Small World by David Lodge

A summer of conference-going, a highly coveted UNESCO chair of making a ridiculous sum of money for no work, a helpful airport employee, a mysterious, yet brilliant, appearing-then-disappearing grad student, a street performance of The Wasteland and old favorites Phillip Swallow and Morris Zapp make this book an excellent read. In his highly literate, self-aware, and allusive send-up of the academic conference scene, David Lodge outdoes himself.

Graduate Study for the 21st Century by Gregory M. Cólon Semenza

This book would perhaps have been more helpful if I didn't feel like the author was talking down to me. Some of his ideas are very good, and he has helpful hints for getting the most out of graduate school, especially in the humanities, but on the other hand, some of the things he says are downright wrong--at least for me and my department. He sounds very organized, and I'm all for being organized, but he hands down his system like it's the only way that will work, and that tone gets annoying. All in all, worth reading.