PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 14, 2025) – Prairie View A&M University’s librarians proudly offer a mindfully curated daily reading list for book lovers this summer, focusing on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The University’s Summer Reading Book List—spanning genres from powerful memoirs and contemporary fiction to cultural critiques and classic works—is being updated daily until August.
Whether you are looking for inspiration, literary escape, or a simple beach read, the diverse list promises something for everyone.
Furthermore, readers can engage and participate by submitting their own favorites via an interactive portal on the website under “PVAMU Favorites.”
Here are this week’s highlights:
“With the Fire on High” by Elizabeth Acevedo
“With the Fire on High” by Elizabeth Acevedo
By the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning “The Poet X,” this young adult novel tells the story of high school student Emoni Santiago, who became pregnant in her freshman year.
For her, as Emoni navigates life’s tough decisions, doing what is best for her family and her new baby, the kitchen stands as a place of healing and a little magic.
With a knack for cooking and for whom food nourishes the heart, mind, and soul as well as body, the aspiring teenage chef invites readers to share in her journey, discovering the meaning of dreams, sacrifice, and family, with a hearty side of delicious dishes you can almost taste off the page.
Emoji’s story as a teenage mom facing impossible choices and unfathomable dreams is one that resonates with anyone who has found some comfort in food.
“Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life” by Shigehiro Oishi
“Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life” by Shigehiro Oishi
The Wall Street Journal describes Oishi’s “enthusiasm for a big and bold existence” as “infectious.”
This trailblazing book by psychologist and author Oishi uses psychological studies and real-life examples to offer insights on living well, delving deep into the transformative power of experience and variety, where true life happens outside of the stable comfort zone.
Oishi, widely heralded as a leader in the study of happiness, proposes the odd third dimension to a good life: the concept of psychological richness, in which curiosity, exploration, and experience are prioritized.
It’s a cautionary tale against falling for common pitfalls of a “happiness trap” or a “meaning trap.”
Unlike his parents’ generation that believed in purpose and meaning to achieve that narrow sliver of happiness, Oishi explores the growth and fulfillment that can happen amid uncertainty and challenge, in which life is not so linear, but borderless and broad: full of circles, twists, turns, and loops—that can all be that much more enriching.
“Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People” by Imani Perry
“Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People” by Imani Perry
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune calls it “vast, multifaceted and enchanting.”
A reflective meditation on the color blue, the book examines its role in Black history and culture, perhaps best encapsulated by singer Louis Armstrong’s lyric: “What did I do to be so Black and blue?”
Blue represents both hope and heartache, a color both beautiful and not, as often the color of the slave trade marked by its distinct dyed indigo cloths of West Africa.
Using the everyday colors found in skies and seas, National Book Award winner Perry dives into a cultural introspection that is both an emotional and spiritual journey into self.
Tracing the shades of blue throughout Black history, from jazz notes to art to fashion to skin tone, the book lends new depth and layers to the color that surrounds life.
Click here to view PVAMU’s summer 2025 reading list.
By Christine Won
-PVAMU-