Over the summer, Loyola students across all grades take the summer reading course. Students read 2 or 3 set books either on campus or online, varying from autobiographies such as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass to dystopian science fiction novels like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury to a thriller, No Country for Old Men. This variation in types of literature allows students to become exposed to new authors and their styles during their time off for summer.

From a brief survey of some Loyola seniors who have read all of the summer reading books, it was found that the most liked books were The Odyssey by Homer and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Diego Pa-Ortiz ‘26 said “[he] particularly enjoyed reading about Odysseus’ adventures on his return home, especially his ingenuity in encounters with creatures such as the Cyclops.” Seeing that there were overall good ratings from seniors on these books, it makes sense that they stay in the rotation for students to read year after year.

On the other hand, the poll showed what seniors’ least favorite book was. The ranked least favorite book by seniors was Feed by M.T. Anderson, with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon close behind. Carlos Macias ‘26 was one of the seniors who put Feed at the bottom of his list. He described Feed as having “the unholy combination of an unlikable protagonist, an uninteresting plot, and side characters that are as annoying as they are difficult to understand.” If these books are always ranking so low among students, should Loyola swap out these books for others that may be perceived better? This also does not make sense, as both of these books are read by incoming freshmen just before they start their first year at Loyola.