I know every girl in college feels like she has no time to breathe and eat, let alone sleep the recommended 8 hours every night. I know this because I feel like that too. But one thing I carve out time for each week is reading. I’ve loved books since before I learned to read, and I try to have one book finished, from cover to cover, every week. And assigned readings don’t count. I also know not everyone likes to read, and I know there’s no way everyone who reads this short article will add an extra 200 pages to their weekly quota. But books are important, and sometimes, they teach you things no professor ever will.
Here are six of my favorites, and six I think every college girl needs to read:
Photo by Jordyn Rowland
1. Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes In case you don’t know her name from Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, or How to Get Away With Murder, Shonda Rhimes is one of Hollywood’s most powerful showrunners. Somewhere between owning Thursday night TV, she managed to write a book. Year of Yes is all about saying “yes” to the things that scare you. Something I think all college students could use a dose of is courage, and Shonda definitely gives you that push.
2. I’m Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi College is a time to find yourself. But, at the same time, you have to make sure that amongst all that soul searching, you aren’t turning into a self-absorbed person no one wants to be around. I’m Judging You is the do-better manual we can all pull from, whether it’s with our friends, our relationships, or our work-life balance, there’s something for everyone. Even college students.
3. You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero I despise self help books. They never work for me. Until I picked up You Are A Badass. It’s one of those books that makes you mad at yourself for not doing better. Everyone has a badass hiding in there somewhere, and this book helps you find that. It’s the confidence booster all students need every once in a while.
4. Weird in a World That’s Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F*ckups, and Failures by Jennifer Romolini I cannot recommend this book enough. As college students, we spend way too much time freaking out over how horrible we are at everything we do, right? We sit in front of a mirror and think about all the awesome jobs we will never get. Weird in a World That’s Not dishes out real world advice from a late bloomer who went on to run websites such as Hello Giggles and Shondaland’s new lifestyle site.
5. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert If you’ve read (or seen the movie) Eat, Pray, Love this name should sound familiar. Gilbert gives her readers a peak inside the creativity process, as well as tips on how to embrace what she calls “big magic.” I don’t know if it’s because I read it on a plane to Los Angeles or what, but I quickly became obsessed with my “big magic” moments, and if you want to know what I’m talking about it, you’ll have to read the book.
6. Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates I put this book on this list not because it’s fun to read, but because I think every girl in college should read it. If I were a professor, I’d require it. Bates is a British writer who held a social experiment looking at different aspects of sexism women (and men!) encounter on a daily basis. Via a Twitter account, stories were sent in by the thousands. This book is a recount some of those stories. I’d go so far as to say EVERYONE needs to read this book. Not just college girls. Not just women.