Where the heck did May go? I know months don’t really move slower or faster (with the exception of a couple of days), but it seemed to me that May just flew by.
No worries, though. I still found time for reading, despite May’s pace.
I gave two non-fiction books perfect ratings in May. The ratings I provided and the authors’ first names are the only similarities between Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town and Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer is the type of book that’s difficult to read with a subject that’s seemingly impossible to avoid. The book, which is about sexual assault in a the college town of Missoula, Montana, broke my heart. I likely related to it more strongly because I am a woman and I am a college professor.
The Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012. Krakauer’s book told the story of some of these women and the men accused of raping them. It also explained how police and university officials rarely handled these reports properly, especially where members of the college’s beloved football team were concerned.
It seemed important to Krakauer for readers to understand why rape happens so frequently on college campuses (the statistic I’ve heard is one-in-five women are raped during their four years at university) and why these assaults rarely are reported. He also wanted to make clear the distinction between stranger and acquaintance rape, with rape by someone familiar to the victim being much more frequent and less likely to be reported.
Krakauer’s book sheds light on a horrifying problem in our nation’s education system that we must find a solution for. Otherwise, we’re not just educating our students, we’re creating an environment where they’re becoming victims at an alarming rate.
The book is difficult and important to read.
Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck by Jon Acuff is about an unequal but important topic of getting stuck in your work.
I heard about Acuff’s book while listening to Michael Hyatt’s podcast. Hyatt is my favorite blogger because of his practical advice, so I felt compelled to read a book that he recommended so highly. I immediately loved Acuff’s practical and witty writing style.
The foundation of Acuff’s book is that we already have everything we need for the career of our dreams, we just have to learn how to develop our relationships, skills, character, and hustle in the ideal way. This ideal way is all about creating your Career Savings Account, so you always have options waiting and never feel stuck.
There are few books that I read more than once, but I already plan to revisit Acuff’s book and see what more I can learn from it. Whether you feel stuck at work or not, I think this is one to read.
What were your favorite books of May?
You know I’m always looking for something new to add to my reading list. Please share your favorites in the comments below.
MrsDSSClass says
profkrg I will try the first one for sure. I would like to see that day in which we don’t hear those news anymore