By Leigh Smith (The University of Texas at Austin)

The Professor Is In – by Karen Kelsky

Terrified that you’ll never get a job? This book finally gets real with graduate students about what it takes to be competitive for employment in academia (and industry). There is a lot of advice out there, but few resources combine brutal honesty with practical advice in the way this book does. Karen Kelsky was a successful academic who got fed up with the endless hoops that line the way to academic glory, so she quit her job as a tenured department chair and made a career out of giving no-bullshit advice to graduate students still in the thickest part of the mire. If you want to make a concrete plan to get a job one day, this book will help you do that. I cannot recommend The Professor Is In highly enough.

How To Write A Lot – by Paul Silvia

Most people struggle with writing. It can be hard under the very best of circumstances, let alone amidst the chaotic schedule graduate school imposes on us. This book gives practical advice on how to carve out time to write, get through writing-blocks, improve style and clarity, and stay motivated year after year. This book is particularly useful for those who face existential barriers to writing (e.g., being afraid to even get started), or schedule-related obstacles to writing (e.g., balancing a million other tasks at the same time). Paul Silvia provides both philosophical musing and concrete strategies to get your academic writing off the ground and into a peer-reviewed journal.