year.
4. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
You know university is going to be quite an adjustment but there are certain things that you would not even think to second guess. Predictably Irrational will teach you the techniques that will allow you to forego a £3 latte in favour of the local café and to haggle with the shop assistant next time you go shopping.
5. Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things by Cy Tymony
Ok, so chances are you don't need to know how to make plastic from milk or a radio with a penny, but this book also offers a whole bunch of other useful tips and tricks for the urban camping that is living in student accommodation. Would you know how to tell if a note is fake? Wish you could walk on top of the snow, rather than sinking into the white depths as make your way to a December lecture? This book will teach you all that and more.
Remember to get student book discounts from Amazon with the NUS extra card.