In the hustle and bustle of college you don’t get a lot of time to read things just for fun, but if you do manage to squeeze out some time it’s hard to know what to read. There might be one or two books you want to read but after that it gets hard (Especially if you’re a non-fiction reader!). Here are some non-fiction and humanitarian books to give a try!

1. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

If you’re a criminal justice major or just interested in how eye witness testimony can be wrong, this is the book for you! It follows the case of a wrongfully convicted rapist and his accuser. It’s heartwarming and challenges beliefs about true forgiveness and human resilience. Oddly, the two end up being friends and spreading awareness about what happen to keep other innocent people from being incarcerated for a crime while the true offender goes unpunished.

2. Difficult Women

Roxanne Gay weaves stories together of different women and the struggles they face in their day to day lives. This one is a little more fantastical than the others on the list but still such an interesting story. If you enjoy the human spirit and like short stories, this is a good book for you. Each chapter is different and new and brings in a new element for you to understand. It brings a lot of attention to issues in women’s lives that we may not think about and is definitely worth giving a try.

3. Open Heart

Written by a Holocaust survivor, this book goes through life and the appreciation we should have for it. It’s not a long read and one that teaches you a lot about how much we take for granted in the craziness called college. It’s a great reminder that life goes on after tragedy if you work to make it.

4. Sold

This is a heartbreaking story about a girl sold into sex slavery by her own family. It’s easy to get caught up in the reality of our culture and forget that across the world things are really different. The honesty in this book is a great cry for help on an issue that many college campuses have groups focusing on — sex trafficking. Whether you’re going on a mission trip or you just feel like you need to help in some way, acknowledging the survivors and victims of this trend across the world is the first step.

5. Go Ask Alice

An anonymously published diary gives a detailed personal account of a teenage girl’s life after she develops a drug addiction. It details the downward spiral she experiences as a result of an infatuation with a feeling she gets while high. It has received criticism in the past decade about being fake and used as a way to deter young adults from using drugs, but this book brings up valid emotions and life issues experienced by addicts.

6. America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril and Liberation

Let’s be honest, most women have taken or are taking birth control for one reason or another. It’s important to know about the history of such a life changing drug in our country.

7. Just Mercy

Similar to Picking Cotton, this book takes yo behind the scenes of many crimes, across the nation that bring to question legitimacy of laws, criticisms of the current criminal justice system and ask for understanding outside of the images portrayed of offenders in the courtroom.

8. We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out

After The Hunting Ground came out I wanted to read this book so badly. On college campuses we all know things go on behind closed doors we don’t know about, but this book shares a diversity among survivors and their experiences. Chances are you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault on campus. This book is a great way to be more understanding of what someone goes through and maybe help you find a way to help them.

9. This is How You Lose Her

Diaz writes a phenomenal book of stories of different women and people and the betrayals that cause heartbreak. After reading this I was a little angry but then I appreciated it for what it could be — a lesson to be learned. All of these circumstances could be avoided had one decision been made differently. This along with its cultural diversity make this a good read, but it is one you think about after you finish.

Even if all of these books aren’t up your alley, find something that is. Take a book with you between classes, spend ten minutes reading a day or listen to them on youtube or Spotify. There’s so much out there to discover!