How to get through a university reading list before you start

You have your place, and with it a reading list. Sometimes it is a page of suggested titles for your subject. Sometimes it is a single book that every first-year student is asked to read over the summer. Sometimes it is twenty-five titles with no hint of which ones matter. Whichever kind you have, the same worry tends to follow: am I supposed to read all of this before I arrive?

Usually, no. Here is how to approach a pre-university reading list sensibly, without spending a fortune or wearing yourself out before term starts.

First, work out what kind of list you have

Pre-arrival reading comes in a few forms, and each asks something different of you.

• Subject reading lists, typical in the UK, are lists of books and articles related to your course. They are often labelled suggested, recommended or preparatory. Our collection of Oxford and Cambridge subject reading lists gathers examples from college and faculty pages, with sources, so you can see how much they vary.
• Common reads, typical at US colleges, ask every incoming student to read the same book, which is then discussed at orientation or in first-year classes. See our overview of first-year common-read programs.
• Required pre-reading for a specific course or module, sometimes with a set task such as an essay, problem sheet or test in the first week.

The wording matters. A common read is usually meant to be read in full, because the whole year group discusses it. A long subject list labelled suggested is often a menu, not a checklist. Required pre-reading with a task attached should be treated as exactly that. If you can't tell which you have, a short, polite email to the department or college asking which items to prioritise will usually get a helpful answer.

1. Sort the list before you read anything

Go through the list once and put every item into one of three groups:

1. Must read: anything marked required, anything linked to a first-week task, and your common read if you've been given one.
2. Worth reading properly: two or three items that look central to the course or that genuinely interest you.
3. Skim or sample: everything else.

Be honest about the third group. It will usually be the largest, and that is normal. Lists are often written to show the range of a subject, and tutors often don't expect every item to be read cover to cover. What tends to matter more is that you arrive curious, with real engagement with a few books rather than a thin acquaintance with many.

2. Read the important ones properly

For the books in your first two groups, read actively. Find the main argument first by looking at the introduction, contents and conclusion. Take brief notes as you go: the author's claim, the key evidence, and your own reaction. Our guides to taking notes on a non-fiction book and finding a book's main argument show how.

Short books can be read in full without much strain. Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning is a good example of a book brief enough to finish in a few sittings and rich enough to discuss for hours. The first part recounts his experience as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps; the second sets out logotherapy, his approach to finding meaning. A book like that rewards a complete, careful reading, and a single page of notes on it will serve you well in any discussion.

3. Skim the rest with a purpose

For longer or more peripheral books, read selectively. Look at the introduction and conclusion, read one or two chapters that relate to your course, and note the main idea in a few lines. A long book such as Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, if it appeared on a psychology or economics list, could be sampled this way: the opening part on the two systems of thinking gives you the core idea, and you can return to the rest during the year.

Skimming is a real skill, not a shortcut. Grasping a book's structure and core argument in an hour, and knowing where to look for more, is a large part of how reading works once term begins.

4. Don't buy everything

Buying every book on a long list gets expensive quickly, and much of it may never be needed. Before you spend money:

• Check the university library catalogue. Once you have your login, you can often borrow books or read e-book versions, and libraries often keep several copies of first-year texts.
• Use your local public library. Many public libraries lend e-books and audiobooks through an app and can order print copies from other branches.
• Look for second-hand copies. Older editions are often fine for humanities and social science books. For textbooks in science, maths, medicine or law, ask the department whether the edition matters, because content and page references can change between editions.
• Wait for term. Students in the year above often sell their books cheaply, and by then you'll know which ones you actually need.

Buy only what you'll mark up heavily or come back to many times.

5. Make a simple reading plan

Count the weeks before term starts, set aside time for rest and moving, and spread your must-read and worth-reading books across what's left. One substantial book every week or two, plus some skimming, is manageable for most people alongside a summer job or other commitments.

Keep a one-page log for each book: the title, the main argument in a sentence or two, one thing you found convincing, one thing you'd question, and one question you'd like to raise. These pages are what you'll actually use. In first tutorials, seminars and orientation discussions, they help far more than a vague memory of having read something months earlier.

6. Arrive ready to talk, not to recite

The point of pre-reading is to give you a way into your subject and something to talk about with tutors and other students. Being able to say "I read this, I found this part persuasive, and I wasn't sure about that part" is worth much more than having technically reached the last page of everything.

If you run out of time, you won't be the only one. Cover the required items and your common read, have notes on two or three books you engaged with properly, and let the rest go. Your reading is meant to grow across the course, not to be finished before you arrive.

Where to go next

• Oxford and Cambridge reading lists by subject
• US first-year common reads
• How to remember what you read